I will be  courageous and brave enough to face challenges openly.
I will be trustworthy, interested and invested in my followers.
I will have their best interests at heart.
I will be authentic and won't attempt a leadership style that doesn't suit me.
I will be myself. 
I will conduct myself in an ethical way and be an example of what I want my followers employees to emulate.
I will always stay curious, open and committed to learning. 

In this digital storyboard, I will be showing how I plan to achieve my two leadership goals - to be able to lead with love and to be a strategically thinking leader. 

I will stop being afraid of what could go wrong, start being excited about what could go right. I will be a leader I would respond and perform for. 

By achieving the following goals, I believe I can truly develop into a wonderful leader, professionally and personally. 
The greatest leaders put a vast amount of time and energy into helping others be more successful, by connecting to people, giving feedback to others, and providing the support they need - and I want to be one of those leaders. 

 

 

In a workplace environment, establishing sincere relationships is as simple as just taking a few extra minutes a day to make a connection to my followers. Paying attention and being genuinely interested in each person creates loyalty and performance. I will be dedicated to the happiness and growth of others and be grounded the relationships around me. I will intentionally act to support the goals of my employees. I want focus on teaching, rather than giving answers – to encourage growth. I will strive to seek goodness in each individual. As a leader, I will always believe that people are fundamentally good - they want to do good, even when they aren’t doing it well. Showing followers that I see that goodness inside them, will help them to perform on a higher level (Daft, 2016, pp. 153-154).

 

I cannot be a leader without having the courage and strength to be a fierce example for my followers. It’s impossible to pour from your own cup when it is not full. I can’t help others if I cannot help myself. How can expect myself to be compassionate and kind if I can’t be compassionate and kind to myself? Self-care and love is essential to remaining brave and strong in the face of challenges and retribution. Allowing imperfections and mistakes, and not punishing myself, leaves room to grow in every aspect. Attempting to be perfect makes it hard to continue to learn and accept constructive criticism. I need to practice self-love in every way and facet of my life, and I hope that will shine through in my leadership style (Campbell et al, 2016, p. 360). 

 

 A follower who feels appreciated by their leader will always do more than what is expected. I want to be able to not only listen with the intent to reply but the intent to understand. I don’t want to lead by showing how amazing I am; I want to lead by showing how amazing my followers are. Not only will I gain loyalty and respect, but I will build true relationships.

 

I need to portray and embody a well-thought out philosophy and mission statement for the organization and my goals – so that every follower knows what we are working towards. I want this to inspire focus and for employees to utilize that mission into their very own strategic thinking. This allows for autonomy. I want followers to be able to think on their own, and to encourage others to generate solutions so that everyone is as productive as possible, without having to tell everyone exactly what to do. I think this is imperative for trust in a workplace (Kabacoff, 2014). 

I, myself, must be completely educated and always learning about the industry and organization I work for. One of the most important fundamentals of strategic leadership is having applicable and comprehensive business information that will help me elevate my thinking beyond the day-to-day operations. On that note, I then must keep my followers informed on what is happening and how they and elevate their own strategic thinking. It is crucial to encourage this long-term perspective and integrate it into the training and development of new employees and everyday mantras of the business. The impact of every action must be thought about strategically and it will be my job as a leader to set an example of this (Kabacoff, 2014).

With all my followers focused on the same strategic goal, priorities and work will become streamlined. This will allow for everyone, especially me, to become more efficient in every aspect of work. Everyone has a clear vision of what is expected of them. There is structure for me, as well as employees. It is straightforward and there is no confusion. I believe this strategic leadership style can make me stand out.