This reflection on my experience as a public leadership scholar shows how the program changed my understanding of leadership and me as a leader.
Reflect on your understanding of leadership. How has it changed over your time in PL? What do you think of leadership now/What does leadership mean to you now?
Coming into college, I had a pretty narrow view of what leadership was. At first, I thought the topic of leadership was not as sophisticated and many-sided as it is. I thought only naturally-extroverted people could be the best leaders and that all leaders have nearly the same personality. But that could not be further from the truth. Public leadership taught me that every leader is different and is most effective when they understand their strengths and develop a unique leadership style suited to their character. Every leader must find out their unique talents and harness them to achieve their goals. The beauty of leadership is that anyone can be a leader. Some leaders may be highly extroverted, while others are introverted (and so on). Leadership is not just about telling people what to do. It is an endless quest of striving to be better and learning more about yourself each day. For me, being a great leader means influencing those around you to be the very best they can be.
Describe your leadership style referencing Strengths, leadership theories/styles, etc from class.
As a leader, one of the things I pride myself on is my ability to work with others. Even though I sometimes prefer to work independently, I enjoy working in groups and listening to my peers' ideas. Sometimes I can be quite directive and demanding as a leader, but I always try hearing my group's opinions before I move ahead on a task (consensus leadership). Another thing about me is that I am not the most persuasive and charismatic person. I prefer to lead more by example instead than through my words. I still love being social and talking to people, but being a people person never came naturally to me. Overall, I am a very self-motivated person and can excite others to put their full effort into achieving group goals.
What facilitated the change in your understanding of leadership? Upload at least 3+ artifacts as evidence and discuss WHY you chose them. Describing WHY you uploaded something is more important than the item itself. Specifically, you must include a position paper (1st year), Leadership Philosophy paper (2nd year), one other relevant pieces of evidence (assignments and/or reflections on experiences from PL, other classes, and/or outside the classroom).
Meeting a community of different people and gaining new experiences in public leadership changed my understanding of what leadership means to me. Assignments and activities that I completed in class gave me a new perspective as a leader. Attached below are a few of my works that demonstrate this.
I uploaded this position paper because it demonstrates my ability to write persuasively. In my first semester as a scholar, I participated in many activities that involved arguing and negotiating amongst other classmates. Being able to make tough policy decisions and make a persuasive case for your ideas is a necessary part of being a great leader and communicator.
I uploaded my leadership philosophy paper from this semester because it reflects what I have learned about being a leader. This paper highlights five points about what I believe makes an exceptional leader. When I entered this program, I did not understand the full picture of leadership. This essay is the culmination of what I have learned from my teachers and peers. COMM 107 Persuasive Presentation Reflection: docs.google.com/document/d/11EDbcmp5k2OgWxKyGSG24jLxMi5iuvZ6cPTg5E2CkW0/edit?usp=sharing This document is a written reflection of a persuasive presentation for my COMM 107 class this semester. In my opinion, one of the most central parts of leadership is understanding your capabilities and always striving to improve. This reflection shows my desire to improve as a speaker. I analyze the strengths and weaknesses of my presentation and determine ways to improve for the future.
How have you used an element of leadership learned through PL in your life? (either a formal leadership role or a personal interaction).
Throughout my life, I have been the oldest of five children in my family. Because of this, I have learned a lot of valuable lessons about leadership. My younger siblings have always looked up to me. Therefore, I have always been in a position where I have to set an example for them. I have lots of experience handling conflicts and being responsible for other's needs. Being held to a higher standard is natural for me, as I handle leadership roles and responsibilities exceptionally. I have always been great at working in groups, whether they be organizations or even sports teams. My knowledge from being in public leadership and my life experience has helped me work effectively in group settings this year. Working on group assignments has been burdensome this semester with online classes. Despite the challenges, I have utilized my effective communication and group work skills that I learned in scholars to work together with my groups and create the best projects possible. Recently, I joined the fraternity Lambda Chi Alpha on campus and was elected to be one of the philanthropy chairs. Our big annual philanthropy event is to help organize the annual American Foundation for Suicide Prevention awareness walk at UMD that will take place in 2021. While this will be a challenge figuring everything out with COVID-19, I am excited to work with everyone in the chapter to raise money and support a notable cause.