Tag Archives: Feedback

Sophomore Year Recap

If someone would have told me that we would be living with the current circumstances, I never would have believe them. Although these circumstances are not ideal, I believe the outcome can still be extremely powerful. How we all choose the react and handle what is going on is completely up to us. With that being said, I understand that everyone’s situation and experience regarding COVID-19 is different, therefore, there is not a specific way that an individual or group of people can go about this situation. Clearly, we all come from different backgrounds which means that everything going on right now impact everyone differently. The hard reality is that for some, this has been much easier to cope and handle, (being able to work remotely, continuing to be paid, having a SAFE place to live and “quarantine,” etc.), while for others, it has resulted in much harder and more severe cases (unemployment, inability to receive unemployment, mental health illness increase, diagnosis with nowhere safe to quarantine from others, death of a love one, etc.). It is very simplistic to say that we can all make light of this situation and it can be handled by taking very simple precautions. However, we do not live in a simplistic world. These matters are very complex and require folks to understand that their way of life is different from many, many others. This is what sophomore year has been teaching me.

Before coming into sophomore year, I was very ignorant to a lot of the topics that we have discussed in courses like PHL 118, COM 461, HST 221, CGL 145, and CGL 445. These courses have educated me on very important issues in our world, how to discuss them with others, and most importantly, how to take action in battling these issues (solidarity). I have never felt so educated, yet uneducated in my life. I’m learning so much and it makes me realize how much I do not know, and I love it. I can honestly say that I have never felt so passionate about education in my life after working with instructors like dr. jared halter, Dr. Elizabeth Carlson, Andy Blom, Shannon Jolliff, and others. These gritty dialogues, discussions, and sessions have turned into a burning passion of mine. I have fallen in love with not only fighting against the forms of oppression that I possess but also for other target/marginalized groups. The fight for others, in my opinion, is so empowering and humbling at the same time. But it’s not about me, it’s about them. I’ve grown such a passion for this work that I applied and been accepted to be a facilitator for CGL 145 and could not be more excited.

Coming into this year I was excited to be mentoring two fine young men!;) One of which I knew well from competing in track and field with since we were in the same conference and then also being able to come in a mentor someone completely knew that I had never met before! After working for a mentorship program over the summer and being absolutely humbled by the experience, I was very excited to continue in the role for others. My mentees are two awesome guys that I’ve loved getting to know and that I am very grateful for. Jackson and Luke have made my sophomore year very special and I am very excited to see how to these two grow over time and through their experiences at CMU!

This year I also experience a lot of changes on the track that have started to shape more of who I am. At the end of last year, I lost my event coach and it was very hard for our group to adjust to going into championship season. This year, having a new coach was a blessing. My coach is perfect for our group as a whole and myself individually. I am very grateful to him and our program for bringing in who I believe is one of the best coaches in the country. It has been amazing to have a coach who I can talk to about real things that don’t only consist of track but real life issues. (I’m just going to end it there on him because I could talk about my experiences with him for days).

This year I have faced many struggles of my own this year regarding mental health issues. I’m very grateful to my coach, RHD, and Tracy Castellon for assisting me through this time and getting me set up with the resources that I have. Through this, we decided the best course was to take on counseling and having me get set up with a service dog. So I now have a 4 month old service dog in-training that my sister, who trains military dogs (her foundation is 1 of 9 of the US Military’s vendors for dogs), police dogs, service dogs, therapy dogs, and normal house dogs, and I are working on training his together.

I am very grateful for what sophomore year has taught me and I am ready to take on the future.:))

Adaptation

Leave a reply

Adaptive leadership is something that leaders use to motivate their followers. This model of leadership focuses on helping and motivating others to complete what they need to do versus doing it for them. Adaptive leadership is based off how people change and adjust their actions to new situations that arise. These types of leaders have specific behaviors that they possess and are able to apply to their everyday lives. The first behavior is they navigate a perspective and see the bigger picture of the situation (getting on the balcony). They can see that there is a greater purpose to what is happening. The second behavior is identifying adaptive challenges. This means that these leaders identify, analyze and diagnose each situation and emphasize on adaptivity. Regulating distress is the third behavior that these leaders portray. They provide methods to keep consistency by providing direction, protection, orientation, etc. Maintaining disciplined attention is the fourth behavior. This motivates people to focus on the tough work and how to positively confront change. The fifth is for the leaders to give the work back to the people. The leaders must be aware of how they impact the people they are working with and know when they should step back and let the followers to discover their own potential and how to handle situations. The final behavior is protecting leadership voices from below. These leaders must carefully listen to everyone. Overall, it is very important for these leaders to identify, analyze, motivate others to adjust, step back and listen.

