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Intentful Listening

There was a scenario that I can think of that happened quite recently. This past Saturday I was at work with my boss and our shipment was very late. As it pulled in to our store I was panicking and getting anxious about it. I was foreshadowing what could go wrong and looking ahead in the future for possible outcomes that we could benefit from. Then my boss started explaining his plan and I was intrigued. By listening with intent I was more confident in putting my trust in my bosses plan and I didn’t feel the need to discuss what I was thinking because it would’ve bee na waste of time. I learned to be more personable and less anxious when it comes to conversations. I already have trust in my boss since I have been with him for some time now but what happened this past weekend really reinforced the point. This could help benefit me in future scenarios in the sense that every one has unique ideas that they are bringing to the table; so when problems occur or even through brainstorming sessions you should always be respectful and listen to whoever is speaking.

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Leadership Credo Example

Over the past few weeks I was able to take my leadership credo into the real world and demonstrate what I can do as a leader. Some situations that came up were; a Wednesday in one of my classes we had a part of a project that was due at the end of class. We were having trouble finding a way to promote our company that the project was on and by using my futuristic trait I was able to foreshadow a way to promote the company through physical ads, the team seemed to like it and although we settled on another promotion strategy I experienced recognition and got a boost in confidence a little bit because of the appreciation I received. I learned to be more open minded when it comes to sharing ideas and to not be embarrassed or scared because when you’re with a good group of people they can help mold ideas into something special. I’ll most likely apply this to a future work situation; there’s problem solving at my workplace and we have to strategize so next time I’ll asses the situation and see for possible solutions that would effectively help my team solve the problem

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Teams

One of the best teams I have been on would be last semester for one of my Marketing classes. It was a Thursday class and I was in a group of 4 people. We were doing a project on a fictional coffee company called Bite’s and we all had great ideas and most of them came out organically. My role in particular was to segment our core audience as well as create a new promotion to revitalize the company. Looking back I could’ve asked my team if I can doing anything to help out with their parts of the assignment, the team members came up to me to ask a couple of times and I willingly helped with no problem but I could’ve took the initiative I feel. In terms of conflict I really like to tackle it head on especially in a team environment. I feel like we can grow as a unit and be more comfortable and open with each other that way. One of the things I would do differently in a team would be accepting new ideas with an open mind. To elaborate on that, there are certain times where if someone suggests an idea or concept that is great I will be sceptical for no good reason. I have to think it over when it is clear that I don’t have to and I apologize to that person and from there on out I keep a level head going into new parts of the project.

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My Followership Commitment

For a couple of weeks now I’ve been able to really think about where I’m at in terms of leadership role. Now that I’ve learned about how to be an effective follower I can give a solid explanation for my fellowship commitment. 3 out of my 5 strengths are under relationship building; this is important for me in terms of building relations with a future boss that I may work with. Being futuristic is 1 of the 7 traits of a good follower.  I am also able to accept responsibility as well as understanding places where I can grow as a person. In addition to those factors I know how to use my skills and capabilities effectively in my opinion.

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5 Strength Leadership Situations

My tops 5 strengths go as follows: Futuristic, Woo, Individualization, Positivity and Includer. I can visualize a realistic situation for all of these strengths. To be honest there have been times in my life where I practised my strengths.

For Futuristic I can relate that to school. There’s been times where I think about my own future; and while doing so I put my aspirations and goals into perspective. I switched programs at Sheridan because I couldn’t see myself being in accounting as a career. Because I foreshadowed and thought about my future, I am happier in the Marketing program and can honestly see myself doing something in this field as my life’s work.

Woo is a strength I’ve in a way showcased quite a bit as of late at my work. Working in produce at Fresh Co as a part timer there’s been a lot of staff changes in my 4 years there. During those times I always try and be welcoming and personable to give off a good impression to the new employees. I try to hit it off with new workers because I do like meeting new people for the most part; but there’s been times where that doesn’t happen. I try not to let it get in my way and I push through it by putting aside differences and working as a unit.

Individualization falls under relationship building and again I can give examples from both work and school. It’s a big part of life meeting new people and working n groups. Again at work it’s always a team effort; being co-ordinated and communicating effectively is really the only way to get the job done right. I’m not perfect and sometimes lack those skills on certain days but again I have great people at work I can rely on.

Positivity again is under relationship building. One time during a school project my group was falling behind on completing a part of it. It was 2 days until we had to submit the part and I was trying to be positive and encourage the group to work hard together and rally past that hurdle.

Includer is a strength I never really thought about. It’s pretty straight forward in my eyes; generally speaking I have an open mind and accept people for who they are. I don’t like starting problems for no reason or really judge people without knowing them. I’d rather tackle problems head on and be honest with which ever person it may be.

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Positivity Situation

Out of the 5 strengths that I have, I chose to go with a Positivity situation. I did this because I can envision myself actually going through and experiencing something like this.

I thought about a situation at work during a very busy day. I had a team of 4 people including myself. The produce floor looked pretty bad and I had to motivate and rally my workers to push product and do the great work I know they can do. I had a meeting with them in the backroom and we came up with a plan I motivated them by saying I would reward them if they did an excellent job; also I gave a motivating speech to them in order to get them fired up. I went through their strengths and made sure we all covered each others weaknesses. And with that the job got done with little disturbances. We pushed product out quickly and helped customers and each other out for the rest of our shifts. I stayed true to my word as a good leader should and got my team coffee to keep the positive attitude rolling.

I learned that giving up as a leader when times are tough is a recipe for failure. Making the most of what you have is crucial and being understanding and motivating doesn’t just help with the task at hand, but it also helps the morale of your team. Tasks can get done more efficiently and more accurately because of it.

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My Leadership Situation

I work as a produce clerk at a Fresh Co. I have been working there for almost 5 years now. During that time there have been ups and downs; and for the most part I enjoy working  there still. At times there have been some hurdles and obstacles to overcome but the people keep me humble and grounded. 

There has been a couple of times where I took control of the produce department and lead my fellow employee’s for a day. The most recent one was a very hectic day. I started my shift at 7 in the morning and I was the first one in produce. I set up the floor and did my usual routine in the department, I had one person start at 10. The person who started at 10 was relatively new to the store so I knew that I would still have to guide him around and teach him parts of job.

I had to adapt for that and had to use my experience and knowledge to help benefit him not just for the day but in his tenure with Fresh Co. I would say that I was a good role model for him during that shift. He would ask me questions and I would answer with patience and take my time to make sure he understood what was required of him to do. I wasn’t pressuring him to do any tasks he wasn’t comfortable with, and I was honest with him. In addition to that I also communicated clearly and made sure that the department was getting filled efficiently during my shift.

It was a good experience and I would not object in having another shift where I had those responsibilities. I learned that having a negative attitude towards co-workers is a toxic approach to being a leader and having good communication is key. Some leaderships strengths that I would like to have would be; critical thinking as well as being more organized.