Final Reflection on Leadership

Over the course of the last semester and term I have learned a great deal about Leadership, particularly the leadership styles that I have and the ideas that I had about how to be an effective leader. However, the greatest amounts of learning that I gained from the time I have had as a student leader are my short comings and weaknesses. This would seem odd to some, but for myself I have seen myself change and find greater joy and happiness out of my service than I have ever had in the past. To best understand the thoughts and insights that I have obtained over the last semester, an analysis of the topics of personal capabilities, interpersonal skills, and leading change and the specific things that I have learned in these areas, the specific results that I hope to lead out in each area, and the goals that I have for the future success will yield the information that leads to the desired commitment that I have for the rest of my service in BYUSA.

              

  The first area of emphasis that I have found great understanding and knowledge pertaining to leadership was the area of personal capabilities. This area was an area that at the beginning of the semester I misunderstood very much and had thought I knew much more about. However, over the course of the semester I found that I have had a greater understanding to how to see, understand, and apply my personal capabilities. By discussing the things that I learned from my leadership role, how I will apply these lessons and then the specific goals that I have to develop in this area, I can adequately reflect upon how this area will influence me as a leader in the future.

               

 I learned four particular lessons in the semester in regards to my personal capabilities. The first lesson came as I had been given the responsibility to oversee the Student Advisory Council. In the first few weeks of being asked, I found that I was doing everything by myself. This was not because of a lack of desire or knowledge, but I soon learned that it was not a proper understanding of personal capability. I soon learned that part of personal capabilities is not being able to accomplish everything, but the key is knowing what your limits are and allowing others to exercise their ability and excel. This lesson was followed by the lesson that was taught to me by those I work with. I often times find it hard to accept compliments on performance because of the view of being prideful or self centered. I learned that part of knowing your personal capabilities allow one to accept compliments from others when they give them. This allows for you to know what you are good at and helps you to receive feedback from others at things you are not so good at. All of the executive directors that I work with have done a great job at teaching this to me this semester. The last lesson that I learned was a lesson from Jeff Whitlock one day when I was in the process of working on the SAC binders and he told me that I was doing it wrong. At first I was offended and didn’t want to continue the conversation, but I then learned that Jeff knew so much better than I did how to do that thing and that by giving him the responsibility, the project would turn out much better.

              

  Because of all of these lessons, I found that there were three major areas that I wanted to lead out in next semester and in the future as a member of the Student Advisory Council. My first desired area of leading out in is knowledge. Taking advantage of the opportunity that I had to serve on the council myself, I want to build upon the knowledge that I have of the council and impart that knowledge to others as they will fill this position in the future. Second, I want to lead out in making sure that I am available as a resource for the council reps and other executive directors that the council will be able to have access to build upon the knowledge of the council. My last area that I want to lead out in is in the credibility that I hold with the council. This will be accomplished by always being a quick accessible resource to all of the representatives, particularly in working with the SAC email and responding quickly to concerns and questions.

              

  The last desire that I have in the future for the area of personal capability to discuss and that is a showing to what I have learned this semester deals with setting measurable and obtainable goals. The two goals that I have set for the upcoming months in this area are first, to read any resources that I can on what is happening across the country in student councils and be on the cutting edge how to enable our council to be a resource to the university. I will read at least one journal article or blog article on these topics each month and write a brief report on my leadership blog on what I learned and the direction I will head to improve SAC with that information. The second goal that I have set for myself is to read one book this semester on leadership from an individual who has served as a team captain, president of an organization, or in a high profile capacity in the areas of politics. These two goals will help me understand others capability and improve my own capability.

The second concept that I learned great things in this semester is the area of interpersonal skills. This area is the area that I struggle the most in and the area that I have the greatest need to improve and understand more fully. The way that I desire to do this is to focus on the lessons that I have learned this semester in my leadership position, next I will analyze what things I want to do in the future that deal with this concept, and finish with specific goals that I have set that I want to accomplish in the upcoming semester.

