Not really, but it can help explain the concept and essence of Leadership.

On Thursday, I attended Part 1 or a 2 part series on Leadership through PlattForm University. The course was entitled Leadership: From the Inside Out, and was led by Steve Booth.

We began the session by identifying our own definition of leadership. Going around the room and letting the group know our definition gave the opportunity for different perspectives on leadership to be heard. Although there were many definitions, common themes began to show up.

The definition of leadership that we used for the course was "Leadership is influencing others in a positive way." My personal definition fit fairly well with this class definition. Mine was "Guiding and giving support to those around you."

We discussed four main components of leadership during this first session and also became artistic with an onion. The four concepts that we touched on included:

• Committing to person growth
• Embracing self-awareness
• Leading with authenticity
• Leading with purpose

After discussing these above concepts, we were to choose one virtue from a list of several and creatively express that virtue on a white onion. Utilizing different colors of paint, we could identify a particular virtue that we held as having importance regarding leadership.

The virtue I selected was Patience. I represented patience with a clock on one side of the onion and I attempted to paint the word patience on the back side of the onion. Although the paint remained on the onion for the clock, the letters flaked off the onion before I could take a picture of it on the back.

I selected Patience becuase it is something that I think is a very important characteristic that should be evident in a leader. A leader must have patience with the people they work with while explaining processes and how to do certain things. Even if that means taking extra time to do this, it is something that is very important. If a person has a lack of patience during this time, everyone around may become frustrated and may not be able to complete projects/tasks correctly or on time.

Although explaining specific things several times may get annoying to some people, it can be a benefit to the person seeking the guidance. This should be kept in mind with any leadership role.

I think Steve selected an onion for the medium of this art project because it is a very good example of what leadership is. An onion has the exterior that must be peeled away before you can get to the good part of it. Similarly, leadership skills are not present from the outset, it has to come from within. As we delve deeper into the concept of leadership, just like an onion, we'll peel away things to really get into the right mindset. Getting down to the area of the four concepts we discussed during this session is one way we can begin to peel the onion skin away.

I look forward to finding out even more information through Part 2 of this leadership course through PFU. It isn't for a month, and I have an assignment to complete before then, so i'll keep busy trying to enhance my leadership skills in the meantime.