The Next Steps For My Leadership Journey

Before I took this class, I thought being a leader was simply being a guy in a high position that people can look up to. However, now that this class is coming to a close, I have realized that in order to be a successful leader one must not only be in a high position, but also have many other intangibles.
As for my plans for the next six to twelve months, I look to continue the leadership concepts that I learned in this class, and hopefully improve on them as well. Currently, when I am in a leadership position, I tend to sometimes become frustrated when things don't go my way, so therefore I must improve my emotional intelligence.
As for my plans in college, I plan to have a good time, both socially and athletically, while at the same time taking advantage of a great education. As it pertains to my leadership plans, I am considering running for a role in the student government, or something like that. I never really was involved in student government during my tenure at Parish Episcopal, but I always had regrets for not running. I also hope to become a football team captain, or something close to that, for whatever football team I end up playing for.
As a leader, I feel that I will need to improve my improve my emotional intelligence so I will not lose my cool as easily when things do not go my way. Also, I feel that I need to become a more resonant leader because at times, I tend to be a bit timid when it comes to stepping up, and connecting with my group.

How You Can Be A Resonant Leader

If a person wants to be a resonant leader, one must follow these simple rules to have success. First, one must have passion and energy that has the ability to spread throughout the group. Resonant leaders have a strong charisma, and personality that is able to grab hold of the group, and therefore allows he or she to get the group to do whatever one likes. Resonant leaders "must become one" with those that they are leading. One must be able rally his constituents around a common cause and goal that the leader is looking to achieve. Also, when the going gets tough, a resonant leader is able to keep their cool under pressure. While keeping their cool, a resonant leader can keep his group calm, and maintain their emotions.

Goleman Quote Analysis

In my opinion, I believe that Goleman is saying in order to be a complete leader, one must have emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence meaning that one must have a complete knowledge of their emotions and leadership capabilities. Also, leaders must have the "complete package." Meaning that they must possess all the traits of a successful leader, and not just some of them. The leaders that lack in certain leadership traits are known as, according to Goldman, one winged creatures. These are leaders that seem to lack certain leadership traits, and do not have a complete knowledge of their emotions.
Complete leaders must contain many traits. One trait is self regulation. This is a component of emotional intelligence that allows individuals to control their emotions. By having self regulation, a leader's integrity may also increase. Complete leaders must also have motivation. A leader with motivation will strive to get things done, and will always strive to achieve. Good leader's must also have social skills. To summarize the definition of what social skills are, it is friendliness with a purpose, that has the ability people in the direction you desire. Leaders must also have empathy. 
An example of what a 'two-winged creature', might look like would be a captain of the football team. For example, during two-a-days, everybody on the team is complaining how hot it is, and how much they wish they could be somewhere else. As a team captain, it is his job to lead by example. As a captain, more than likely a senior, he has a motivation to win the state championship, which is hopefully also the goal for the team as a whole. Also, it is his job to work to keep the morale of the team up by being empathetic, but also, he needs to use self regulation to keep a positive attitude, even if he has a bad attitude as well. 

My Experience With The Myers-Briggs Tool

My experience with the Myers-Briggs Tool was really interesting. When first being handed the packet, it looked more like a standardized test than a Leadership tool. However, this tool, even though it was rather tedious to fill out, has certainly impacted the way in which I look at myself as a leader.
The thing that surprised me most about my results was how it said that I was an introvert. I always thought of my self as being super sociable, and outgoing, but when truly thinking about, and discovering that an introvert follows a strict schedule/routine, I finally figured it out. Also, while thinking and digging deeper, I did think about how sometimes I do tend to go into a shell at times, and kind of separate myself from my peers. Generally, this only occurs when I need to think about stuff.
This tool helped me to be a better leader in the future because I now feel like I want to be more of an extrovert. I want to work to be more sociable, and communicate with others, which is something I sometimes fail to do. As it is constantly mentioned in class, it is known that communication is a key to being a successful leader.

My Credo 2011