               

 I learned four lessons this semester in the concept of interpersonal skills are lessons that have helped me to be a better leader and a better person. The first lesson that I learned was in a discussion that I had with a member of the Student Advisory Council and I was told very frankly that I was not a person that he liked to deal with. At first I was taken aback, but then I learned that I am not going to be liked by everyone and everyone is not going to agree with my decisions. This is not to say that I am going to ignore the information or the opinions of others, but that I will be aware that I will not be able to do all things for all people to their liking. But the key is going to be sticking to a decision and making a well informed decision that can be productive. The second lesson that I learned was that I cannot expect someone else to do something that I will not do myself. This is particularly true in setting up and taking down the SAC room prior to and after class. This is something that I felt was menial and not something that I needed to focus on, but as I looked at the situation again, I could not ask others to do it if I was not going to do it. I learned that others will respond much better to someone who is willing to do the dirty work, kind of like Riley Nelson on special teams in practice with his teammates.  The third lesson that I learned was that the decisions that I make may not be approved by everyone, but at times a decision just needs to be made. This was learned during presentations when I decided that we did not have the time to continue to ask questions and we discontinued the questions. This was not approved by all, but it was the decision that I felt best about and the one that was most thought through and I stuck by it, no matter what. The last lesson that I learned was that it is most important to be friend first to those who you serve with and then be their leader. Things come much more acceptably from a friend than a leader who is seeking to tell someone else tell them how to do things. This lesson was learned when I was in a discussion with Amber Kent and we were discussing how we could change the ideas of meet your college and I was a little harsh on the idea, but because we were friends first, the information was accepted much more readily. These lessons have changed my understanding of interpersonal skills as a leader.

             

   The directions I seek to pursue in leading out in the concept of interpersonal skills are in three major areas. The first is I want to ensure that there is more concise and accurate information passed to the Student Advisory Council representatives and the other executive directors. To do this I will ensure that we are well prepared for all meetings and all emails are well thought out in advance to ensure that information is dispersed properly. The second area that I want to lead out in is by breaking down communication barriers because of prejudice or distain and be able to understand and know the desires of those that I serve around. The last area of emphasis is with presentation. I will seek to know the specific needs of the council and seek to ensure that all presentation aim towards those needs. These tasks will enable better interpersonal skills between me and the Student Advisory Council on a daily basis.

The three measurable goals that I have set with interpersonal skills mostly deal with communication. The first deals with the SAC email and improving the reputation that this email has in responding and organizing the information that is found within it. This information is precious but more precious is the reputation that comes with the other reps with it. The second goal that I have is to seek feedback on how I can improve as a leader in all aspects of leadership and be open and willing to apply the information that I receive into my leadership abilities. I will measure this by writing down in my study journal each time someone tells me something that I can improve upon and refer to it on a regular basis. Lastly, each time I am asked a question concerning the council I will focus on the why of the answer and seek to help the individual not just know the answer but really understand the answer in its entirety. This goal will be measured by the amount of questions I get referring to a specific aspect of SAC compared to the questions that emphasis the why we do what we do. This will be done by following the questions in my study journal.

The final concept I wish to focus on is the concept of leading change. The same outline as above will follow this concept as well as I focus on what I have learned, how I will lead and what goals I have set.

  Three lessons that I learned this semester pertaining to leading change had to deal with actual situations more than change. The first lesson learned was that things are not going to turn out as planned all of the time and that the only way to properly prepare for the change that comes is to know ahead of time how you are going to react to change. This was learned best by Brother Wards activities that showed that I am one who needs to have the skills necessary when change comes to excel in that changing category. Next I learned that that change in an organization takes time and does not happen at once. This lesson was taught by Brother Klemme when he discussed the ideas that we had towards the new policies in SAC. He was very blunt in telling us that we are not going to see the changes we wanted to see all at once but that the changes will come over time. This patient aspect to leading change was very beneficial to me to understand that I don’t need to see something happen for it to be effective. The last lesson that I learned was that it takes more than one person committed to a vision to see something change. This change often comes when we focus together on a goal and do things that lead to the goal over time. Patience and acceptance of others ideas make this the most possible accomplishment of all the concepts.

               

  Four ways that I can lead out in this area are, first I will not be afraid of change but accept it as part of leadership and that if I am calm and understanding when change comes, than those that follow me will be more able to do the same. The second focus in leading how is to balance long and short term goals that anticipate change so that disappointment and frustration do not set in when I come short of accomplishing a goal. Third, I will do a better job at making the goals of the Student Advisory Council more visible and more applicable to each of the representatives and Executive Directors. This leading out will incorporate change and help others be a part of positive change. Lastly, I will seek to compel others in positive ways to be committed to the vision of the council. If the council buys into the ideas that we have, we will be able to lead change at a more rapid pace than if we seek to just let it happen.

