Session 1
Concept/Principle: Those closest to the leader will determine the success of the leader.
This concept is referring to the fact that no matter how good a leader is, the members of the group will always play a bigger part in determining whether or not the leader will be successful. For example, if someone is leading a group on a hike, they will only be successful and reach their destination if the people that are following them are able to listen and follow instructions. This concept can be easily explained by The Law of the Chain, which is “The Strength of the Team is Impacted by its Weakest link”.
I chose this concept because I think it relates a lot to the TALONS program because we would not be able to successful leaders if our classmates weren’t able to follow our lead. At the start of grade nine in some ways, all of us are weak links because we have not been taught how to be good leaders, but as the year goes on we become better leaders and become a strong link in the chain.
I am going to apply this concept to my future leadership activities by doing a better job of supporting those around me when it is not my turn to lead. In the past, I never really thought about how much of an impact I could have on the success of the person who is leading me but now that I know, I can be more aware of it and hopefully do better.
Session 2
Concept/Principle: Leaders have the ability to make things happen.
In Developing the Leaders Around You, John C. Maxwell says that good leaders are momentum makers because they do and say things that start momentum. Not only do they have to have the talent to succeed, but they also must have the attitude to do their best. A quote from George Cane explains this concept well; “There is no future in any job. The future lies in the person who holds the job.” This quote explains that in order for any job to do well, the person filling the position must be able to make things happen.
This concept stood out to me, because as a leader sometimes I forget that in order to become better and help others become better I have to drive momentum and make things happen. This concept will serve as a reminder for me to constantly be a momentum maker.
In the future, I can make sure that I am not being one of the other types of people who affect momentum (momentum breaker, momentum taker, and momentum faker) because the other types usually deter the group from reaching their goals. If I find that my group’s momentum has gone away or slowed down I can do and say things that will drive our momentum back to where it should be.
Session 3
Concept/Principle: Work on yourself more than you work on others and work on yourself before you work on others.
This concept means that in order to help other leaders grow and improve you must first work on yourself and make sure that you have reached your full potential. It’s important to focus on yourself more and before others, because most of the leadership challenges that people experience start with themselves, as well as most of the leadership changes that people experience start with themselves.
I chose this concept from session 3 because in the past I have found myself worrying more about others when I should have focused more on myself because I could have improved myself. This is a concept that I need to work on in the future if I want to be able to become a better leader who is able to help grow other leaders.
I plan on applying this concept to future leadership activities by checking in on myself more and making sure that I am comfortable and am able to do a good job of leading. If I find that I’m struggling I could take a short break and allow myself to get back on track before leading again.
Session 4
Concept/Principle: The highest level of leaders are able to take other leaders where they are going.
John C. Maxwell says that there are 4 different levels of leadership. He states that there are entry-level leaders who know where they are going, then there are credibility level leaders who are able to take themselves where they are going, next there are accepted level leaders who are able to take follower there, and lastly at the highest level are leaders that are able to take other leaders where they are going. This concept is very important because it is apart of the process that helps leaders reproduce other leaders.
I picked this concept because if you aren’t able to take other leaders where you are going then you won’t be able to reproduce other leaders which is a huge part of developing the leaders around you. This concept ties into almost every other concept mentioned in the book, so I believe that it is a very important concept to understand.
I am going to apply this concept to future leadership activities by sharing my plan and destination with other leaders in my group and then helping them get there with me rather than leaving them to figure it out for themselves. In the past, I’ve found that I just assume that everyone knows what is happening and what I’m planning to do, but most of the time people need a little bit of guidance, so this concept will serve as a reminder to help other leaders go where I’m going.