I propose to receive 45/50 points on my professionalism points based on my:
Punctuality- I was on time to class and group meetings 90 percent of the time. In some occasions I was a few minutes late to class because I had a class right before it. To my group meetings I arrived early or on time and occasionally arrived a few minutes late.
Participation- Ever so often I participated in class discussion but not consistently. I tried to give my input every time I had the opportunity but at times I was too shy.
Respect for others- I was constantly respectful and aware of how my actions affected others. I tried to help others often and was extremely good at staying focused and keeping my group focused as well. Sometimes sidebar conversations were needed but I made sure they did not last too long and brought the focus back to the work at hand.
Preparation- I tried to always come prepared to class but I will admit I may have missed a reading. I also forgot to upload the final assignments on blackboard on the given date but had the hard copies turned in on time.
Initiative and motivation- I took advantage of nearly all of the opportunities to learn. I attended two networking events to obtain information on how to improve our proposal. At the networking event I connected with staff from the career center whom provided my group with evidence to support our proposal.
Final Blog Post
As I stated in my leadership development plan, my goal to advance in my leadership development was to improve on the two practices of leadership I ranked low in which were “inspire a shared vision” and “challenge the process”. I also wanted to improve on my emotional intelligence. This consisted of learning how to recognize and manage my emotions and understand those of my team members. I aimed to be socially aware of the emotions each team member expressed and the effect they could have on our meetings.
I successfully improved on challenging the process. In big part it had to do with how comfortable I felt with my team members. The atmosphere we created welcomed ideas and suggestions. As for me, it allowed me to play the role of devil’s advocate, I challenged the process by asking questions for clarification or simply disagreeing and suggesting a new idea. My way of measuring my improvement on challenging the process was through my teammate’s feedback. In the midterm feedback one of my teammates wrote, “She will speak up and voice her opinion but withdraw when others disagree… She should stand her ground about her position…” Indeed I was speaking up to challenge the process but it was not making any impact if I withdrew once someone disagreed. My next step was to improve in this aspect, and so I did as proven by one of my teammate’s feedback: “[Cecilia] provided very good insight and direction.” By expressing my opinion and following through I provided direction for my team, creating a shared vision.
Inspiring a shared vision was the second area I wanted to work on to improve my leadership development. This practice interwove with challenging the process. As I questioned our proposal and the small details, I made the team vision clear. I also measured my progress in this practice through my teammate’s feedback. In the midterm feedback one teammate suggested: “Inspiring a shared vision by spending more time explaining her stances.” I needed to explain my ideas, similar to the struggles I faced when challenging the process. My improvement in explaining my ideas was noted when I received the final feedback and a teammate commented on my strength to: “Inspire a shared vision by making sure we were all on track for completing the same desired goal.”
My Leadership development plan had two aspects to it, being aware of my personal behavior and taking actions to directly influence people’s participation. Working on my personal behavior worked best for me. I asked questions to improve on the practice of challenging the process and was self-aware of my own emotions. Evidence that this aspect of my leadership development plan worked best for me was reflected on the results of my leadership development plan mentioned above where I improved in most of the areas I aimed to.
What did not work so much for me was taking actions to influence others. For example, in my midterm feedback a member wrote, “If I could tell you to improve on anything it would be in inviting other group members to speak in group meetings.” I focused on improving my own weaknesses to improve my leadership and failed to consider the importance my teammates input was on my growth.
I still need to work on not only focusing on my personal improvement but incorporating the rest of my team to help me improve. I plan to create some changes to improve my contribution to a team. As I wrote on my final individual critique, “I want to continue working on creativity and innovation by incorporating every team members input.” I will do this by not being self-centered and focusing on improving my leadership development through my team.
Leadership development as explained in the articles and modules appears to be a simple task. Determine what it is you need to improve on, how you will improve it, improve it , and tah dah improvement! However this is not the case. It is not easy to change ones ways and incorporate new ways to improve leadership. Once changes are applied the response from the rest of your team is unpredictable. When I challenged the process I did not know what kind of response I was going to receive from my teammates. At times they liked that I played the role of devil’s advocate but at other times they were not too happy about my doubts and concerns. Applying what is taught in class to the real world is not simple as writing portrays it, but it certainly is a learning process.
