"The 4th Post"

How does your philosophy now differ from your attitudes toward leadership at the beginning of the course?

First I would like to say, Matt thank you for your genuine leadership, encouraging words and inspirational leadership. At the beginning of class I definitely didn’t expect the class setting to be so open to ones ideas, opinions or personal experiences. At first the class setting was uncomfortable because personally it takes me a while to open up to people about my thoughts, ideas, opinions and personal experiences. I know that I am not always totally accurate about things and that low confidence in myself of not knowing holds me back. At the beginning of the course I learned that some people will listen and some people will stick to their own “right” opinion. I was thinking the class would be more book base lectures in relation to our lives, experiences and personality but it was different. I think it was just enough lecturing moments to open our perception of understanding leadership and relations with others. The book was a great reading source, helping me to see the break down structure of what type of leader I am, where I stand as a leader, strategies to use to be an effective leader, advantages and disadvantages of my leadership skills currently.

At the beginning of the course I thought my weakness was being an introverted person more than an extroverted person. I thought because I had some traits of an extrovert I needed to be a loud out spoken person. I needed to have more characteristics of an extrovert person because I was always battling the fence of an extrovert or introvert. I did learn that I was more of an introvert overall and I feel that introverts are great listeners. I feel that I am a great listener, listening most of the time to students personal experiences which helped me realize why we have such strong opinions. I feel that the classroom setting made me a great listener and understanding everyone’s view point in multiple perceptions. My philosophy at the beginning of the course was that everyone can’t be a leader. Now my philosophy is that everyone can be a leader rather you’re an extrovert or introvert because everyone takes a leadership role somehow and it doesn’t always have to be the traditional way. One thing that I think is funny is our interview questions about leadership. When interviewing the Leah I couldn’t imagine myself answering those questions about managing stress, developing relationships, and that "Ah-Ha" moment. Now I can imagine myself answering those questions because everyone has so many different stories to tell but they all relate to concepts of leadership.

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Leadership Stories in relation to the Ohio State University

1. What is one or more of your most inspirational stories of leadership at the Ohio State University?

2. What are the most important decisions you made as a leader of your organization?

3. How did you manage stressful decisions or situations?

4. How did you establish or develop healthy relationships with your patients and co- workers?

5.  How did your leadership actions play a role in your accomplishments?                     

"What is a comment, thought, or action from one of your classmates this semester that has re-framed your perspective on leadership in some way?”

"What is a comment, thought, or action from one of your classmates this semester that has re-framed your perspective on leadership in some way?”

The pipe class exercise really re- framed my perspective on leadership, questioning the role leadership. The goal was for everyone to work together if you were on team A or B for the class exercise, which was successful the first time and everyone was excited to get the golf ball in the cup. Before team A was successful in the exercise, one of the B team members had to come up with a great plan and communicate the plan thoroughly to both teams, than make an attempt to get the golf ball in the cup. Before I get into more detail I would like to share my perspective of being on the B team and what made me question the roles of a leader. Other B team members had ideas how to successfully get the golf ball in the cup before I could speak up.

I feel that it was best and respectful to make suggestions on how to perfect their idea or if the ball was picking up to much momentum in a certain area. I addressed B team members one on one so they could hear me clearly since have a soft spoken voice and wouldn’t be able to yell across the room. One of the B team members came up with a great plan that seemed to be working and both teams worked together to make his idea successful. After the first successful run, everyone was motivated to come up with new ideas to complete the next goal. I threw some ideas out there to both team A and B but I don’t think I was heard. so I went back into pyshically helping position the height of the pipes or letting team A know where we needed 1 or 2 pipes to continue the motion of the golf ball to the cup. When both teams started to yell about strategies, talking over one another, cutting each other off, and not listening to one another I started to question the role of a leader.

I thought a leader had to be loud and have an out spoken voice in order to be heard but that wasn’t the case in this situation. I feel in most situations such as this one, it depends on the audience, peers, or associates they have to listen, hear, and be respectful of others. I realize that my weakness is my voice; I have to speak up first before someone else comes up with the same idea that I have or comment but we all must listen attentively with respect.

In our textbook Exploring Leadership it talks about “I”-“You”-“We” and I bring this up because the company I work for just started to us this leadership strategy but now I have a greater understanding of it. For us as students, to be an effective leader we must understand when to use these to have a greater understanding of self and others. In this method “I” focuses on the individual, “you” emphasizes on listening/engaging and “we” puts attention on equals/ community. In chapter 5 it defines pluralism groups which mean a “plethora of differences that need to be understood to accomplish shared goals”. I think if everyone of us would applied this to the exercise and pluralistic leadership we would of made our second goal successfully. But I will always try to remember this quote to be an effective leader, “communication requires one to listen with empathy listening with your ears, eyes, and heart”.