Relationship Between Leadership Theories and Personal Experiences- Nigel Francis Msm Student Kaplan Uiversity

Relationship between Leadership Theories and Personal Experiences:

Nigel Francis- MSM Student – Kaplan University

Upon migrating to the United States I found myself surrounded not only by the fear of

rejection but also by the promise of opportunity. It was therefore necessary to find a comfort

zone, an essential element, I think in the early years of migration. This meant finding a group

that shared my Dominican/Caribbean culture and values. Fortunately there existed a few

groups of Dominican Nationals that enabled me to slowly lose the fear of rejection and to begin

focusing on the promise of opportunity.

As a member of the groups I was eager to contribute meaningfully to their objectives

and vision. Active participation saw me either by accident or design being called upon to lead

various projects. This provided me with the opportunity to look at the inner workings of those

groups.

I was able to gather data, look for patterns of behavior and then make the necessary

analysis. I observed that all the groups had great intentions, however they appeared to be

loosely organized and had either self appointed leaders or leaders by default. The activities

that was organized seemed to be lacking in scope and vision. They were focused mainly on

celebrating Dominican National events, like Independence and carnival. . The frequent

barbecues and social gatherings, though important were not linked to any long term plan or

vision.

Change is not always welcomed and so it became apparent that there was a need to

share my proposals of combining the groups into one single group with one aim, mission and

shared vision. Unaware then of the depth and significance of leadership theories and styles I

pursued the dream and the vision of creating the group. I believed then, that our combined

strengths would have created more opportunities for success.

Interestingly, through the work of Kotter...