2 page paper.Week 1 - What Am I Called to Do and Who Am I Called to Be? This assignment is the first in a series of assignments that will result in your final Personal Leadership Statement due in Week 4. This week, you will express an intentional and informed understanding of your leadership values and your calling. Kleinhans (2005) stated, “If vocation is God’s call, there are too many Christians who expect that call to be difficult to understand. It is not uncommon to hear the assertion that ‘God has a personal plan for my life’” (p. 401). Kleinhans offered a different perspective suggesting that God is already at work in your everyday life. Thus, your calling is found within the scope of what you do, be it a secular job or other. After reading the article, The Work of a Christian: Vocation in Lutheran Perspective (Kleinhans, 2005), to inform your understanding of calling/vocation, and completing the Individual Core Values Identification (Concordia University - Portland, n.d.-a), write a 2-page paper to address the following: Articulate your core leadership values and your emerging understanding of your calling. It is not required or expected that your concept of calling will be aligned directly with the Lutheran perspective presented in the article. You can incorporate calling in your paper as is appropriate to your life. Articulate what you are called to do and how your calling/vocation and your job are aligned (or not aligned). Include your top five values and examples of how your values are exhibited (or not exhibited) through your leadership at work and in other areas of your life. If you do need to add courage as a new value to bring your espoused values to the level of a value in use, please do so. Support your statements with evidence from the required studies and your research. Cite and reference your sources in APA style. I wrote something for class that might help with this assignment which is the individual core value identification I will attach article. Values COLLAPSE Top of Form Core values can be explained as the principles that guide an individual’s primary conduct as well as it's the relationship with the others. During my coursework, I have studied and completed the Individual Core Values Identification (Concordia University, Portland, Oregon) and among the core values that were presented, the following are the five top values that resonates within me: Creativity Diversity Encouraging others Humility and Love for others. I also strongly believe these values are important qualities that a great leader should have. Creativity Creativity is inspired by passion and urge of exploring and figuring ways to perform better through creative use of new materials, information or innovation leading to incremental improvements in one’s areas of study, career or work. As an artist and one who loves to think outside the box, I have used my creativity skills while performing my duties as a substitute teacher to assist my students to learn and understand instruction materials and also what is around them. I consider myself very fortunate to work with young students who are not only eager and curious but also motivated to learn new things. Since my goal is to assist every student to be an achiever. I want to assist students to set exceed their own standards by constantly raising their bar themselves. I, therefore, strive to develop a good working relationship with each student in order to be able to guide them in studying in those artistic areas they choose and like best as individuals. I have used creativity in incorporating technology and encourage hands-on lessons. I also try as much as I possible to encourage the student to be cooperative in order to improve our ways of engagement so that they can easily understand what they have been taught. I have seen it is necessary to introduce reflective activities as a way and means of providing students with an opportunity to absorb information more easily and deeply. Today’s generation of students rely on and love technology very much and so my making use what they love most and incorporate it as a part of classroom activity is more than welcome by most of them. Finally, it is important that a leader of any group be creative. My artistic creative qualities and passion of using collective imagination to develop an effective solution to the evolving challenges posed by the environment have been assisted me very much in my work as a teacher. Creative imagination is more likely to spark ideas that can become innovation. according to Ladin Nikravan article “Why Creativity is the most important Leadership Quality” (Nikravan, 2012). Diversity Diversity is a broad group made of different demographic, ethnicity, class, gender, physical ability/quality, race, sexual orientation, religion, gender expressions, educational background, geographical location, income, marital status, parental status, and work experiences. (Williams, 2015). It does not matter where one goes, one is bound to always encounter people who are different from us. Taking of all these differences in a positive way, understanding of each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and welcoming these differences contained within each individual is the main feature of diversity and what makes the United States of America a strong and most powerful nation on earth today. With that said, on my part as an individual, I believe that understanding diversity is an import aspect of been an effective as a teacher and as a leader. Born in and growing up in Africa, coming to and USA and becoming a US naturalized citizen and also traveling to and living in Thailand (in Asia) for more than five years has enabled me to be more open-minded, accept, welcome and respect differences in culture, languages, customs, thoughts, and communicating with others. When I was working hospital as a nurse and attending patients from different backgrounds and now currently teaching different students, I always try to become more aware of student’s cultural background in order to be effective instead of assumption. Due to my background, I find it extremely important to support and protect my student’s diversity by valuing each individual because by valuing individuals it frees them from prejudice and encourages mutual respect. Any time I go to a new class, I initially engage in discussions with my student so I can learn more about them and I also try to extend interaction beyond the classroom with student parents and community. It’s the responsibility of a teacher to recognize and structure plans based on individuals so that a student can find it easy to succeed. Therefore, I recognize that my understanding of diversity assists me in encouraging individual students to recognize who they are and others as well. This also helps when leaders need individuals to work as a team and as an education leader who recognizes this helps in appreciation of a diverse school population. It also brings a connection between cultural heritage within a single school culture. To me recognizing and acknowledging our difference is part of treating students fairly and equally. Encouraging others - Encouraging others is essential to value. As a teacher I have a mindset in which I believe all students can learn and do better. I use positive affirmation as well as positive criticism with my students and outside of school. Using this strategy has helped me create a threat-free environment in where students feel safe and supported rather than laying out the consequences of not doing things. I also allow my students to get involved in the classroom by assigning them tasks or responsibility. For example, I will ask one student to help me tidy up the classroom and I would ask other students to help me pass out work material. Encouraging students to have a sense of ownership and encouraging them to do good in class encourages participation. An Educational leader should believe and have trust with his students by recognizing their strengths allow his or her students to make decisions, and giving them more responsibilities. Humility Humility means “the state of being humble. I believe humility is the most vital value that a leader can have. It’s important to be humble because it helps build trust. My parents always taught me the importance of been humble. Leaders who are successful, exhibit humility. An arrogant leader treats conversation as a personal attack and by doing so, he effectively ends any real discussion of the topic and blocks any opportunity to learn or grow. Love for others- It’s no brainer. It’s important to love others and respect them. If you do not have compassion and love for others it will be difficult to be a teacher and a leader. I love what I do and I love children. This exhibits in my personality.