Leadership Action Plan

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Travis Martin
06/01/2015
RCLS 220
Leadership Action Plan
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Becoming a leader you must learn many different styles, theories and models to become
an affective and great leader. We all have our own ideas about what it means to be a great leader,
some individuals may think leadership means guiding others to complete a particular goal.
Others may believe it means motivating others to be their best selves. Definitions of may and
will continue to vary, but the general leadership understanding will remain the same. Leaders are
individuals who know how to achieve goals and inspire people along the way. Throughout this
class I have learned many different attributes to becoming an effective leader.
One attribute of becoming a leader is observing and reflecting your various leadership
exercises as well as other individuals leadership techniques and exercises. While trying to
become a leader you must observe and learn from other leaders and use what you have learned
from others. During class we had to make a new games assignment. For this assignment you had
to create a game, present it to the class and lead that certain game. For this assignment Chris
Cindric said something that I will never forget. Use other peoples games/ideas. Never just make
something up off the top of your head. Use other peoples ideas and twist them a little bit and
make them your own. I completely agree, doing this is a great way to learn from other peoples
mistakes or what they did well on and use it for your own personal exercises/ situations.
Over the course of this quarter I observed and learned multiple things that worked very
well and other things that did not work as well. For example each of the games or challenges that
we participated in had a sense of challenge to them, like stepping outside of your comfort zone,
or mentally/ physically challenging you. While watching my classmates and professor lead these
challenges I noticed that you must be very vocal and confident when you present to groups,
being shy and not vocal will not work with groups that you are leading. Some challenges the
leader has to be participating in the challenge and walking everyone through the challenge, then
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there are challenges where the leader will sit back and let the group lead themselves. Both ways
of leading were effective and made me think to myself which approach would I take when I am
in the leadership position. While leading you will come across various challenging situations.
One situation that I recognized while taking this course was at the challenge course and it
involved me and another classmate. The situation was that the other classmate and myself are
terrified of heights and we were about to participate in a high challenge course obstacle. I noticed
how our leader gave us an option to complete this activity or not and did not pressure us into
anything we were uncomfortable with. The leader who understands how the process unfolds
uses little force as possible and runs the group without pressuring people. When force is used
conflict and argument follow. The climate is hostile, neither open nor nourishing. (Komives,
Lucas, Mcmahon pg. 284) Giving a client an option helps take pressure off of them and I believe
helps take a little stress off of the individual as well. The leader also was very comforting and
motivating which is key to being a great leader.
Becoming a great leader you must apply certain leadership qualities and ideas. I plan on
observing and researching others ideas, styles, theories, and models to make my personal
leadership practice better. One model that stood out to me was when you are leading individuals
there are different types of leaderships. One model that I have noticed in every leadership
opportunity that I have been apart of is relational leadership. I believe this model will help me in
my future leading individuals. Relationships are a focal point of the leadership process.
Although a person could exert leadership of ideas through persuasive writings or making
speeches, most leadership happens in an interactive context between individuals and among
group members, leadership as a relational and ethical process of people together attempting to
accomplish positive change.(Komives, Lucas, Mcmahon pg. 95) A theory that intrigued me was
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the Hersey and Blanchard situational leadership theory. This theory suggest that the leaders
should match their leadership style to the development level of the person or people being led.
According to situational leadership theory, there are no good and bad styles, only those
that are appropriate for the given situation of task and people. One of the key
characteristics of effective leadership is to assess the situation correctly, select and apply
the appropriate style, and continuously review your choice. (Learntobealeader.com pg. 1)
I believe through this class I have learned a lot of valuable lessons on becoming a
great and effective leader. I will use what I have learned to help me with my leadership
development action plan for the next two years. For the next two years I will continue to play
football for either the Spokane Wolfpack or another semiprofessional team. I use my skills of
being a leader every time I am around my teammates. I am a quarterback and I have my whole
team that looks up to me to motivate them and lead them to our ultimate goal and that is to win a
championship. Being a part of this team I use relational leadership, motivation, and interaction to
form a bond with my teammates. Another job that I will pursue is becoming a game warden or
some kind of law enforcement. My leadership will develop tremendously through this experience
because of all the different leadership opportunities I will have. This job requires a different kind
of leadership because of the various situations that I will encounter. I will have to go to an
academy and there my leadership skills will be tested. I believe this will be a great opportunity to
advance my leadership skills.
In conclusion I have learned many valuable lessons throughout this quarter. I have a
leadership action plan now to enhance my leadership skills. Many of the lessons that I have
learned I will be using them in my future profession and life.
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References
Hersey, P., Blanchard, K.H. and Johnson, D.E. (2007) 9th Ed., "Management of
Organizational Behavior: Leading Human Resources". Prentice Hall.
Situational Leadership. (n.d.). Retrieved June 1, 2015, from http://ww.learn-to-be-aleader.com/situationalleadership.html
Komives, S., & Lucas, N. (1998). Exploring Leadership: For college students who want to
make a difference. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
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