Lunch Buddies is an organization that needs leaders who are adaptive and can apply this model to it. This organization is a mentoring program that Central Michigan University uses to provide elementary students with a mentor who helps motivate them with school, nutritional choices, physical activity and as a role model.

This program is wonderful is doing great things for the elementary students of the Central Michigan community. As far as problems go, I am not able to identify one. The way that I would apply this model to this program is by educating the mentors of this organization. This model can be used and applied to anyone, hence why it is known as adaptive. Mentors should be educated how to motivate young students and teaching them how to be adaptive. They need to be aware of this because the students they are working with at one point or another will be in a situation where they will need someone to motivate them, guide them and educate them in a way where the student can better handle the situation on their own.

Mentors should be required to undergo a day long training session (similar to those of other leadership trainings like Spark, Rise or Purpose.) Here they will be educated on how to apply this model of leadership. They will learn the six behaviors of an adaptive leader, the strengths and weaknesses and an overview of why this is the necessary approach they are using. The reason this approach is best is because it allows the mentors to have a relationship with their followers (students), to motivate them but also provide them with guidance to handle situations on their own because the mentor will not be there to provide for them in situations that occur outside of their meeting times. This is the one and only step that I would change about the Lunch Buddies process.

Adaptive leadership is a very valuable model to use. It allows a relation between the leader and the follower to develop, education for both the leader and follower takes place, the leader is able to provide direction but ultimately the follower is given the opportunity to decide what to do.

Identify

Leave a reply

There are many ways in which people identify themselves. People identify by race, gender, economic class, age, culture, religion, personality, etc. It is very possible for people to identify with multiple identities. There are identities that people can choose to identify by; however, other identities people are born with. Some of these identities give people power over others and some give others power over them. The identities people claim by help write their story and impact them on a day to day basis whether they realize it or not. I see myself identifying as a Christian, black and white, culturally diverse, open-minded, extraverted, outgoing, focused, young male.

These characteristics have not only enhanced my way of life but also have impacted the way I lead. Some of them have given me privilege, while others have done the exact opposite. Ultimately, my identities have gaged me towards leading people to positive social changes. In the article, “Five Ways Leaders Can Reclaim their Identity,” by Glenn Llopis, the idea of leaders rounding their identity (or identities) around this spectrum of responsibilities and roles in leadership to help craft humanity and community is portrayed. These five areas help to open and grow leadership qualities through one’s identity and it will help to engage others and cater to their needs as well. This spectrum is universal which is great because people claim different identities and have different styles of leadership, making this all unique to our differences.

Many people today struggle with the desire and ability to be unique; however, this is what makes us special and different. It emphasizes the importance of our differences in identities which enhances our differences in leadership styles. Too often, people view leadership on one platform and that is an attractive white male with an extraverted, outgoing personality. Although I am not an attractive white male, I am still male with an extraverted, outgoing personality and this gives me privilege over other leaders. However, since I do not receive the privilege of being a good-looking white male, this diminishes people’s desire to listen to me. Due to the fact of my physical appearance, people are less likely to be open to approach me, listen to me, and trust me. Once people get over their ignorance, this is when the privilege I possess comes into play. After they see that there is nothing wrong with me due to the physical appearance, they are able to easily identify with me because of the characteristics of my personality. From the article referred to earlier, the first way a leader reclaims their identity is by defining their own style of leadership. To utilize the strengths of my personality and identities, I am a leader who builds other people up and creates a space of comfort for them. A leader’s style of leadership stems from their identities. The second way is for a leader to learn how to tell their story. This is important because it makes their style of leadership unique to others. This is another way of connecting to people. Through vulnerability, people feel comforted because leadership is a very personal thing and about serving others. Through one’s story, others are able to feel motivated and empowered. Leaders must allow others to connect to them through their story, which will express their identities and how that has impacted them.

