How Does Cyrus Show leadership?

• Cyrus likes to see others succeed
• He tasks in the glory of others success and is not envious of others
• Cyrus shows good judgment and can ultimately help others because of it
• Cyrus is curious which can be seen as a leadership quality because he is not afraid of the unknown
• I think it is Cyrus’ childhood and upbringing that allowed for his leadership qualities to be seen later in life.

Assignments

Someone in my life that I would say shows the best leadership qualities is my mom. Knowing what my mom has been through and the way she grew up allows me to identify her as a leader. She possesses many leadership qualities and based on what she had told me about her life, from a young age as well. My mom is someone who always puts the needs of others before her own, she does it now with her children, and before she had children with her family. She has always been that person to advise her friends in the right direction and even have lost friends from being so blunt, trying to make sure they are doing the right thing. My mom grew up independent, her mom left her when she was about five years old to live with her father. She was raised by a single father so many things in life she had to figure out on her own. Her dad often worked late nights and weekends. She was given so much freedom yet she never abused the freedom she was given. She could have gotten into a lot of mischiefs yet she did not. She chose to always stay on the right path and encouraged her friends to do the same. She tells me that often her friends would come to her for advice and she was seen as the “mom” of the group. From taking the course I have learned the five basic qualities a leader must possess are Knowledge, behavior, relationships, decisions, and reputation. My mom shows these basic qualities and more which make her a leader in not just my life but the life of others. Even at her job, she is held to a great standard. She had been with the same company for almost twenty years now so many people look to her and she is very reputable throughout the company. With the job that she has she has to make sure everyone is doing their part in the team so that they can complete tasks timely and efficiently. My mom grew up in England and went to school up until 16. She then worked for some time and decided to move to America, by herself. She moved to a new country where she had a few family members, little money, and no job. The two leadership qualities she exhibited by doing this is optimism and ambition. A leader needs to be optimistic in my opinion. Optimism allows for hope and knowing that things will work out in the end. My mom did this when she moved to America not knowing what would happen. She stayed optimistic and made a life for herself. She still possesses this optimism quality today and tells me to always remain optimistic because it is better to be hopeful than fearful. My mom is also ambitious; she always sets her goals high and never doubts that she can’t achieve them. One of her dreams was to move to America when she was a little girl. She followed that dream with no money or job and was able to do great things. Because my mom is a black woman I do think this affected her leadership. She faced challenges that other people would have not because of her skin. Especially coming to America during the 90s the racial climate was very different than what it is today. On top of that, she was also a young woman who was living by herself in a new country. She had to be extra cautious and aware of her every move and surroundings. I think my mom’s best leadership quality is independence. In life often leaders learn how to lead by being by themselves, and learning their qualities so that they can lead people in the future. I think my mom’s leadership would be most effective in any aspect. Her optimism, independence, and knowledge through life experiences prove that she can serve well as any leader.

Plotting your leadership development

What is a problem that you would like to have phronēsis (wisdom, forethought, or “knowing how this is going to go”) in solving?

A problem in the world that I would like to have Phronesis in solving is prison reform. Minorities only make up about 32% of the U.S population yet they make up 56% of all incarcerated people. The prison system targets minority groups and often they are locked up for a long time on small charges. This is why prison reform is something I am very interested in and it’s a problem that I want to contribute to solving. My plan for cultivating phronēsis for the problem is to become established in my career. I know that if I become a respectable leader in my career I can contribute to solving the problem of prison reform. This is why I often battle with myself and the career path I want to take. I am currently on a medical path, but I am heavily considering entering the law field. One of my interests had always been the prison system and to always understand why it’s so corrupt and what can be done to help those who do not deserve to be incarcerated. Ever since I was in middle school I have also written essays, and done projects on the prison industrial complex and how it is set up to keep people incarcerated, with little to no hope of being released. It’s a bog business, I have also watched many documentaries about this issue as well as reading many books and articles. By becoming someone who is respected in the law field, or even just becoming an advocate for this issue I can establish my reputation for phronēsis, so that others will take me seriously. Establishing phronēsis, is important because it allows one to be knowledgeable and aware of what is going to happen. Establishing a reputation so that others will take you seriously can be hard. Especially on the topic of prison reform. I see many lawmakers, activist, and politicians today that have to work extra hard to maintain a good reputation so that they are able to fight for people in prison. Kim Kardashian for example has worked on getting many people out of prison over the last couple of years. People do not think of her as an activist because of her reputation in the media. Yet she is working hard to start a fairly new image for herself. She like me is passionate, and set on helping those that do not deserve to be incarcerated. In all honesty, I hope to one day be able to do that. Like I said earlier I am still unsure of my true calling in life but I know for a fact helping those in prison is something I want to do. Whether that be donating money to those who can’t afford a lawyer or trying to start programs for those that are incarcerated. I think one of the main reasons that I am so interested in this is because I believe everyone deserves a second chance. I often wonder how my life would have turned out if people did not give me a second chance. Not only that but I see how the American prison system treats minorities black men especially.

There have been times in my life in which my feelings of phthonos interfered with my ability to lead was at y old job. My managers would constantly put me down because of my age and treat me like I was incompetent. They often embarrassed me in front of my other co-workers and almost made it known that I was not able to train new people. Not only was this bad for self-esteem, but it also made me timid and feel as though my opinions and words were not important at all. As a 16-year-old still figuring yourself out this really stuck with me for some time. It was very hard for me to move on from this situation and forgive myself for even believing what others thought of me. I was hard on myself at this time and was not aware of how many good qualities I showed. Looking back on it today I was and still am a hard worker, it saddens me to think about my feelings during that time in my life and I sometimes still am angered by the situation. Although I am 19 now I don’t think I will ever forget or completely get over how I was treated at that job, it’s one of those things that stick with you but you learn from in life.

Another time in my life in which my feelings of phthonos interfered with my ability to lead was back in high school. I was supposed to be the lead in all class discussions for my contemporary history class. This would allow me to bring up topics of debate every day before class and lead the class on the topic for the first half of the class. However one day I decided to bring up the topic of politics. When my teacher made it clear that he supported the president I could not hold back how I felt about the president and how narrow-minded the words my teacher used were. He even said some very questionable about immigration and race. I was not going to bite my tongue and not speak up about how I felt on those issues. He then decided that class debated and discussions were not a good idea and that if anyone had a differing opinion to keep it to themselves.For me to overcome these feelings the next time they arise I need to remember who I am and to never let what other people say or others people’s onions take me out of character.