LeaderShape
I went into LeaderShape not knowing what to expect because no one told us what we were exactly going to do. All we knew was that we were going to spend our first week of winter break in West Harrison, Indiana with sixty other strangers. However, it became one of the best experiences of my life. I have never been in an environment with sixty other people who were so experienced, smart, inspirational and compassionate. I was able to network and learn a lot from them during that one week.
Before LeaderShape, I defined leadership as the ability to deliver result and that they were great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to influence and empower others. One particular incident in LeaderShape confirmed this definition. We had to share our visions for the future with our family clusters. When I shared about my dream of all Indonesian children having access to quality English education, my family members could sense how emotional and passionate I was about my vision and they, themselves, became emotional and supported my vision. I realized that I just used emotion to persuade them to support my goal, and that what Leadership is about. Previously, I always thought being emotional was a weakness, but LeaderShape made me realize that I can actually use it as a strength as a leader instead of thinking of it as a weakness.
After going through LeaderShape, I would also like to add that leadership is also about staying true to your values. LeaderShape helped me realize what values I had closest to my heart were, how those values made me who I am today and how important it was to live and lead through those values everyday. Leadership is about making one’s actions and words coincide with one’s values and ethics, especially during difficult times. A leader sets the tone for the whole group, and if the leader leads with integrity, his/her followers would follow and also stay true to their values. This is why leadership is so important, because it can influence and affect so many other people. It has the power to lead to positive change.
Before LeaderShape, I defined leadership as the ability to deliver result and that they were great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to influence and empower others. One particular incident in LeaderShape confirmed this definition. We had to share our visions for the future with our family clusters. When I shared about my dream of all Indonesian children having access to quality English education, my family members could sense how emotional and passionate I was about my vision and they, themselves, became emotional and supported my vision. I realized that I just used emotion to persuade them to support my goal, and that what Leadership is about. Previously, I always thought being emotional was a weakness, but LeaderShape made me realize that I can actually use it as a strength as a leader instead of thinking of it as a weakness.
After going through LeaderShape, I would also like to add that leadership is also about staying true to your values. LeaderShape helped me realize what values I had closest to my heart were, how those values made me who I am today and how important it was to live and lead through those values everyday. Leadership is about making one’s actions and words coincide with one’s values and ethics, especially during difficult times. A leader sets the tone for the whole group, and if the leader leads with integrity, his/her followers would follow and also stay true to their values. This is why leadership is so important, because it can influence and affect so many other people. It has the power to lead to positive change.