              

  The three goals that I have set in leading change are, first, I will read journals and blogs that deal with changes that are coming to student leadership and seek to have a head start on the changes that might come to us in our endeavors as a council. One journal/blog article a month will be reviewed in my study journal. Next, I will define the differences between SAC and other student councils across the country and in my stewardships highlight those differences to enable those in my committee to be more aware of what benefits come from being at BYU as pertaining to their leadership education. The last goal that I have is to research what others say and do in connection with student councils and have a broader understanding of what other student councils do so that I can carry a conversation with any student leader and be knowledgeable about their programs and ideas. This will lessen the BYU bubble and help when conversing with students pertaining to student leadership.

By focusing on the areas of personal capability, interpersonal relationships, and leading change I have sought to best describe the thoughts and insights that I have obtained over the last semester. By analyzing the specific things that I have learned in these areas, the specific results that I hope to lead out in each area, and the goals that I have for the future success will yield the information that leads to the desired commitment that I have for the rest of my service in BYUSA.

Leading Through Change

The greatest situation that I have ever observed that dealt with change was a change that took place almost 2000 years ago. When we read the Acts of the Apostles, it is most interesting to put yourself in the situation and think of how hard it must have been for Peter, the chief apostle, to lead the greatest change in history. The change from Jewish beliefs and doctrines to the beliefs of the early Christian church. Although the record of this change is limited to the brief descriptions in Acts, I find it interesting to analyze the process by which the change occurred. Prior to Peter's revelation on the acceptance of gentiles right into the Christian church by means of seeing the sheet of unclean animals (Acts 10), the practice of the Christian church was to have the individual first convert to Judaism and then to convert to Christianity. What a change would that have been like? When I was a missionary it would have been tough to tell an investigator that they needed to join another church and then we could take them into our church. That is a major change that would be difficult to lead through. However, things seem to go fairly well as far as we can tell. Peter, first and foremost a prophet of God who had received a revelation that this was to be the will and mind of the Lord (Acts 10), but he also did many great things when in council with other church leaders at Jerusalem.  In a great oratory act, Peter gives a great discourse (Acts 15: 7-11)that convinces many of his brethren that the right thing to do is to accept the Gentiles into the church. Following the discourse, Peter gave the floor over to his brethren and had them give their opinions and experiences on the situation (Acts 15:12-33). This is a great tactic that when change is taking place, we turn to those who have experience with the change that is taking place. Organizationally the greatest thing that motivates individuals is to open their perception to others and allow them the opportunity to speak their mind. From this point, a consensus was taken and that consensus lifted the change to the church and the world. 

Discovery Statement #1- As I was asked to use my weak hand, I was frustrated that I was not better at being able to write with my left hand. I had a greater desire to focus on my weakness and become better so that this weakness was no longer a hindrance to my ability to perform in the future. 

Discovery Statement#2- I was quite impressed with how my picture turned out, but I was frustrated that I was not more comfortable in being able to adjust to the situation. Because of this frustration I was determined to work at a higher proficiency that when change comes in the future my work will be done and I will be comfortable with the work that I have completed.

Discovery Statement #3- I found myself lacking in trusting others when they asked or assisted me in trying to complete the course, some of this dealt with prejudice but mostly dealt with the inability for myself to do everything. This exposed one of my weaknesses and helped me to understand that I need others to accomplish great tasks.

I learned from these statements that my attitude seems to warrant a desire to be good at everything including change and I was taught that if I wanted to truly be able to accomplish such tasks in change I would need to prepare for change before it happens. This is done by focusing primarily on the possibility for change and that this possibility for change is enough to prepare for it. Of course you cannot prepare for all things, but you can rely on others to help you be able to accomplish that change in the future. I hope that through these exercises that I will have a greater desire to use my time to develop these skills and look forward to the future and the tasks I may be asked to perform.

Working as one, unity and teamwork

Serving as a Young Men's President in my ward, I have learned about teamwork and collaboration in a different way than most individuals do. As a leader of the Venturing crew, we went on a campout where the group was not prepared for what was to come. This included matches or anything to start a fire. The teamwork that was accomplished by the young men to solve the problem and accomplish the task to cook dinner was phenomenal. I was so impressed with the way that the boys performed and I learned more from them than they will ever learn from me. The thing that I learned from that example that I have sought to apply today is that working together even in hard times brings success. I hope that I will take the optimistic outlook that my boys took in every challenge and not be critical to one another, but instead be supportive and encouraging each day in every task.

