What Is My Personal Leadership Philosophy?

What is my personal leadership philosophy? As I have progressed and learned over the past twenty years in the field of quality assurance I discovered that my leadership philosophy is a work in process. Through my schooling, training, and experience I have developed a good foundation of what leadership requires developing the quality technicians in my department, supporting my organizations mission, and continuous improvement demands. There are several leadership character traits that at I strive to practice each day to be the best leader that I possible can be. Commitment, honesty, respect, self awareness, productive communication, and possessing influence are the traits that I feel have helped me become a productive leader. These character traits as well as other traits are a personal continuous improvement process that I work to develop on a daily basis.

Commitment is what I consider one of the most important parts of being a leader. Being committed to my employer, superiors, peers, and the quality assurance technicians is what has helped me gain respect in my organization. I have made it a personal obligation to commit and support the business direction, lead change efforts, and drive continuous improvement I consistently commit to the development of the quality assurance department and personal development of the quality technicians. Each day is an opportunity for learning and improving quality systems, processes, and skills. I try to portray an attitude that there are no limits to what can be done when complete commitment is given to an idea or personal development.

I truly believe that honest is the best policy. People I work with know that I am a so called "straight shooter". They know that I will tell them like it is; even if it not exactly what they want to here. It's not to say that I am harsh or destructive with my honesty; I believe that being honest is worth the risk of not always being everyone's number one fan. I do my absolute best to be respectfully honest and speak the truth with integrity. Being honest sometimes takes a gentle approach to help define a situation or it takes assertive negotiation to find a mutual understanding or agreement. To me, honesty is one the character traits that makes a person a productive leader. I believe that if you are honest and open with people you gain their trust; you can ultimately build relationships that can produce unlimited positive affects.

Respect is absolutely necessary to be a leader. I believe that if you show respect you will receive respect from those you interact with. I believe this to be true no matter the situation you encounter. Respect should be show not only to those you work with, but it should be shown to your family, the cashier at WalMart, the wait staff at your favorite restaurant, and the person passing by on the street. Regardless of the position a person may hold in any organization or their personal life situation deserves respect. I have found that this philosophy has helped me personally and professionally.

Maintaining personal respect for others is something I have learned from having a large family of seven sisters and brothers. I have discovered that respecting their choices and life styles has helped me maintain a relationship with each of them. Unfortunately this is not the case between some of my brothers and sisters. I keep a solid base of respect for each of my siblings to assure I can maintain a good relationship with each of them.

Maintaining professional respect is something I have learned from years of working in the business world. People desire respect from others; no matter who they are or what they do at work. Through the years I found that if you show respect you are more likely to get people to listen to you and hear what you have to say; regardless of the situation. Respect to others is the best way to earn respect, resolve conflict, and find the best solution in a negotiation situation.

Self awareness is a personal trait that I have learned through years of schooling and work experience. Being aware of my mindset is something that I am really proud of. I used to react to conflict and situations; but over the years I have learned to reflect on my thoughts and feelings before I take any actions. Because of this way of thinking I am able to respond to conflict and situations, I no longer react. Self awareness has helped become a better leader; people I work with know that I am the first one to admit a mistake and identify what I could have done different to prevent the mistake.

Another self awareness example is my ability see how I handle mentoring situation. When I mentor the quality technicians there are times when my idea of success does not prevail. When this happens I look back on myself to determine what I could have done better or how I could have handled it different to gain the success I wanted. The mentoring breakdown usually comes back to me and I can see how I didn't communicate properly, deliver the write directions, or I controlled the situation instead of allowing the technicians take over. Each day I work very