Leader and Change Agent:
From early on, the IES program emphasizes the qualities and aspects of both a good leader and a bad leader while guiding us to make the right decisions to become moral leaders. A good leader inspires others to do good and promotes positive change in society. A leader is able to take a stand and use their voice to stand up to people or harmful opinions. A good leader has the ability to become a change agent. I believe a good leader is one that uses their past experiences to make wise and thoughtful decisions that not only benefit a greater cause but marginalized voices and communities as well.
Evidence #1: IES 103 Fieldwork Observation #2
In IES 103, Philosophy of Helping, we were required to put the ideas and philosophies we were learning about to use by volunteering at two different places in the Orange Community. For this assignment, I observed an AA meeting and volunteered at Mary’s Kitchen. After volunteering at Mary’s Kitchen I was required to do a write up the experience that I had at the fieldwork site. Mary’s Kitchen is a volunteer organization that provides meals, laundry facilities, showers, clothes, and canned food to homeless individuals. While I was there, I was able to see how the organization was run, help to clean up the kitchen after a lunch rush, and got to interview the woman in charge of the organization.
Through this experience, I was able to understand the impact of this organization on the community. In the assignment, I talk about how this experience was eye-opening to me because I was able to see how helping people through small acts of service can make an immense impact on their lives. I also talk about how it is not up to me to end world hunger in order to feel I made a difference, it’s about doing my part to change one life at a time.
This assignment taught me how to use my leadership skills to do my part to create a positive change in society. Being a leader means going out of your way to help someone who is in need and being able to put aside one’s own desires for a greater cause. In this fieldwork observation reflection, I talked about how I was asked to do something that pushed me out of my comfort zone yet, I was okay with it because “In order to fully help the people at hand, we might have to face what we are uncomfortable with head-on and deal with it because if we do not, we are not truly being of service”. Volunteer work like the kind I did at Mary’s Kitchen is a great example of how an effective leader is able to become a change agent through acts of service.
The fieldwork experiences that I had in this class gave me valuable skills that I would use in my future classroom. These fieldwork experiences not only allowed me to give back to my community but to gain an understanding of the importance of empathy when it comes to leadership. While these fieldwork opportunities were not in a classroom setting, I was able to take what I learned about helping others in small ways and apply it to classroom teaching. From Mary’s Kitchen, I was able to recognize other people’s needs and learn from the struggles of others which I believe is important in becoming an effective leader and change agent.
From classes like IES 103, I learned how to be an effective leader in and out of the classroom. Because I took this class my first semester of college as an IES major, the lessons and skills I learned in this class about empathy, servant leadership, and acts of service became a pivotal stepping stone in the overall development of my leadership skills.
Evidence #2: Pi Beta Phi Executive Board Leadership Experience
During my Junior and Senior year, I was elected to be the Director of Academics for CA Omicrons Pi Beta Phi Chapter. When I first joined Pi Beta Phi in the spring of my Freshman year I never saw myself taking a leadership position. Although as time went on and I became more involved in the chapter, I realized that taking a leadership role was something I was interested in. I believe that what the IES program taught me about leadership made me realize that I could thrive in a leadership position. Pi Phi was my opportunity to put what I have learned in the IES program to use and incorporate those leadership skills I have been taught in the past.
During the application process, I knew I wanted to apply for a leadership position but, I did not know exactly which position I wanted. During my junior year, Pi Phi nationals changed around the entire infrastructure of the executive leadership board. This change broke up the original 8 positions into 15 positions. This allowed me to apply for the new position of Director of Academics and be able to solely focus on something that interested me. Because I was the first person to hold this new position of Director of Academics, I had to figure out this job for myself. My job required me to help the girls in the chapter whose grades fell short of our GPA requirements, plan study events for chapter members, and submit the chapter’s grades to Pi Phi Nationals.
While the Pandemic happening at the beginning of my term changed my role as Director of Academics, I still learned a lot about myself in a leadership role. Because the pandemic strained communication for all members, I learned how important it is to communicate what I was expecting of the girls in my chapter who I was helping. I learned how to communicate with people who have different communication styles. I also learned how to empathize with other people’s situations and struggles. If girls forgot to turn in their weekly hours or did not reach their weekly goal, I learned to empathize with them and provide accommodations and modifications as needed. Because I was able to do this for people, respect was given. In order to get the respect that comes along with a position of power, it is critical to give it to those you are helping.
Overall, my experience in a leadership position was something I enjoyed and learned a lot from. I not only learned a lot about what it means to be a leader but a leader in an academic setting. This is a valuable lesson considering I am going to be an elementary school teacher. I am going to use the skills I learned in this position of leadership in my own classroom one day. Because of the IES program and the information I learned about effective leadership, I was able to apply it to something outside of the IES program.