The greatest challenges that I face in teamwork and collaboration is working with individuals who are easy to follow and not give their opinion concerning the ideas because they do not want to offend. This problem is something that I notice because of one of my shortcomings of being overly aggressive in wanting to accomplish the various tasks that are placed before me. I find that I can overcome this by being much more open to others ideas and others input. This would eliminate any worries by an individual to share information and give their ideas. This produces greater accomplishments and also enables others to feel included.

Integrity, Character, and Communication the Keys to Teamwork

Building integrity is a pain staking process that is worth every challenge that it brings. Time is the greatest building block for integrity and trust. But it is how that time is spent as a team that is valuable. Two of the major things that kill a teams ability to be able to trust one another is personal focus rather than a collective focus. When one comes into a team and puts their individual desires and projects above the projects and needs of the collective, that individual is not trusted as looking out for the collective whole nor is that individual building their integrity with the other members in the area of hard work and determination. Another way that integrity and trust is build is through relationships. A person must continually assist and love the individuals on their team to build the integrity that is necessary to have success.

When trust is build on a team, the process of moving forward with a new project becomes fairly simple as each individual sees the big picture, the goal and the outcome while the project is being discussed. However, when teams are not united in this matter, there can be contention in the process of moving forward. The best way to ensure that all team members are united on the project before you move forward is in the storming stage to ensure that all concerns and opinions are heard out. If this takes place early on in the process of the planning of various projects, it is easy to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that the outcome is desired by each in attendance. If those opinions are not brought forward early, often times they are the means by which contentions arise, blame ensues, and problems in being unified are manifest. Making sure all the information and everyone's ideas are on the table before the start of a project is crucial in ensuring this happens.

Creativity is an important way in presenting new ideas to a team in a storming session. A couple of creative ways that we can present information to a team prior to a project is through participation of individual team members who may not have come up with the idea. Allowing the team to help market the idea helps to build relationships and trust with the team members as well as help to unify the team in purpose as to the desired outcome before moving forward with a new project. This can be done by allowing team members the opportunity to see what is happening from the beginning of the process and give their input while an individual project director starts putting together a project. Another creative way for teams to present new information is to make the presentation personal by getting to know each of the individuals to whom the project will be presented, inform them of why the project will be important to them in their duties and in their lives. This creates a sense of connection to the project that will increase the likely hood of the individuals being willing to buy in to the new project at hand.

 

Decisiveness, the need for and the reason to

When it comes to the most important behavior in getting results with a project or problem, decisiveness is the most important attribute one can possess. The reason that decisiveness is so important is that no problem is ever solved and no project is never completed unless a decision has been made concerning it. In my time as a missionary for the LDS church, I found that serving in leadership positions were more about making decisions than actually leading someone to do something. This was apparent on one afternoon when I met with a couple of missionaries who had decided that they were not going to go out and work because one felt that the only thing they should be doing is knocking on doors and the other felt that it was more effective to talk to people on the street. When we were brought in to mediate a discussion between the two missionaries we discussed the importance of making a decision rather than fighting between two decisions. Concluding that the best decision was to stay in the apartment was by far the worst answer that they could come up with, but had they been able to decide as to what the desired outcome was, their decision would have been made. As leaders in BYUSA, it isn't necessarily most important in problems and projects to be innovative or being able to take initiative as it is in being decisive and able to make a decision and stand by it. It may not be the best answer, such as calling off questions during presentations in a SAC meeting because there are too many presentations left in the limited amount of time, but a decision is the difference between a problem being solved, one way or the other, and the problem remaining a problem.

My personal strength in getting results on projects and problems is good judgement in making decisions and being decisive in making those decisions. As mentioned above, I feel that this is the most important because it is the area in which things actually get done. I seek to implement this further in my leadership roles by continuing to think ahead and making decisions that will enable things to get done in organization. As the President Pro Tem of the Student Advisory Council I can implement these ideals of decisiveness to make sure that the Student Advisory Council has direction as to where we would like to see them go and that they know what we want them to do. If we have been decisive in understanding our roles as ED's of the program and as we let them know their positions, they will be able to accomplish great work in moving forward the needs on BYU's campus.

