leadershiparvin-blog

[leadershiparvin-blog]

Leadership Blog Week 6

Review again the video clip on the Indian talking stick and intentful listening. Over the course of the next week find an opportunity with someone familiar to experience this kind of communication. Reflect on your experience and complete the following questions:

1. Describe the situation and what happened;

2. What did you experience that was important or interesting;

3. What did you learn about building trust from intentful listening from this experience;

4. How you might apply this new knowledge to another leadership opportunity? One situation where I applied intentful listening was during a conversation with one of my close friends. This conversation involved talking about the trials and tribulations of transitioning into adulthood. We talked about finances, relationships, parenthood, and what the future has in stored for us. During this conversation I remembered the talking stick video and tried to apply that concept in the moment. I let my friend speak and I listened with intent before giving my input. When he was finished, I gave my opinion and thoughts on the subject. I learned that you gain more value from a conversation when your intent is to listen rather than to reply. When you are listening and immersed in the moment, you have a better understanding of what the other person is trying to say. This alone helps bring more value and substance to the conversation at hand. I learned that in order to build trust you must earn it. The person you are speaking with has to know that you are listening and that you care about what they are saying. They don’t want to talk to a brick wall, they want to talk to someone who understands them and cares about their thoughts. I can apply this knowledge in another leadership situation by listening intently in the conversations I partake in. Whether it’s as a leader or a follower, listening is a key skills that I can apply in the workplace, at school, at home and with my friends.  

[leadershiparvin-blog]

Week 5 Leadership Blog

From your Leadership Credo and over the next week, find opportunities to apply your leadership strengths at school, home, work or in social situations. Complete the following questions and describe

1. the situations and what happened;

2. what you experienced that was important or interesting;

3. what you learned about your leadership from this experience;

4. how you might apply this new knowledge to another leadership opportunity?

One situation where I applied my leadership strengths was when my friend group wanted to plan a beach trip. I took the leadership role in this situation because it was such a big task to handle. A beach trip involves handling all the logistics, finding the location, a date, planning an itinerary and confirming who is going. In order to tackle this, I looked back at the fourth point in my leadership credo which was; “As a leader, I will not be scared to exemplify courage when faced with tough decisions and situations such as leading a team towards success”. I was determined to plan execute a successful beach trip for my friends. One important thing I experienced from this leadership role is that you have to be firm and to take action. You need to be prompt when making decisions and confirming things with the people involved. If not, nothing will get done and procrastination is a killer in these types of situations. One thing I learned about my leadership from this experience is that I need to work on being patient. Many times, I found myself being anxious because things were not being executed immediately but ultimately worked out in the end. I will apply this new knowledge to another leadership opportunity by further working on my interpersonal skills and being more patient as a leader.

[leadershiparvin-blog]

Leadership Blog Week 4

When was a time when your were on a high performing team (if you have not been part of a high performing team select your best team experience):

1. What was happening that made it a high performing team?  

An example of when I was on a high performing team was for my Advance Business Management Class at Sheridan. We are put into groups of 4 where we played a simulated business game against other groups. We had a team president, marketing person, finance person and a production person. Our team was able to be high performing because everyone was committed to winning and accepted their role. We all listened to each others’ ideas and were not afraid to give feedback. Lastly, we made decisions as a group instead of as individuals. We were a well oiled machine

2. What was your contribution to the team development?��  

As the teams marketing person, my contribution to the team’s development was excelling at my section. I was able to communicate effectively with the other group members as our sections relied on each other. I was also able to contribute by scheduling the group meetings and keeping everyone on track with their duties.

3. As you look back on this team now, what might you change about the team and about your role in the team? Why?  

One thing I might change about our team was how we handled time management. Although we were able to get everything done, some of it came down to last minute decisions and just beating the deadline. By handling our time management better, this could have helped ease the stress on the group. As for my role on the team I would not change a thing. This is because our success was mainly due to everyone being committed to their roles. Everyone excelled in their roles and this is why we got first place.

4. Think of how you currently respond to conflict in a team. In what ways does this help develop the team and develop yourself. If you feel another approach to handling conflict might be more effective what might that be?  

