I was shockingly amazed at my results. I find that people often see you differently than to see yourself. To see that someone views me BETTER than I view myself, is a tremendous compliment. It makes me wonder {{since I rated myself lower}} that the standards I have set for myself are actually higher than I think. Hmm.. I really can't say... In any event, I am glad to have been introduced to the 5 practices of leadership. Something even better, being rated quite high on all five! There is still work to be done, however...
As far as group work, I know that I am capable of bring a lot to the table and I can work with anyone. Flexible, is something that seems to stick out a lot to me since the start of this class. I can bend and move depending on the type of person {{or people}} I am working with.
In connection to being an RA, having pretty high ratings as far as my leadership style shows that I have a possibility of being a well-rounded RA capable of dealing and adapting to any kind of environment {{community}}. I am more so an encourager. That is important being in a new environment, simply because people often need that support system; whether it's only one person or an entire group.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Does Gender Inform Leadership Style?
Thinking about this question makes me think about when I had to facilitate a group of 10th graders. Since it was such a mixed group, I can definitely say that I had to be able to switch off with the way I would facilitate the classes. There were days where I had to be more stern and speak with more authority while other days I can be lenient and laid back. - This switch had nothing to do with it being mixed gendered, though.
Since the group was very mixed - Good girls, conceited girls, divas (as they were called), bad boys, non-english speakers, followers, homosexuals, some with disabilities - I mean, it was really a mixed group of kids and it was my role as a facilitator to give this diverse group of kids a meaningful experience. Same thing goes being a captain of a sports team. Notice I did not recall how many girls and how many boys there were or how many fell into which category. In my instances with leading groups, it just did not matter.
I do not think it was so much what their gender was that made me change my leadership style. It was more about their personality and who they were as a person. Until I came to Chatham, I never had an experience where I had to lead only women. Again, it is not so much about their gender, there are other factors that play into the outcome of the group - either leaving it in a positive or negative position. These other factors are the things that make the leader find a different approach for the group to succeed. Personality traits like being stubborn, having a bad attitude, impatient, not easily trusting - things like that make it harder for a group to progress.
As a leader, one has to be open to trying new techniques to enable the group to prosper. With that, as I have already stated, I do not think my leadership strategies differ when dealing with single-sex versus co-ed. To me, it depends what type of people make up the group, what strategies I will take or not take. One thing that comes to mind now that I think about it is being that I am a woman and working in a group with women, I may have a connection or some kind of unspoken relationship which can possibly make me more lenient with them because I understand them because I am woman myself. Does that make sense?
Until next time,
Teej.
Since the group was very mixed - Good girls, conceited girls, divas (as they were called), bad boys, non-english speakers, followers, homosexuals, some with disabilities - I mean, it was really a mixed group of kids and it was my role as a facilitator to give this diverse group of kids a meaningful experience. Same thing goes being a captain of a sports team. Notice I did not recall how many girls and how many boys there were or how many fell into which category. In my instances with leading groups, it just did not matter.
I do not think it was so much what their gender was that made me change my leadership style. It was more about their personality and who they were as a person. Until I came to Chatham, I never had an experience where I had to lead only women. Again, it is not so much about their gender, there are other factors that play into the outcome of the group - either leaving it in a positive or negative position. These other factors are the things that make the leader find a different approach for the group to succeed. Personality traits like being stubborn, having a bad attitude, impatient, not easily trusting - things like that make it harder for a group to progress.
As a leader, one has to be open to trying new techniques to enable the group to prosper. With that, as I have already stated, I do not think my leadership strategies differ when dealing with single-sex versus co-ed. To me, it depends what type of people make up the group, what strategies I will take or not take. One thing that comes to mind now that I think about it is being that I am a woman and working in a group with women, I may have a connection or some kind of unspoken relationship which can possibly make me more lenient with them because I understand them because I am woman myself. Does that make sense?
Until next time,
Teej.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
My Frist Experience in a Res Hall
I have always had my own room. Eighteen long years of having my own space - a territory to call my own now had to be shared with a stranger. Although my roommate and I texted message on a contant basis, it was nothing like living with her for the first two weeks. Already having allergic reactions, I grew fond of a new one. The smell of cats. At home, my roommate lived with 13 cats (yes, I know). This was one of the things we had NOT spoken about. I tried to deal. Actually, I tried very hard to deal. Constantly sneezing, wheezing, coughing, having a runny nose then a congested nose truly sucked! This became a challenge because I had to talk to her. No one likes telling someone else about their BO, but it had to be done. Easier than I thought it would be, we agreed to buy air fresheners! YES!!
On a different note, I absolutely LOVED being in a Res Hall. Coming from a home where I felt dry and out of place, I was happier than no other to be in a place where I felt comfortable and at home. The first few days of figuring this place out, I immediately thought I could get used to this! Being a native of New York City, I found myself wanting to explore Pittsburgh and all that I can about Chatham by asking a bunch of questions, reading maps and befriending different people.
Other than exploring, thinking back I cannot recall what else I did in my transition from home to here. I did notice that people flocked to who they identified with, though. It was normally a person they thought were most like them and things in that nature. We (most of us) we all new to Chatham and therefore did not know who or what about most things and were friendly because we were all trying to figure out who was nice, who was not, and things in that nature.
Oh yeah, when it was time for a meeting or some kind of RA activity, we would all come together and there would be this amazing group of ladies ready and willing to work together and knock out any task or activity. REGARDLESS!
2nd floor Fickes definitely rocks!!
On a different note, I absolutely LOVED being in a Res Hall. Coming from a home where I felt dry and out of place, I was happier than no other to be in a place where I felt comfortable and at home. The first few days of figuring this place out, I immediately thought I could get used to this! Being a native of New York City, I found myself wanting to explore Pittsburgh and all that I can about Chatham by asking a bunch of questions, reading maps and befriending different people.
Other than exploring, thinking back I cannot recall what else I did in my transition from home to here. I did notice that people flocked to who they identified with, though. It was normally a person they thought were most like them and things in that nature. We (most of us) we all new to Chatham and therefore did not know who or what about most things and were friendly because we were all trying to figure out who was nice, who was not, and things in that nature.
Oh yeah, when it was time for a meeting or some kind of RA activity, we would all come together and there would be this amazing group of ladies ready and willing to work together and knock out any task or activity. REGARDLESS!
2nd floor Fickes definitely rocks!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
