Definition of Leadership

A leader is someone who understands others and strives to empathize with their feelings, be open minded about their experiences and values. A positive example is Michelle Obama, who leads with humility and humor. She strives to be compassionate while challenging the status quo and is determined to make a contribution to everyone's life in the United States. People respect her as a leader because she is seen as trustworthy and she leads without authority. I believe that Michelle Obama is a great role model to look at while learning about leadership. I was fortunate to gain a valuable mentor for myself who is a leader within her own profession through the leadership certificate program. While talking with her, I was able to analyze my own core values. I identified my core values as authenticity, knowledge, and happiness.  I believe that a leader should be their most authentic self, and not hide their personality, to allow people to respect you more. Communication and knowledge enables you to understand the people around you and what events are taking place around the world. General knowledge, either in personal life or in professional career,  enables others to grow and develop with you. Lastly, without happiness, there is no point in doing tasks that you seek out to accomplish. Everything that you do must have purpose that enables you to be happy. I believe life is about developing yourself to be the most authentic, knowledgeable, and happy self. I often imagine a leader being a woman in power, where she strives to help her colleagues achieve the best results both professionally and personally. A leader is someone who empowers others and guides them to be their best, authentic self.