LEADERSHIP
What does it mean to be a leader?
Leadership is a relational, shared experience where the organization or team seeks to make a positive difference in the community.
A leader is a divergent being who will no doubt impact the lives of others; personally, I see leadership as a relational, shared experience where the organization or team seeks to make a positive difference in the community. Creating this theory was possible after certain life experiences early in my academic career, especially after helping to host the 2015 Upper Midwest Regional Honors conference as part of the Honors 401 Exploring Leadership in the Context of Conference Development course. During the duration of this class, I learned the importance of leadership being a collective process, and I saw how many leaders emerge when lots of people are working together. As my final project, I looked at the transforming leadership theory, which focuses on relationships and making a difference in communities in an ethical manner. I found that this theory tied to my life and experiences.
Since taking this HONR401, I have applied my understanding of leadership to experiences on campus as President of Spanish Club,, secretary for Honors Student Council and in the greater community at Green Lake Bible Camp. In each of these settings, I learned about leadership in group contexts. First, as president of Spanish Club for five semesters, I have seen the club change due to a changing executive board, advisor, and group of members. I have been able to use my strength as a relator to build relationships with club members to encourage people to come to meetings. Each week I work with the executive board to plan events, like piñata making, movie nights, games, and other activities. Another strength I have is that I am futuristic. This semester especially I have thought about giving up my position to give the opportunity to someone else. However, each semester there has been a new turnover and the only people who have remained have been on the executive board. Therefore, this semester we need to work on maintaining a group of people who will stay in the club for next semester and have those people take up responsibility and feel truly apart of the group and stick with it. Throughout two years collaborating with other executive board members, I have learned how to delegate tasks in order to give other people responsibilities and become more involved in the club. One of my weaknesses before was asking people for help when planning, but this allowed me to break out of that weakness and connect with more people.
Similarly as secretary for Honors Student Council, the position allowed me to help make executive decisions with a small group of people and taking those decisions to the rest of the students. As the secretary, I have improved my communication skills with others, reaching out to a large audience. I was responsible for keeping the HSC executive board meeting minutes posted promptly after our meetings, as well as letting Honors students know of what we discussed at monthly HSC meetings by posting meeting notes in the lounge. I have enjoyed interacting with other students this semester and meeting some new people. Being in the office as the Student Activities Director also impacted my role as the secretary for HSC, as getting out the word about different events was part of both positions. Being part of both teams (Honors staff and HSC) allowed me to have the inside scoop on the other team when in meetings; I was able to contribute more, and communication did not have to travel through a grape vine to get to the other side. I also used my visibility in the Honors Program to encourage students studying language to attend Spanish Club.
My final impactful leadership experience was this past summer as support staff at Green Lake Bible Camp. During staff training, we focused on building relationships through playing silly games, planning worships in small groups, each personal leading a devotional and bible study, etc. Leading weekly Spanish club meetings prepared me for being in the “spotlight” in these scenarios. Throughout the summer, this position taught me the importance of communication with a large amount of people (as with HSC and Spanish club) and being upfront with the needs of your position in order to carry out an action for the larger community at camp. In the past, I have struggled with sharing the needs I have, especially if it means asking someone for help. However, asking for help was a common recurrence at camp, as everyone needs to work as a team to keep things running smoothly for campers.
In the team-based setting of my leadership experiences, I was shown that connections with others, not just what one person is capable of accomplishing, is key to effectively leading and creating a fun, safe environment at camp. Working together is vital. "Leadership is always dependent on the context, but the context is established by the relationships we value" (Komives, Lucas & McMahon). Without relationships, our goals could not be accomplished in as successful or meaningful of a way.
Leadership is a relational, shared experience where the organization or team seeks to make a positive difference in the community.
A leader is a divergent being who will no doubt impact the lives of others; personally, I see leadership as a relational, shared experience where the organization or team seeks to make a positive difference in the community. Creating this theory was possible after certain life experiences early in my academic career, especially after helping to host the 2015 Upper Midwest Regional Honors conference as part of the Honors 401 Exploring Leadership in the Context of Conference Development course. During the duration of this class, I learned the importance of leadership being a collective process, and I saw how many leaders emerge when lots of people are working together. As my final project, I looked at the transforming leadership theory, which focuses on relationships and making a difference in communities in an ethical manner. I found that this theory tied to my life and experiences.
Since taking this HONR401, I have applied my understanding of leadership to experiences on campus as President of Spanish Club,, secretary for Honors Student Council and in the greater community at Green Lake Bible Camp. In each of these settings, I learned about leadership in group contexts. First, as president of Spanish Club for five semesters, I have seen the club change due to a changing executive board, advisor, and group of members. I have been able to use my strength as a relator to build relationships with club members to encourage people to come to meetings. Each week I work with the executive board to plan events, like piñata making, movie nights, games, and other activities. Another strength I have is that I am futuristic. This semester especially I have thought about giving up my position to give the opportunity to someone else. However, each semester there has been a new turnover and the only people who have remained have been on the executive board. Therefore, this semester we need to work on maintaining a group of people who will stay in the club for next semester and have those people take up responsibility and feel truly apart of the group and stick with it. Throughout two years collaborating with other executive board members, I have learned how to delegate tasks in order to give other people responsibilities and become more involved in the club. One of my weaknesses before was asking people for help when planning, but this allowed me to break out of that weakness and connect with more people.
Similarly as secretary for Honors Student Council, the position allowed me to help make executive decisions with a small group of people and taking those decisions to the rest of the students. As the secretary, I have improved my communication skills with others, reaching out to a large audience. I was responsible for keeping the HSC executive board meeting minutes posted promptly after our meetings, as well as letting Honors students know of what we discussed at monthly HSC meetings by posting meeting notes in the lounge. I have enjoyed interacting with other students this semester and meeting some new people. Being in the office as the Student Activities Director also impacted my role as the secretary for HSC, as getting out the word about different events was part of both positions. Being part of both teams (Honors staff and HSC) allowed me to have the inside scoop on the other team when in meetings; I was able to contribute more, and communication did not have to travel through a grape vine to get to the other side. I also used my visibility in the Honors Program to encourage students studying language to attend Spanish Club.
My final impactful leadership experience was this past summer as support staff at Green Lake Bible Camp. During staff training, we focused on building relationships through playing silly games, planning worships in small groups, each personal leading a devotional and bible study, etc. Leading weekly Spanish club meetings prepared me for being in the “spotlight” in these scenarios. Throughout the summer, this position taught me the importance of communication with a large amount of people (as with HSC and Spanish club) and being upfront with the needs of your position in order to carry out an action for the larger community at camp. In the past, I have struggled with sharing the needs I have, especially if it means asking someone for help. However, asking for help was a common recurrence at camp, as everyone needs to work as a team to keep things running smoothly for campers.
In the team-based setting of my leadership experiences, I was shown that connections with others, not just what one person is capable of accomplishing, is key to effectively leading and creating a fun, safe environment at camp. Working together is vital. "Leadership is always dependent on the context, but the context is established by the relationships we value" (Komives, Lucas & McMahon). Without relationships, our goals could not be accomplished in as successful or meaningful of a way.