One main example I can think of where I was a definitive leader would be when I worked at local boutique in my town called Pizazz. My leadership position lasted about a year, or from the time I was promoted to this position to then time I left the business. I oversaw all the girls who worked in the store who were my age or younger. I was basically like a spokesman for all of us and I worked to help connect the group to work together and talk to our higher managers if any problems would arise. Overall as whole, there were very few issues within the company that needed to be confronted, but I saw results in the fact that we all connected a lot more, in and out of the workplace. We all collaborated and worked together a lot better and the communication improved as well. This situation was important because it helped me learn better leadership and communication skills as well as help improve the business. I didn’t really initiate this position upon myself, but I was working a lot of hours and seemed to have a good relationship with everyone that worked so they saw me as the right candidate. At the beginning of this situation I was a little worried that my peers would be upset that I was now their leader over them since I did not want to pose any hierarchy among any of us. However, everyone was very supportive in the end and was okay with me having the position. My focus to help the team was to maintain a positive attitude and atmosphere for every work day. That way everyone was in a good mood and could sell and work to their best potential. I tried my best to be very encouraging and work to help further everyone’s knowledge on the business and how it ran to help them work the very best they could and help in any way possible.

 

My main focus was being encouraging to everyone and if criticism was needed that it was given in a constructive positive way where everyone felt like they could grow instead of feeling knocked down. I was fortunate enough to never have any major setbacks, and if there were any, everyone was willing to work together and help in any way they could to help solve the problem. My guiding principles I followed was just to have a positive attitude in any situation and work to solve problems in the most effective way for the business. I tried to lead by example by being encouraging to all my peers and just keep a positive atmosphere always. If I had to teach anyone about anything I learned regarding being an effective leader I would say to be completely transparent with your peers, have open communication and always work to have a positive atmosphere, where the most effective and creative work can unfold.