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Final Blog Reflection

The last few months, for me, have been a whirlwind. Before coming to Sheridan College, I had been stuck in “ambiguity land” for a long time (Barnwell, 2019). I didn’t know what career I wanted to pursue after graduation, so I ended up working in a position that I did not particularly enjoy. The decision to apply to Sheridan College came not from being called in a particular direction, but rather what was pressing at the time. In my previous position as Payroll Assistant, there was no challenge or stimulation. I was doing the same thing every week and knew that there had to be something better for me outside of that organization. I had faith that this program would help me figure out what career I wanted to pursue and help jumpstart my career upon graduation.

              When applying for the Project Management Post Graduate Certificate at Sheridan College, I expected to take very technical course that shaped me to be an effective manager. At the time I had no idea what it truly meant to be a manager. What I quickly learned as a result of the Leadership Development Course was that it was not just my managerial skills that I had hoped to improve, but also my leadership skills. My idea of a good manager at the beginning of September was, in hindsight, very superficial. I soon realized the importance of leadership not only in a managerial role, but in my professional and personal life as well.

              Using the weekly blog postings, I have been frequently self-reflecting. This self-reflection facilitated the application of my learning from the course to my past, present, and future experiences. Looking back on my experience writing the blog postings, I realize how much easier it became to write them week after week. I remember struggling to write the first few blogs and not entirely understanding what was expected of me. Beyond that, my main concern at the time was writing about things that my professor would find relevant. It wasn’t until mid-way through the course that I realized that any part of my journey, or my leadership story, was relevant. The more I learned in class and the deeper my understanding of leadership became, the easier it was for me to answer the blog questions and relate my experiences to the course. Additionally, the underlying concepts of class activities became clearer as this semester progressed. Every class became more interesting and more exciting to be a part of than the last.

              In the past few months I have learned a lot about myself and have significantly grown as an individual. I noticed myself becoming more extroverted as I became comfortable with my colleagues and actively tried to become a better leader. In my opinion, there are many required elements to be a good leader. During our second week in the Leadership Development course, we learned about authentic leadership and what it takes to be a leader. This was one of my favourite lessons because we learned so much about our strengths and about each other. It was during this lecture that we assessed our personalities and strengths, and this exercise really resonated with me. My biggest takeaway from these exercises was that I need to focus on improving my strengths as opposed to focusing on my weaknesses and areas of improvement. If I strengthen my current leadership skills, I will naturally become a better, more authentic leader. During week two we also wrote a leadership credo, which I felt was a great exercise to better understand myself and what I value. In truth, I had never thought about what it was that I stood for as a leader prior to that lesson, and I am glad that I had the opportunity to learn more about myself as a result of this lecture.

              It was during this lesson as well that we were introduced to different management styles. As I wrote blog post three, I was able to explore this concept and identify how my management style, at the time, was very accommodating. While re-reading my blog postings in order to reflect on this semester, I noticed the realization that my management style had shifted to a collaborative one without my knowing in blog post six. This is a direct example of my personal growth throughout this course, but I have grown in more subtle ways as well.

              In my week one and week eight blogs I directly discuss confidence, which is something I have struggled with for the past few years. I have seen small changes in my level of confidence throughout this semester, such as speaking more in class, becoming more comfortable public speaking, and by expressing my ideas with more conviction in group-work situations. While my confidence has not grown exponentially, I am still proud of the progress that I have made thus far. Most importantly, I have gained awareness of my confidence issues, which means that I can now actively work towards improvement, while strengthening my other strengths, in the future.

              During week nine, I had the opportunity to receive feedback from my classmates. This was an eye-opening experience, as they helped me see myself from a different perspective. They reminded me of my strengths and the need to focus on improving them specifically and assured me that I had made the right choice applying to the Project Management program at Sheridan College. Throughout the entirety of this course I have learned the importance of team development and what it takes to be a good and reliable team member. I now realize the importance of developing personal and professional connections with my team members and I am lucky to have done so with some of my classmates in the past three months. If not for this course, I would not have gotten so close with some of the other students. I am now part of a strong network of future business professionals and, more importantly, a new group of friends.