The Final Proposal
I arrived from a Leadership and Creativity symposium at the Ohio State University Sunday afternoon and met with my team upon my arrival. I left to the conference Wednesday night after meeting with my team and figuring out some logistics about our proposal and therefore was unable to meet with my team until Sunday afternoon. Despite being gone for four days and feeling like I was unable to help my group, I made up for the time I was gone by putting in work Sunday night with my team. During the time I met with my team I noticed my strengths were being reflected.
The team was having a hard time concentrating and being motivated to complete the proposal and despite being tired from my flight I was really motivated to get it done. I was able to spread my motivation amongst my teammates which resulted in successfully completing our proposal. My two strengths I ranked in the five practices of leadership, enabling others to act and encouraging the heart, were definitely portrayed that Sunday night.
Defeating Frustration
This week my team and I met on Monday right after class to look over the feedback we received from the professor. We concluded that we needed to gather further information to support our claim. A couple weeks prior I had attended a networking event that was similar to what we were proposing. It was the first time this event was held by both the Career Center and LCB Career Services. I proposed to meet with the people who ran the event to get further information relevant to our proposal. We set up an appointment the following day and interviewed the coordinator of the event. She was able to provide us with useful information that would help us support the claim my team and I make in our proposal.
The following day the entire team met and we worked on how to incorporate the information we gathered into our proposal. While doing this a bit of frustration started to rise amongst the team and I quickly mentioned what I observed and that allowed for everyone to check themselves and helped settle down the frustration. I was also able to implement one of my action plan goals shortly afterwards. While revising our proposal the team was starting to doubt the entire proposal and wanted to take a new direction. I reminded them we all had agreed upon a team vision “to successfully complete our proposal” and changing the direction of our proposal would not allow us to successfully complete it. We decided to stay with what we had initially and worked on improving it based on the professor’s feedback.
I left that night to a conference I am attending this week and planned to meet with them on Sunday when I would be back. I was glad I could provide a way for the team to gather information that would benefit our proposal and clarify the direction the team was going before my departure.
LDP Actions Taking Place
This week I received team feedback and face-to-face feedback from my team members. I was humbled, please, and relieved from the feedback I received. I noticed my team members feedback correlated with my strengths and weaknesses of the five practices of leadership. My areas of improvement also went in hand with my developing plan and their feedback gave me tangible ideas to implement my developing plan actions.
Based on the feedback I received I am good at keeping the team focused on tasks, monitoring the group work, and making sure it is relevant to the assignments. This shows I have been able to execute my action plans from my Leadership Development Plan. One of my action plans was “Speak up when the team is swerving away from the team vision.” I have been able to bring focus to the team preventing the team from going on tangents.
I did notice my teammates commented on how I voice my opinion (“Voice my opinion about team progress” one of my Leadership Developments plan actions) but I do not stick with it. They suggested I follow through with my opinion and not let it get shut down. I plan to implement this onto my Leadership Development Plan to make it more successful.
As I continue to work together with my team, I hope to gain further suggestions on how I can overcome my weaknesses and help others overcome theirs.
Team Progress and My Contribution
The team progress has been interesting to observe and be a part of. The team started off with addressing a need for international student inclusion and with our research and surveys it shifted to a need for networking amongst the LCB students and staff. Just like the ladder of inference states, we had a belief but then we collected data and by analyzing the data we found a new belief in which we have decided to take action upon.
Thus far the team has collaborated well together. As far as my collaboration goes, I have been facilitating meetings when the team leader is not able to meet with the rest of us due to schedule conflicts. I am inclusive of all members by suggesting ways to collaborate that require the input of everyone. Like with our first proposal draft, instead of assigning everyone a section I suggested we all start off with a section, take a few minutes to write down ideas and content and then rotate the sections. This way everyone had the opportunity to look over every section of the proposal add suggestions, fix errors and provide input. This worked out very smoothly for all of us. It also allowed for everyone to be on the same page as far as the details of our solution and our overall proposal.
I hope to continue bringing ideas of ways the team can work together and make sure no one is left behind. No wonder encouraging the heart was my number one rank in the 5 practices, I like to recognize everyone’s contribution no matter how big or small it is.