Identity in leadership goes farther than one’s physical characteristics but how willing a person is to build others up, listen to them, and make them know that they are valued. For myself, I make it a point to engage with everyone who is willing to accept me for all my identities and empower them to be the best that they can be. Exactly that is what identify in, making others feel empowered, especially those who are too weak to stick up for themselves. It is important for leaders to surround themselves with people who are different from them. This will teach them to never stop growing and learning, which is the third point of the article. If leaders don’t surround themselves with others who are different than them and do show up with an open-mind, they will merely be the same person for their lifetime. Leaders have to identify in others, how they can help them and how others can help them. This develops a relationship with those who leaders are trying to lead. This relationship is very important because outsiders are able to see how a leader treats those who follow them. This ties into the fourth point of leaders needing to discover their executive presence. Leaders know they are successfully doing their job when their followers comfortably identify and trust them.

Leadership is to ultimately serve others by empowering and creating comfortable settings for them. This is why leaders must possess identities that shape them to do this effectively and efficiently, which looks different for each leader because everyones journey and deeper purpose for leadership is different. Which is the fifth and final point, for leaders to identify the bigger picture, to see how their journey can help others and to fulfill their purposes within the leadership realm.

Works Cited

Llopis, Glenn. “5 Ways Leaders Can Reclaim Their Identity.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 22 Apr.

2013, www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2013/04/22/5-ways-leaders-can-reclaim-their-identity/#3471f3d9a7bb.

Leadership is Learned

Leave a reply

Over time many questions have been acknowledged based on how an individual is deemed as a leader. Are these qualities be taught or are they inherited? There has been a lot of research done that would argue both sides. However, through research, it is evident that leadership isn’t something that is necessarily taught but something that is learned.

In Chairman Professor James PS’s article, “Leadership: Are People Born With the Skill or Can it be Acquired,” he draws out three main points of fundamental roles of leadership: “direction setting, creating alignment, and creating engagement with people.” These are three points that will be used to help conduct a strong argument throughout the following part of the essay. PS also recognizes the article, “Born to Lead: A twin design and genetic association study of leadership,” which refers to a gene that is responsible for 24% of a person’s leadership qualities. Thus meaning that there is still 76% of a person’s leadership quality that comes from non-inherited ability. The other points that will be discussed come from the article “Can Leadership Be Taught,” by Gregory LeStage and his concept of leadership being learned from the following: on-the-job experience, informal learning, and formal learning.

Direction setting is the ability to properly form a vision. This vision is developed through strict core values, a central purpose, a specific goal in store, and a thorough description. Before this takes place, however, the person must have figured out their own morals and core values. These values must be approved by accredited and well-trusted mentors of the person before they are applied. Without using valid sources/mentors, people are left wandering and being misled. Creating alignment is constructed through one’s ability to maintain performance management and change management. This is one’s ability to maintain high levels of performance during times of change, whether it’s environmental changes, leadership changes, social changes, economical changes, etc. This is critical in terms of leadership because these are things that change many different times throughout a short span of time and to be able to keep a high level of performance and not transform to low levels is key. Being able to create engagement with people is another key component to leadership. This involves being able to motivate others, support people in times of hardship, conduct collaboration, and promote diversity. This aspect of leadership is necessary to have because leaders are the people who are there for others, to mentor to them, and lift them up. Although these are things leaders do, they are all things that are learned and developed, and when a person learns these traits, there is always still room for growth. That is why it is claimed that leadership is learned more than it is taught because even when a person believes they have mastered these fundamental roles of leadership, there is still more to be developed, always.

