David Cummings discusses his leadership philosophy which is based on leading by example and translating vision into reality. He has held several leadership positions including captain of his high school ski and tennis teams and president of his college tennis club and business fraternity colony. In these roles, he found it most effective to use a combination of democratic and autocratic leadership styles depending on the situation. He believes that having dedicated followers, rather than just a large number of non-dedicated ones, is key to motivating people and achieving goals. Showing dedication to followers and relating to them builds powerful leadership. His early positions required more transactional leadership through rewards and punishments, while later college roles demanded transformation through an innovative approach to growth.

1. David Cummings
Leadership Philosophy
“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” —Warren Bennis
My leadership philosophy is based upon leading by example. I believe it is important for
a leader to be able to share their vision with followers to prosper in reality. In each leadership
position I have held, I try to use a combination of democratic and autocratic leadership style.
Some decisions need to be set in stone and there are some decisions that have more openness and
can be a group decision. My leadership positions have included being captain for my alpine ski
team and tennis team in high school. Once I got to college I soon became the president of the
tennis club at Coastal Carolina University, which I have held office until present day and most
recently I was elected president of Delta Sigma Pi’s Coastal Carolina University colony. In these
positions I have found having more followers is not always best. Having dedicated support is a
good base to making vision a reality. Having a few dedicated members is far more valuable than
having a ton of non-dedicated followers. If followers have no stake in what you are trying to lead
them through it can be extremely difficult to motivate and grow. Showing followers you are
dedicated and can relate to them is extremely powerful as a leader. This is similar to
transactional and transformation leadership.
The early leadership positions I held were more transactional where I was a leader voted
by my team. The team expected me to be able to lead them with the ability to reward and punish
for good and bad behavior respectively. As well as good and bad performance being rewarded or
punished. Once I got to college my leadership positions required more transformation, because
the club and fraternity both needed significant expansion and recognition. These positions
required an outside the box approach to expanding and becoming recognized on campus. Finding

2. common grounds for a leader is key; because once you have initiated this you can more easily
motivate people to become followers.

3. Reference
Kruse, K. (Oct. 16, 2012). 100 Best Quotes on Leadership. Forbes. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2012/10/16/quotes-on-leadership/