"Convergence"

"Convergence"
by Seth Mack

Welcome to OUR blog

In Leadership and Society, an elective course led by senior students under the guidance of our teacher, we expanded upon our career and personal interests by finding mentors who are leaders in our areas of interest.

Students were responsible for themselves--looking for and contacting these people, setting up shadowing and interviews, and developing an action based on what they learned. The main purpose was to become more independent people in society, because, while City High prepares us well for post-high school activities, we wanted more opportunities to explore our interests on our own, and create a professional network before graduating.

City High's Leadership Symposium was an extension of this experience and the year-long Politics and Civics course. This course regularly brings in adult leaders to be interviewed by seniors. Several questions about leadership were suggested by participants and ideas were exchanged between those who participated.

Following the period of open discussion in small groups, short summaries were presented with an aim to develop synthesis and connection between ideas. Interesting ideas that did not fit into the group consensus were also encouraged. There was a short period of open questioning and debate, followed by brief closing remarks which ended the event.

Final Presentations, Discussion, and Analysis

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Questions on the Journey of Leadership

  • What traits, actions and ways of thinking make someone a true leader beyond just having a title? What interactions have you had with people that made you see them as leaders?

  • Whom do you most admire? Why?

  • Leaders need followers. And most leaders are followers, too -- they have bosses or boards of directors or constituencies they must satisfy. What makes a good follower?

  • Why would anyone want to follow you?

  • How is the journey of a leader related to the idea of a monomyth? (The idea of a “monomyth” was defined by Joseph Campbell. It refers to the similar elements of stories from different cultures around the world. One interpretation of this question could be: what are the similar and different ideas about the journey of a leader found in different cultures around the world?)

  • How important is diversity in moving toward leadership?

  • Growing up, how diverse were your relationships and friendships? How diverse are they now?



  • What were the obstacles that you had to deal with before you gained leadership?

  • Describe a time when you took on a leadership role. What worked and what didn’t? What did you learn?

  • Do you consider yourself a leader? Why or why not?

  • Do you believe people are born a leader, or become one throughout their life? Why?

  • When you think of a leader who comes to mind? Do you consider him/her to be a good leader or a bad leader and why?

  • Do you think failure plays a role in one's development as a leader? Discuss a failure that you feel has helped you in your journey toward leadership.

  • What do you see as the differences between a "boss" and a "leader"?

  • Many leaders work with a diverse population, including individuals from different cultures and backgrounds. Do you think leadership styles need to be adjusted or tailored depending on the followers? Has there ever been a time when you had to alter your leadership style to be successful?

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)