A511.7.3.RB_MalvoisinLeon

         I’m originally from Haiti; a small island located in the Caribbean Sea that shares borders with Dominican Republic. The native languages are French and Creole in Haiti.  In search of better opportunities, my parents and I travelled to the United States when I was 15 years old.  There I had to learn a whole new language, English, which I had a great time learning through school and trying to understand different accents at a younger age.  However, learning English didn’t come too easy for me because it’s my third language; hence, until now I still have an accent when I speak in English. 
            About a decade later after I graduated from Florida Atlantic University, I landed a job in the aerospace industry, with one of the world's largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems.  I was hired as a manufacture engineer in an entry level position.  I was the only foreigner in the office, and the only person with an accent.  I could tell that some of my colleague unfortunately had some difficulties understanding my accent, but I took no offense or frustration to it, I just learned to speak slower and contributed to the team as much as possible.  Few years later, my organization decided to do business with the European companies for certain sections of the airplane.  The European companies are Messier-Dowty, Rolls-Royce, and Latecoere.  Knowing those are French companies and suppliers, and I speak both French and English and have great work ethics, my manager promoted me to a lead position to coordinate and lead the negotiations with the French suppliers and my company.  Now, I have been a leader of a team of six employees coordinating with the French suppliers and creating contracts for my company.
            Hence, that’s the differences that distinguish me and help me in living and acting on the basis of my core values.  Being able to use my weakness, language, and turn it and to a positive skill to my advantage and make myself a much more valuable asset to the company.  As identify by Goffee and Jones (2006) “Effective leaders keep working at this art. They develop a close understanding of their differences. In particular they become aware of what is different about them that makes them attractive to others. They learn to use these differences to their advantage in a leadership role “(p.32).  Looking at myself, I would say I’m more of a servant leader.  I always check on the team to make certain they have everything they need to get the job done right, and not only that, I always encourage and train each person to be the next leader and be able to move up in the company.  As identified by Yukl (2013), “A servant leader must attend to the needs of followers and help them become healthier, wiser, and more willing to accept their responsibilities. Service includes nurturing, defending, and empowering followers” (P.349).  Certainly this is my style of leadership, and my colleagues appreciate it daily.

 References

Goffee, R., and Jones, G., (2006),"Getting personal on the topic of leadership", Human Resource Management International Digest. 14( 4), 32 – 34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09670730610666382

Yukl, G. (2013). Ethical, Servant, Spiritual, and Authentic Leadership. In Leadership in organizations. (8th ed). (pp. 349). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall