Leadership

Why is leadership necessary?

Leadership is necessary because it is the foundation for success. For example, in our modern world, the United States is lead by a leader, the president. Without a leader the US citizens would be confused because no directions would be given that would allow citizens to best accommodate America. With the lack of a leader comes a reign of chaos. This is why leadership is the foundation for success.

From a follower's perspective, what is the ideal leader?

From a follower's perspective, a leader is someone who is brave, fair, strong, intelligent, and caring. These traits allows the leaders people to be best cared for under the hands of their patriarch or matriarch. The type of leader influences the lives of his/her people drastically. If a tyrant is appointed to office the people will suffer. If a caring, ethical leader is appointed then the people will flourish.

Why might it be hard for leaders to live up to this ideal?

It might be hard for leaders to live up to their followers ideal's because their own ideals for a leader could be different than their people's. This could cause confusion and anger if the leader believed that he should focus on his countries defenses, but his/her people might be more focused on improving water conditions. Leaders sometimes have difficulty living up to these ideals because they may be too engrossed with the power they have attained. Power can cause people to act irrationally and not think what is best for others.

Who are the leaders in your life? (consider the various levels of leadership…include as many as you can)

I have many leaders in my life. My leaders are for different aspects of my life. My sports leader is Tiger Woods because he has been arguably the greatest athlete to walk on the earth. My life leader is my Dad because he has taught me moral values and life lessons that I will never forget. My final leader is my humanitarian and good person leader. Bono, lead singer of U2, is probably my favorite non-political leader. His songs incorporate peace and love, which basically say war is not the answer peace is. Bono also has donated more than half of his life earnings to charities around the world. This is why Bono is one of my three main leaders.

Who is a particular leader that you admire? What is it about her/his “leadership style” that appeals to you? Why does this work for you?

I know this may sound funny, but a particular leader that I admire is Fred Couples, captain of the 2009 Presidents Cup US golf team. I particularly admire Fred's leadership qualities because he is very laid back and offers advise to his team only when it is helpful. Fred does not make any offending comments and almost everybody that has ever met him is immediately impacted by his upbeat personality. This style works for me because I would love to be the kind of guy that always says the right things at the right time and also be the nicest guy at the same time. Kindness is the leadership style I think works best.

What are a good follower's responsibilities? When do these conflict with a leader's responsibilities?

Good follower's responsibilities are loyalty, dedication, and to be hardworking. These responsibilities almost never conflict leaders responsibilities in a negative way because these three main traits allow for affective co-operation with the followers and leaders.

If you watched Miracle, answer these questions. If not, skip to 8. Evaluate Herb Brooks as a leader---be specific and give examples for ALL answers

• What was his leadership style?

Herb Brooks leadership style was almost a father like role. Instead of comforting his followers and telling them is was okay they made mistakes, he told them to get better or go home. This father like role motivated the followers to improve to show their leader how good they were.

• Why do you think he chose to use this style?

I think he chose to use this style because his followers were accustom to being the best hockey players of their regions. This style of leadership was a way that would keep the hockey players from getting to cocky because his style would allow nothing, but perfection.

• Do you agree with his choice? Was it the only way? Would you have liked to have been on his team?

I do agree with Herb's choice. I think their were other ways to coach the team, but this method I believe would be most effective. I would have loved to be on this team because I would have won a gold medal.

• How did Herb Brooks utilize his assistants? Were they necessary for the team’s success? Explain

I'm sorry I don't quite remember how Herb utilized his assistants because I think I missed the main chunk of the movie, but the assistants were necessary for the teams success. The assistants acted as a second coach so while Herb was doing one thing for the team his assistants would be doing another thing helping the team. This allowed more things to get down, which helped the teams success.

• The US won the Gold Medal---does that mean that Coach Brooks’ methods were justified?

Yes. Herb's job was to coach his team to win the Gold medal, nothing else. He accomplished his job against unbelievable odds. This shows that Herb's methods worked, thus justified.