              A specific leadership moment of revelation, for me, was after we learned how to draw pigs in class. What started as a bizarre exercise became one of my favourite experiences from this semester. It demonstrated the idea that “enough is enough when it is enough” (Barnwell, 2019). During this exercise, I learned that ambiguity should not make me so uncomfortable and that there is a distinction between not enough, enough, and too much that I must be aware of. I thought this exercise was very fun and informative, and it was during this lecture that I realized that I had been stuck in “ambiguity land” for too long prior to attending Sheridan College (Barnwell, 2019). I am thankful to have been accepted into this program and to have taken part in the Leadership Development course. I underestimated the course on day one; I wasn’t sure what the class would entail but I have learned a lot from it and have gained invaluable experience from this class.

This program has brought some of the life back into me, giving me something to be excited about again. I love to be busy and to have a challenge, and this program has certainly proved to be a challenge at times. The Leadership Development course helped me realize that, while stuck in “ambiguity land”, I had lost my leadership capabilities (Barnwell, 2019). I was bored at my job and was so focused on what I wasn’t doing, like starting my career, that I completely overlooked what I could be doing. Through the Leadership Development course, I found my leadership strengths once again and the spark that I have been missing was reignited.

Today I have a new sense of determination and motivation as a direct result of this program. The Leadership Development course has brought me out of my shell and given me the tools and understanding required to be a better friend, colleague, leader, and manager. I have re-framed my expectations of myself and have a new perspective regarding my strengths and what I can accomplish. This course has helped me grow as a person and I intend to apply my learning to my life going forward. With the learning I have gained from this course, I know I can become a more authentic leader and that I am on the right path out of “ambiguity land” and into my future (Barnwell, 2019).

References

Barnwell, K.  (2019). My Personal Journey Lecture.

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Week 9

After working with my team, what is one thing that I have learned about team development that I will commit to using over the next three weeks compiling the material for "My Leadership Story?"

                After working with my team, I have learned that personal team development is essential to professional team development. I believe that we have formed a close, high-performing team in the last few weeks while completing our first team adventure. In addition to working well with each other and having complimentary strengths and personalities, we made sure to spend time discussing elements of our lives outside of Sheridan College in order to develop a strong team. We have learned a lot about each other and our respective likes and dislikes by spending most lunches together and taking well-deserved breaks while studying and working on assignments. By spending time with each other outside of the course requirements, we have developed stronger bonds. I believe that having this bond creates a foundation for a strong team because it encourages openness, mutual understanding, personal responsibility, and trust, all of which are important to creating successful teams.

                Beyond the next few weeks, I plan to apply this learning to future team development situations. If I commit to getting to know my future team members personally, our connection will be much more than solely academic or professional. I believe that individuality should be celebrated and that by getting to know your team members you can create a strong team. Going forward, I will try to facilitate personal team development in order to improve the quality of overall team development and, therefore, performance. Finally, I will utilize my learning in developing “My Leadership Story” while discussing my journey at Sheridan college, and how critical it has been for me to become closer with my classmates, not just my leadership group.

Select one item to mutually share with your group in week 10, that you feel has been a significant challenge for you during your Leadership journey in this class?

In my last blog post for question #3, I stated that I must practice public speaking and push myself out of my comfort zone in order to to become a stronger leader and to grow in both confidence and competence. I believe that public speaking is an area that I can achieve significant growth because I can get very nervous when dealing with ambiguity and presenting in front of others; in fact, this may be one of my biggest challenges as a student and throughout my Leadership journey in this class. Kaylin was kind enough to sit down with me and provide feedback on how I am currently making my statement real, and to further suggest ways in which I can accomplish this goal. To my benefit, we were joined by my other group members, David and Chris, as well as Trevor who provided very encouraging words and advice.

