Nick Stjern

            Leadership is an abstract concept. The word is like quality in the sense that people know it when they see it, but the concept is amorphous (Pirsig, 2006). I began the Organizational Leadership (ORGL) program with the same statement in my paper for ORGL 600. It’s been about 18 months since then and I doubt I will ever waver from my belief that leadership is largely undefinable. I think there are too many variables – values, beliefs, cultural norms, social systems – to expect people to completely agree on a definition. I think it is important for us to realize the complexity of leadership, acknowledge our differences, and seek a form of overall improvement. I believe the first step in this process is seeking to understand our own values and motivations as they relate to our guidance of others. What follows is an analysis of my leadership philosophy up to this point in time.

             My core beliefs focus on trust and openness. I believe in getting everyone on the same page and encouraging participation from every level of the organization. It would be my intention to lead like the founder of Pixar – Ed Catmull. In his book Creativity Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces that Stand in the Way of True Inspiration, Catmull describes how he communicates with his staff on critical issues (Catmull & Wallace, 2014). He gathers everyone in a large space – for example a convention center – informs them of the news, tells them why, and welcomes any feedback. I think communication is critical to any organization and I believe it is incredible that he has successfully implemented intimate communication at scale.

            In observing my leadership style, I have noticed that I am interested in getting to know the people involved. I can remember telling my first internship coordinator at the University of Notre Dame that I felt like coaching wasn’t about the game, but instead was focused on everything else. I felt that it was more important to develop life skills in people than it was to develop their sporting abilities. I believe both are important, but I also felt I would be doing the athlete a disservice if they were under my guidance for a length of time and all they had to show for it was a nice jump-shot or quick feet.

            It is interesting to consider my feelings about how I lead and see them paired with objective measurements. According to the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) by Kouzes and Posner (Leadership Practices Inventory, n.d.), my top two areas were Encourage the Heart and Inspire a Shared Vision. Encourage the Heart is focused on showing appreciation for individual excellence and celebrating values by creating a spirit of community. Inspire a Shared Vision is focused on envisioning future possibilities and enlisting others in a common vision through shared aspirations. These findings sound like my aim to develop strong character traits that were previously discussed.

            The Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ) assessment by Schwartz tells a similar story. My top two results were Universalism and Self-Direction. These are centered on “understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all people and for nature” and “independent thought and action--choosing, creating, exploring”, respectively (Schwartz, 2012, p. 7). I often consider why I have been drawn to sports and I have begun to realize that it may be because it is an easy vehicle to recognize these values. Individuals seek to improve their unique skills and then express their capabilities through competition in a team environment. This sounds a lot like individual betterment for the greater good.

            I find these objective results fascinating because I have always been focused on personal betterment, but not at the expense of the group. I believe that a rising tide floats all boats and feel that people should appreciate one another by accepting their differences. It is one thing to say this is how I feel, but it is another thing to see my subjective thoughts confirmed with objective results. In practice, I would continuously demonstrate this by getting to know the athletes I coached and encourage a sense of gumption within their work.

            In sticking with the multi-faceted nature of leadership, I have established some multi-disciplinary goals for my future development and interests within the field. Leadership has a reputation for being a softer discipline. There is a movement sweeping the field called Evidence Based Management (EBM) that encourages the use of multiple pieces of information when making decisions. I am also interested in the power of data to explore our decision-making capabilities and the implementation of mindfulness practices to develop our spiritual selves. We are approaching a time where nearly everything is measurable in our constantly changing world. I feel that mindfulness training will help us monitor our individual urges and make us more pliable to changing circumstances. Moving forward, I see myself as an individual who focuses on the shared space between leadership, information technology, EBM, and mindfulness.

            I believe that I can always be better. This is evident in my beliefs about leadership as I seek to understand the people around me and the decisions they make. I like to help people realize their full potential and accomplish things they thought to be impossible. There have been specific instances where athletes have been struggling with an issue in their lives. They would confide in me about the issue and I would provide an alternative perspective by asking them questions about how they understood the situation. I would never give them a direct solution, but instead challenged them to think about a different perspective and allowed them to find their own way.

            Throughout the program, we have been told that people enjoy working the most when they have a high level of trust and feel they are valued (Zak, 2016). In designing my ideal work environment, I would encourage creativity and risk taking. In the book Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World (Grant, 2016), we see that it often takes a few attempts to find the right solution. It is important to explore why failures happen, but it is important to never fear failure. In his Ted talk, Astro Teller discusses how failure should be pursued (Teller, 2016). We should attack the weak points of a system and seek to understand why it fails. This is the quickest way for us to design successful solutions in the future.

            Bruce Lee was interested in designing a martial art that, like water, molded itself to the environment (S, 2014). I believe this best illustrates my current approach to leadership. This strength makes me valuable because I can discern the underlying principles in the situations I am presented with. I believe in personal improvement and global development; a simultaneous improvement of the micro and the macro aspects of life. I am passionate about my personal strengths as a leader and believe that my belief systems encourage a feeling of collective optimism in the people around me.