BA

This entire term I was attempting to balance being a facilitator and recognizing when I need others to facilitate. I feel comfortable leading my team into discussion but felt I might of seemed like I did not care about others inputs or ideas. This is why I felt by asking questions, encouraging motivation, and challenging ideas I would convey my message of emotional intelligence towards my group. The first half of the term I attempted to break shyness barriers by encouraging my team to participate and state ideas. The second half of the term I took a step back and let someone else lead the group, I felt it was time for me to do this because after the midterm peer reviews many said I need to work on asking questions and challenging ideas. I felt this meant I was being too centralized in leading the conversation. Taking a step back allowed me to view our progress in a different manner, a manner I did not see before, I contributed by asking questions and helping my team being able to defend and enforce their ideas by challenging ideas in a manner that promotes idea growth.

Leading effectively and motivating my team worked best for me. I believe the times  I led discussions it led to big important ideas being developed and active participation. For example, our idea for our proposal came through a conversation being led by me. I was able to find a common interest in my group and use that interest to develop our idea. This allowed our group to enjoy our proposal and be interested in it, ensuring active participation from all members. Motivating my team is what I am most proud of; it is clear to me my team felt I helped them get motivated. Three out five teammates all said I do a great job in ensuring they all stay interested in the topic and motivate them to keep pushing forward even after a tough result. For example, our first proposal received a horrible grade, causing my entire group to feel demoralized and second guess our overall project. I felt our idea was good, we just did not put enough effort in the first draft. I conveyed that message to my entire team and ensure them we have plenty of time to fix and laid out a road map for improvement. Emotions changed and our proposal saw a significant jump from our first draft to the final draft.

Even though I improved in asking questions and challenging ideas I still need to improve on stepping back at times and play a devils advocate role. One reason for this change is because not many are comfortable playing this role, but having this role is vital to a team’s success. I feel it would only benefit me being able to be flexible between being a leader and a devil’s advocate. The second reason for this change is I want to encourage others not be shy to lead. This will give my team a sense that I care, and I don’t lead because I want the title, but because I was to be an efficient and motivated group. I will continue to work on this by practicing to challenge ideas on a daily basis.  For example, hanging out with friends always causes conversations with argument, this would be a perfect time for me to practice questioning ideas and theories.

Articles are great, but an article will never give you the experience. An article will not tell you your strengths and weaknesses, and article won’t allow you to commit a mistake and reflect on that mistake to prevent it from happening. An article does give you knowledge but it does not give you intangible assets that are more valuable than knowledge. Experience is the number one teacher, and this was accomplished by the group work done in class. The article on the ladder of inference provided great information, information that I would have never developed. However, you can not get rid of habits that lead to ladder of inference. To get rid of these habits, adjustments need to be practiced and observed.