The business management lecture provided a practical perspective on the topic of leadership. More specifically, the lecturer 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.