Throughout my graduate program, I have had many opportunities to further explore my own leadership style and assist others in their leadership development process. In summer of 2014, I completed a NODA (Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education) internship at Pennsylvania College of Technology. I was tasked with creating and facilitating the training for twelve orientation leaders called “Links”. In order to serve as the supervisor and unofficial “leader” of this group, I first had to familiarize myself with campus culture, institutional traditions, policies, and hierarchy within the institution and the Student Activities Office (ACPA & NASPA, 2010). In the first two weeks of my internship, I met with as many professional staff members in as many different departments as I could. I also volunteered to partner with Off-Campus Living & Commuter Services to co-facilitate a presentation on commuter student success at orientation. Through my various meetings, and collaboration on a presentation, I was able to “identify and then effectively consult with key stakeholders and those with diverse perspectives” (p. 22) in order to create a comprehensive training schedule for the Links. I have included an outline of the first day of Link Training as an artifact to provide an example of my leadership style in leading the group.
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Once I began developing the training schedule for the Links, I waned to include a leadership development component that would allow them to explore aspects of their own leadership style and learn about the strengths of the group. In my different experiences as a student leader and graduate assistant, I had utilized many different leadership assessments, and I decided Strengths Quest would be the best inventory for the group. The reason I selected this leadership program instead of others was because I believe it helps students see how each member of the group contributes to the success of the team as a whole. It also empowers students to look at themselves in a positive way, and focuses on what they bring to a team instead of their shortcomings. By weaving Strengths Quest throughout our training and team development, I created an environment that encouraged students to view themselves as having the potential to make meaningful contributions to the Link team, and the orientation program at Penn College (ACPA & NASPA, 2010). I intentionally developed a mix of small group discussion, large group activities, and individual reflection to appeal to different student learning styles and allow different leadership strengths to shine. I included the outline the introduction I used to explain the value of using Strengths Quest as a theme throughout training. Putting together different daily training activities, reflections, and discussions based on Strengths Quest helped me “develop and promote a shared vision” (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 23) among the Links. Many of them continued to talk about their strengths throughout the orientation sessions, and expressed how the activities helped them develop their leadership style.
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Outside of my formal leadership roles, I enjoy serving as a mentor to undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career in student affairs, and recognize how it has developed my leadership competency in this area. For example, I had coffee with a student in March 2015 to discuss the graduate school search. After the meeting, she send me her list of potential graduate programs and I offered to send her back a list of contacts I had at many of the schools she is looking at. With each student I mentor, I learn more about how to help them feel inspired and confident in their choice to enter the field. Through my mentor role, and from the wonderful mentors I have had throughout my student affairs journey, I have learned the importance of “establishing and sustaining systems of mentoring to ensure students and professionals receive the support needed” (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 23).
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