Education
This course I took was co-taught by Jeffery Boian and Paul Kaak. Leadership Practicum is an all encompassing course which brought together everything I have in the Leadership Minor. I have dialogued with fellow emerging leaders in my class who all have established leadership styles. I have learned to put leadership into practice and develop the holistic leader within me. This course has helped me to integrate my leadership studies into one portfolio to provide for post-graduation, life-long leadership development.
Leadership Positions and Life Lessons
A major part of this course was writing weekly blog posts on this website from Thomas J. Wren’s book titled The Leader’s Companion–Insights on Leaders Through the Ages, which are located in the Archive section at the bottom of the webpage. Through these blog posts, I was able to reflect on how I would be able to apply the many leadership insights I have learned in my Leadership courses to my desired profession in the future. Here is an excerpt from one of my blog posts titled What is Leadership? Taking the Reigns of the Bull:
Although it can be frustrating to not have a factual definition for leadership, I think it is important to appreciate the complexity of it. We can get so lost in our frustration that we miss the opportunity to welcome leadership for its diversity. I think we need to value the many definitions leadership has and how the scholars of the past and present have defined it, which Wren lists on pages 41 and 42. We are fortunate enough to have so many perspectives on one topic. To me, that excites my learning of leadership even more. Since I have so many angles and perceptions of leadership to look at, I can rule out ideas I do not necessarily agree on and praise those I find relevant. I can take the reigns of this vicious bull of leadership by taking control of my learning process of defining leadership for myself.
I have come to the conclusion that there is no one definition of leadership. We cannot put a concrete definition on the word. I feel that would be so limiting to leadership. It can meant so many different things to different people. I think every leader needs to strive to define leadership for themselves. I will take my approach of defining leadership for myself and see if it fits to your liking.
Leadership is a relational process in which the leader and follower join in relationship to work towards a mutually desired end of the organization. It is a reciprocal relationship in which leader and follower are intimately intertwined. Without this relationship, the organization would fall to ruin. Not only must the leaders be active, but the followers must be active in leadership as well. People are not permanently placed in one or another category. Each person needs to be free to float to each position if they desire to. Both sides must have empathy for one another and must strive to understand each other for the relationship to succeed.
An inspiring TED talk I heard in this class was Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts. Cain mentions the power that introverts have and she mentions some leaders of history who became powerful agents of change because of their introversion:
Now in fact, some of our transformative leaders in history have been introverts. I’ll give you some examples. Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Gandhi — all these peopled described themselves as quiet and soft-spoken and even shy. And they all took the spotlight, even though every bone in their bodies was telling them not to. And this turns out to have a special power all its own, because people could feel that these leaders were at the helm,not because they enjoyed directing others and not out of the pleasure of being looked at;they were there because they had no choice, because they were driven to do what they thought was right.
As I heard Cain’s words, I was struck with my own personal introversion. She opened my eyes to my type of leadership style. I came into college thinking I had to be this outgoing individual who had to make friends with everyone and agree with every thought that was thrown at me. When I forced myself to be this way, I did not become the effective leader I sought out to be. But when I was myself, I learned that my so-called “extroverted” self became evident. When I tried to be extroverted, I became even more introverted. But when I became introverted, I found myself revealing my not-so-known extroverted side. I found that my relational leadership style was effective and that I can be an introvert and still lead.
This beautiful discovery has lead me here and now, writing to you as a graduating senior. As my leadership journey at APU comes to a close, new leadership opportunities await for me post-graduation. Who would’ve thought that this foolish freshman, coming into college worried about not making friends is now a Director of a non-profit organization that is at about 150 colleges across the United States which raises funds for Children’s Miracle Network?
I am now at a continuum: the point at which my undergrad/post grad leadership journey are combining. This is my chance to break through it to be the leader the Leadership Minor has helped me become. I have great things in store, so just sit back and watch me as I forge through the continuum.
reasonoftheheart 