To build off the idea of leadership being learned over it being taught, the three phases of learning leadership are applied: on-the-job experience, informal learning, and formal learning. LeStage makes the breakdown of on-the-job experiences being 70% of the learning in leadership, informal learning being 20% of it, and formal learning being 10%. On-the-job experience (70%) comes from doing real work, in a real-world situation, during real time. There is no better way to learn how to do something than doing it and getting feedback and criticism within the situation. Doing things in real-world situations allows people to become truly motivated and engage a heartfelt connection to it. Opportunities like this have people very engaged and they learn so much easier and faster by being put into roles of leadership versus sitting in a classroom and reading about it from a book. Leadership has many different definitions but is commonly seen as an engagement of people and without allowing people to engage in real-world situations with real people, they will never learn how to truly interact when it comes to working with these types of conditions. Informal learning (20%) is an important factor of learning leadership. This goes with learning along the way, on-the-job, and just being pulled aside before, during, or after an event by a peer or mentor and being given simple advice. Learning on the go is quick and simple and is very useful and helps motivate leaders. The final 10% comes from formal learning. This is perceived to be more in the classroom setting, face-to-face type learning. This time is spent as time to truly focus, interact with other aspiring leaders, and reflect. This aspect is much like this course, when calculated out to the number of hours a person is awake in a day and the number of hours the LAS students spend in a setting like this is about 3% of our time. Although it is the lowest amount of time people spend on of the three phases, it is still very important. It is crucial to spend time, as a leader, in a serious and focused environment discussing and challenging yourself as well as others.

Everything I have discussed up to this point concludes that leadership is something that is learned and continuously developed. There is no limit on a person’s ability to grow as a leader and nor is there is a certain type of person that is deemed as a leader from birth. A person who is willing to find strong core values, maintain them, abide by them, build others up through them and use the three phases of learning them, is able to be a leader, whether that is leading one person or a large group of people.

Works Cited

International, Kotter. “Can Leadership Be Taught?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 3 Nov. 2014,

www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2014/11/03/can-leadership-be-taught/#7b445756602d.

PS, James. “Leadership: Are People Born With the Skill or Can It Be Acquired?” Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur, 7 Dec. 2017, http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/305823.

RSO Involvement

Leave a reply

RSOs have a way of becoming some peoples’ lives. Although, my RSO is a little different, it still has taught me a lot and I look forward to what it will teach me in the future as well. Competing in a varsity sport at the Division 1 level is so much more intense than I could have ever thought. Between practicing for up to 20 hours a week, being enrolled in 15-18 credits, working a job, trying to have a social life, traveling half way across the country week after week and fulfilling any other outside commitments is more than a hassle. Our program and Central Michigan University is a combined men’s and women’s program with 4 assistant male coaches and a female head coach. The program has seen coaches that are national champions and Olympians, as well as producing a great number of All-Americans.

This RSO is teaching me a lot on how to deal with failure, frustration, disappointment and patience. This year was not anything that I had ever expected to be. It was much worse. So many things had just gone in the opposite direction that I wanted them to go. First of all, I didn’t set a personal best in a single event this year. Talk about frustration. Working my butt off all summer, doing everything my coach provided me with and more to see no positive outcomes from any of it is more than frustrating and disappointing. Putting my heart into everything I did, warm up, practice, weights, recovery, nutrition, academics.. Doing everything right and seeing no positive outcomes on the track is very upsetting.

Honestly, I cannot tell you a “Now What” from all of this. There is so much that has happened that has left me with so much disappointment for myself. The things I do know is that I will not give up. This may sound very cliche but this summer I will continue to work harder than I ever have, push myself somewhere where I have never been before and stay focused. I cannot and will not go through another year of failure, frustration and disappointment the way I have this year. I also know that this summer I will be seeking professional assistance to help me get break through these hard times that I am going through not only on the track but socially. This RSO is still teaching me so much about myself and that is why I will be seeking professional help this summer to help me discover what the reason behind all of this is and help me overcome some underlying magic as well. I have struggled a lot socially this last month, I have realized that and I am seeking help to overcome all of this. So hopefully in the future I have a story about how I overcame a very disappointing and upsetting time in my life so I can be there for other people who are going through something similar as I did so I can get them help as well.

LEAD Team: Comp. Day

Leave a reply

Being a part of one of the most important LEAD teams is very exciting. Knowing that you get to directly help play a role in the day where future LAS members participate and show off their personalities and differences to staff and other students is a good feeling. I was very excited to help and serve on this team to help bring in a great new cohort into the LAS family.

However, this team was not what I thought it would be. I didn’t serve much of a role in any of this. The team had one meeting in November and that was all. We were completely left in the dark on many different things which was a huge bummer. Many people were confused and upset when help was not being seeked. No insight was given on why there was no communication either. I love being able to serve people directly, however, this team did not make me feel as if I was helping anyone. I know in some roles it is important to sit back and lay low but that is hard for me to do, especially when that isn’t communicated through the leaders. Throughout all of this, perhaps communication would have been the most important thing but there was none. Seeing how stressed out our leaders were running around with tasks.. some of this could’ve been alleviated through team members. I don’t know what the disconnect was here, but there definitely was one.

