How Do You Envision Your Leadership?

How Do You Envision Your Leadership?

Saturday 1/18/17- 1:30

The mosaic of Alexander the Great is a great example of how to effectively capture leadership in different works of art. The artist of this mosaic was intentional with every aspect of leadership and took time to include every aspect of Alexander that would create a true image of his leadership. In the mosaic Alexander is positioned above everyone else. His position above the rest of the soldiers shows the leader that Alexander was clearly the leader of his side of the battle. Position was a critical component in this mosaic because by this alone the audience can identify not only who Alexander is but also how important he was. When you look at his eyes in the mosaic they seemed to be focused and fearless. He looks focused and determined on his target in contrast to his opponent Darius III whose eyes were fearful and lacking in focus. Darius III although the leader of his soldiers seemed to lack the qualities of a great leader that Alexander had. No one would want to be led by someone who in the face of defeat or uncertainty losses focus so easily. As a leader there will be many times where one may face defeat but that does not mean that that they should loss focus and determination. I think the greatness of a leader is significantly correlated to the choices they make in the face of loss, what they do when they know they may not win. Being fearful could cause a lapse in judgment in the leader and cause them to make mistakes they would not have made if they would have remained calm. Alexander even in the midst of battle kept his composure and led his people to victory. In the mosaic Alexander is even wearing a gorgon head on his breastplate to scare off the opposing side. In addition to this breastplate he isn’t wearing a helmet. Not wearing his helmet shows that he was prepared for anything, prepared for battle. He was prepared to lead his army and could care less about what happened to him but he still had such determination and focus that didn’t waver during battle.

Sunday 1/19/17- 2:00

My ideal portrait would show me interacting with my immediate environment as well as my followers. I would be outside and sitting cross legged in a meadow meditating. The sky would be clear and blue and the grass would be the greenest green with various kind of flowers and trees scattered in the backdrop. My eyes would be closed but the energy in the portrait wouldn’t lack focus or thought positive intent. I would have my hands open on each knee facing towards the sky as if I am welcoming all of the negative and positive aspects of being a leader. In the background my followers would follow suit. The reason why I chose to be depicted meditating is because it shows self- discipline, self- awareness, balance, and focus. The act of meditating and being able to sit in silence for a long period of time involves a lot of self- discipline by itself. Many may think that meditating requires very little focus but sometimes the mind can wander and you may just be essentially worrying with your eyes closed which defeats the purpose of meditation to begin with. Mediation also exhibits level headedness and balance within the person. I think most people would say emotion and intent is truly visible by looking into someone’s eyes but the ability to exude power even when your eyes closed is an amazing feat. It is almost like feeling someone walk into a room. Have you ever been in a room full of people when someone who exuded so much power walks in and you could actually feel their presence. Being powerful without saying anything and intentionally trying to be powerful is not something most people can pull off. Although we have already established there is a different between both power and influence I believe they both exists in a great leader at the same time. Power is plainly defined as the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. The class definition for leadership as the art of helping others improve their lives in a significant way with the emphasis on the word improvement. Influence is the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself. In the examples I have given I do think leadership and power are connected in some ways but I also feel that they are disconnected in others. Power will influence the student and true leadership will take it a step further and will improve the student. In this regard power and leadership go hand in hand, one can’t exist without the other. The two can exist without the other but the greater impact will happen when the two exists together. Power is the stepping stone for true leadership. If leaders like Martin Luther King Jr had no power would he have had as much of an affect as he did. Would he have acquired as many followers as he did without power? Power is crucial for leadership because a leader needs influence just as much as they need the ability to help improve themselves and followers. If leadership existed without power would leadership exist in the first place?

