The Congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is a third-generation Bronxite, organizer, and educator serving New York's 14 th district- Queens and Bronx. Ocasio-Cortez was born in New York, the Bronx, on October 13, 1989. She grew up in New York, where she saw the realities of economic, income, and social inequalities. Biography (2019) points out that her childhood upbringing was in poor conditions, but her parents made efforts to give their kids the best. So the family shifted to the middle-class section called Yorktown Heights, NY.
Here she joined a high-standard high school, and in 2007, she graduated. She proceeded to Boston University to pursue a bachelor's degree. In 2008, she made calls in a campaign of President Obama during his presidential campaign. Ocasio-Cortez went on to study for a Bachelor of Arts degree in both International Relations and Economics and graduated Cum Laude in 2011. After graduating from college, she worked as a waitress but was actively involved in politics.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
In 2016 she had become actively involved in politics, as shown in how she canvassed for BernieSanders. By using Bernie Sanders's platform, Alexandria practiced her leadership skills. She was involved in organizing his campaign, and she borrowed some of Sander's policy ideas and language. While on her visit to North Dakota, she received a phone call from the "Brand New Congress" informing her that they were recruiting ambitious and progressive candidates. Her brother had nominated her for the position after the 2016 Election day. On November 6, Ocasio-Cortez was declared the youngest lady to take up the Congress job.
Contribution to Society or Organizations
In her childhood years, Representative Ocasio-Cortez split her time between Yorktown and the Bronx. While in the Bronx to visit her extended family, she noticed the sharp contrast in opportunities based on their zip codes . In this position, she can integrate all the key issues she has been fighting for from childhood and deal with them. These include the need to serve communities with living wages, Medicare for all, paid sick and family leave. She also called for fully funded universities and public schools' clean finance to protect immigration justice by abolishing ICE and housing as a human right. These efforts enabled her to form her community. These early efforts inspired her to champion the community's needs and further run for office on a progressive platform. Her campaign was mainly that of rejecting the PAC corporate funds.
While studying at Boston University, Alexandria was working at the late Senator Ted Kennedy's office. This job enabled her to get a first-hand view of the challenges, and heartbreaks families had to go through by being deported by the ICE laws. This experience allowed the Congresswoman to start organizing the Latinx Youth in the Bronx and the rest of the United States. Through this effort, she secured a job at the National Hispanic Institute as an Educational Director. Through this position, she helped many American undocumented youths and other dreamers attain college readiness and community leadership.
Biography (2019) shows that her family suffered a tragedy during the 2008 financial crisis; her dad, Sergio Ocasio-Roman, passed away. Her mother had to put their home in Westchester on sell, and she took up extra work shifts as a bartender and waitress to support her mother. During these moments, she deepened her understanding and commitment to an issue that affected the working-class people. Since taking up office at the Congress in January 2019, Ocasio-Cortez has been committed to serving the working-class people and protecting them from corporate interests. She has advocated for environmental, economic, racial, and social justice.
Analysis of Leadership Skills
Alexandria is a congresswoman who is not afraid to challenge the leadership status quo. Kouzes and Posner declare that" there is no single individual who has ever achieved a personal best by doing things the standard way. Good leaders are those who challenge the process". The Congresswoman has strong values, especially in denying corrupt ways of financing her campaigns. Her strong values are an indication of a charismatic leader who has the desired behaviors. Indeed Alexandria is a good leader who took up a single primary focus after gaining the power away from the industries and machines that fund congressmen and women or the candidates that appeal to their particular interests. These funds are only for the movements which only represent America's working class and wanting their interests and concerns to be acknowledged.
Though Alexandria knew that she lacked previous leadership experience in politics, she was determined to be a good leader. She knew of other goods leaders, and she knows she had to follow their path. She said being a good follower comes with perspective and experience, which is the deciding factor determining whether one can become a good leader. Even before taking up the Congress position, Ocasio-Cortez had indeed laid the groundwork for her political career. From the early stages in life, Lears (2019) Says that she knew that "people have titles, but it is one's behavior that wins your respect"
Alexandria is a charismatic leader with a strong emotional impact. From her campaigns, she came out as a visionary leader with a strong appeal to the follower's emotions. Therefore, to be a good leader, she believes that one had to be a good example and live up to what you say. As per the Biography (2019), Alexandria worked as a volunteer for BernieSandersduring the 2016 presidential election representing him in the South Bronx. This time spent in volunteer work at Bernie's campaign enabled her to expand her electoral activism and organization skills. The experience helped her to travel across the country, including Standing Rock in South Dakota. At Dakota Access Pipeline, she stood together with the local indigenous communities against the Pipeline's effort. She also managed to launch her own people-funded, grassroots campaign in her race for Congress back in New York.
She also has meaningful goals of assisting the working middle-class people and setting a vision worth aspiring to. Her primary motivation to run for Congress against American lobbyist and politician Joseph Crowley was to advocate for the working-class American people. Crowley had already served as a Representative of the U.S from the 14 th congress district for New York from 1999 to 2019. Lears, (2019), presents that in her campaign, Alexandria said that "as a leader, I will take up the courage to stand up for the working people who were being exploited by corporate interests."
