The “5 Practices of Leadership” model is what makes a leader effective. By Modeling the Way, Challenging the Process, Inspiring a Shared Vision, Enabling Others to Act, and Encouraging the Heart, leaders can properly handle any group scenario because it keeps everyone on the same page. Implementing the above steps will:

• Get people thinking in an integrative manner
• Set values for the group
• Encourage people to think outside of the box
• Create a shared sense of ownership
• Learn from mistakes
• Build confidence

This list could go on and on, but these are the main takeaways from the leadership model. Here is a link to an article and video that explains the model a bit further.

Applying the Model in the Group

Once I received 5 Practices model, I was pretty surprised at how simple it was. I was eager to test it out and see if it would work in our group. Below is a picture of the stages of team development, which is mentioned later on this page.

During the forming stage of our team development I was able to Inspire a Shared Vision and Model the Way for our group. Sure this vision changed throughout the term, but it is important to get at least a direction of where we should be going as a group. By getting everybody on board with our goals and aspirations, we were able to move forward quicker.

The second practice that I saw put to the test was Enable Others to Act. Two shy members took it upon themselves to speak during the initial presentation, and other group members suggested they do the same. We all knew that this new experience would help them as leaders because their professional oral communication would be improved. Shortly after accepting this role and after their presentation, I made sure to compliment them (Encourage the Heart). Nothing is worse than doing something you’re uncomfortable with and then have somebody say that the performance was horrible. This does nothing to improve that person. One of the volunteers was an international student and I made sure to give him extra praise because it is no easy task to speak in front of other people in a foreign language. It reminded me to not be so critical of others because we have all had different experiences that make us more nervous or comfortable in front of others.

I was very happy to see that I improved upon the practice of Challenging the Process. A group member on my peer evaluations said that, “Towards the end of the term, I saw the challenger side of [Stephan] which is useful to the group as it gives another perspective”. The reason behind this improvement can be explained by my midterm peer evaluations where group members said that I could be contributing more.

As stated in my Emotional Intelligence page, I think that the balance of understanding your own and others’ emotions is what makes a leader truly emotional intelligent. The leader has to step back and realize that it’s not all about him, and that the success of a group is a product of everybody. The best leaders can quickly see that something is bothering somebody else, fix it, and go on like nothing even happened.

In terms of Emotional Intelligence, I know that I can evaluate myself more instead of waiting for others to evaluate me. When I can have myself established, I can move forward and help others, as well as learn more about myself in the process. After every group meeting I will reflect back on my actions during the meeting and write them down in a journal. This journal will keep track of my improvements and exist as a reminder of what I need to work on and how I have developed as a leader.