Fly on a Wall...

This week, #SLA371 was asked to blog on our experiences observing a student organization’s weekly meeting. Our goal was not to intervene and observe the dynamic of the leader(s), the followers and the context in which the meeting took place. We are currently reading The Emotional Intelligence for Students, and the book lays the groundwork for us to take a “balcony” approach to observing our student groups. Effective leadership incorporates an understanding of identifying what to say to a group of people based on the context of the environment. The better we are at identifying these elements, the greater effective we can have as leaders.

(I shadowed a Greek organizational on The Ohio State University’s campus. To protect the organization and the individuals involved, I have created alias names.)

The Leader:  The President of the fraternity, David, opened and led the meeting. He was seated in the front of the room at a table that included the other members of the executive committee. David did a remarkable job at maintaining order without having to utilize a gavel or the authority vested in him. Past presidents have struggled with this balance, and have usually had to maintain order throughout the meeting. David allows the executive members as well as the general body to take ownership of the discussions and topics, but guided the members back onto point if the discussion strayed too far from the original topic. All of the executive members took turns giving their reports, and allowed for members on their committees (seated amongst the general body of members) to report as well. This allowed for all positions to be heard, and demonstrated that the executive committee guided the direction of the fraternity, however, the members still had a voice and influence over the day-to-day functions of the fraternity.

The Followers: The followers consisted of about 40 men who all faced the front of the room towards the exec committee. The group consisted of sophomores to seniors, and mainly the group was of Caucasian decent.  The group dynamic was very interesting to see.  About a fifth of people there were only present to be counted present, and were disengaged throughout the whole meeting. About another fifth cracked jokes the whole time and laughed at comments just to be funny. The other 3/5 of the group were engaged and provided meaningful comments throughout the ceremony. This provided a difficult dynamic for the leadership of the fraternity. The leadership committee did a nice job by keeping the meeting to one hour, staying on point, and discussing relevant issues concerning the whole chapter.

The Context: The meeting was held in the basement of their shelter, and everyone was dressed in collared shirts and slacks. The organization appears to strive to become better men, and not be like the fraternity of the “Animal House” era.  The group valued brotherhood, hanging out with each other, and discussed ways to improve their chapter. They discussed things like going trap shooting together, whether to incorporate a new philanthropy, and decided on whether or not to fix the pool table or not. The discussions around that were productive, yet included enough humor that everyone enjoyed themselves.

This was a great opportunity to sit back and just observe a meeting that I would have spoken normally.  Taking a step back, I saw points where holding my tongue and collecting my thoughts would have been very valuable to my leadership in the organization. I look forward to the next meeting, and incorporating my understanding of the leaders, followers, and the context dynamic of the meeting.

Students Develop in College?!

I have always said students learn more outside of the classroom than they do in them. Usually this follows having to stay in on a Saturday night to study CS&E 200 or finding out that I didn’t do as well on an exam.  It was my rationale to place my student involvement and social activities on the same level as my academics. Fortunately I have done well in school, and I have been able to maintain my involvement on campus in various ways.  This involvement has developed me into the person I am today. (Also I have to give some credit to my education in the classroom as well.) Development is an important part of the college experience, and student development theories allow us to examine just how much developing we do in college.

As student leaders, understanding student development theories can provide insights and benefits into how we interact with our peers on campus.  These theories will allow us to understand where different students fall in terms of development, and also how to incorporate this information in our actions with others. Looking at Chickering’s 7 vectors model, I was intrigued to see where I fell on his spectrum. As a senior, I can definitely say that I am working on the last 3 vectors of freeing interpersonal relationships, developing purpose, and developing integrity.  Reading about these theories as we live through them offers a very interesting perspective. It allows me to see where I am recommended to be at after I graduate college. Now of course, it is only a theory, and I will not assess my success as a college student based on where Chickering wants me to be at when I graduate. We all develop at different points in our lives, and that development usually is fostered through life experiences. It is learning to grow from those life experiences that will determine where you fall on Chickering’s model.