I’m sorry for the negativity but this is a reflection and I believe honesty is necessary here. The takeaways I have from this group are to always communicate thoroughly. That is such an important thing. People have no idea where they stand or what is need of them when they are left in the dark due to no communication. Communication is simple but is very often overlooked and forgotten about. This is something I will be a lot more cautious about in the future, knowing that I need to communicate better with people.

LDR 200L Reflection

Leave a reply

This course had me very confused for about a month. I didn’t understand the flow for so long. Class began slowly syllabus week, as did every other class, then we got in to content but then class was cancelled multiple times during the horrible winter “bliss” we were so blessed to see, the syllabus was changed about six times.. I had nothing to feel other than confusion. However, this class was a turning point for me in the Leadership Institute. I began to feel more at home with my cohort, with the staff and in the LI in general. I began to feel a sense of belonging. The turning point was the day when Shamir spoke up in class and brought up a very hard topic to be discussed. The topic of minorities across the board being underrepresented in the Leadership Institute as well as on our campus. I am very proud of her for standing so boldly for what she believes in.

This for me was a call to action. Talking about it was no longer enough. Everyone is aware of the lack of diversity at Central Michigan University. This is no surprise since the school was founded as a “safe-white-school” where white students could attend and not feel threatened. After class I began talking with Nolan and Shamir. Slowly more and more people became interested once they saw us talking after class. For the love of the university, we want to see change, we want to see education, we want to see cultural inclusion. Our group is very grateful for everything that the LI has done since this day to encourage us by bringing in speakers and advisors to help us and guide us down this path of education and recruitment. We all have things to learn about each others culture and to do this, we have to find people who are different from us and let them educate us. We must reach out to others and ask for their support through our ignorance. Ignorance is not always our fault; yet, we must still take responsibility and be vulnerable and go seek education on different cultures.

This group of students that has formed, plans to use models, approaches and guidance we have learned from this course to go out their, educate others and help give everyone and equal platform to get to be students on Central’s campus. This is an opportunity that everyone is given but not everyone is able to capitalize on due to lack of resources. Whether that is technology, counselors, family support, or whatever the case may be, our group wants to help people overcome these obstacles as much as a group of hungry students can. Another way of helping the environment of CMU’s campus is by educating people as much as possible on a day to day basis. Although challenging, it must be done, however, in a professional manner. It is key not to force information down someone else’s throat as well was putting someone else in too much of an uncomfortable setting. This group, through education and support of this course, plans to do great things to enhance the lives and culture at Central Michigan University.

LDR 100 Reflection

Leave a reply

Push. If I were to use one word to describe Leadership 100, it would be push. This class for me was a struggle. It required me to have to push through things that perhaps only few others did as well. These reasons that I had to push were normal reasons for someone, especially in their freshman year, to go through. The reasons why I had to push in this class were simple but still valid. The first was because I lived all the way across campus, so physically, somedays, I literally had to push myself out of bed or out of the door or out of practice to walk to Powers from East Campus. Simple but a true immature, freshman struggle. The second reason was time. I felt like I never had time to go to this class because of the time commitment to get in mandatory study hours through athletics, practice times, as well as studying for the 16 other credits that I was in. The third and final reason also had to do with me living away from the cohort. I felt a disconnect from the group. Everyone was beginning to get closer as I was only spending an hour with them each week.

The pushing I had to do in this class was very hard and a struggle at first. I didn’t understand why I was put in this place of struggle (although I never do during it), but I knew I had to be patient in it. Although it was very upsetting and frustrating, I’m happy for everything I was going through at the time. For reason one: This struggle helped me with pushing to go to all of my classes, whether I enjoyed them or not, because it’s why I’m here: to go to class and get educated. For the second reason: This exhausting schedule helped to prepare me for future busy schedules. It taught me how to communicate with professors, advisors and coaches when I’m feeling flustered and need a break somewhere. Finally, for the third reason: Although I didn’t get to live with the cohort and missed out on loads of fun and memories, after time, more and more people saw the disconnect and more and more people invited me into their groups.

