Leadership Philosophy |
Since I've started considering myself a leader (which didn't happen until this journey) I have realized that my previous ideas of leadership and where I am now haven't changed too much. Before embarking on my leadership journey, I have always thought of leadership as "being part of the pack" not in front front of the pack. From my bronze experience the leadership philosophy I dreamed up was to be a leader for my fellow cohort members through my active engagement with as many opportunities across campus as possible. That still holds true to this day. I want to be able to seek out and share opportunities for my fellow cohort members to get involved and engage to highlight their own leadership style and capacity.
Since defining myself as a leader, I've realized the importance of building others up. Because truly in turn that builds my effectiveness as a leader. Through engaging others in the leadership process I've come to understand that this is truly where I find the most joy. Of course I love to support my personal growth as a leader, but when I'm supporting others I gain so much more than I could have alone. In recognizing this about myself, and tying together personal leadership philosophy of "being part of the pack not in front of the pack" I am hopeful that my leadership skills will only continue to strengthen through supporting and being supported by others. |
Leadership Learning
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During the time I spent with my leadership coach, Peter, I have felt such a dignifying sense of self. When we started our sessions I was very weary of myself and my abilities. I wasn't sure if the things I wanted to do made sense, I always felt like I was hyper sensitive to the words of others, or that I flat out wasn't good enough to be in this masters program. Through some of the self assessments Peter offered as a supplement to the LPI we were able to push past the self-doubting wall I had built for myself to realize that I am extremely competent, caring, and engaged. It really took coaching to pull these things out of me, because other wise I think I still may be unsure of my own abilities. Within those sessions, Peter really took the time to dig deeper into where my feelings of self-doubt were rooted, and offered resources for understanding that these things are actually quite common. Those resources armed me with the knowledge I needed to become grounded (as that was my goal for our sessions)!
Since having these sessions I have been able to take more authority of my outward communication with others and I'm more able to articulate why I am the way I am. In other words, I'm able to see that I don't overthink, I just like to make well-informed decisions. I am not overly sensitive, I just care deeply for those who may be at a disadvantage in life. And lastly, I am not incompetent in the work I'm doing, I'm still learning and molding myself as I go! And a pretty unique thing came up in a session with Peter. As we were talking about how I've grown over the past few months and some of the concerns I've had I shared with him a wood carved picture frame that my mother had recently given me. The frame describes the meaning of my name, which you'll see on the home page as "Helper & Defender of Mankind." This was a common theme that continued to emerge during our sessions, but it was beautiful how my sessions and my life situations began to merge. This is were I truly saw and felt the most growth!! |