To highlight a phrase used often in leader development research, “LEADERSHIP begins in the mind.” For anyone to lead effectively you must understand what is going on inside of ourselves. To lead others, we have to lead ourselves. Only when you have developed a consistent habit of looking within, can you then better understand and lead others.

Leadership, as you have seen in this course, is not a title; it is the ability to influence people. For people to follow you, or any leader, they must have trust in the leader. If you are to develop a leader-follower relationship, you have to have a consistency of character, a clear vision, and personal discipline and moral conduct.

Today there are untold challenges facing leaders and the requirements for effective leadership remain constant regardless of the crisis, situation, or organization.

This leads me to the following:

• What kind of leader are you?
• Has your philosophy on leadership changed in the past few weeks?
• If you had one leader you want to emulate, who is that leader? (Be specific in identifying that leader’s leadership traits, attributes, values, and competencies.)

Post your discussion thread and respond to at least one classmate’s discussion post by providing additional insights and information on the current topic. Consider using personal experiences as they may relate to the weekly topic. Remember that the expectation is for all students to participate in these discussions.