Stating the Problem
It has been very tempting, since we started brainstorming about our proposal ,to come up with immediate solutions. When my team and I started working on the expanded POV statement we were able to address a need we all agreed on that addressed a problem. Once we were able to establish a POV statement the want ad was much easier to create. Creating the want ad was a different way to look at the problem we were addressing. At least for me, it made the problem we were addressing more clear.
When I got together with my group to talk about our presentation the focus of the group was centered around the solution to the problem. As for what I saw in the examples in class, my understanding of the presentation requirement was not necessarily to state our solution but to explain and convince the LCB committee about the problem we see in the LCB and state potential ways we can fix it. I thought maybe I had misunderstood and I was not going to question them but then I decided to voice my opinion and challenge the process(one of the 5 practices I ranked low in). I asked them if they were sure that was what we needed to do and I explained why I thought differently. In the end they agreed that we should state our problem first and mention one or multiple solutions to our problem.
The more comfortable I start to get with my team the more courage I have to challenge the process. I am able to voice my opinion and express my thoughts even when I think I may be wrong. I look forward to continue asking questions and expressing my thoughts when I deem it necessary.
Getting the Plan Started
I’ve had a few meetings with my team now and I am starting to notice my role in it. In the meetings that we’ve had I’ve provided my computer to take notes in. Once we have all the information I am responsible to make it accessibly to everyone .In developing the teams need statement I started to take into action my Leadership Development Plan. Part of my Leadership Development Plan is to work on challenging the process. Many times throughout the brainstorming and formation of our needs statement I questioned if we were accurately describing what the entire group meant. This allowed for a reevaluation of the statement and the collaboration of all team members to agree on the final statement. Challenging the process was not as bad as I thought. I feared to challenge the process before in order to avoid arguments. My team, however, listens and takes into consideration my questions. My team creates a comfortable environment for me to ask questions to challenge the process. I hope to continue working on challenging the process not only in a comfortable environment but in times of hostility, which are bound to happen.
This week I received my MEMO and I was surprised how well I did on it. Writing is not my forte, or so I thought, therefore I was feeling very nervous about it. I tried to understand exactly what the assignment was asking for and I believe the time I took to thoroughly understand the assignment was what led to a higher grade than I had anticipated. I am learning to not underestimate my writing skills . If I can thoroughly understand what I am suppose to write about I will be successful.
Reflecting on this week has allowed me to foresee what my role can be in my team and how I can best incorporate my strengths to benefit the team. I learned I can start implementing my Leadership Development Project little by little. Lastly, I also learned writing continues to be challenging for me but I am improving.
Understanding my Strengths and Weaknesses as a Leader
This week in class I learned about the five practices of exemplary leadership and emotional intelligence. It was interesting to read how the many great successful leaders shared a common ground with these practices. It is not that they were born geniuses they simply knew how to effectively execute these practices. After taking the assessment test and knowing which practices I had more strength in, I reflected back on the leadership roles I had and in the previous group projects I was a part of. I noticed that the practices I was more competent in, were reflected in my role as a leader and as a team player.
Based on my realization I was able to implement a Leadership Development Plan and brainstorm on ways I can improve as a leader. I plan to further develop the practices I am currently competent in and strengthen on the practices I scored less favorably in.
This was the first week my group met and I’d say it was a successful meeting. We were able to get a start on the team agreement and have it finished by the deadline. I noticed we all have a high emotional intelligence level. We were all very aware of our own emotions as well as understanding everyone else’s. One of our group members was going to be going out of the state for a family wedding and we were all very understanding of the situation and found a way to stay communicated with him.
Based on my assessment of the five practices and emotional intelligence my group and I decided that my role in my group should be meeting facilitator. I enable others to act and I have a high competency in self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management (the components of emotional intelligence).
Even though it has only been one week, I have learned about my strengths and weaknesses through the five practices of exemplary leadership and emotional intelligence. I hope to further develop these strengths and weaknesses throughout the term as I work with my group and learn about new content in the classroom.
Leadership Development Plan
Leadership Reflection
My reflection will be based mainly on my experience as a the state publicity director for DECA-a business organization, while in high school. We were a team of six with officers and one coach. My term lasted a year of which lots of planning and organizing occurred to host the state conference.
#1 Rank-Strength-Enabling others to act
I dislike tension and in order to get rid of it I ask questions to try to find out what is causing it and how to get rid of it.
