Running head: LEADERSHIP AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1

Leadership Autobiography

Johnathon Shaw

University of Wisonsin- La Crosse

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Salient Identities

My most salient identity is that of a Midwesterner. I have lived outside of the

midwestern United States and have spent considerable time in other parts of the nation. Each

region has subtle cultural differences that impact their values and identities. For me, the

Midwestern identity is salient because it is so closely tied with our cultural idea of whiteness, but

it is also a more specific type of whiteness. To me, Midwestern culture is one of exciting

politeness and intentional “plainess.” Plainess comes in the form of personal dress styles, the

style of home, and even in what I eat. I prefer a classic meal of meat and potatoes, and not any

intricate entree that has a lot of spices. When I lived in Colorado, the differences in tastes

became

so clear, and it reinforced the notion that I am a blue jean and boot-wearing midwestern man.

Another salient identity for me is that of a man. This also stems from the

Midwestern white culture, but it is nonetheless important to me. As a man, I am supposed to

behave in certain ways. I am to be polite at all times, shake hands and look people in the eyes. I

am to refer to people as “sir” or “ma’am” out of respect and deference. I am supposed to protect

my reputation and honor my word when I give it.

Lastly, my most salient identity is that of my family name. I am a Shaw, and that

is supposed to mean something. Building off of the other two identities, I have been raised that

Shaw’s have an even tighter code of conduct within the Midwestern and male identities I have. I

am also the last of the Shaws, so growing up my grandparents often told me I had to have several

children. They acted as if the lack of sons on my part would result in a dynastic war for the
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throne. Now that I am older and I can reflect and analyze these beliefs, I understand why my

grandparents feel it is important. Grandpa was raised to protect the family name, and in order to

protect it, it has to continue on. I certainly benefited from being a Shaw growing up, as people

knew my parents and, and their hard-earned reputations were extended to me. A Shaw is a

hardworking person, dedicated to their tasks, and loyal to their friends. I was hired at my first job

because one of the managers had gone to school with my father and knew that I would likely

have similar values as him. I certainly feel this responsibility to live up to the name.

I also understand that I hold some very privileged identities and I am still learning to

understand how these impact my leadership.

Values and Traits Explored

With these salient identities comes a set of values and traits that influence my actions,

thoughts, and leadership style. These traits and values are: service, family, loyalty, honesty, and

toughness.

I would describe my own leadership philosophy as heavily influenced by the concept of

servant leadership. From elementary school through high school, I played football and

this is where I learned what it meant to be a part of a larger whole. Everything I did as a

football player was for my teammates. In college I was an active member of Circle K

International.. My goal in Circle K International was to serve my community and my

organization, and I took great pride in mentoring younger members of the club and helping them

build the courage and confidence to run for an office. I was the Vice President of the

organization, and one of my primary responsibilities was promoting growth of our members by

getting them involved in the organization. When we would hold our meetings to discuss our
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events, we would have our group members propose what service projects they would like to do.

We would encourage students to voice their ideas, and when out on a service project we would

recognize students who showed initiative or problem solving. My role as the vice president was

to assist the students in planning the projects they wanted to see done. In other student

organizations, the president would choose the club’s activities. In ours, the role of our officers

was to promote the growth of our members and push them to develop their leadership skills.

As a child I was very proud of my parents, and I would boast that they helped people.

Through their actions, my parents not only helped impart service as a trait of mine, but they also

taught me what it meant to be a part of a family. Both of my parents come from large and

dysfunctional families and they both consciously worked very hard to break the cycle. As I have

grown older, I have become more aware of many of the familial issues my parents shielded from

me when I was a child, and this reinforced what family means to me. I am so thankful for my

parents and if I have a family of my own one day, I hope to impart the same sense of protection,

loyalty, and unity that my parents provided for me. That is what makes family such an important

value to me.

How I would describe loyalty is simple: you stand by your team and your values.

A crucial part of this value is that I must be loyal to my values above all, and when forming a

team, I have to ensure that the team holds similar values. In a familial sense, loyalty comes in the

form of staying out of the petty squabbles of the extended family, and thus being loyal to the

wishes of my parents. In a leadership sense, I have to be loyal to those that I am leading. When

in a position of power, I have to do what is best for those I lead, and resist the temptation to do

what is best for me. Finally, when it comes to friendship, loyalty means that I won’t betray the
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trust of a friend, and I will support them as they go through life. This combines with service in

my leadership style, as I will feel a certain loyalty to my team. However, I feel that this might

have some unintended consequences as sometimes a team leader may have to make tough

decisions, such as letting a person go, and I feel that would come very difficult to me. If my

loyalty is to my team and my goal is to serve them and promote their growth, I would take

having it to let a staff member go as a personal failure. This trait might make me too invested in

the staff to make some of the tougher, more uncomfortable decisions that leaders have to make.

