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.
