Craig Manning

SCOM 425
October 3, 2016

Developing a Philosophy of Leadership

A leadership philosophy is the way we see ourselves as leaders. This philosophy guides our actions, our
behaviors, and our thoughts. Our philosophies are influenced by external and internal forces. We can
change who we are as leaders by simply changing our philosophy of leadership. Leadership philosophies
can change as you grow to understand yourself within the context of leading.
Creating or finding your leadership philosophy means that you must explore and reflect upon your
personal values, assumptions, and beliefs about leadership.
Personal values are qualities or characteristics that you value. You would rather leave an organization or
step down as a leader than violate your values. Your values guide your intentions and they influence how
you lead. When your personal values are clear and you are conscious of them, you create a solid
foundation for leading.
Assumptions are ideas that are assumed or believed to be true. As a leader it is important to understand
what assumptions fuel your leadership thinking. Often leaders are not aware of the assumptions because
they are operating from certain paradigms that will not allow them to see assumptions. Reflection into
ones leadership is an excellent way to uncover assumptions.
Beliefs are ideas that we hold to be true; they shape our realities. If a leader believes that the only
individuals in an organization that can make decisions is the management staff, then that belief will
influence how the leader treats others. Beliefs can also be unconscious; they are for us a habitual way of
thinking and acting that it doesnt cross our minds that our beliefs may be prohibiting us.
The following is an exercise to help you create, find, or define your personal philosophy of leadership.

Exercise 1: Identifying Your Leadership Values

From the list below, pick five core values that you feel describe and guide who you are as a leader. You
may choose other values that are not on this list. Place them in the following chart and answer the
questions in the matrix.
Achievement
Activity
Advancement
Adventure
Affiliation
Affluence
Authority
Autonomy

Balance
Challenge
Change
Collaboration
Community
Competency
Competition
Courage

Creativity
Diverse perspectives
Duty
Economic security
Friendship
Health
Humor
Harmony

Integrity
Justice
Love
Loyalty
Personal Development
Recognition
Self-respect
Wisdom

Other values that you would like to include but are not on the list?
Adventure
Collaboration
Creativity
Diverse perspectives
Integrity
Commitment

Copyright 2006 Leadership Paradigms, Inc. www.leadershipparadigms.com

Craig Manning
SCOM 425
October 3, 2016

Identifying Your Leadership Values

VALUES

Personal Definition of Values

List your values here

List here your definition of these

values here

1. Balance

Providing a leadership style

that encourages both firm
relationships and hard-work
ethics

2. Collaboration

Able to easily work with

others to obtain positive
growth or change

3. Creativity

To provide new and unique

solutions towards problems.
Includes quick decisionmaking and problemsolving techniques

4. Humble

A leader that not only

guides his group, but helps
them when in need

5. Competition

Represents a leader who

that has a strong desire for
success

How do you envision these

values playing out in your
leadership?

I am able to maintain a
healthy relationship/work
equilibrium with people in a
group
A good leader knows when
to sometimes be a follower.
Switching roles is
sometimes beneficial to the
long-term success of a
group
My creative mindset allows
me to fix future problems
that may occur in a group
through preventative
management strategies
My leadership style ensures
that everyone in the group
is working in harmony
while keeping an open,
positive attitude
My drive for competition is
advantageous for my
leadership style because I
am an initiative-taker

Exercise 2: Uncovering Your Leadership Assumptions

Answer the following questions about leadership. By reflecting on these questions, you will find what
assumptions are driving your leadership thinking.

Copyright 2006 Leadership Paradigms, Inc. www.leadershipparadigms.com

Craig Manning
SCOM 425
October 3, 2016
1. Write down two stories of leadership. One story should describe a positive experience youve had
with leadership and the second story should describe a time when you had a negative experience
with leadership.
Positive: As a site manager at UREC, I have a few responsibilities I must always take
care of when on shift. One of those responsibilities is making sure participants on the
fields can receive immediate medical attention. One day during an outdoor mens
competitive flag-football match, a player stripped a flag from a charging opponent,
causing him to fall on the ground. The player who fell began to scream and hold his
wrist. He had broken his arm. I quickly rushed to the scene and immediately took out my
radio. As the Site Manager on the field it was my duty to make sure the scene was safe
and accessible by EMTs nearby. I took action and directed the radio call while
simultaneously providing assistance to the injured participant. My calm, collective
leadership during this situation allowed the participant to receive immediate medical
attention and prevention from further harm.
Negative: A bad leadership moment I recently had was with a group of middle-schoolers.
Over the weekend, I coached a middle school soccer team. The team was composed of
about 15 twelve-year-old boys. As a warm-up my friend Nathan and I created a conemade obstacle course for the team to dribble through. With only 4 minutes into the drill,
the boys started complaining and losing attention to the drill. Eventually I changed the
drill to be more competitive, and added other team players to be opponents in the drill.
By not recognizing my teams thirst for competition, i ended up leading a drill that my
team was not happy participating in.

2. In the space below, write down your definition of leadership.

Leading others towards growth & change while maintaining a productive ad healthy relationship with
others.

