The Leadership Minor has been an amazing part of my college experience. It goes without saying that I have learned an amazing array of things, both inside the classroom and out in the real world. Part of what made this experience as great as it was would be the people involved. I could have never asked for better professors - the Melissa's make an AMAZING team and worked well together to ensure that we got the most out of this class. On the other hand, the dynamic of our classes was unlike anything I've ever had. Through the exercises we did in class, we became very aware of how diverse we are, yet how we are the same. I can say with confidence that these experiences have allowed me to strengthen many of my relationships, especially with my classmates. I love that we are comfortable enough with each other that we can express our deepest personal thoughts without the slightest fear of judgement.
Skills and Strengths
I have developed and enhanced many skills and strengths as a result of this course. For instance, I had an opportunity to re-discover my Strengths, as defined by StrengthsQuest. They are as follows:
positivity. achiever. adaptability. developer. empathy.
This class has provided me the chance to use these Strengths through the types of assignments and activities we have done. A perfect example of this would be the exercise we did at the first and second retreat, where the Melissa's would read things and we would step into the circle if they applied to us. Through this, I can easily say that my empathy Strength became apparent because I would "put myself into other's shoes" as they would share their stories, beliefs, and opinions.
I would have to say that the lessons learned through Crucial Conversations have influenced my conflict management skills as well. To begin, the section about keeping conversation safe was very interesting. Knowing when safety is at risk seems to be very common sense, however handling that risk isn't as simple as I initially assumed. I have noticed that I will push to solve the conflict through one single conversation, as opposed to stepping out to collect thoughts and cool things down. In my experiences, I can certainly say this has enhanced the risk of violence, so it goes without saying that these concepts would have beneficial. Analyzing my triggers has also enhanced my conflict management skills. Because I am aware of such triggers, I am able to handle them better, as opposed to reacting like I normally would.
Looking at the class as a whole, it is evident that my teamwork skills have improved as well. I am certainly a team player, and I can certainly attest that I have never had problems working with groups, however, my group in this class has taught me a lot. Perhaps it's due to the type of work we did, but differences seemed to be more apparent in this group than in those I've worked with in the past. A lot of our assignments forced us to analyze different backgrounds and concepts that are easily affected by different life experiences. These differences forced me to be more open to thoughts and ideas entirely different to mine. I am confident that I can use these skills for the rest of my life because I will always be a part of some sort of team, and we inevitably have our differences.
Foundational Models and Theories
We have learned a wide variety of leadership theories and models throughout the minor. With that in mind, I feel as though my leadership style is principle-centered. As explained in my inventory, there are eight characteristics of a principle-centered leader:
1).They are continually learning, meaning they constantly learn from their experiences. They are also relatively curious and feed off of learning new things and ideas.
2).They are service oriented, implying that they see life as a mission as opposed to a career.
3).They radiate positive energy, which simply means they tend to be cheerful and pleasurable.
4).They believe in other people. Essentially, these people don’t overreact to negative behavior or other weaknesses.
5).They lead balanced lives. This means that they keep up to date with current events, maintain active social and intellectual lives, and have a healthy means.
6).They see life as an adventure, which implies that they have no need to stereotype various aspects of life in order to achieve a sense of certainty.
7).They are synergistic, giving them the ability to improve many of the situations that they get involved in.
8).They regularly exercise the four dimensions of human personality: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
This theory fits into my life in numerous ways. I feel as though all of these characteristics describe perfectly. For instance, I love to learn, and I truly am always learning new things. Part of my character is that I like to make sure that everyone around me is happy at all times. I do my best to help everyone, no matter how much I already have on my plate. With that, I have learned when to say no, and that it’s okay to say no. I am constantly told that I have a great energy and that I can light up the room with it. When I am working with a team, I am constantly encouraging and motivating the others. I also lead a very balanced life. I have an excellent GPA, a very large range of friends, and I am very active on campus. Being able to balance all of these aspects of my life is certainly difficult, but I take pride in knowing that I do it well. Overall, all of the characteristics of this theory fit perfectly into my life, and me as a person.
HDF 412
Throughout this course, we have gone over a variety of models and theories that have added to my practice of leadership. Among them, I would say that the Identity Models have added a great deal to my leadership practices.
I have always been aware that people are different. Cultures are different. National origins are different. The ways we identify (gender, color, orientation, etc.) are different. With that, I have always understood that these differences are what make us who we are as individuals. However, through analyzing these models, I have gained a lot of insight into deeper differences. For instance, our perspectives on the same things, the things we choose to observe--always different. Realizing this has made me realize how important it is to find exactly what it is that makes one different, and these theories have helped me discover that.
For example, we looked at various models regarding race:
• Cross and Fhagen-Smith's Model of Black Identity Development
• Helms's White Identity Development Model
• Rowe, Bennet, and Atkinson's White Racial Consciousness Model
These models basically explain how people being to realize that the color of the skin is a means of identity, and what that means to them.
Some of the gender and sexual orientation models we looked at include:
• Bem's Gender Schema Theory
• Bilodeau's Transgender Identity Development Model
• Cass's Homosexual Identity Formation Model
Again, these models also express the process of identification regarding these concepts.
Understanding HOW identification occurs is important because it helps facilitate my leadership practices. Learning about what causes a person to identify themselves the way that they do, or what key factors are a part of this process. This will help me understand the backgrounds of different situations that may arise, from a much deeper perspective. This also changes my leadership practices because I have gained a new perspective of things as well. For instance, I have a better understanding of why we all perceive things differently. A perfect example of this would regard why I track things that are different then some of the girls in PINK women. With what I have learned, I am able to notice things similar to what they have pointed out.
