Henri's credo

An Evening With Myers-Briggs

In a society that values independence, uniqueness, and nonconformity, of course, branding is frowned upon. The Myers-Briggs test opened my eyes to the fact that branding may not be such a bad thing, in fact I would say I learned a lot about myself along the way! The Myers-Briggs is a test that one takes to help identify them on 4 different levels. For example, I am a "ENTP"; that is to say I am an extrovert (vs. introvert), intuitive (vs. sensing), thinking (vs. feeling), and perceiving (vs. judging). although i wasn't surprised by my results I think that I definitely learned things that i hadn't noticed before, it was like I was walking a trail but I'm only now looking at what the tools I have do. (I must say though I always knew I was an extrovert!!). Knowing my weaknesses and my strengths will aid my in becoming a better leader.

David Bowie knows what it's about...

So I'm  a couple of weeks into my leadership class and now i need to decide if my view of leadership changed ( get the title now?).after thinking about it for awhile i decided that for the most part it hasn't changed, but now everything is labeled and has a name. About a month ago i could distinguish a good leader from a bad one but i couldn't tell you all of the reasons why. the class has aided me in characterizing the traits, characteristics, and actions of a good leader. In some ways everyone is a leader and both a follower ( once again a semi-new revelation to me.) at the most basic level everyone is (and definitely should be) their own leader.

Leaders Born or Made?

Leadership is an observable, learnable set of practices.  Leadership is not something mystical and ethereal that cannot be understood by ordinary people.  Given the opportunity for feedback and practice, those with the desire and persistence to lead – to make a difference – can substantially improve their abilities to do so.

   - Kouzes and Posner, The Leadership Challenge

Ahh the classic question are leaders born or made. In class we have been discussing the quote above quite a bit. Perhaps what strikes me the most is the beginning "Leadership is an observable, learnable set of practices." I completely agree with Kouzes and Posner on this point. I think that leader ship is definitely something that can be learned and most certainly improved. Having said that there is something that i feel isn't addressed in the quote and that is natural ability-the fact that some people are just born with better skill sets. Given that i also believe that there is always room for improvement!