Leadership cannot be fully exercised without self-awareness. To be conscious of oneself is to have self-knowledge and to be mindful of others. A leader who has introspection is more likely to practice social change in the society. I believe I am becoming more conscious of myself because of a series of actions that I partake from time to time. There are various ways to become more aware of oneself, and it is entirely necessary to establish it since it will lead to social change in the long run.
Firstly, keeping a journal is one way of becoming self-aware; this is because it enables me to understand where I may be going wrong and that I may be doing too much or too less. Secondly, regular meditation is also a good way to become self-aware since I would establish whether am moving to the desired direction and how to get to achieve my set goals. Thirdly, seeking advice from friends and family; this entails making use of listening skills. In essence, I listen to what other people have to say regardless of whether I believe they are true or not. Another important self-awareness entity is to know how to manage stressful situations. In this case, I will be able to provide the right judgment.
After establishing self-awareness, it is also important to be mindful of others. In essence, it is important to know when to speak and when to keep quiet since some words spoken aimlessly may hurt other people’s feelings. Being self-aware is a vital part of leadership since I will have the ability to provide the right insight in different situations. Essentially, being a good leader should be self-aware and this is highly likely to reflect in the aspect of social change in the community.
Social change is an aspect that begins with an individual and is meant to benefit the society as a whole (Doerr 10-31). It is also vital for a leader especially to live up to the expectations of the community particularly when it comes to values. In this case, my top three values are honesty, trust, and commitment.
Honesty entails the ability, to tell the truth in whatever situation. This value goes together with integrity which entails the moral and ethical ability to be relied upon when called upon, to speak the truth. Trust simply means to have an unquestioning belief in myself and others. I must be able to trust myself to make ethical decisions. Commitment, on the other hand, entails the quality of being devoted to an individual cause. Being committed is a value that will enable me to work towards a particular goal.
These values come in handy especially in the leadership position when it comes to making ethical decisions. For instance, if I was a leader in the election process in the country and before the release of the results, information comes in that the elections were rigged. The only right thing to do in such a situation is to withhold the results until the information is confirmed to be true or false. Ethical decision making would be applicable in such a situation since it would only be right to communicate such information to the relevant leaders - this is where honesty and integrity come to light. I would also need to trust myself to make the correct decisions in such a situation since it will affect the lives of many people. Also, commitment comes to light in such a situation since only an individual who is committed to their work would ensure that they do the right thing and that they do not put the lives of many people on the line.
In today's world, it is evident that the present is determined by actions taken by leaders which are simply the mistakes they made, and lessons learned from them. Leaders have a great role to play in the society, and that is the main reason why my passion lies within the confines of good leadership in the society. Many leaders have negative traits and have led their people towards the wrong direction. I live for the day where the society would be full of committed and honest leaders and free of corrupt and bias leaders.
The topics and social issues that interest me are social change, citizenship, and unemployment. Social change entails getting involved in matters that affect the society and most importantly correcting the wrongs as much as possible. Citizenship is where an individual exercises self-responsibility towards their environment (Lee 48).Unemployment is a social issue that has affected people not only within the country but also all over the world. I believe these issues are quite sensitive because they can be changed with good leadership.
These skills can be honed in the university at different platforms. First off, it is possible to start small groups that are meant to help the university in one way or the other. For instance, a group that helps in fostering mentorship programs on behalf of the university. In this case, one gets to hone those leadership skills and the same time practice citizenship with regards to social change. Also, the group could be a great source of employment, especially for the students. Having such groups could be a great chance to practice independence through employment.
Works Cited
Doerr, Elizabeth. What Is Social Change? In W. Wagner, D. T. Ostick, S. R. Komives, & Associates (Eds.). Leadership For A Better World: Instructor Manual. National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.', 2010.
Lee, Amye. An overview of the social change model of Leadership Development. In W.
Wagner, D. T. Ostick, & S. R. Komives, and Associates (Eds.). Leadership for a better
World :Instructor manual. A publication of the National Clearinghouse for Leadership
Programs. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 2010.
