Certain
things are brought to light every so often, some good some not so much. As I am
a stubborn person and a bit of a perfectionist at times for me I usually see
them as the latter. This being said it still needs to be noted that being a
good leader is not just looking at how I can improve others but how can I
improve myself. For years I thought of this as improving myself to help others,
until one day it hit me in the face like a sack of bricks. I needed to improve
my inner self so that it was possible to better help others. This might seem
like a no-brainer to some people but for me it was a wake-up call, I do not put
myself first hardly ever and because of that I would start to get burnt out.
Along with that I have a hard time expressing my concerns without coming off
like a jerk. It was not all that surprising to look at my test results and have
those traits confirmed.
I have
never been good at being politically correct, personally I think it is a shame
that we have to be. Being politically correct makes us hide what we truly
think. However, in today’s society, where most everyone’s feelings can get hurt
at the drop of a hat, learning how to be politically correct is an essential
skill to have. Over the years I have begun to learn to shut my mouth in certain
circumstances, but not all, and for me it is a skill I need to develop further
and with an unprecedented quickness. My other big skill that I need to practice
more is counseling, this includes professional, and personal. By professional I
am referring to guiding people to achieve their working goals, and also with
issues working that they may have that they do or do not see. Personal counseling
is when someone comes to talk to me about a problem at home or just with themselves.
I feel that a leader should be able to do both effectively so that working
towards the companies goals will not be hindered. I have a fair amount of
experience in counseling, yet it is a skill that always needs to be worked on.
I agree with your first paragraph when you talk about yourself in a third person. How you need to fix issues within yourself before you can go out and try to fix others. I for one know this to be one of my biggest challenges. I am a straight forward type of person and usually speak my mind no matter who it is. Though that kind of attitude is fine in some instances but not so much in others. I have been wrote up several times with the department I'm with because i am very loud in my opinions. But then again it sometimes gets across to management that maybe I'm right some of the time. Either way i have been trying to learn how not to piss everyone off around me by being a better listener and not so loud with my own personal opinions of things. Don't get me wrong i do tend to slip every now and again but its a learning curve. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI also agree heavily with your first paragraph. I often times too many put others before myself and it is quite taxing. I also am very straight forward with people and cannot beat around the bush with people so although I am not a jack a** I often come across as one. I'm not sure how long you have been in the fire industry but there is more often than not cases where you should be being straight forward with your peers and letting them know where they can improve. I really appreciate it when a captain or lieutenant or even another member approaches me to talk about ways I can better something or let me know when I may have messed up and not necessarily realized it. Saying that I appreciate this may come across weird but I view it as constructive criticism and am thankful for these types of people because at the end of the day it is increasing my knowledge and skill set when it comes to dealing with situations that my affect my life as well as others. Thanks for sharing it was great to read.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you I hate how society wants us to all be politically correct and never lets be ourselves. But I think you should be stubborn and stick with what you think is right, yeah this might get you into trouble sometimes and people will try to point it out to you but at least you can feel better knowing you were yourself. That being said you should take into consideration of what they tell is wrong and learn from it but make it your own. Thanks for sharing.
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