Model the Way

1) What does the phrase "Model the Way" to me mean?

In class we discussed what Modeling the Way meant:

Commitment 1: Find you your voice by clarifying you personal values and affirming shared values in your group or organization.
-Leaders know the values, standards, and ethics that drive them
-Leaders communicate these values with passion and in their own words.
-Leaders are willing to stand up for these beliefs
-Leaders build consensus around a common cause and a common sense set of principles in order to get a group to advance together
-Leaders engage other in establishing these shared values through discussion, listening, and building consensus

Commitment 2: Set the example by aligning your actions with shared values
-Leaders set the example
-Leaders recognize what they do speaks more loudly than what they say.-Leaders arrive early, stay late, and show they care by being there; they are the first to do something that everyone should value.
-Leaders seek feedback to assess how they are doing
-Leaders teach others to model the values by confronting actions contrary to the values, positively reinforcing behavior worthing of repeating, and telling stories to highlight important values.

After we discussed these traits, a group from our class presented the movie Pay it Forward. We watched selected scenes from the movie that demonstrated these traits. After compiling my thoughts and thinking about what Modeling the Way means to me I share a similar thought on it as it did in the Movie Pay it Forward. I thin of this term as someone who exemplifies a good action and influences another individual to do the same or something similar to some other person. I thought about an instance when I Modeled a Way for someone. About a month ago it was a cold night and my sister and I were getting gas on our way home from dinner. At the gas station we saw a lady or young teenager abandoned with a new born child. My sister and I felt bad for her but we continued doing our own thing and drove off. When we got to the intersection I told my sister I wish i could do something for her its so cold and that baby must be starving. My sister in excitement said "lets go back and buy her hot chocolate" so i turned around and went back. I asked that lady if she wanted us to buy her some food and hot chocolate to keep warm as well as some milk for the baby. She was thrilled and came inside with us and we bought her a few beverages and food items for the night. That night I felt proud of myself because I not only modeled the way for my 13 year old sister but I also modeled the way for the woman who can later help someone else who is in the same situation she is in. The practice that most strikes me is setting the example by aligning my actions with shared values because I believe my actions mean more than my words. It is hard for me to express my values in words but easier for me to do them by my actions. My story is an example of what I believe.

As a leader I can see myself applying these practices when I am given a project or when I am told to do something that allows me to lead. I also can apply these practices in my everyday life. When I am told to lead in a group it is essential for me to listen to my peers, set an example for them through the values I believe in, and showing my enthusiasm and commitment to them. In my everyday life I can use those same practices to influence my little sister and the help her understand how important it is to model the way for other people so she can help in the act of bettering people to do good and rightful things.