Kaylin agreed that by practicing my public speaking skills I will improve my orator and presentation skills. She assured me that I need to focus on my confidence and that I was a competent student and presenter. Kaylin complimented my technical skills and the preparatory work I had completed prior to our presentation, but she encouraged me to be more confident in my ability. As the conversation opened to the group, Chris assured me that he believed I was a good speaker in our presentation, but he knew how nervous I was. He complimented my ability to remain calm despite my nerves and assured me that I should be more confident in myself as well. David also gave me a very nice compliment; he described me as the manager “behind the scenes.” By this, David meant that I am naturally organized and collaborative. He felt as if I helped the group stay on track and motivated without forcing any authority, which was very nice to hear. Trevor also provided feedback regarding my nervousness in general, as he has witnessed first-hand my pre-test and presentation anxiety. He also encouraged me to be more confident in my ability.

The biggest takeaway from the feedback I received was summarized best by Kaylin, when she reminded me of the importance of “strengthening my strengths.” Kaylin recommended that I focus more on the positives and my ability as opposed to the negatives and what I am not good at. I am very lucky to have classmates that have become friends with which I can have conversations like this. This conversation has encouraged me to reframe my mindset and to focus more on the positives. I should not undermine my competence as a result of a lack of confidence, and by thinking more positively and expanding my comfort zone I can become the leader I want to be going forward.

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Week 8 (After Reading Week)

                The most important lesson that I learned about leadership from the first Leadership Trail is that leadership situations in the real-world are not going to be as straightforward as those discussed in class. After completing this Adventure Trail, I realized how much more work went into analyzing a situation, recommending a solution, and creating an implementation plan. In our previous classes, completing the case analysis and problem-solving template provided by Keith Barnwell was a much quicker process. This real-world situation, however, was not so black and white. In the Adventure Trail, there were many issues and potential solutions to consider, and completing our plan in detail for the client, Karen Booth, was a lengthy process.

                In the future, I will utilize this knowledge by planning my schedule to allow for a detailed analysis of the leadership issues, in addition to the operational issues, that I am faced with. I was impressed by how well the multiple-criteria decision analysis process worked during this Adventure Trail, and I plan to utilize this tool for future decisions.

                A key lesson that I learned about myself personally as a leader is that I cope well under pressure. My group prioritized the wrong part of our assignment, focusing on the problem-solving template, case analysis, and the Memorandum of Understanding more than we did the presentation. When our priority shifted to the presentation, we created a PowerPoint presentation that we were all proud of. I am not a very comfortable public speaker, so I was very nervous for the presentation. On the day of the presentation, my team met early to practice and test the equipment once more. Due to extenuating circumstances, one member could not make the presentation. We quickly delegated the missing members slides to one another so that we could still present our solution to Karen. Despite the stress, the available members of our team rallied together so that we could make the presentation as strong as possible. I believe I presented well and did not disappoint my team members, regardless of being under pressure.

              In the future, I will use my ability to cope under pressure in order to ensure my future projects and presentations are a success. In terms of utilizing this skill to become a better leader, I plan to capitalize on this strength so that I can support and encourage other members of my team to be successful under pressure as well. If I can remain calm and collected, I can share that energy and advice with others so that they are also able to perform, despite their level of stress.

                In order to grow in both competence and confidence, I need to practice public speaking and put myself in situations that make me feel uncomfortable. If I push myself out of my comfort zone, I can develop the skills required to achieve the level of personal and professional leadership that I strive to meet. The more comfortable I become with a situation, the more competent and confident I will be. Additionally, if I am more comfortable, nervousness will not get the better of me. This will allow me to perform to the level that I know I am capable of and will show others that I am competent as well.

                I learned that communication is not as straightforward as I had previously thought, and that I must be aware of whether I am communicating clearly to everyone. More specifically, I learned that effective leadership communication must occur frequently with all stakeholders. In order to be successful, a leader must communicate and create a shared vision to ensure personal buy-in and ownership of a project within all team members. While working with my team, I learned that you must “re-code” your ideas to ensure that other members are able to receive the message and understand it, all the while minimizing noise as much as possible.

                During some of the other presentations, I struggled to follow along with their action plans. It seemed as if they were explaining more of the “what” than the “how”; they were explaining what they wanted to accomplish but not specifically how it would be done. I realized that our presentation was missing some of the detail that should have been included as well, but what I took away from this experience is that just because something is clear in your mind, doesn’t mean it is equally as clear in someone else’s.

