Leadership

My Leadership Experience

By

David L. Smith

A Research Paper

Submitted to ERAU-Worldwide

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of

Bachelor of Science Technical Management

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Worldwide

Fort Campbell Campus

March 2011

ABSTRACT

Researchers: David L. Smith

Title: My Leadership Experience

Institution: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Degrees: Bachelor of Science Technical Management

Year: 2011

My first experience with leadership was one to forget. As I became more educated about the science, the better leader I was. However, there are areas I would like to improve on to expand my knowledge about the subject. This course has helped me learn about theories I didn’t know and also apply a name to things I’ve always done. This class helped me find characteristics of leadership I think is important and strive toward getting better at them.

A leader or leadership can make or break a company. In the earlier years, leadership has believed to be something that someone was born with. Some leaders may have some of the five leadership traits but not all of them. In order to be a complete leader, one must use talent as well as experience. Looking back at my experience in leadership positions, I believe I was making decisions based on the individuals. I did not consider myself a leader. I didn’t really learn how to lead until I followed. What I mean by this is I didn’t understand how leaders affect followers and followers affect leaders. When I was a able to follow a leader but also hear what followers had to say about leadership. This look at both ends of the spectrum allowed me to understand that if I take care of employees, they will take care of me. When I learned that valuable lesson, it prepared me to be a better follower and when the opportunity presents itself again; a leader. I was in the...