Leadership

To begin, I found this article very difficult to understand at first. That may be perhaps I had just eaten a delicious lunch from Bojangle's and was practically in a food coma, but I digress. This article complied different points of view from different speakers in the "TED talks" series in order to compile an article that discuss leadership by teachers in the classroom. After reading through a few of the different articles, there were two that stood out to me that I feel can be applied to all aspects of leadership. The first one discussed the difference between a fixed and malleable mindset. There are some people who have been told they are unique and special, and there are those who, because of what they have done and earned, are considered special. As a leader, taking things for granted can be harmful, as well as assuming you are where you are by any measure if "innate power." Thinking you are a leader because that's what you've always been told is wrong. What have you done to prove yourself? People whose mindset is "I have to work to get somewhere" understand that when they are faced with a roadblock, instead of avoiding it will put their heads down and persevere through the adversity. This characteristic is essential for a good leader because he will face all types of difficulties as he leads.The second key point was brought up by General McChrystal's article concerning failure. Gen. McChrystal was a prominent U.S. General during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Too many times people let one setback completely derail their progress of achieving something. This is a bad mindset to have because if it was true, Michael Jordan, who cut from his high school basketball team, would've never become the player he was. President Lincoln, who failed and lost numerous elections before ever becoming President, would never have seen the office. The point here is not to plan to fail, but use your failures as building blocks for the future and learn from them.