Through student involvement on campus, we learn how to maximize time management, how to interact with others, and learn vital social skills. However, when done right, all three of these things can be acquired in a classroom. The real beauty of development is the reflection of the experiences that impacts us the most. Without reflection, we inhibit ourselves from gaining the development needed for sustained growth. True personal growth requires one to reflect on the experience, being honest with yourselves and others, and being vulnerable to grow. This vulnerability can be in the form of trying new things, opening up to others, working on personal shortcomings, being open to criticism, and finally being open to change. By allowing yourself to be vulnerable you open yourself up to new experiences, emotions, and insights into the real you!  

            I have used reflection, honesty and vulnerability in order to grow and learn from my past relationship. It was important for me to realize what I wanted in a relationship, and how I can improve for my next relationship. Every relationship teaches you incredible and valuable aspects about yourself. It is easy to put the blame on the other person in a relationship, and not accept the fact that we all have plenty of room for improvement. Allowing yourself to look within and reflect on what you enjoyed about the relationship, what you didn’t, and what you can improve on will only make you a better person. I believe that everyone comes into our lives for a reason, and being blind to that only hinders you from becoming the person who you were meant to be.

Keeping a journal is a great way to reflect on life’s wonderful experiences. I try everyday to answer a simple question; what could I have changed about today to make it the best day possible. This is a way for me to not only reflect on the day, but an opportunity to improve myself. It could be simple things like I wish I would have called my Mom today or I wish I would had studied a little more.  An important element to remember is that obviously I cannot go back and change the day, however, I hope that by acknowledging what I should have done; I will not commit the same actions in the future. It has worked for me, and it may be something to look into!

(Picture from freshman year.....yes that is a lanyard.) 

(Picture from the end of my junior year. As you can obviously see, the maturity level has increased exponentially.) 

#SLA371 Leadership Lens

I have always been fascinated with leadership and various books on the topic.  It always amazed me that not one author can agree on its definition.  Most are very similar, however authors have made it their life goal to tweak the definition so that they can be unique.  Some authors can sell millions of books, while others never quite make it to the bookshelves. The books may have the exact same take on leadership, incorporate almost the same definition, analyze the same great leaders of the past, and yet have two completely different journeys.  I have found that trying to pin the definition of leadership down to any form is futile at best. The beauty of leadership is as tough as it may be to define, you know exactly what it is when you see it. Whether it is on the athletic field, in a boardroom, or on the side of a street, leadership is clearly abundant all around us.

For my view of leadership, I am taking a page Zenger and Folkman’s The Extraordinary Leader. They illustrate leadership through a tent model.  I utilized the same structure, however I changed the support beams of the “Leadership Tent.”

My view of leadership requires that a leader be knowledgeable, understanding, and a person of action, honesty and integrity.  A person can be a good leader with a combination of all of these elements, but a great leader posses all of them and has moral courage to live by them.

Knowledge refers to someone having core competencies developed through their education, job experience, and life experiences.

Understanding refers to a leader’s ability to recognize that everyone has a different story to tell, and everyone has something unique about them. A leader utilizes the strengths of others, and empowers those to see the world from different “lenses.” A great quality here would be to an empathetic listener. When one listens empathetically, they will listen first and not feel compelled to push their thoughts or views onto others. 

Action is the vessel that turns dreams into realities. Some many great people never implement their goals or dreams for one reason or another.  Without action, leadership should only remain in books. A leader recognizes not only when to act, but when to follow as well. Aristotle once stated that on should, “Do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons.” A leader recognizes his/her own motives and acts in the best interests of the group.

Honesty & Integrity is almost essential for all leaders. Words like accountability, trust, respect and sincerity will go a long way in establishing great relationships with followers.

Moral Courage is the backbone of any leader. Every leader feels that gut wrenching feeling when they know they should act. It is pushing through the feelings of doubt/hesitation that makes a good leader an eminent one.