Write A Reflective Essay About Leadership Skills Learned ✓ Solved

Write a reflective essay about leadership skills learned dur

Write a reflective essay about leadership skills learned during a school sports competition in which you served as the programmer and were responsible for discipline and organizing your team. The five-hour tournament provided opportunities to develop time management, courage (confidence), problem-solving, and communication skills.

Describe how you planned and managed the event to ensure participants were ready on time, how you demonstrated courage when facing players, coaches, and fans, how you solved disputes, and how you communicated instructions and coordinated the event.

Include references to leadership literature and demonstrate how these skills contribute to becoming an effective leader.

Paper For Above Instructions

Participating in a school sports competition as the programmer who was also responsible for discipline and organizing the team placed me on the front line of leadership in a high-pressure, time-bound environment. The five-hour tournament became a crucible in which I learned, practiced, and reflected on essential leadership skills—time management, courage and confidence, problem-solving, and communication. This experience supports a broad literature on leadership that emphasizes balancing task execution with people management, ethical decision-making, and clear communication as core competencies of effective leaders (Northouse, 2018; Kouzes & Posner, 2017).

First, time management was the backbone of successful event execution. I began by drafting a master schedule that detailed each match slot, warm-up window, relay transition, break period, and contingency buffer for potential delays. I then allocated responsibilities to team members and cross-checked these against the referees’ schedules, facility constraints, and travel times. The ability to anticipate bottlenecks, build buffers, and align all participants with a common timeline is consistently highlighted as a foundational leadership practice (Northouse, 2018). By enforcing deadlines and communicating precise time expectations to players, coaches, and support staff, I maintained tempo and focus, reducing chaos and confusion. This aligns with research underscoring that structured planning and reliable execution foster trust and performance in groups (Goleman, 1995; Glaser, 2016). When a discrepancy arose—late arrivals or a mis-timed warm-up—I adjusted the sequence, communicated the revised plan, and encouraged accountability, which reinforced a culture of reliability and discipline (Ahmed & Bach, 2014).

Second, courage and confidence emerged as critical leadership traits in moments of tension. Facing disqualified players, coaching staff, and curious spectators required firm, principled decision-making. I had to balance fairness with firmness, ensuring that rules were applied consistently even if the consequences were unpopular. This experience echoes the literature’s emphasis on courage as a component of leadership, along with confidence that enables leaders to take positions in the face of disagreement (Ahmed & Bach, 2014; Muteswa, 2016). Initially, fear of confrontation crept in, but I recalled that leadership involves acting decisively for the larger good and the integrity of the event. As I practiced speaking clearly, maintaining posture, and articulating rationales for decisions, my own confidence grew—a process well-documented in works on leadership development and emotional regulation in leaders (Goleman, 1995; Northouse, 2018).

Third, problem-solving skills were central to maintaining harmony among participants and ensuring safety and fairness. Disputes during the tournament—whether between players, referees, or coaching staff—demanded a disciplined approach. I relied on a structured problem-solving sequence: identify the issue, gather relevant facts, generate options, decide on a course of action, and reflect on the outcome. This method mirrors established decision-making frameworks described in leadership theory, which advocate for data-informed choices and transparent justification when resolving conflicts (Northouse, 2018; Heifetz, 1994; Covey, 1989). My ability to mediate disagreements, de-escalate heated exchanges, and reframe conflicts into constructive dialogue grew with each incident. The experience demonstrated that leadership is less about issuing commands and more about guiding a diverse group toward a shared, fair solution (Kouzes & Posner, 2017).

Fourth, communication emerged as the fourth pillar of effective leadership during the event. Clear, timely, and precise communication was essential to instruct everyone on the chronological order of events, reposition staff when necessary, and maintain a sense of collective purpose. Good communication reduces ambiguity, builds trust, and coordinates actions across multiple stakeholders, including players, referees, coaches, and fans—an insight repeatedly stressed in leadership scholarship (Glaser, 2016; Goleman, 1995; Northouse, 2018). I consciously used concise commands, explicit expectations, and feedback loops to verify understanding and adjust as needed. The ability to listen actively, respond empathetically to concerns, and provide constructive feedback contributed to a smoother flow of activities and a more positive atmosphere around the competition (Glaser, 2016; Kouzes & Posner, 2017).

Beyond the mechanics of planning and execution, the experience reinforced broader insights about leadership as a journey rather than a single event. It illustrated how time management, courage, problem-solving, and communication interlock to create reliable performance, resolve conflicts, and sustain team morale under pressure. The theory literature supports this integrated view, arguing that leadership effectiveness arises from the interplay of personal traits (such as courage and confidence), cognitive skills (like problem-solving), and relational capabilities (clear communication and trust-building) (Northouse, 2018; Covey, 1989; Bass, 1985; Yukl, 2010). Moreover, transformational leadership perspectives suggest that leaders who model disciplined behavior and ethical decision-making can inspire followers to perform better and commit to shared goals (Bass, 1985; Kouzes & Posner, 2017).

Finally, the event encouraged reflection on how to translate classroom and workshop learnings into practice. The five-hour tournament, though finite, acted as a laboratory for iterative leadership development: plan comprehensively, act decisively in difficult moments, analyze outcomes, and refine communication strategies for future events. This cyclical process aligns with leadership development frameworks that emphasize experiential learning and deliberate practice as engines of growth (Heifetz, 1994; Northouse, 2018; Glaser, 2016). As I continue my journey as a student leader, I will apply these principles to new contexts, recognizing that leadership is not a fixed position but a repertoire of skills honed through authentic, ethically guided action (Kouzes & Posner, 2017).

References

• Ahmed, A., & Bach, C. (2014). Major Traits/Qualities of Leadership. In-depth analysis with emphasis on time and discipline (pp. 47–52).
• Glaser, J. E. (2016). Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust and Get Extraordinary Results. Routledge.
• Muteswa, R. P. T. (2016). Qualities of a Good Leader and the Benefits of Good Leadership to an Organization: A Conceptual Study. [Publisher information].
• Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and Practice (8th ed.). Sage Publications.
• Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Bantam Books.
• Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2017). The Leadership Challenge (6th ed.). Wiley.
• Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Free Press.
• Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations. Free Press.
• Heifetz, R. (1994). Leadership Without Easy Answers. Harvard University Press.
• Yukl, G. (2010). Leadership in Organizations (7th ed.). Pearson.
• Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading Change. Harvard Business School Press.