Monday 1/20/17- 2:30

The significance of the meadow decorated in various types of flowers and trees and my open palms is to show my ability to be open, welcoming and prepared. Sitting cross legged in an open field can be taken as vulnerable but vulnerability in regards to leading is important. Allow yourself to be vulnerable with your followers can make for a better rapport. If a leader keeps themselves open and allows for criticism and inquiry they will constantly seek for ways that could improve themselves and their followers. Vulnerability could essentially help the follows to challenge their leader so their leader could continue to find new ways and techniques to improve their current situations. Lastly, I want for my followers to be seen in the background of this portrait to show that one does not always have to lead with words. Leading with energy is just as important as leading with words. I believe that there are things that can be felt and experienced rather than spoken about. Experiencing and feeling the energy of a leader is essential to whether or not the followers will actually continue to follow him/her. I also think that words have crippled the world in some ways because people do not take enough time to think. Just because we have the ability to talk doesn’t mean we should always speak. Just because we do a lot of talking doesn’t mean we are necessarily saying anything of value. Thinking and experience the energies around us can help leaders build focus and critical thinking abilities. Sitting in deep thought can help everyone process information and make better decisions.

When experiencing dissatisfaction with a leader follows should find ways to deal with those feeling amicably. I think many people are highly reactive in certain situations and taking a step back to think about what they should do and say could save both leader and follower from unnecessary stress. For example, I doubt there are many people who are currently satisfied with the new president but reacting too soon and too fast to personal feelings could create more of an issue than help with solutions. The Women March was a great way for people to show that they weren’t happy with some of the comments made by Trump and they created a forum for people to organize and speak their minds. Creating safe spaces to air out opinions and outrage is a productive for followers to express their dissatisfaction. And when speaking and voting are no longer enough then I believe that a stronger effort to get whomever out of their position of leadership is necessary. How strong and to what extent can vary from person to person but sometimes drastic measures are completely justified and necessary for the betterment of the whole population. As a leader that person should be able to deal with criticism and push back. Push back is to be expected because it comes with the territory when you become a leader. Leaders should be prepared to deal with all criticism that may come their way. Leaders should also have a level of grace to the act of dealing with criticism. Leaders are placed at a higher standard and should always try to keep their composure under any circumstances. If the revolt against a leader gets out of hand, i.e. killing, violence, theft, the leader should step in to restore the peace so there isn’t totally anarchy. Followers should be allowed to express their dissatisfaction but they should also remember that there is always a line that shouldn’t be crossed. If I was a leader and my followers were revolting against me I would allow them to air out their issues with me and my decisions as a leader. There isn’t an issue with expressing feelings or emotions if the expression doesn’t involve obscene acts of violence towards themselves or others. If or when the expression did result in obscene acts of violence I would find a way to control my followers again. I do think that followers can get away from themselves when they are dissatisfied with leaders. Followers need to be reminded that there is always a limit that they should not exceed. Once that limit is reached they could possibility do way ore damage then they intended and all their efforts would be in vain.

Tuesday 2/21/17- 2:00

Rhetoric is an important aspect of great leadership. As stated in class it can bring about many great leaders. Rhetoric is plainly defined as the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. Being able to persuade a follower toward an idea or an idea toward a follower is an art. Having the ability to speak publicly and speak well in public was honor to the men in Rome and Greece. They said an assembly was the “place where men win their glory”. And to speak publicly was to also have courage. Courage is vital to leadership because a leader needs to be brave enough to make the difficult choices that followers cannot make for them themselves. I do not agree that these assemblies are only places for men to win glory but also a place for women to win their glory as well. During class the topic of whether or not femininity is as fragile as masculinity came up. I do not think that femininity is as targeted as masculinity but I do think that there are instances where women can be seen to lose their “womanliness”. For example, a woman who has short hair is considered to be without the necessary traits to define her a woman. When I decided to cut my hair short a few years ago the first thing father said was that it would make me seem more masculine. My mother was fearful about me cutting my hair because “I wouldn’t be considered a womanly woman “. I will say that society is way more sympathetic when it comes to women and scrutiny in this regard. Masculinity is always under observation and every and anything that men do wrong may have an impact on how manly a man is. From childhood children boys are taught to protect and be strong so it’s something that’s constantly taught and passed down generation to generation.

Can a leader lead without profound rhetoric? I think true leadership involves the ability to convince and persuade a population. With great rhetoric comes influence and power and like I have previously stated one can’t lead without power or influence because they all go hand in hand. There are so many traits that make for a great leader that no one has precedent over the other.