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A Leadership Journey

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A Leadership Journey
A LEADERSHIP JOURNEY.

Created by
SHARATH KUMAR

Abstract

The paper records the evolution of the author’s thinking on leadership through the course of his work involvement. Leadership is viewed as a dynamic process which consists formal and informal roles. The process is introduced as an individual recognizes opportunities and urged to answer back to evolving patterns and pledge action to enable positive change. The dynamics between formal and informal leadership structures and leadership as a state of mind are conferred.

The following paper shows a reflection on my personal journey and growing understanding of leadership based on my work experience. As I look back in time, I identify that most of my current interest in leadership and complexity has evolved. This paper archives the development of my view about leadership.

Stages in the Journey

Over my career I have experienced various milestones that have shaped and inclined my perspectives on leadership. Vitally I have witnessed my role as a leader as one who pronounces and puts into action a vision that inspires others to join in to an extent at least. Along the way, the instability of resistance to that vision that has been the extreme influence on restricting my focus and ideology about leadership, as I’ve fought to overcome obstacles. Now I leadership as a dynamical distributed process among performers. I believe I have inculcated an informal methodology similar to grounded theory, as I take in information on the area concerned, formulate a theory and then test and modify that theory actively. There have been crowning events that have shaped my perspectives about leadership.

I evoke the poignant enthusiasm of joining the company. I had been employed as Assistant Chief Information Officer multinational company. My position in the company in my opinion was a dream job – aiding in devising a long-term strategy for the growth of the business unit from a process and technology perspective. I instantly



References: Goldstein, J. A. (2007). A New Model of Emergence and its Leadership Implications. In Complex Systems Leadership Theory, Exploring Organizational Complexity (Vol Jaques, E. (1989). Requisite Organization: A Total System for Effective Managerial Organization and Managerial Leadership for the 21st Century : Amended (2nd ed., p Senge, P. M., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R., & Smith, B. (1994). The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook (1st ed., p Senge, P. M., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Roth, G., Ross, R., & Smith, B. (1999). The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations (1st ed., p Quinn, R. E. (2004). Building the Bridge As You Walk On It: A Guide for Leading Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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