With leadership, as with most things in life, experience can be the best teacher, and it’s important to base our leadership practices on the best of what people do—the actions that represent our highest standards.
• Telling the story of a time when you did your best as a leader can help you think about your behaviors that embody exemplary leadership.
• To begin the process of learning from your own experience.
• Your story will also help your instructor to get to know you better.
Recall a time when, in your opinion, you did your very best as a leader. Your Personal Best leadership experience might have taken place recently or long ago; while you were the “official” leader or manager of a team or group, or when you emerged as an informal leader; when you were working for pay or as a volunteer. The experience might have taken place in the workplace, when you were part of a community group or professional organization, as a part of a formal or informal team, or when you felt you made a difference.
1) Set the stage. Provide the context by briefly describing the situation: the organization, the people involved, the nature of the project or undertaking, and the challenges you faced. Also describe how you felt at the beginning of the experience.
2) Describe what happened. Be specific. What did you do? What actions did you take to address the challenge? To engage others? To keep others motivated, especially when things did not go as planned? What were the results?
3) Describe how you felt at the end of this experience and the two or three major lessons about leadership that you learned.