The Leadership Ladder

Many debate the merits of leadership. They question whether leaders are born or made, what traits they must possess and how they develop. The fact is, not everyone can be a leader. It takes hard work, determination and desire. It takes someone with courage to put them self out there, jump to the front of the line and seize opportunities. To this end, if one wants to harness leadership skills they must commit to be active in its pursuit: get out of their comfort zone, join organizations, volunteer, take on assignments that carry influence, meet people, try new things and learn about there self, others and the world.

The book The Leadership Challenge provides five best practices of exemplary leadership: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act and encourage the heart. In this model, leadership works like a ladder with five rungs, each practice is one step that must be achieved to move on to the next. At the same time, once one step is completed, it must be built upon and not neglected. Specifically, the ladder operates like so:

1. Model the Way
a. clarify values
b. set the example

2. Inspire a Shared Vision
a. envision the future
b. enlist others

3. Challenge the Process
a. search for opportunities
b. experiment and take risks

4. Enable Others to Act
a. foster collaboration
b. strengthen others

5. Encourage the Heart
a. recognize contributions
b. celebrate values and victories

By following this outline, ordinary people become leaders and are able to organize, mobilize, and motivate people to act towards a common goal.

I believe that no one is born inherently great, but recognize that some are born into circumstances that allow them to become great leaders; while still others must blaze their own trail to leadership. Through challenges, failures, successes, triumphs and defeats, one’s leadership ability and character is molded over time. Leadership is born when one has the internal and external motivation needed to carry them through problems that arise and demonstrate the five principles of exemplary leadership.

How Technology Can Save Trees

With the proliferation of instant communications, doesn’t it make sense to reduce paper waste by making more information digital? In 2009, as part of my first New Media class at UGA, I was part of a 19 person team that created a digital solution to paper receipts. The idea was to leverage digital communications to help the environment, improve retail CRM, and keep customers organized. The project was dubbed Rethink Receipts.

I had forgotten about this project, which won best of class, until I stumbled across the website today.  I thought I would share it here, because to my knowledge no one has taken the idea of electronic receipts mainstream yet.  Isn’t it high time to do so?

New Media Capstone Project

The New Media Institute at Georgia is a program of several classes that students at the university can take to become certified in the apllication of new media technology. There are a series of classes ranging from the History of Technology to Digital Media Production. As a part of my final class, the Capstone class, my team and I developed an iPhone application and an integrated marketing campaign for the Sharpie brand. The iPhone app, currently a promo type, makes use of augmented realty, geo-tagging, and sharing via social media, text, and email. Check out our promo type below and for more info go to www.uncappedeverywhere.com

What do you think?