On Leadership: A Series
Part I: It starts with self-reflection

Fall colors outside the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

And just like that - my first semester of business school is over in the blink of an eye! What an amazing few months it's been here in Ann Arbor. Between meeting new friends, Saturdays at the Big House, and recruiting for a Consulting summer internship, I've been busier than ever (but loved every minute). 

Since getting to campus, I've put a huge emphasis on my leadership journey. The most fundamental shift in my perspective has been my switch from a fixed to a growth mindset – in other words, my recognition that leadership truly is a journey as opposed to a natural skill or disposition in some people. 

I want to be known as a leader who empowers others to bring out their best, especially in multicultural settings. Through self-reflection in the MBA application process, engaging with Sanger Leadership Center programming, and my coursework, I’ve uncovered who I am currently as a leader, who I want to become, and strategies to get me there. 

This blog post is Part I of III in my series On Leadership.

First, it was helpful to reflect on how my upbringing shaped the person I am today. Growing up as an only child, I was used to having to figure things out and navigate situations on my own, which led me to become a natural leader with others. I was ‘the boss’ in my friendships, often having a hard time when things didn’t go my way. I distinctively remember my mom saying to me one time when a playdate didn’t go so well, “You’re upset because you have to be in charge, you don’t like it when other people take control”. 

Instead of shying away, I started to lean into this tendency for leadership. In high school, I led many of my school’s initiatives, like French Club, the annual Spirit Week, or holiday giving campaigns. On my college lacrosse team, I was a loud, outspoken teammate. My senior year I was elected captain, a role that I had coveted for years, and I couldn’t have been more excited about the position I was in to lead the team. 

But as the Sanger Leadership sticker now on my laptop says, “Leadership is (MUCH) more than a position”. I wish I had known this at the time. I struggled with leadership that year, and I now attribute that struggle to the fixed mindset I had about how a good leader was both loud and “authentically themself”. 

For example, we did an exercise to evaluate our own leadership style and learn about the kinds of styles that our teammates respond to. I remember hearing what others responded to and thinking – Well, I guess they’ll never respond to my leadership style. That’s too bad. – instead of thinking – How can I tweak my style to effectively lead this teammate? I had a fixed mindset; I was good at certain leadership behaviors but not others, and people could either take it or leave it in how they chose to respond. I felt that adapting my style meant changing who I was as a person or being inauthentic to my values.

I now recognize that successful leadership is not about being loud and “authentic” to yourself, but rather about connecting with people to understand what they need and using the tools in your toolkit to deliver. For example, referencing tools like the Communication Quadrants Framework can serve as a ‘cheat sheet’ on how to effectively lead across people who respond to different styles. As Jeffrey Pfeffer said in "Why Cultivating Power Is the Secret to Success", being a leader is “being true to what the situation requires of you as opposed to being authentic to yourself.” Instead of viewing flexibility as a weakness or inauthenticity, I now view it as a strength and one of the key leadership qualities I’m looking to hone during my time at Ross. 

I encourage you to set aside time for self-reflection and approach your leadership journey with a growth mindset. In the next blog post in my series On Leadership, I'll be sharing a few of my key leadership development areas as I head into the new year. 

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