Leadership

After our in-class discussion, how has your understanding of leadership as
a construct been (re)defined or challenged? How do your cultural values
impact your leadership style?

After our discussion in class, I was opened to a few ideas on leadership. I had never really thought about different leadership styles being tied to cultural reasons or racial reasons. However, when posed with the question, there was no doubt in my mind that there of course would be a connection between the two. My understand of leadership has been challenged in the sense that I could always lead in different ways. My choice of leading with different styles could produce different results in specific scenarios. Perhaps with a smaller, more tight-knit group, it would be wise to promote teamwork and cooperation. With a large group, it may be better to lead with a stronger hand as it takes more control to keep the group unified. I had never really thought about it in-depth, but I suppose that there is quite a correlation between the two.

My cultural values most definitely have impacted leadership style. Being raised in an Asian household with strict parents have led me to have higher expectations when doing tasks alone as well as being in groups. My bar is set usually higher and with more perfection in mind when it comes to group projects. I am not one to tolerate imperfection most of the times. However, coming to college has changed this. When I was promoted in the student center to begin leading, I learned that the group that I had to lead was very diverse, and to properly lead such a group, I would have to lead diversely. I could not ask for perfection in all our set-ups. What was most important was teamwork, cooperation, and friendship. If we were going to work 5+ hours every night together, we would have to get to know each other to make the work and time more bearable, as well as make our synergy in producing quality events better. Ultimately, my cultural values have produced a sense of excellence in me, however, coming to a "diverse" campus has opened my eyes to finding excellence through friendship.