I always tried to initiate conversation amongst the team to come up with a solution to a project so no one would get frustrated. I tended to ask many questions to see how a solution could be found. I liked to ask everyone in the group so no one was left out and to make sure everyone agreed on the final decision.
#2 Rank-Strength- Encourage the Heart
I seek to stay motivated and motivate my team members. I am able to recognize when things are going downhill and I offer encouragement.
When we needed to be in a conference room for hours planning speeches and workshops, it was hard to stay motivated to the very end. This is when I tried to stay motivated the most even when I was really tired. It was more fun to accomplish things as a group when everyone was showing interest and pitching in.
#3 Rank-Strength- Model the Way
I strive to complete work on schedule. Tasks I am assigned, I take as a challenge and invest all my effort into them.
For example for the state conference we were to distribute tags to all members that said “Follow me on Twitter” or “Like me on Facebook” as a means to get all members involved in social media. I was the only one out of the team to distribute all of the tags. It only took the extra effort of talking to members to have them wear the tags.
We also delivered speeches at our state conference. The majority of the speeches were very informative but boring. I decided I did not want my speech to be boring so I came up with a creative speech to deliver the code of conduct of the conference. My speech had a great response and it ended up creating an overall theme throughout the conference.
#4 Rank-Development-Inspire a shared vision, Challenge the process
I focus on getting my work done forgetting about the big picture. As I have mentioned previously I dislike tension, and in order to avoid it I tend to not ask critical questions or challenge team decisions.
Within the team we all had the general vision of being a successful team and organizing a state conference. I could have done a better job of bringing the enthusiasm and trying to create a more personalized vision for our group to share. Instead I tried to create progress by trying to cross things of the list. This led me to not challenge the process. If an idea seemed to get the work done I agreed to it and moved forward without questioning how we could make it better or what could be a better option.
Action Plan 1- 5 Practices of Leadership
I would like to improve on the two practices I ranked low in, Inspire a shared vision and Challenge the process.
What I do now?
I focus on getting my work done forgetting about the big picture.
As I have mentioned previously I dislike tension, and in order to avoid it I tend to not ask critical questions or challenge team decisions.
What I would like to do?
I would like to focus on having a shared vision amongst the group, staying focused on team goals rather than just my own. I would also like to learn more about my team like what their aspirations are and what motivates them.
I would like to challenge team decisions when I have doubts or concerns. I would like to learn how to deal with tension professionally instead of strictly trying to avoid it. I would also like to encourage the team to take risks and try something new instead of simply sticking with what we know.
Action plan
Inspire a share vision
- Take the initiative to create a team vision for our project amongst the group.
- Remind the team of our vision at every meeting.
- Speak up when the team is swerving away from the team vision.
- Suggest to edit or refresh team vision if it is not working for the team.
- Have an ice breaker or a quick fun activity for the team to perform when taking a break.
Challenge the process
- Ask questions in a polite manner as to not hurt anyone’s feelings when I am in doubt of a team decision.
- Voice my opinion about team progress.
- Many of our business friends have taken this class before and we will be tempted to do as they did in certain aspects of the project. I plan to encourage innovation within our team and not try to go by what previous classmates have done.
- Because we all have busy schedules we will be tempted to do the bare minimum. I plan to encourage the team to try to take it an extra step further.
Action plan 2-Emotional Intelligence
What I do now?
My fear of confrontation causes for me to keep my questions or doubts to myself. I am good at detecting tension and frustration and try to find a common ground, however, I focus more on the negative than the positive and tend to not celebrate team and individual accomplishments.
What I would like to do?
I would like to not make the assumption that confrontation will occur if I question a group decision. I would also like to acknowledge the positive emotions such as happiness and enjoyment in the team and not simply focus on scoping out the negative emotions. I want to be socially aware to be able to understand the different perspectives my team member may have.
Plan of Action
- Be aware of emotions and the effect they can have on the whole team, I will try to remain productive and positive.
- Ask my team members how they are doing, to observe the different responses and get a general grasp of what the meeting could end up like.
- Know that not everyone is going to be happy and positive all the time, so have a backup plan on how to deal with uncomfortable situations.
- Ask my team members if anyone wants to vent at the start of meetings. I rather have a member explode at the beginning of our meeting than in the middle of a task.