3 SEMESTER REVIEW
Spring 2021-Spring 2022
How have you changed during the Scholars experience? What parts of the program influenced you most significantly and why?
Over the course of the Scholars experience, I have noticed that I have changed significantly in terms of my communication and emotional intelligence. While lessons taught in our colloquiums have been influential in that change, the life experiences that took place over the course of the past two years have also played a large role in my personal development as a leader. One of the lessons that has been “stuck” in my brain that sparked an almost realization within me was the lesson on toxic leadership in CPPL200. It took admitting out loud to the entire class what toxic traits I identified with from the exercise to realize that they were ones I wanted to work on and change. Since then, I have been aware of when I begin to fall into those negative tendencies and that lesson was significant in how I have grown in just a few months to be more self aware and mindful of those bad habits.
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?
I spent the first year of being in Public Leadership living at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as many other students were, and my perspective on leadership at the time was purely based in theory. Learning about the different types of leadership and skills that are fundamental to being a good leader provided a basic understanding of the concept and acted as something to keep in the back of my mind and take note of in my interactions. However, over the course of the summer of 2021 leading into my first year living on campus, I noticed changes within myself that translated to how I conducted myself as a person and a leader entering into the new school year. Leadership for me now is more than just theoretical concepts and knowledge, but rather a way of being. While the skills that I have learned in Public Leadership are still important and continue to be a reminder of where I can work on improvement, leadership for me has come from my growing as a person and having new experiences that shape my outlook. As a freshman PL scholar in fall 2020, I was excited for Public Leadership to tell me how to be a leader and that I would take the information given to me and implement it like it was just a simple task. In my final semester of Public Leadership, I have learned that leadership is not something that is just taught, but something that comes from the self and is constantly evolving as you continue to grow and change.
Describe your leadership style
I would describe my leadership style as being relatively instinctive, as it changes based on the situation that I am in and the people that I am working with. Primarily, I lean towards a democratic style of leadership where I am looking for the input and thoughts of the people around me. However, I can be a directive leader if that is what’s necessary for that environment (ie: if quick decisions are needed) because if I feel that I am more knowledgeable of a given situation and dynamics, then I will be much more direct. In my leadership style, I also value creativity, communication, and emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence has always been one of my main strengths that I identified with as an element of leadership, so having strong EI and being able to establish a relationship with who I am working with is important to my style. I want to be recognized as a leader that people do not fear coming to if they have any issues or concerns because I want those relationships to be based in mutual respect. To that point, open communication is a strong point in my leadership style as I want to make sure that people fully understand my vision and reasoning behind the decisions made, so everyone is working towards a shared common goal. Finally, creativity and transformative thinking are important strengths in my leadership style as some situations will require innovative thinking and decision-making. All of these elements go hand in hand as they are not only based around leading towards a goal, but building strong relationships and connections along the way that are fundamental in having support for my vision.
How have you used an element of leadership learned through PL in your life?
An element of leadership that I have used many times, especially in personal interactions, is emotional intelligence. Strong emotional intelligence, specifically empathy, was one of my strengths throughout the entirety of the PL experience that I have continued to grow and hone in. While I am generally an empathetic person and do well with reading and responding to other peoples’ emotions, the part of EI that I have strengthened is recognizing my own emotions and better controlling my reactions to effectively communicate them. This side of emotional intelligence has been a challenge for me throughout my life, but has been tested through multiple experiences this semester through my interactions with the people closest to me, such as my roommates and friends. These experiences have been helpful for me to identify where my weaknesses are, but also to see where I have grown compared to how I used to be. For me, EI is an important element of my leadership style that I have focused on improving and am proud to see the growth that has taken place over the course of being in the PL program.
What facilitated the change in your understanding of leadership?
Something that facilitated the change in my understanding of leadership are the personal interactions that I have had that in retrospect required the leadership skills taught in PL. Leadership is viewed as something that is only used in settings where someone is taking the lead on a formal assignment, such as a project or job, but leadership can also come into play within your personal life. I have realized how important self-leadership is in me taking charge of how I choose to respond to certain triggers or stressors in my personal life and being able to effectively evaluate the situation and manage my own reactions. My perspective on leadership has changed significantly as a result of this realization because going into PL, I viewed leadership as something that had to do with external interactions, when in reality, leadership can be practiced internally as you work to grow and develop as an individual. Additionally, these internal changes can then translate to how you behave as a leader towards other people.
The Leadership Philosophy paper (linked below!) was also formative in how I viewed leadership because it made me realize where I developed my leadership style. In the paper, I discuss how my father has acted as a prime example to how leadership should be, as I have seen how he has been a leader in workplace settings, specifically as the owner and operator of multiple franchises. My father and I have a lot of traits in common, so I am not surprised that my leadership style is similar to his. However, this paper facilitated the change in my understanding of leadership because it gave me a examine how the people around me, specifically my parents, have played a role in who I am as a person and a leader, but also recognizing where our perspectives differ and where my outlook is unique from theirs based on the life experiences that I have had. It was also interesting to define my leadership style in comparison to a leader who I look up to, Marsha P. Johnson, and identifying with the elements of her leadership style that I admire and want to emulate.