Evidence #3: IES 301 Journal #1
In IES 301 we are taught about Organizations, Ethics, Society, and the influence of leadership within those areas. This class taught me about what it takes to be a good leader and what happens when people with bad motives are in leadership positions. Bad leaders cast shadows instead of light. Depending on a leader’s motive, leadership style, and attitude, the relationship between the leader and follower will be affected. Both the leader and follower play crucial roles in the development of successful ethical groups and practices. Leaders’ morals are the driving force for every decision they make which is why having ethically righteous morals make for successful leadership. In this class, I also learned about different styles of leadership and which style I resonate with the most. I learned a lot about myself over the course of this class and what I value as important aspects of a good leader.
Over the course of this class, we had to write reflective journals based on the readings and the topics covered in class. In journal #1 we had to talk about which shadows a leader might cast and how leaders can cast light instead of shadows. We also had to connect our ideas, strengths, and weaknesses to that of another leader we had learned about in class. In this journal, I talked about how leadership holds power and I am worried for myself when I become a teacher and I have to assert my power in the correct way. I took this class in the fall of my sophomore year and I did not have much experience in a leadership role at this time in my life. Now knowing what I know about leadership and being a leader in a classroom setting, I do not have these fears for myself because I have the experience and tools to back me up. I also talked about finding this balance between soft and hard power and how I believe that there needs to be a combination of the two in order to be a successful leader. I still stand with this opinion because with leadership comes respect. I now know that respect is not given; it is earned with leaders and “followers”, especially in a classroom setting.
In the journal entry, I continue to talk about the differences between good leaders and bad leaders. Both good and bad leaders struggle to find that balance of power and making sure to not abuse that power. The difference between good leaders and bad leaders is that good leaders acknowledge the line and make a conscious effort not to cross it whereas bad leaders abuse that power and knowingly cross that line. In IES 301, we discussed many different people in leadership roles and one of those people being Jim Jones. Jim Jones was a cult leader who abused his power and ended up convincing many of his followers to take their own lives for him. In order for Jim Jones to do this, he manipulated his followers by making them feel they were heard and special in his eyes and used subliminal threats to get what he actually wanted.
Evidence #4: LEAD 101: Practice of Leadership Final Paper
I took LEAD 101, Introduction to Leadership: Principles and Practices, during my sophomore year at Chapman as a requirement for my minor in Leadership. I ended up not sticking with the leadership minor because I no longer needed to take it anymore. With that said, I learned a lot about leadership and what my personal leadership style is from this course. The final term paper was on the practice of leadership and in this paper, we had to discuss our personal leadership vision, our leadership values, and our personal leadership development plan.
For my personal leadership vision, I talked about consistency when it comes to enforcing rules in my future classroom. I had a vision for myself to practice what I preach and to promote mutual respect with my students and myself. I think that this is immensely important when taking on a leadership role because in order to gain respect from the people I am leading, I have to match my actions to my words. Students need to see that their teacher respects them just as much as they are expected to respect their teacher. Students need to feel safe and respected in the classroom in order to take risks and use their voices. If the teacher who is leading the class creates an environment where students are afraid to ask questions or formulate opinions then students will inevitably have a hard time learning. In this assignment, I said that “Therefore, my personal leadership vision for myself is a leadership style that is not hypocritical nor degrading when it comes to the needs and feelings of my followers or in my case, future students”. I would like to add to this by saying that my leadership style is based around empathy and creating an inclusive and respectful environment where students or others are able to let their truth shine through.
In this assignment, I discuss the plan of action I have in terms of my leadership development. When I wrote this final essay, I was in my sophomore year and I did not have much experience in leadership roles. As the years have gone on, my leadership style has mainly stayed the same yet, I have used what I have been taught in school to enhance it. In my essay, I talked about how when in a leadership role I do not like to be told what to do unless I asked for help. Now as a 22-year-old senior, I realize that as a leader I am going to have to listen to what other people tell me. I now know that if someone is going out of their way to give me constructive criticism, there is a reason and I need to respect that. I think I have matured my leadership style and handle things more like an adult than I did when I originally wrote this paper.
The final component of this assignment was having to create a personal leadership practice model. I designed the model myself to showcase the main aspects that I value when it comes to being a leader. I said that the environment I am in influences my decision-making as well as logic, empathy, and morality. Now looking at this model, I would take out the environmental aspect as an influencer of my decision-making. Originally I discussed this because “Depending on the situation, I am going to lead differently” but now I believe that I have a solid leadership style that I can apply to any situation without having to alter it based on who I am around.