This time forced me to reach out to other people and seek help. It pushed me outside of my comfort zone. I’ve never had a problem communicating with people (obviously since one of my strengths is woo) but I have always had a problem with asking for help and telling people that I am struggling. This course, although not through direct content, taught me a lot about myself. This class was not challenging and did not require a lot of intelligence but it was more educating on getting to know yourself and the cohort. I learned about my strengths and have been educated on how to use them in day to day interactions to enhance leadership, relationships with people, as well as serving people. Learning all these different things about myself, I plan to use them all to build up others as well as myself wherever need be.

Connections Conference

Leave a reply

Connections was an experience far different than I had expected. I truthfully had many mixed emotions about going. It was a very difficult time in the semester where I was losing motivation, we had just recently switched to a new/harder training cycle on the track, and I felt distant from my people in LAS. This event took place at the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City. The only thing that made me at ease going into this excursion was that one of my fifth year teammates (Shane Moffo) had committed to going as well.

When I had arrived to Powers to get on the bus, my perspective had already completely changed. Addam Claes and Mike Torres were so welcoming of me and it was very fun. Unfortunately after we got off the bus we found out we weren’t rooming together, but very fortunately I found out that I was rooming with Nolan! Nolan is a person that makes everyone feel welcomed into the group. Before I knew it, things were back to normal and I was comfortable with my LAS people. I was very excited to spend time with them at meals and during free-time at the water park, and late night. This experience was like no other when I say I was able to meet so many new people and make so many new connections. Everything we did, I felt like I was able to get closer to more and more people, which I am very thankful for. T.O. and I having previously knowing each other because we’re both from Muskegon also made me feel very comfortable, was very inviting, and helped me to meet many new people.

My favorite part of the conference was listening to the different speakers. They open your eyes to many new things that you might never have thought of on your own. For example, in Steely’s message about Disney characters that show leadership qualities, those are things as a kid you never think of but when someone shows you you connect yourself to them more and want to lead in ways like them. An example of this is Mulan. Mulan was a movie I enjoyed a lot growing up but I never knew why. After the session with Steely, I understood it was because Mulan and I both are very similar. Stubborn, optimistic, and willing to do whatever it takes to stand up for what is right. This session helped me remind myself of some of my core values. Faith: Mulan trusted her ancestors with a confidence that I have for my God. Vulnerability: She put herself out there even when people were against her. Lastly, grit: she was determined to do what was right no matter if the people were with her or against her. This was just a reminder to myself of how I am to be leading those around me and how to stay composed in times of difficulty. This experience really helped me finish my semester in a very strong way that I might not have been able to do without it.

Spark Leadership

Leave a reply

Spark was an event that I was very excited to participate in because AJ had not yet done it and I knew a lot of other people that were participating and I knew a lot of the people who facilitated the event. When we arrived the first of the three Wednesday nights, we were assigned a booklet with a number on it with a group number on it. At first I didn’t know anyone on my team but that was quick to change. I was the only guy that was on my team and the girls were very upset to find out that I was a cat person and very anti-dog when we did the five finger game. (I was voted off the island almost instantly.) My outgoing personality helped me to make quick connections to people within my group and others around us.

I was very comfortable in the space since the first two sessions were conducted in a familiar room, the Power’s Ballroom. My favorite activity that we did throughout Spark was on the first night when we figured out what color our personalities were. It was very exciting because we got to connect with other people that were the same color as us. (I was an orange.) Our group had a very hard time getting things done at first because we all wanted to talk and meet new people, hence the true orange coming out of us. Ellen, a junior in LAS, was my group facilitator and we had a very great time messing with and getting to know each other. She was not surprised to see that I was an orange because of how crazy of a person I am. Although I don’t like dogs, I had a good time on the last night, in the Rotunda, making dog toys for dogs within the humane society because I like to make people and knowing that I put a smile maybe not on a human’s face but somethings face, made me happy.

This event made me feel very inspired to make an impact here on campus after we listened to the panel speak on the last night. The panel was comprised of wonderful people here on campus that are involved and play big roles here on campus and have the ability to change people’s lives, which they do. This inspired me to do the same. How exactly, I am not yet sure, but I know it starts with being myself and making others feel welcomed, included, and loved the way those leaders on the panel do.