Honesty is probably the most straightforward value to explain. It means that avoid telling

lies or intentionally misleading people. More importantly, it means being honest with myself,

and practicing reflection to make sure my values and my actions are congruent with one another.

It means asking myself if I gave a full effort, and giving myself an honest answer. This serves as

an accountability mechanism for me, and it usually works well. This ensures that I am bringing

my all to the table, and focusing on the tasks that need to be done. However, sometimes I am my

own harshest critic, and this causes me to have unrealistic standards for myself. When I

inevitably fail to reach these unrealistic standards, I can be too hard on myself. This, however,

leads me to my next trait.

Lastly, my final trait would be toughness. This comes from football and my parents to be

sure. But it does not mean being harsh or strong, it means persevering through adversity and not

giving up. This “bend, don’t break” strategy has allowed me to march through tough times, such

as my father’s stroke, and still get tasks done. When my father had a stroke, I would have had

every right to take a break from school and email my professors and ask for extensions, or

alternative assignments, and I knew they would have happily complied, but I wanted to earn my
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bachelors degree the same way my peers did, and I knew that I would feel like I had cheapened

the achievement by doing anything less. So I finished the semester from my dad’s hospital room,

completing all of my assignments. I feel that like many traits, this has pros and cons. The good

side of this is, like the aforementioned story, I am able to persevere through challenges and

achieve goals. As a leader, I know that challenges will arise and that I will face setbacks, but I

have to power through to conquer these obstacles. The negative side of this I have learned, is that

I cannot keep pushing until I am exhausted. There are times when the wisest and best course of

action is to take the time and rest. I will face defeats, projects will fail, and instead of plowing

through everything like a bulldozer, I might have to admit that I was unsuccessful, or that the

issues I am trying to overcome cannot simply be bowled over. There is such a thing as being too

tough at times.

Assessment Identities

There are three assessments that stood out to me. The Strengthsquests, the Ethical

Leadership Inventory, and Boleman and Deal Frames. In Strengthsquests, my top five scores are

context, includer, input, arranger, and empathy. I find these to be fairly accurate of how my own

personal values would show up, as I always try to frame a problem or situation within the context

of my position, how this situation came about, and what have we done historically in similar

situations. As I feel that leadership is about serving the group and I am a loyal person, I try to

lead collaboratively with the group and thus often seek their input. In the Ethical inventory, I

scored highest in Ethic of Care, and I agree with that. I am invested in my staff’s development

and I feel that a good leader does care about their team, personally and professionally. Lastly, in
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the frames I scored highest in Human Resources. I feel that these are accurate, as I am a

people-first type of leader.

Understanding that these areas are where my strengths lay is important, but it also shows

that I am a “one-trick pony,” so to speak. Servant leadership, as much as I adore it, is not always

the best style of leadership on any certain team or for any certain task. While taking an interest in

my team’s development, supporting their growth, and wanting to gather input from the whole

group might be my go-to strategies, I can recognize that there will be instances where I will be

required to take direct, decisive action. There may be times I will have to seperate myself from

the staff, and step up to the leader role, as opposed to the “first among equals” style I naturally

try to exercise.

Reflection

My identities and how I was raised definitely impact my leadership style. My values and

my actions are definitely congruent with one another, but I feel that I am too one-sided when it

comes to leadership. I know my strength lies with collaborative leadership styles, but I feel that I

have a deficit when it comes to direct-styles of leadership. Education and student affairs might be

good fields for me to practice my own person-centered leadership and servant leadership styles,

but if I want to ever rise beyond an entry level student affairs position, I will need to work on my

own analytical, political, and action-oriented techniques.

I also come from a privileged background which can also limit my effectiveness in the

servant leadership role, turning my strengths against me. Understanding that while I may want to

push my staff and help them develop as leaders, my own sense of leadership is that of a white

cisgendered male, and their styles may differ.

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In all, I have a good understanding of my strengths and weaknesses as a leader, and how

my identities and values have played a role in forming my style of leadership.