Fall 2018 ─ Spring 2019
Values Level 2
Values Level 2
During my second year of college, I had the opportunity to be the Honors Launch Learning Community Coordinator (LCC) for first-year Honors Program students. This was the same LC that I was in the year before, so I was eager to help my students have as great of a first year as I had. I was able to be a peer mentor, plan and organize engaging events, help students figure out classes, show them around campus, familiarize them with the Honors Program, encourage them to get involved, help them stay focused in their studies, and most importantly, be a friendly face for them during a big transition in their lives.
This leadership opportunity gave me the ability to experience many failures and successes as a leader and allowed me to reflect upon my own strengths and weaknesses (Values Level 2). Going into this position, I thought I had a good sense of the type of leader that was necessary for this job as well as the type of leader that I would be. However, this year was a big learning year for me as I made many mistakes as well as grew as an individual. I was able to practice and evaluate my strengths and weaknesses as a leader when planning and implementing activities. I learned that I have strong personable skills and can easily demonstrate to others how much I care about them. However, I also learned that I, at times, was not direct enough, did not create firm expectations, or enforced rules as clearly as I should have. I discovered that I was not as strong or direct of a leader as I had thought I was. I often worried too much about what other people thought of me or if I was liked instead of being a strong leader for my students. My strength as a leader often related to my weakness as a leader. Throughout the year, I had to adjust and further develop my leadership style as I learned from my mistakes. After my experiences on the HSB executive board, I was able to learn more about various roles and leadership styles. That experience helped me when I was reflecting on my successes and failures as a leader. I was able to more clearly understand why what I was doing was not working in that particular situation. Also, by experiencing other leadership styles in the HSB, as an LCC, I was also more open to adapting my own leadership style to new styles which were more effective than my own. When taking on roles in the future, I should evaluate what type of leader is suited for the job and decide either what I need to adjust or if I would not be a good fit for what is required. Continuously learning from and evaluating my leadership style will help me continue to grow as an effective leader and as an individual.
Leadership Artifact #4
This video is a compilation of moments captured throughout my first year as a Learning Community Coordinator.