                In order to prepare for the interview with our second leader, I will make sure my questions provide opportunity for the leader to discuss leadership and operational issues more specifically, and to clearly express their goals and metrics for success. Examples of these questions are as follows:

·        What are your main short- and long-term goals?

·        Where do you see yourself in X years?

·        What challenges do you feel are in the way of you reaching these goals?

·        What would you consider are the metrics of success for this project?

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Week 6

I greatly enjoyed the meeting held with the adventure leader this week; I found it very interesting and engaging. I have never participated in a meeting like that before, so it was an exciting experience for me. I am also very excited to be applying what we have learned so far to a real-world situation. During the meeting, I learned that Karen is a very kind person, as she is very sensitive to inclusivity. She was very welcoming and encouraged participation. I appreciated how open she was and found her to be a very captivating speaker. As a developing leader, these are skills that I aspire to cultivate. This exercise has also helped me learn to identify the right questions to ask, based on the given situation. I leaned how to prioritize questions that we felt were the most important and how to frame the questions in order to get as much information as possible. My role in this group was to be one of the notetakers, so I was able to practice multi-tasking by quickly taking detailed notes and listening to the other questions and answers.

I thought Karen was an excellent speaker. She was patient, actively listened to our questions, directly answered them, and elaborated where necessary. None of her presentation felt forced or rehearsed; she seemed to be an authentic, natural speaker. Karen also encouraged our participation and was very complimentary when she was asked what she considered to be a good question. From Karen, I learned how important communication skills are to leadership, as she demonstrated her communication skills throughout her interaction with the class. I also appreciated how passionate she was about inclusivity and giving everyone the opportunity to be a part of her project. I think that is an important element of being a good leader because the team will have more accountability and ownership over the project. Being involved makes people feel a stronger connection to the team and the project, and that is crucial to developing a strong and effective team. If I can cultivate these skills, I will also become a stronger leader.

After working with my team, I have learned how important it is to establish expectations. This helps foster a high performing team because it develops trust and accountability to encourage people not only to do their work, but to also ensure their work meets expectations. I have also learned how important active listening is to the functionality of a team. Active listening creates an open environment where everyone can participate and feel valued. Lastly, I learned that to become a high performing team we must work together by focusing on what we are good at. For example, another teammate and myself were the designated note takers during our meeting with Karen because we are both fast at typing and are more comfortable in that role. The other two teammates were able to engage with Karen and keep track of relevant questions to ask as they are stronger, more confident speakers.

The top three things I will bring to my next team to ensure that we are high performing will be my communication skills, my ability to motivate and encourage, and my collaboration skills. I think communicating my goals, expectations, and opinions is important to team success so long as everyone else can communicate the same thing from their perspectives. We all need to be on the same page to be high performing and being able to collaborate will encourage this culture within the team. Finally, I am intrinsically motivated to succeed but I would also hate to let my team down by not giving the project my all, so I think that my energy can help me to encourage and motivate others to work hard to be successful as well.

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Week 5

Applying a Problem Solving Template to work through an operational or leadership issue can be incredibly beneficial because it provides detailed steps for you to assess a situation. It allows you to analyze the “bigger picture” and identify the situation’s core issues. The template cues your assessment to consider different perspectives and factors that you might have otherwise overlooked. In addition to facilitating an assessment of a situation, the template allows you to objectively asses your recommended solutions. By using criteria based assessments to analyze the effectiveness of your suggestions, you can confidently select the right plan of action and then create an implementation plan.

A disadvantage to using a template is that, despite the intention of objective assessment, sometimes factors are overlooked anyways. Depending on how close the user of the template is to the situation, they may not consider all the underlying issues because of their personal connection. Additionally, it can be difficult to settle on one core issue when there are several issues to consider. Working through the template with another person can certainly help someone remain objective but it can make decision making even more difficult. This is not always the case, however. In fact, considering a situation from multiple perspectives is critical to effective problem solving, and one of the best ways to do that is to ask for other opinions.

