My+Leadership+Philosophy

Empowerment First of all I believe that my philosophy would be categorized as a leadership philosophy and not a management style. I endorse an empowering leadership style! People are an important asset and in many cases they are our only asset. I believe that people come to work to do a good job. I feel everyone should be empowered to excel in their job. Everyone must be given challenging rewarding work and be given the control to perform the work to the best of their ability. Those that do the work should have the power to decide how to do it. Challenging work and autonomy in the job gives people the chance to excel and have job satisfaction. Empowerment properly applied allows good things to happen for other people which reflect positively on your leadership style. I believe empowerment gives all employees a sense of shared ownership. Of course with empowerment guidelines need to be set and empowered employees must stay within them.

Feedback/Rewards Employees need to constantly receive feedback. Feedback gives the leader the opportunity to praise employees for a job well done. Employees need to know if they are meeting performance expectations. The worst thing you can do is not give feedback at all because employees may fear the worst. Feedback should primarily be praise but the negative must also be covered. I do not believe in handing out small gift type rewards on a regular basis. I believe the best rewards are positive reinforcement and a thank you for a job well done. The best and most precious reward is to feel good about our jobs and the job we do.

Communication I believe that all communications should be open and honest. Business results should be shared as much as possible with all. An open door policy is a must have. Employees should be given the opportunity provide feedback and input at all times.

Values Leaders must demonstrate ethical and moral behavior and values. Leaders must lead by example, not say one thing and do another. I believe leaders of public institutions must hold themselves and the employees to a higher standard than in the normal business world. One must remember the decisions and power are not really ours but those of the taxpayers.

Teamwork I believe in the value of team work and relationships. I believe in developing relationships with as many people as possible inside and outside the work environment. Relationships are what allow us to accomplish projects that affect several departments.

**Updates and Changes (September 2010)** Given the fact that I completed my leadership philosophy 5 months ago I do not have many changes. I basically stand behind my philosophy because I think it’s a good one that works for me. I do have a few updates and or clarifications. Ø First of all I still believe in empowerment. An example; one of my jobs is to ensure the contracts for industry training are accurate and then I need to sign them. I was told that I needed to make sure the contracts were accurate by the person handing the job over to me because they had some problems. I informed the person developing the contract that I would not check for accuracy, which was their job. That was five years ago and no one from the accounting department has contacted me about problems yet. Ø Taking the Organization and Administration of Educational Systems class taught me that even if you believe in empowerment you better keep an eye on things to make sure they meet standards. Even though you empower someone you still need to pay attention to what is going on. Ø I think I have gained a lot of confidence over the past two years which allows me to confront behavior that is not up to acceptable standards.