Leadership Fundamentals

B. Espinal-LDR 2010

Introduction

Hello everyone, my name is Ben-Avir Espinal and I am currently on the men’s soccer team at the University of South Florida. My philosophy of leadership is a way of teaching while using guidance to help shape and bring together different qualities to make a person lead and take charge of a situation. This philosophy of mine has been changed in only positive ways. I have learned that it is far more than what my philosophy of leadership is.

Values

The three core values I value most in my life are honesty, family, and hard work. For me honesty is what allows me to trust someone and rely on them to tell me what is right and wrong, I use honesty to show the integrity of a person and if it someone I can trust. Following honesty is family, my family is not just my immediate family but the circle of friends and co-workers of everyone whom I may meet. My family are those who I can contact and hope will help me with something and I may return the favor for. Lastly, my last core value of the three is hard work. Hard work is something that goes a long way for me because I use this value to see the dedication someone is putting forth in anything they do. Hard work is not easy and having the grit and motivation to do so is what makes me value any person with this value a lot more. These core values show up in my life daily and are used to keep me moving forward. Several times when I must use honesty is when my coach asks me for my opinion as to how I feel practices are going for me and what I can improve on. My coach then agrees with what I have said and knows that I am not sugar coating anything and want to improve. This helps me keep a close bond with my coach and he can trust what I am going to say and what I will do to improve. Family is seen many times throughout my life. There are times when I am struggling or need help from someone and the friends I have near me will help get through different situations. Many times, I do not go back to my immediate family because my friends and people I have come to know help me with a situation I may come across. Lastly, I demonstrate hard work in different parts of my life. There are times when I get frustrated and want to quit because I am not doing well in an area I do not want to deal with, but I remember that I can do anything with hard work. A couple of examples are when I need to complete assignments that I may not know how to do. Another example is when I am practicing on the field and need to get a certain play right in order to create a chance to score a goal.

Leadership Values

Throughout the semester, I have learned that everyone who was in the class has their own personal values and reasons as to why. These reasons are based off stuff that they have been taught or just experienced in their own lives and many times they are all different but there are some that some could relate to. The different values that everyone has is what helps them become their own leader and develop their own style.

Diversity

By looking around the classroom it easy to see that everyone comes from different backgrounds. The diversity among the group helps each other to open the eyes of everyone as to what to consider when being a leader. Many times, we forget that we are not all from the same place and have grown up learning different things. This diversity has helped open the eyes of those who are now not only going to consider their own background but those of everyone.

Relational Leadership Model

The relational leadership model is a great way to map out an idea as a leader, it helps you develop the process of what you want to do to complete the end goal. It also helps you to be inclusive, ethical, and empowering to your team members and idea. Overall this will help you complete the purpose of your result of whatever it maybe you are working on.

Identity

Everyone has their own identity and having your own identity is important because it is what makes you who you are. Going into the class you knew not everyone would be like you but once you were able to learn more about everyone it was easier to talk to everyone. The differences in identity helped everyone adjust and come up with similarities. This will help all of those involved become better leaders in the near future.

Classmates

As the class has gone on through the semester I have been able to see most people develop in their leadership style. I was able to see how some people have become more outgoing and speak up more in class. I have also seen different people take charge of their group. Many people have also learned to listen and keep options open and considering other people’s opinions. My classmates have developed in many ways and have only improved their leadership abilities.