3. Using your definition of leadership, please elaborate how you first came to understand (or know)
your leadership definition.
Leadership is a complex and constantly changing dyanamic between leaders and the groups they serve.
Leadership is an action that can be followed by others and promote healthy motives for productivity.

4. Describe who are the individuals or organizations that influence your leadership definition.

Copyright 2006 Leadership Paradigms, Inc. www.leadershipparadigms.com

Craig Manning
SCOM 425
October 3, 2016
Organizations such as Google ensure that their employees have adequate care while encouraging creative
and unique outputs for change. For instance, google allows some of its employees a 30 minute break-time
for the employee to do whatever they want- as long as it benefits the company google. This allows
employees to take a break while simultaneously pitching new ideas to the company.

For each of the questions in this section, ask yourself:

1. What were my assumptions?
2. What influenced my assumptions?
3. Would others (co-workers, friends, supervisors) see the situations I described differently?
Exercise 3: Understanding Your Leadership Beliefs
Answer the following questions about leadership beliefs. By reflecting on these questions, you will find
what beliefs you hold about leadership.
1. Can people who have caused others harm be leaders, e.g. Adolph Hitler?
Yes. With all ethical decisions aside, leaders become effective when they can obtain a common goal- no
matter the consequences. Political leaders such as Machiavelli have used brutish and aggressive
leadership style tactics and remained largely successful in their efforts.
2. Should leaders have certain qualities to be able to lead?
Leaders require a multitude of qualities to be effective. Although some leaders may be more emotionally
intelligent or logically intelligent than others, their combination of various leadership styles is what truly
makes a leader.
3. Who decides who leads?
Groups produce unanimity by nature by often designating hierarchies, identifying friendships, and
understanding rules within a groups system. Leaders can be appointed, but true leadership is determined
by the followers.
4. How do leaders gain credibility?
Leaders gain credibility in a multitude of ways, such as their success rate, ability to empathize with
others, and keeping others within a group on-task.
5. In general, is there something good about leadership?
Leadership promotes productivity. With ethical concerns aside, leadership can attain goals and objectives
that have been sought for centuries.
6. What do you think is the purpose for leadership?

Copyright 2006 Leadership Paradigms, Inc. www.leadershipparadigms.com

Craig Manning
SCOM 425
October 3, 2016
Leadership helps groups organize and obtain positive growth and production.
7. Is leadership behavior developed through personal experiences or through external forces?
Like mentioned earlier, leadership is a blend of natural and external factors.

For the questions above, write down one statement for each question that best illustrates your belief about
that question. For example, if you answered #6 with: The purpose of leadership is to provide vision,
guidance, and bring people together for a common good. It unites people and gets them to join together
for a goal, then your belief statement may be: I believe that leadership provides a vision to create a
common good. Write a statement for each question. These statements will be used in combination with the
other activities to create a philosophy of leadership for you.
1. Leaders are effective when they obtain a common goal.
2. Although some leaders may be more emotionally intelligent or logically intelligent than others,
their combination of various leadership styles is what truly makes a leader.
3. Leaders can be appointed, but true leadership is determined by the followers.
4. Leaders gain credibility in a multitude of ways, such as their success rate, ability to empathize
with others, and keeping others within a group on-task.
5. Leadership helps groups organize

6. Leadership is a blend of natural and external factors.

7. Leadership promotes productivity

Exercise 4: Finalizing Your Leadership Philosophy

Now that youve identified your leadership values, uncovered your leadership assumptions, and
understand what beliefs guide your leadership thinking, you are now ready to write statements reflecting
your leadership philosophy using the responses above. Statements about your leadership should be
written in the present moment not in the future tense. Creating present moment statements helps you to
internalize and visualize your philosophy as it is happening now, not in the future or the past.
Your leadership philosophy should be a statement that consists of your responses from the above exercise.
It doesnt have to include everything, but it should encompass the general idea of what youve written. It
doesnt have to be formatted in a certain way just whatever makes sense to you. You can write one
sentence statements or you can write a story explaining your philosophy. Start with an initial draft of your
philosophy and write it down. Revise it as often as you need. Remember, your philosophy can change
depending on where you are at with your leadership.
After youve finished, type out your philosophy on a nice sheet of paper and frame it. Add pictures or
artwork to your philosophy. Place it in an area where you will see it all the time; this will serve as a

Copyright 2006 Leadership Paradigms, Inc. www.leadershipparadigms.com

Craig Manning
SCOM 425
October 3, 2016
reminder to you to remain true to your leadership. The following is a sample philosophy statement
consisting of one sentence statements. Remember, you can write your philosophy in any way that makes
sense to you.

My Leadership Philosophy is
Leaders are effective when they obtain a common goal.
Their combination of various leadership styles is what truly makes a leader.
Leaders can be appointed, but true leadership is determined by followers.
Leaders gain credibility in a multitude of ways, such as their success rate, ability to empathize with
others, and keeping others within a group on-task.
Leadership helps groups organize
Leadership is a blend of natural and external factors.
Leadership promotes productivity

Copyright 2006 Leadership Paradigms, Inc. www.leadershipparadigms.com