Everyone has a set of values that shape their actions, and furthermore, their leadership skills. In class and throughout chapter 4 of Exploring Leadership, we discussed how these values vary in each leader. One of the examples that we discussed in class was not changing the rules of the game: an example of this is one of my professor’s; it was her first semester teaching so she didn’t have a realistic lesson plan. So two weeks we ended up changing the format of the class from tweeting at her to posting on the discussion bored and it confused everyone by changing the rules of the game so much. Another example of a value that we touched upon in class that affected leadership skills is religious views; I immediately thought of Chick-Fila and how they are closed early on Wednesday for church and all day Sunday.

Another way values are important in leadership is because your values affect who you are working with. Who wants to work for a company that has a completely different set of morals and values as you do? Of course not, it would be a horrible experience to consisantly clash with your company’s moral and ethical values.

One of the things that I really enjoyed was watching the short video in class about the first boy dancing on the hill, looking pretty ridiculous until his first follower came and truly started the dance movement on top of the hill. This stood out to me because it reminded me so much of myself. I always am the first one to do something and I never realized how appreciative I need to be for a good group that complements one another and functions like a group, just how the first two boys danced in the movie.

One of the values that I have that affect my leadership capabilities is my need for efficiency. This effects my leader skill of being a more direct when I have to confront a situation. However, sometimes I need to make sure to take a step back and make sure I am not trying to control the situation and try not to act in a competitive manner.  So as you can see my drive to be efficient has its positives and negatives sometimes as well. In class we discussed how knowing what to look out for and being able to use your value set to create an effective group.  An example of a class activity where my drive for efficiency and to complete the task right pushed me to my more competitive leadership style and in that situation it was not appropriate leadership method.

Another value I have, I gained from the era that I lived in. In class we talked about different leadership styles and when they were being used. Because of the time that I grew up we were being more inclusive than previous generations. An example of this is gay rights. The up and coming generation is a lot more inclusive to differences in people and how that can be used to benefit the group as a whole.