3 Most Important Keys to Being an Effective Leader

  1. Remain true to your core values--your core values are something that you believe and live by no matter what. Core values are things that don't change, no matter how much you might lose by sticking to them. This is important as a leader because it develops trust with those you are leading. It shows people that you can be true to your word.
  2. Know thyself--in order to be an effective leader, you need to be cognizant of your strengths and weaknesses so that the weaknesses can be improved and the strengths can be used to create an effective, influential leader.
  3. Be open-minded--the 7 billion people occupying the Earth are not the same. There are many different races, cultures, economic statuses, etc. With the way communication today allows the connection of people throughout the world, a leader needs to be ready to face a large amount of diversity and always be thinking outside of his or her own personal experiences and beliefs.

Check Out Some of the Things I've Done to Discover Myself as a Leader

  • Personal Profile Analysis--in this paper, I did a series of personality tests along with some other activities to try to find out who I am, what leadership qualities I am strong in, and what improvements I need to make.
  • Alien Culture--this assignment required me to step out of my comfort zone and explore a culture that felt alien to me. I chose to attend a talk on Buddhism where I learned about the Buddhist way to eliminate suffering. I also had the chance to participate in a meditation session. It was a lot of fun!!!
  • Judgment--With the creation of the internet and the mass amount of data available to us, it is sometimes challenging to figure out whether some information is trustworthy and credible. Global warming and climate change are two very controversial topics and one can find a vast amount of information on the internet, but how does one know who is right? This paper goes through a series of exercises in order to establish a general feel for who can and cannot be trusted on the topic of climate change. Even further than the climate change discussion, the purpose of the exercise was to prove that a good leader needs to have good judgment in order for people to trust them.
  • Action--You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk? Of course, everyone can say what they want to do to change a situation, whether it be in the office, in the community, in the country, or in the entire world. The real challenge is putting those words into action. In order for people to respect you as a leader, you must prove to them that you are willing to take bold action for what you believe in. This assignment is a video that expresses one way Penn State can be a more sustainable university. The video was created for a contest organized by the Center for Sustainability at Penn State.