The current way I respond to conflict in the team is to put the issue to a majority vote. This helps develop the team as it factors everyone’s input equally. This is the most fair and efficient way to handle disagreements in a group. Another approach to handling conflict within a group is to have a third-party mediator. This way, there is someone who has an unbiased and objective opinion to resolve the conflict.

5. If you could do one thing differently when working in future teams what might that be? Why?  

One thing that I would do differently when working with future teams is to be more opinionated and to voice my thoughts. Many times, I find that I hold myself back and let others take charge. By doing this I can improve on my leadership skills and confidence. This will help me make better decisions and benefit the future teams I work with.

[leadershiparvin-blog]

Leadership Blog Week 3

Followership Commitment

To be an effective leader, I will make it an initiative to listen to my peers or the person leading our team. I will put in all my effort and be committed when doing group work. I will be courageous and I will also make it known when I have an idea or to voice my opinion to the group. Lastly, as a follower I will improve upon my self management skills in order to work effectively without supervision.

[leadershiparvin-blog]

Leadership Blog Week 2

1. Reflect on your top five leadership strengths. These are your personal power tools to differentiate yourself and establishes your leadership style.  

My top leadership strengths are Discipline, Consistency, Futuristic, Harmony, Context. As an individual, I am best described by the order or routine that I create. I crave clear rules and procedures and value the equal treatment of others. I learned that I am inspired by the future and ‘what could be’. I also seek areas of agreement and generally try to avoid conflict. Lastly, I learned that I best understand the present by researching its history. 

2. For each one visualize a situation where you might use this in a leadership role. Make it real-i.e. something from school, work or home that you could make happen.  Reflect and write what this might be for each of the five.

Discipline: I can use this strength in a school/group work setting. I can  coordinate and plan things for my group.

Consistency: I can use this strength in my own personal life by being consistent with my daily routine. Harmony: I can use this strength within my friend groups. If they are having a conflict I can look for reasoning and areas of agreement.

Context: I can use this strength during arguments and conflicts to research topics intensely before drawing any final conclusions.

Futuristic: I can use this in a group project setting by thinking ahead and anticipating any problems that may arise. 

3. Pick one of the five and go make it happen over the next week. Write about the situation, what you did, what happened, and what you learned.

Over the past week, I was able to implement my ‘Harmony’ within my friend group. Two of my friends were having a very heated argument regarding politics. They had very strong differing opinions and I could sense the environment getting toxic. I was able to use my ‘Harmony’ strength by being the mediator in the situation. I was able to listen to both sides of the argument and lead them into a consensus on the topic. I also voiced my input into the argument by pointing out the pros and cons on each of their points. I learned that you need to stay calm and collected during heated situations likes this. As a leader, you need to be able to listen and empathize with all parties involved. 

[leadershiparvin-blog]

Leadership Blog - Week 1

1.Think of a time when you were in a leadership situation. 

What was the experience like for you?

One time where I experienced a leadership situation was when I had to be a leader for my group project at Sheridan. I was appointed this role and it was a very challenging yet rewarding experience. I had to mediate decisions and conflicts within the group and build a strong relation with all the members.

What did you learn from it?

I learned that you have to be willing to listen to others and be open everyone’s opinion. When working in a group dynamic, there will be conflicts and differences, so you have to use your leadership skills to solve those issues. I also learned that being a leader means you have to be able to delegate tasks and keep everyone on track.

2.Describe your leadership strengths and skills as you currently know them.  Where possible, align these with specific examples.

I would describe my leadership strengths and skills as

Being a good listener

Empathetic

Trustworthy 

Competent 

An example where my skills were put to use was during an issue with one of my group members. My group member had forgot to do his part of the assignment. Instead of getting mad and putting the blame on him, I took the time to listen to his side of the story and solved the issue accordingly.  

3.What are the leadership strengths, skills or characteristics that you would like to develop? Why?

A leadership strength that I would like to improve is my confidence. I believe confidence is a very important characteristic to have as a leader. I want to improve this because I find my self constantly doubting myself and second guessing my decisions. Being confident in yourself can have a positive impact on your life and in others.