What I found the most difficult was deciding the core leadership issue. Having a pre-set list of the 14 leadership elements was beneficial to identify the issues but narrowing it down to just one was difficult. The critical based assessment was very beneficial in solving this issue. I also thought it was beneficial to look at the situation by separating out the operational issues and the leadership issues. In doing so, I felt as if I took a different approach to solving the problems than I would have without considering the operational and leadership issues independently. Lastly, the implementation plan prompts you to solve the problem on a short-, mid-, and long-term basis, which I thought was a great suggestion in order to ensure the success of your recommended solution.

I think this template provides the tools required for leaders to assess situations from multiple perspectives, identify and clarify the issues, and then narrow the issues down to their core. In doing so, a leader can make suggestions to resolve the core issues. The template also provides the tools required to critically assess your recommended solutions to identify the best course of action. Lastly, the template prompts you to create an implementation matrix so that you can effectively solve the issues and ensure the solution is implemented in the long-term as well.

After reviewing the 14 Leadership topics outlined in the Problem Solving Template, it is difficult to identify just one that is a critical leadership requirement; all of the ideas are incredibly important to be an effective leader. One of the most important, in my option, is leadership communication. Over the past few weeks of this course, communication has come up a lot for me. I think it is incredibly important to be able to communicate your vision and expectations to others as a leader, and to be an active listener. Listening to the needs and suggestions of others can benefit both you and your team members. Through communication you can cultivate an open, welcoming environment that promotes collaboration and development, both individually and as a team.

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Week 4

The leadership area that I am naturally drawn to is “Leadership Motivation”, which focuses on motivating stakeholders both intrinsically and extrinsically (Barnwell, 2019, slide 17). I am drawn to this area because my undergraduate degree is in Psychology, and the psychology of motivation has always fascinated me. I have spent many years learning about theories of motivation and discussing factors that trigger behavior. I can appreciate the importance of leadership motivation because it can be incredibly challenging to motivate someone, especially intrinsically, but effective motivation is invaluable to project success.

Finding ways to extrinsically motivate someone in a work setting is relatively easy if you have the resources to do so. Some examples of extrinsic motivators include competitive wages, bonuses, incentive programs, systematically recognizing performance, and praising individual success. These can be powerful motivators as they are critical to ensuring that team morale is high, and staff are being productive. Intrinsic motivation, which is motivation that originates from within, is equally important. As an employer, you can not force a person to truly care about their work or performance; that comes from within each employee. Some employees are content simply meeting job requirements, while others are motivated to exceed expectation. People partake in intrinsically motivated activities for several reasons, such as personal gratification, growth, or because it creates for them a sense of purpose. As an employer, you must identify if someone is intrinsically or extrinsically motivated so that you can encourage them in an effective way.

To become a more effective leader in this area, I might use my communicative strength. In order to encourage someone’s intrinsic motivation, I believe you must communicate to them the purpose of their work. If the team member feels as if their work has no purpose or meaning, then it is less likely that they will be intrinsically motivated to do it; they are doing their job because they must, not because they want to. Additionally, if you can communicate your vision for both the company and the team member as individual, then your vision may become shared. As a result, the team member may become intrinsically motivated to make that vision a reality. Lastly, Tom Rath (2017, pp. III) found that by focusing on an individual’s strengths every day, that person is “six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs” compared to the people whose work does not focus on their strength. By ensuring that team members enjoy their work and can do what they do best every day, it is more likely that individuals will be emotionally engaged in their work (Rath, 2017, pp. III). If I can facilitate the assignment of tasks to team members in a way that they are able to consistently exercise their strengths, I will create a strong, more effective, and intrinsically motivated team.

The leadership area that I did not really understand at first was “Developing Leadership Diversity” which is described as “encouraging and supporting diversity for performance” (Barnwell, 2019, slide 17). Specifically, I did not entirely understand the provided definition of this leadership area. Upon further research, I now realize that this area is not focusing specifically on diversity in leaders, but rather in the whole organizational structure. The goal is not only to support minority groups and to be aware of multicultural issues, but to encourage diversity in order to find success (Daft, 2011, slide 2). There are many ways to cultivate a diverse team thinking beyond the scope of race and gender. For example, you should be inclusive of factors such as education, experience, ability, age, and ethnicity as well. With a diverse team you are more likely to succeed because everyone brings a different set of skills, opinions, and suggestions that can increase the success of your project. The leader of a group fosters group dynamics, and they must ensure that there are no biases, that everyone is treated equally, and that diverse skillsets are optimized (Banks, 2010). I have learned that this leadership area recognizes the benefits of diversity and that a strong leader will actively cultivate an inclusive environment.

