Journal Entry 1

J. Feder
9/2/08

Journal Entry for Ag Leadership

So this past week I spent some time pondering my definition of what a leader is. I came to this conclusion that when I think of leaders, I think of people that are in charge. Examples that come to my mind would be my parents, my teachers, my manager at work, the president of the USA and so forth. Realizing that I can not think of anything more to say about my definition, I went online and googled leaders/leadership and came up with a website that sums up how incomplete my definition is. I came across this belief-“although your position as a manager, supervisor, lead, etc. gives you the authority to accomplish certain tasks and objectives in the organization, this power does not make you a leader, it simply makes you the boss” Taking this information in hand I began to rethink my thoughts of what a leader is and came up with some new examples. My first example is an organization that I used to belong to-The Girl Scouts of America. They are leaders because they empower young girls’ minds that they can do anything (and I’m not just saying that because they make/sell really good cookies).When I was a girl scout, I learned so many new and interesting things that I could apply to real life such as how to survive in the wilderness and how to cook. Another example of a leader is the corporation Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. I say this because I see the new technology they come up with to better our operations, communities and environment. They are a major leader in giving back to the local communities that they reside in. In conclusion to this journal entry, my revised definition of what a leader is is someone that empowers people to reach the goals of the “organization”.