In regards to the K & P five practices, before going into this term, I had no understanding of what they were, or how important they actually were. After taking the self-assessment on the five practices, I saw how important each of these practices was and I completely understood why I scored high on some, and low on others. With my two lowest being “Encouraging the Heart” and “Challenging the Process” I knew these were the two I needed to change.
Through the Leadership Development Plan I created, I made it a goal for myself to encourage the group members and provide a positive environment for them to thrive in. In the beginning, I felt a little uncomfortable complimenting the group on such small tasks however, looking back; I definitely see the merit behind doing things like that. Once I got my Peer Evaluation Report and I saw that I needed to “work on Encouraging the Heart and Challenging the process” I realized that I needed to make an active effort to improve these qualities. Creating a positive environment ultimately leads to more camaraderie and a stronger and more efficient group. In addition, stepping outside of the comfort zone and testing the boundaries only leads to success and a stronger outcome.
I made a constant effort to compliment the group and provide positive reinforcement in any situation where I could. During the blog post entitled “Leaving the comfort zone” I discuss how I take the back seat with presenting to encourage others to present and work on their presenting skills. Not only was I encouraging the heart but I also put myself in an uncomfortable situation to ultimately lead to a stronger group by relying on the team to improve their weaknesses and encouraging them along the way. As an end result, I saw myself start to become more comfortable in situations where I felt uncomfortable being in at first. In addition, it became a habit to cheer on my group’s successes and be more of a team player. My team also noticed this as on the final evaluation, they stated “Brian was definitely a risk taker” and “Allowed others to speak and encouraged them to do so.” I still have a lot of work to do with these two topics however I feel like I have come a long way.
Moving forward, I need to continue to motivate the team and encourage them to succeed and take risks. It is not something that will change overnight but the more often I allow others to succeed and praise them for doing so, the better the group mentality will be and overall the group will have a stronger and more motivating environment.