My day as a Leader- Leadership challenge #1

As the leader in my group I learned what type of behaviors positively impact the group and what else I can do in the future to improve the results of the group.

Time was a big hindrance in the task, and forced the group to be very efficient. When starting out, I assumed that we all had the same vision (of obtaining 3 interviews) and I failed to convey this vision to the group. I didn't organize our task due to the time limit, and started walking to Trabant and we improvised on the run. This created some chaos, but fortunately we accomplished our task due to everyone in the group working hard. After hearing the feedback from my group, I learned that I should have organized our task better and conveyed my vision to my fellow group members.

We interviewed the president of the Student Government Association, a national representative of Pi Kappa Phi, and a supervisor of Pinnacle Energy. At first I thought it would be difficult to find leaders, but I soon realized that there are leaders everywhere. Each leader had similarities to the others, but also had their own leadership styles. The most important characteristics of a leader included: motivation, responsibility, and commitment. Both the SGA president and Pi Kappa Phi Representative stressed the importance of being personable and available. Delegation was the most used answer for leadership behaviors. All of the leaders thought they had a good or better relationship with their followers and thought their organization's tasks were explained clearly. Leading by example was a common way that the leaders influenced their followers. Leaders believed that the traits followers need most out of a leader to succeed were: confidence, communication, and a sociability. When asked what advice the leaders would give to aspiring leaders, they stressed the willingness to always learn and hard work.

There are many similarities between the results of the interviews and the theory learned in class. Behaviors such as confidence, hard work, communication, and sociability were evident in both the interviews and textbooks. Through this experience, I learned that a leader should evaluate themselves through the eyes of their followers. My group members considered me more of a manager than a leader, and I agree with them. To be more of a leader, I need to promote collaboration rather than being solely concerned with organization.

I think that students are learning that leadership is a behavior that can really only be learned by experience and trial and error. Leaders are unique, but there are also many similarities between them. Leadership is not about power-hunger or forceful demands, but rather cooperation, communication, respect, and confidence. We are learning most about leadership through activities and scenarios presented in class. Talking to a variety of leaders, experiencing leadership, and thinking critically about leadership though the eyes of followers help us learn leadership. It is challenging to emerge as a leader of a group with classmates of similar intelligence and desire to be a leader. As a leader in this project, it was hard to balance providing direction and asking for input. Everything a person experiences and learns has an impact on their behavior. When I see a trait in someone I respect, I try to adapt that trait and when I see an undesirable behavior, I try to eliminate that from myself.