Lessons Learned In Leadership

     For my Marketing class, we have begun reading “Lessons Learned: Straight Talk from the World’s Top Leaders”. The book has been significantly insightful in terms of how leaders conduct relationships with their customers and solidify their visions. In addition, these leaders highlight some of the most important techniques in their personal leadership strategies. 

     In reading this book, I have been able to recognize and relate to some of these strategies in ways I conduct my own leadership style. In addition, I have been able to connect some of these strategies to a few of my Strength Finder results, such as “empathy”, “connectedness”, and “developer”. 

     For example, as I have mentioned before, these strengths emphasize my abilities in connecting to others, empathizing with them, and recognizing their significance. In the book, Richard Santulli states that “To lead a sales team effectively, you have to show that you care about your customers. Lead by example, and go the extra mile”. I think that executing this strategy is so crucial in being successful in not only your business but developing lasting relationships with customers. 

     I have found that this strategy has been especially useful in leadership roles such as, Recruitment Counselor. During the formal Sorority Recruitment process, my partner and I dealt with a situation in which one of our group members was feeling defeated after not getting asked back to her first-choice organization. Though there were 15 others girls in our group and we had a schedule to maintain, both my partner and I took the time to sit down and discuss her thoughts and feelings separately from the group. We reiterated that although one organization may not have worked out as she intended, that other organizations saw strong qualities in her that fit well with their sisterhood and what they stood for as an organization. Having this private conversation with her was important in both helping give her a renewed outlook on the situation and reminding her that she is important not only to the organizations on campus, but also to us. 

     Furthermore, I am looking forward to delving more into this book and learning leadership advice from such influential industry leaders.