Blog #2

Hello there!

The relational leadership model centers around 5 main elements. People must be purposeful, inclusive, empowering, ethical, and process-oriented. When thinking about which characteristics I exhibit, I also felt it was necessary to ask the people who know me best what they felt were my strengths and weaknesses because, well, leadership happens among people. Maybe I think I'm very empowering but they think I come off more like this:

My best friend Caleb said a strength of mine was being inclusive. I always try to bring groups together or make everyone feel welcome. Whether it's working on a project or just hanging out on a Friday night, I want everyone to feel like they belong. I try to make my friendship inclusiveness resemble this:

My friend Sammi said I had a knack for being empowering. When working with others, I want them to feel like they are worth more than they realize. I trust people with the roles they want to take on, and always try to have absolute faith that they can handle it. Moreover, in day to day situations, I try to empower the little things. Compliments, thank-you cards, letters, short phone calls. The stuff that makes your day.

Personally, I think I am very purposeful. I was President of my Student Council in high school and had a new task on my hands each week. When planning a new event, I always asked what our "vision" was for the end result. I try to keep in mind what we are trying to accomplish and make sure we get there. At the end of the day you have to be sure to...

Now, I wouldn't say I'm unethical, because I definitely have my values; however being 18 years old and, let's face it, irresponsible, I forget exactly how important it is to remain ethical. I always respect others values and try my hardest not to judge their opinions, but sometimes I forget to hold my own. Basically my ethics can be summed up in:

"Old enough to know better, yet too young to care."

Lastly, Process-oriented. Now here's where I hate to admit it. OASC has taught me so many times to focus on the process. That's the main goal of the 3 summer workshops I have attended, so I get pretty upset with myself when I mess this up. When I think of the 5 attributes, being process-oriented is the one I value most and the one I lack in way too often. "The ends justify the means" is a saying I absolutely abhor and so I feel I should be much better in the process-oriented field than I am. I am constantly working on it though, and every time I remind myself that you must view the group as a collaboration who have to work together and work effectively to really succeed, the project becomes easier. The group is happier and the end result is almost always better than expected.

^^^ Just a picture of my Staff In Training group where we spent a week working on "the process."

"Never stop learning. 

You have your entire life to grow into the person you want to become. 

You're 85? Keep learning. 99? Keep growing. 

Know that no matter what you are today, 

you have the potential to be everything tomorrow. 

So work for it. Go at it. Become what you hope."

:)

Blog #1

Part one:

My high school English teacher always told us “No man is an island unto himself.” In leadership, one cannot be considered a “leader” if he or she has no one to lead or inspire. I’ve been involved with multiple organizations with a focus on leadership, but I want to write about one I am presently involved in, instead of digging into the past.

I joined Delta Sigma Pi (a professional co-ed business fraternity) my first quarter here at Ohio State and being brutally honest, I had little to no idea what I was signing up for. However, it turned out to be the best decision of my freshman first quarter. DSP elicits all of the qualities of being involving, empowering, ethical, and inclusive. I’ll start with inclusive. Even as pledges, actives took time to get to know us and wanted to consider us “brothers.” On a campus as big as OSU, an organization that made me feel included was a necessity. DSP also keeps everyone’s values in mind to remain ethical. Each brother has different values and I have yet to hear a judgment on someone else’s choices. We even state at the beginning of meetings that our Fraternity’s objectives must not conflict with our religious, ethical, or political beliefs. Moreover, each member empowers the other by helping them to accomplish their goals. We will always have a brother’s back and make sure to give what we can to boost each other to our fullest potential. Involvement is also crucial. Each brother is expected to attend all meetings and give their best at each one. When asked to participate, each member is expected to give what he or she can to the group because “he who serves best profits most.” Delta Sigma Pi is organized so that power and authority are split between multiple people. We do have a President and VP, but we have VP’s for every aspect of our Fraternity from community service, to fundraising, to awards, to social. By splitting up tasks, power is shared more evenly and no one person feels unimportant or left out. This also makes it easy for change to come about. When change is necessary, the VP of that certain area brings the change up to the group and is discussed rationally in terms of what is best for the Fraternity. DSP supports the aspects of leadership and makes it such a great organization to belong.

Part Two:

I’ve always considered myself an extreme realist. On my poster about how I view leadership in class last Monday, I wrote that leaders see the world not how it is, but in how it could be. That has always been a trouble of mine. I attempt to be as optimistic as possible, and I would say I am rarely pessimistic, but I normally stay quite (if not too) rational. My own sense of hope, optimism, and ability to build and strengthen others then comes out in an “authentic” way. I don’t throw around optimism like the world won’t knock us down. That is my way of building others up. When something has gone terribly wrong, I refuse to just smile and say, “Everything will be alright.” I’m the person who will listen to your entire story and instead of just hoping things turn out okay, I work towards creating a solution to turn things around. If my friend failed a midterm, I won’t say, “eeh, it’ll be okay.” Instead, we’ll study together or I’ll quiz her on the material. I guess, in essence, I don’t believe the world will just hand others the easy way out and I’d rather be there helping them through the rough patches than just “hoping” it works out. Optimism and hope are things I am constantly working on, and I’m not saying I don’t let fate take its course. I do believe things happen for a reason and we must encourage each other to accomplish our goals. I think that is a vital part in being a leader. Our thoughts must be positive to accomplish change. However, I think leaders also have to take the next step. Take those thoughts of helping others and make them actions, even teensy tiny day-to-day actions, to make sure we’re not only hoping for the well-being of others, but attempting to make it a reality.

Not sure if this was blog-esk enough, but i'll work on it for next week. :)