 References

Banks, K. (2010, June). Diversity in Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/race-matters/201006/diversity-in-leadership

Barnwell, K. (2019). Week 4 ppts [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://slate.sheridancollege.ca/d2l/le/content/615518/viewContent/8427771/View

Daft, R. (2011). Chapter 11: Developing Leadership Diversity [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/CSU_Content/courses/Business/BBA/BBA3651/12L/UnitVII_Chapter11Presentation.pdf

Rath, T. (2017). StrengthsFinder 2.0: Discover Your CliftonStrengths. New York, NY: Gallup Press.

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Week 3

 For as long as I can remember, I have loved soccer. I started playing house league soccer around 4 or 5 years old and played until I decided to retire during my first year of university. I would play in rep soccer tournaments when they needed me, but I preferred house league as it was less of time commitment and less competitive; it was all about having fun for me. I played on a few good teams, and a few bad ones as well, but I distinctly remember one year when we had a particularly high performing team. Our team had a few strong players, but it was our teamwork that led us to success.

Our coaches, who happened to be my dad and uncle, have a passion for soccer, which they certainly passed on to me and my teammates. They showed us what having a strong, supportive team could do for our performance, and gave us several opportunities to bond as a team off the field. We were in high school during this time, so committing to one game and one practice per week was a large commitment for many girls. Our team was one of the only teams to consistently practice, however, and we had the highest attendance at our practices as well. I believe that this was because we wanted to be there; we wanted to be a part of the team, bond, and have fun together. It was the leadership of my dad and uncle that brought us together, but our chemistry and collaboration is what led us to be so successful.

With my family coaching me, there was some added pressure to my performance. I was frequently reminded to be an example for the other girls, at practice and on the field, and helped facilitate stretches, drills, and plays. I relayed information to the team and helped organize team building activities, like a seasonal paintball tournament with the team. I contributed to the team development by ensuring that everyone felt included and supported, and by acting as a leader on the team.

Looking back, I would have tried harder to be more inclusive, however. There were some players who were not as strong as others, and I would like to have seen them have more time on the field. While we all enjoyed ourselves and consistently won matches, the stronger players could have sat out more without sacrificing the goal differentials. I personally could have sat out more to let them play, but at the time I wanted to be on the field the entire time if I could. As I mentioned previously, it was more about having fun for me, but if I could go back, I would like to be more committed and take it a little more seriously. I wasn’t the strongest player on the team, and I could have practiced more, but I can say with certainty that we all enjoyed playing together and being a part of that team.

Currently, I believe my conflict management style is accommodating. I self-identify as a “people-pleaser,” and I would rather see others happy to my own detriment. During conflict resolution, I think my accommodating approach helps develop the team because it makes everyone feel valuable and helps find a solution that satisfies everyone, including myself if possible. I think that this style helps me develop personally because I am working toward compromising and it makes me think creatively, at times, to solve a problem in a way that incorporates everyone’s concerns. I do feel, however, that a collaborative style of conflict response is more effective because everyone’s needs are met, and everyone feels understood.

If I could do one thing differently in future teams, I want to have a more collaborative response to conflict so that everyone, including myself, is happy. I don’t want to have to sacrifice my beliefs or ideas in favor of someone else’s just to make them happy, as I want my entire team to feel valuable and supported. I think that the collaborative approach is beneficial for everyone involved, as our work will be stronger, and we can develop together as a team and as individuals.

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Week 2

After completing the two personal assessments this week, I was surprised by the results; I did not expect both the personality style test and the Strength’s Finder test to be so accurate to my experience! There were a few insights that I don’t completely agree demonstrate my personality, but most of them were close. My personality style from www.humanmetrics.com is ISTJ [Introvert (16%), Sensing (12%), Thinking (3%), and Judging (25%)], and my top 5 themes of talent from the CliftonStrengths Survey are Achiever, Individualization, Relator, Learner and Empathy.

