I believe that leadership is a calling and a responsibility of servanthood to a community, but this statement is rife with personal values, and I wonder if there is an element of idealism within it. I identify with many of the values noted in Aboriginal and reflective leadership such those expressed by Wright and Zinni (2010) and Castelli (2016). I find the challenge of determining the \u201cmost important attributes of a leader working in digital learning environments\u201d remains a work in progress for me, and is also complicated by semantics. While I agree with the findings of <\/span>Kouzes and Posner (2011) that the characteristics of being honest, forward-looking, inspiring, and competent rank very high for me personally, these exact terms may be representative of general characteristics or even categories that others may label differently. In my experiences, there are complex and powerful connections between values, identity, perspective, and leadership, both on an individual and corporate level.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Servant and reflective leadership models have many commonalities to characteristics of Aboriginal leaders (Wright & Zinni, 2010). Some of these include humility, being called to leadership as opposed to seeking it, egalitarianism, pursuit of the best interests of the community, and inspiring others to growth (Castelli, 2016). However, some of the leaders interviewed in Wright and Zinni\u2019s research indicated that \u201cAboriginal leadership is more than servant leadership\u201d as it incorporates a holistic perspective that includes spirituality, \u201cconnecting the community with the past\u201d, and \u201cresponsibilities in the community\u201d (Wright & Zinni, 2010). I see cultural values reflected in the characteristics of these forms of leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n It was interesting to work through the process of group consensus in ranking characteristics of leaders as a team, as the influence of perspective became evident. Each of us shared that our perspective shifted in some areas due to the course readings we completed between our initial rankings and group meeting. Some shared that our understanding of the meaning of certain terms impacted our rankings, and that understanding may have been influenced by cultural background and personal experience. We felt that certain words such as visionary, forward-thinking, and broad-minded could be grouped together, and our personal interpretations of some terms simply came down to semantics. It was valuable to spend time together mulling these over and understanding new perspectives.<\/span><\/p>\n I am intrigued to learn more about the connections between personal and organizational values, identity, and leadership, particularly in regard to impact on members of a community if values are unidentified or misaligned. I have encountered ideas that I associate with the concept of moral injury twice in recent months: once in researching health and wellbeing in online learning and work, and then again in discussion on an introductions thread with regard to misalignment of personal and organizational values. Research on employee burnout and engagement by Van der Vaart and De Beer (2021) indicates that \u201cBurned-out individuals can also not connect emotionally with the organization because they no longer identify with the organization (Knoll et al., 2019; Meyer et al., 2006).\u201d Such disengagement, or disintegration of the individual from the community, has grave implications that might be mitigated through leaders who possess key characteristics.<\/span><\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n Castelli, P. A. (2016). Reflective leadership review: A framework for improving organisational performance. <\/span>The Journal of Management Development, 35<\/span><\/i>(2), 217-236. <\/span>http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1108\/JMD-08-2015-0112<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Julien, M., Wright, B., & Zinni, D. M. (2010). Stories from the circle: Leadership lessons learned from aboriginal leaders. <\/span>The Leadership Quarterly<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>21<\/span><\/i>(1), 114\u2013126. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/J.LEAQUA.2009.10.009<\/span><\/p>\n Kalkman, J. P., & Molendijk, T. (2021). The Role of Strategic Ambiguity in Moral Injury: A Case Study of Dutch Border Guards Facing Moral Challenges. <\/span>Journal of Management Inquiry<\/span><\/i>, 30(2), 221\u2013234. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1056492619892693<\/span><\/p>\n Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2011). The characteristics of admired leaders. <\/span>Credibility : How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it.<\/span><\/i> San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass. Retrieved from Books 24\u00d77 e-book database.<\/span><\/p>\n Matziari, A., Montgomery, A. J., Georganta, K., & Doulougeri, K. (2017). The relationship between organizational practices and values with burnout and engagement. <\/span>Current Psychology : Research & Reviews<\/span><\/i>, 36(2), 276\u2013285.<\/span><\/p>\n