The business management provided a practical perspective on the topic of leadership.

More
specifically, it was explained what leadership really means. More specifically, a leader is
someone “who serves people in such an inspirational, trusting, respectful, caring way that
people want to follow you”. Furthermore, he emphasized that true leadership is based on self-
leadership which means serving oneself “in such an inspirational, trusting, respectful, caring
way that you want to follow yourself”. In my opinion, being a good leader closely relates to
business management. First of all, an individual who excels at self-leadership, will most
definitely excel at leading others. Additionally, concepts of self-leadership and organizational
leadership are closely intertwined. However, self-leadership always comes first.
Generally speaking, the lecture supports the idea that management is based on good
leadership. The lecturer explains that being at the top of an organization is not enough to be
considered a leader. What is more, I was impressed by one of the examples provided by the
speaker. He told a short story: while coaching a company CEO, the coach (lecturer) asked him
if he was a good leader. The CEO answered that he obviously was, since he was chosen to
lead the company. When asked to go for a walk through the company building, it became
obvious that the CEO was not doing well as a leader, since there was no communication and
engagement between him and the company employees. As a matter of fact, this is a vivid
example of the importance of good leadership in managing business.
Next, a leader who is self-aware, leads himself/herself first, takes responsibility for his/her
actions will most definitely be a better decision maker. What is more, ethical decision making is
closely connected to personal ethics. During the lecture, the speaker emphasized how important
it is to keep track of one’s attitude toward others and oneself. Further, he highlighted that self-
love and love for others are prerequisites for leadership and self-leadership. Finally, he
concluded that leadership is about love: loving others and loving oneself. Since the ability to
build effective relationships is highly important for leading a business; a manager who is able to
care for others will reach greater success than one who operates from a place other than love.

Following this thought process, I believe that this video supplements the material that we
learned in business management. While the information presented in the video sounds more
like an inspirational, philosophical speech, it features some really important points of business
management. Forecasting, organizing, planning, coordinating – all of these managerial
functions can be fulfilled in effective vs. ineffective ways. Yet, the video provides one with
valuable coaching tips on leading an organization effectively. For example, when it comes to
time management, a leader who is able to self-lead efficiently will most probably have good time
management skills in all other spheres.

Another point that I appreciated within the lecture stated that an individual is constantly leading
himself/herself: “you can lead yourself to a good place, you can lead yourself to a bad place”. In
addition, a good manager should ask himself/herself the following questions:

Have I spent enough time with this person? Have I gotten them the proper training? Did I give
them a review? Did I communicate with them effectively? Did I show them love? Did I tell them
how much I care? How many times did I pat them on the back, say ‘good job’? Did I go find out
what they were doing right and tell them about it? Did I smile? Did I give them plenty of support?
If the answer is “no” to any of those the answer is “me”. It’s just me.

In conclusion, I would call the type of leadership described in the video authentic or inspirational
leadership. This is a kind of leadership that upholds values of empathy, understanding,
compassion, collaboration, and positive feedback. Most importantly, before the leader leads
anybody else, he/she must learn to take responsibility for his/her own actions and life
experiences.