In her run to take up the congress leadership role, Alexandria shared a vision through enlisting others. During her campaign, she visited the local communities in her hometown in the Bronx to determine the most crucial factors the local business owners and people in the neighborhoods want. Indeed Lears, (2019) points out that "when running for a political office, you are not just like any candidate. It is crucial to remember your main reason, why you are exactly doing it?" Alexandria's primary "why" has always been consistent with her deep desire to advocate for working-class Americans. She also wanted to fulfill their interest in helping the working middle class people, which her opponent Crowley had failed to do during his stay in office.
It is precisely what Alexandria's leadership aimed for, and she managed to win the seat based on the fact that the New York district is overwhelmingly a dwelling place of the working-class people. It was her interest to champion the needs of these people. It goes to point out that Alexandria is a visionary leader. She managed to gaze across the time horizon and imagined better and attractive opportunities in store when she, together with the constituents, would arrive at a distant desired destination. She is a leader who envisions ennobling and exciting possibilities for the working-class people.
Alexandria also took up the vow to expand and improve Medicare for all, paid leave, guaranteed federal jobs for the Living wage, ended the war on drugs, reduced the prison population by 50%, and simplified the path to citizenship. Others include; free tuition for colleges, protection from superstorms, renewable energy, luxury for all, and the abolition of ICE. In the documentary interview, Alexandra says that the working class has this name because they are the ones who work nonstop. She also noted that most Americans are not asking a lot but need to get by. They are merely asking politicians to be brave enough to assist them in getting by. With this in mind, she promised to address the American's demands in her leadership in the 14 th District of New York. Based on the leadership qualities of Alexandria, it is clear that she approaches things with a sense of urgency to establish new integration, control, and stability (red) while at the same time perusing learning, change, and innovation (green).
Leadership Recommendations
Indeed grand dream doesn't become a reality through a single person, but teamwork is required. Though Alexandria has the right thought processes concerning the changes she wants to see, she cannot fulfill the desires she wanted to see without her team's willingness ( Armstrong, 2019 ). She also has to incorporate all the American people in her plans. Most importantly, the Congresswoman has to acknowledge that people always want to feel that they are visible and that their concerns are acknowledged. If her predecessor JoeCrowley had not failed to show up for the people's needs, then there would be no reason for Alexandria to confront the process.
Furthermore, Crowley did not take Alexandria as his serious opponent who failed to attend community debates, which further ruined his credibility in the locals' eyes. It cost his position in joining the Congress for a second term. Rath and Conchie (2008) say that leaders understand that traditional management's control and command techniques no longer apply today. Instead, they should work to make people feel capable, committed, and healthy. These are indeed the values that Alexandria should embrace.
Alexandria should also work towards fighting for real change. In her campaign, she won the hearts of people in her constituents by challenging the status quo. Electing her showed that people are no longer in need of following the traditional way of doing things. The majority of these people needed a leader who will change for a better life through better wages. Therefore, Alexandria has to represent her constituents by willing to work towards fulfilling the people's interests. As a figure in government, she should strive to do for the people while serving them. Alexandria should keep striving towards change and innovation and carry responsibilities and expectations. As a leader, she has to encourage her constituents to carry on and take heart. She should deal with simple acts of uplifting the spirits of people and drawing them forward. Alexandria should also keep on tasking risks and experiment. These are the two qualities that enabled her to take up the leadership role.
Summary and Conclusion
Alexandria has been a proactive woman right from her childhood. Her childhood exposure enabled her to notice the difference in the economic and social standards of living. Her main agenda is to advocate for working-class citizens. She started her career from humble beginnings and defeated her opponent with no previous experience in politics. She managed to assure her voters that she will model the ways, challenge the process, and inspire others by sharing her vision. She is a strong leader who has encouraged others to take heart and enabled others to act. Despite the backlash she received in her decision to contest against Crowley, supported by industry funding, she took a different financing form for her campaign.
Alexandria's support was from many people of color, women, and political outsiders who shared her vision of transforming Congress. Though people were ready for a change, most doubted if Alexandria would succeed. Alexandria even knew that the race would be difficult and knew that the risk to try was worth it. Taking up the waitress and bartender job enabled her to understand the real situation of the working-class people's lives. This experience in the hospitality sector also prepared her for the Congress race. She got used to people telling her all kinds of nasty things, which made her strong to fight the entire backlash that came her way.
Reference
Armstrong, M. (2019). Strategic human resource management .pdf drive.com.
Biography . (2019, December 13). Retrieved from House.gov: https://ocasio-cortez.house.gov/about/biography
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2007). The five practices of exemplary leadership. The Jossey-Bass reader on educational leadership , 63-74
Lears, R. (Director). (, 2019). Knock Down the House [Motion Picture].PBS. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/rachel-lears-director-of-knock-down-the-house/
Rath, T., & Conchie, B. (2008). Strengths-based leadership: Great leaders, teams, and why people follow . Simon and Schuster .