Technical/Professional Expertise

Technical/Professional Expertise is something that I get to see everyday in action. Jeff Whitlock is one of the greatest examples of this proficiency. I first had the opportunity to meet Jeff when I was in a Book of Mormon class that I didn't expect to be in, but I count it a privilege to have been introduced to Jeff at an early stage in my education. The elements that he showed in that class of perseverance and friendship, networking and focus were some of the greatest I have ever seen. Now that I have the opportunity to work with Jeff on a daily basis I notice that he is technical and professional expertise. The other day Jeff was in the midst of a conversation where he was tutoring and mentoring an individual to be successful in a field that would usually be viewed competitively. Instead of following the natural man reaction to keep the information to advantage himself, he shared freely with this individual, helping to not only build a relationship of trust but also to show his desire to lift others up from their position to higher ground, creating a team that will be successful in the future.

Problem Solving and Analyzing skills have been something that I have enjoyed developing namely while watching movies with my wife and pointing out things that are pointless in effect, but I had an experience with one of my young men a few weeks back where this came in handy. As I was meeting with one of my young men, I recognized that things were not going quite as well in his life as he would normally make them seem. Without prying or being overbearing, I was able to deduce from the words that he would post on facebook to find the right chance to be able to meet with him and discuss this issue. As we met, I found that our relationship was forged in a way that I could have never imagined. This young man still has some things that he is working through, but the relationship that we have forged has allowed me the opportunity to continue to be an influence for good in his life.

Innovation is probably on my mind more than any of the other attributes listed in the Technical/Professional Expertise section, because the Student Advisory Council is always looking for ways to improve and be more efficient in being able to move forward the purposes of the students and administrators on campus. Having to innovate new and improved ways to train the leaders on the council is probably the biggest challenge because the leaders are being trained at a higher level before they come to BYU and trying to teach them new leadership models is something that we must innovate on a daily basis. Showing support for others in innovation is one of my weaknesses, I painfully have to say that I do not do this very well because of the challenge of pride that I am seeking to overcome. One of my goals is to be more open to others ideas and innovations, however, I still struggle to do this at a high or even proficient level. The goals that I have set to be able to accomplish this is to open my mind more to the ideas of others by not making pre-determined ideas that I would like to apply and leave to others the opportunity to accomplish great things.

The Center Post of Leadership

As with any tent, there has to be a certain manner in which the tent is supported. If we view Leadership as a tent, the center pole in that tent, that holds all of the canvas up is character. When one takes the opportunity to think about this, it isn't really that far off of a statement because character is the one thing that makes everything work. We cannot be expected to lead and be viewed as great leaders unless we have character. 

To me the need of character is essential because all credibility and the ability that we have to influence others depends on that attribute. Character defines every other attribute that we seek in life, because any other attribute obtained without character is hollow and self deception. If we really want to become a leader we have to seek the to be's in our leadership attributes. We cannot ever mark character off as done on a list and as such, we must always focus on it. In connection with that, we understand that as a center pole in a tent cannot be neglected or overlooked, the same goes for character, it must always be in the center of our attention.

The greatest example that I have character is my grandfather. As a leader, he never sought to compromise his character for any purpose of gain or advantage. More than not wanting to compromise his ideals, he was a huge example of character because he lived character when no one else was looking. This is the central reason that when I think of character I think of my Grandpa Matson.

The greatest thing that I learned about character on Monday was that character is something that requires a huge amount of courage and devotion. One cannot truly have character if one does not have courage in carrying out the situations where character is needed. I really feel that character with courage and devotion are some of the things that I seek on a daily basis. By focusing on applying this into my life, I feel that I can become the leader that I want to become, but if I do not seek to obtain the courage and devotion that I need to have to have a character that will support the leadership style that I want to implement.

My goals and plan to implement character in my own life focuses mostly on a personal analysis that must happen on a daily basis when I look at myself in the mirror nightly. If I can truly say that I demonstrated character in all things in that day, then I know that I am succeeding, but if I did not, I need to make a plan for the next day to demonstrate character and ensure that I write it in a place that I can look at throughout the next day. If I do this, I will see drastic improvement in my character and the application of it on a daily basis.