iLEAD III Reflects on Leadership and Career Journey

by John Thomas, Managing Director, Arkansas 4-H Foundation - May 28, 2024

Think about your career and who or what has been the brightest part of that timeline. In the most recent gathering of the iLead III cohort held on May 17, participants were asked to reflect on this question, and it solicited a wide variety of responses. Stories ranged from leaders early in their careers, even at high school age jobs, all the way to their current roles.

A thread that ran through them all was people in leadership who took a personal interest in them and their development, who either by their own example or by direct advice inspired them to become better at what they do and be a positive force in their career environments. These leaders went beyond merely keeping a “work machine” churning. They helped their teams understand vision and mission and enabled the individual members of the team see how their personal contribution made the vision happen, connecting their day-to-day tasks to the big picture.

The cohort also was asked to respond to a recent viral social media post about an airline pilot who since COVID has made a habit of personally addressing passengers from the front of the plane before the flight attendants make their announcements, letting the passengers see and hear from him before the flight. After the flight, a passenger made a post about how this pilot also continued to address the passengers during the flight about various decisions he was making regarding avoiding turbulence and other details that were more than the typical communications that passengers are familiar with from the cockpit. The passenger said in her post that the pilot’s actions stood out to her as very positive.

We were asked what we thought about the post itself, why we thought it went viral, and what we thought about the pilot’s actions and how that reflected on his leadership. We generally agreed that the pilot’s actions were positive and refreshing in the current culture of commercial flight travel. Some thought that maybe the pilot over-shared information from the cockpit, and that as long as the flight was cruising along without incident, they would be fine not knowing too many details. All agreed that the “personal connection” from a pilot was positive, and his calm demeanor and expertise would have helped them feel confident that they were in good hands.

We also responded to an author’s description of the journey of leadership, starting with Follower, through Collaborator, Instructor, Manager, Influencer, and finally Leader. We agreed that these are all part of our journey, but that these are less “steps that lead to another,” and instead more fluid, where we do all of these at different moments throughout our journey as the moment dictates. We noted that titles alone don’t make one a leader, and that we can exhibit leadership attributes at every stage of our career.

Finally, we were all challenged to think about our personal career journey’s related to extension and how we saw ourselves utilizing our developing leadership skills in extension. All agreed that we were glad to be in the roles where we are, and if other opportunities to present themselves we will remain open to another step in the journey.

To learn more information about the iLEAD program, please reach out to Julie Robinson at jrobinson@uada.edu or Lisa Davis at ldavis@uada.edu.