              The Relator theme sparked my interest right away because, at first, I did not feel like the Personalized Strengths Insights provided were relevant to me. While reading the descriptions of the other themes, personal examples were quick to come to mind. This was not the case with the Relator theme, however. As I read more about this theme, I soon realized that it did describe my personality, just not as overtly as the other themes.

The specific insight that resonated with me the most was that people talented in the Relator theme find satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal. In the past, I have preferred to work alone and have relied on my strengths to ensure the success of my efforts – a characteristic, I assume, that stems from my Achiever theme. Although, based on what I have learned in this course already, I know that the more open I am to work with the strengths of others, the more efficient and successful we will be.

This insight will be helpful to develop my leadership ability because I know that working with the strengths of others is invaluable. If I focus on my Individualization strengths and work on drawing out the best in each person, I can build an effective team and lead us to success. I find satisfaction in achieving any goal, whether it be small or large, individual- or team-based, but if I am more open to working with a team, I will become a better leader and more successful in my endeavors.

Over the next few weeks, I plan to apply this new learning to the team projects we will be completing throughout this program. I want to learn more about the other students in the class and figure out what drives them. If I can successfully identify their strengths and motivations, then I will be able to make stronger teams, stronger connections, and find success as a group.

Going forward, I will adopt this plan and apply it to all future projects as well. I will remind myself of my leadership credo in the face of adversity or indecision so that I can apply these beliefs to everything in my life. I want to lead by example all of the time, not just at work or in school, so living by these beliefs and values will help me become a better leader and live a more meaningful life.

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Week 1

           While I was a student at Wilfrid Laurier University, I was lucky enough to be hired as an Annual Giving Representative at the campus Call Centre. The objective was to raise money for the university through several campaigns targeted toward alumni and affiliates of the school. In my second year at the Call Centre, I was promoted to Annual Giving Supervisor; the primary task was to facilitate the needs of the Call Centre and those of the 60+ representatives working there. My responsibilities included hiring, training, and coaching the representatives as well as implementing both short- and long-term motivational strategies. This opportunity was the first time that I was officially considered a “leader,” as I was one of five Supervisors running the Call Centre.

           I look back fondly on my experience at the Call Centre as it was a fun, high-energy environment. It was my first time demonstrating my leadership skills and learning what it takes to be an effective leader. I learned about how different things would motivate different people and that everyone had a different style of learning. I quickly adapted to the individual needs of each representative and I navigated my interactions differently as a result. The most difficult lesson I learned was how to have tough conversations. In addition to celebrating accomplishments and motivating the representatives, I had to work through poor performance evaluations and let people go if expectations were not met. In my experience, however, the good outweighed the bad and I learned how much fun working in a team with a shared goal could be.

           One of my leadership strengths is that I am a good communicator; if a representative was not performing, I would meet with them individually and discuss what issues they might be having, how I could address those issues, and what was expected of them going forward. I believe that it is my authenticity, however, that made our team work so well together. I am an honest and up-front person who believes that open communication is an asset, and this helped others open-up to me in return. Mutual respect is something that I value, and I am proud that I was able to establish this as a supervisor. Lastly, I believe that actions speak louder than words, and that to lead is to do so by example. If we were trying to reach a nightly or campaign-based fundraising target, I would pick up my phone and help the representatives reach that goal. I would also practice scripts with them and demonstrate how I would overcome objections in order to help them succeed. It was important to me that my team felt supported and appreciated, and I think that my efforts motivated them to succeed as well.

           The most important leadership characteristic that I would like to develop is confidence. To lead with conviction is a powerful skill, one that I have yet to master. While I deeply value mutual respect, I am concerned that I worry too much about how others perceive me. I demonstrate accountability in that I am able to make decisions and will stand behind them, good or bad, but at times I lack confidence in myself. I would like to develop this skill because if I want others to believe in me I must first believe in myself. I am grateful to be developing my leadership skills at Sheridan College and I look forward to learning how to be an effective leader going forward.