Archive for year: 2014

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What skill area and specific skills (discussed throughout chapter) are your strongest?

The chapter covers five characteristics which in my opinion are all linked to one another. However, out of the five I feel the characteristics which I feel the strongest would be that for challenge. Thinking back I feel like the situations in which I have had most success in would be in situations in which I became involved primarily as a volunteer. Mainly because I know that any and all involvement on my behalf will benefit the situation.For example, back in high school I remember volunteering at a Relay for Life event. All of the volunteers where assigned to raise as many funds possibly for the event, the funds would support Cancer research, along with other forms of support for the individuals going through it. After participating in this event my freshman year in high school, I have continued to participate since then. Why? Because I like the idea of challenging myself, and the idea that because of what I am doing I’m not only helping those that benefit from those types of events but also that others will see what I am doing as something that they could possibly do as well.

What skill area and specific skills (discussed throughout chapter) are your weakest and how can you build upon them?

One of the areas where I feel like I would have to work on would be working on the bigger picture. When it comes to creating road maps and goals to attain a certain outcome to a situation, that I can do.  However, where I fall a bit short on is taking the first step towards the creation of the initial ideas. What I mean by this is, when the scenario or outcome is provided, I can come up with the road maps and goals. I guess you would say that its the initiative to taking control of the situation and basically starting from scratch. A way in which I can work on this would be by working on voicing out my ideas, and not simply waiting till somebody else has one. Also work on looking past the initial outcome and consider the one that could result sometime down the line.

What impact do you think your leadership skills could have on your role as a leader?

Being a leader is much more than telling people where to go or where to stand, for that matter. It is guiding them and helping them achieve as a group. I feel like I would be a successful leader because I tend to look past that, ordering people can only get you so far but if you show respect and acknowledge that you all have a part in the group then that will get you a lot further.

Do you think some of the skills discussed in the chapter are more important in some situations compared to others? If so, explain.

Yes, because not every situation is going to be the same. They all require different skills, different formats, different ways in which you can approach it. In other words, every situation is unique in their own way, you need to basically think on your feet. Not every situation is going to solved the same way, although it may seem like it initially, in the long run its the small decisions that will make you lean one way over the other.

Do you think individuals in “lower” levels of leadership require the same skills as those in “upper” levels? Discuss

Not necessarily, however the knowledge of those skills can allow the group members to see eye to eye and work in uni-sense. Even though there are “two different levels” those boundaries are not set in stone, simply because roles can easily be swapped. Those considered in the “upper” levels can find themselves under the leadership of someone from the “lower” levels. Sometimes it is very dependent of the opportunities that those individuals receive. So it all depends on how you look at things.

What skill area and specific skills (discussed throughout chapter) are your strongest?

I believe that a specific skill discussed in this chapter that I would consider to be strong is implementing a vision. In my opinion, the person articulating  the vision  does not have to be the person implementing the vision. In the leadership positions that I have had, I can think of several instances in when a vision was articulated by one person and implemented by another. I truly believe in the idea that you shouldn’t ask someone to do something that you wouldn’t do. I think that because of that, I often model and exert the vision at hand for those I am working with. Also, after recently reflecting on my relationships with others, I find myself able to set expectations high for others in the way that I build a relationship with them. Because I have a strong focus for my relationships, I am able to have a good relationship with others, yet still gain the respect when needed to be an authoritative figure.

What skill area and specific skills (discussed throughout chapter) are your weakest and how can you build upon them?

Often times I find myself having trouble articulating a vision. I think that this is because articulation takes a lot of time a consideration. I do see myself as a detailed oriented person, however, to be completely honest, I can be a big procrastinator. I feel that articulating takes a good portion of time that I often do not give myself in these situations. I think that being more aware of my time would help me in multiple aspects of my life, including articulating visions.

What impact do you think your leadership skills could have on your role as a leader?

I think that my leadership skills could have both a negative and positive impact on my role as a leader. There are many instances were certain skills would not be applicable and could have a negative impact on you role. However, on a more positive note, leaders are made to adapt and work well in many environments, therefore I think that leaders, myself included, may have specific leadership skills and styles that we have and believe in, but we also know how to adapt to what is necessary. That alone is a skill within leaders.

Do you think some of the skills discussed in the chapter are more important in some situations compared to others? If so, explain.

I think that if you have a position in a more passive environment there are still opportunities to be in a leadership position but there may not be as many opportunities to create visions. I think that when an event planner would be a prime position that creating, articulating and implementing visions would be very important. Also, teachers would be another position in which they would be able to often and effectively use these ideas.

Do you think individuals in “lower” levels of leadership require the same skills as those in “upper” levels? Discuss

I think that positions differentiate between “upper” and “lower” because of the skill requirement or necessity that is need to complete their tasks. If both “upper” and “lower” positioned people all had the same skills there would be no differentiation. I believe that there are certain skills that should overlap between “upper” and “lower” positions, but not their entire skill sets.

Last weeks class started with an activity on Adversity that Julian provided for us. He gave each group a different scenario and we had to discuss how we would respond in that situation.  After that all the groups shared what we discussed and I was happy to hear that we all try to make the best of the situation we find ourselves in. Some shared that they cry but once they come to terms work hard to overcome these obstacles. Hearing the different opinions of the students showed me that we all respond differently to the hurdles in our lives and it can help us for future reference if we ever go through the same obstacles. After this we prepared for our Affirmative Action Debate. We split up into our two groups and wrote out the key points we wanted to make. I think both groups did great pointing out the facts of both the pros and cons of affirmative action. Once we came back from our break we wrote on Post-Its of the important trends from Chapter 8. There were many statistics mostly of minorities which show that they do not really graduate or get degrees. This was a very saddening statistic because when minorities see this it might not motivate them to want to continue their educational career. The final activity we did was talk about the article which was split up in different sections. We gave a summary of the topic then asked a question or two to the group that related back to the article. I enjoy this type of peer learning because I feel like I learn a lot more from peoples opinions and experiences.

In this weeks articles two of them talked about Latinas/os and Hispanics and a lot of the statistics and facts really hit home. One of the facts was; These patterns suggest either poor preparation in high school, a lack of social capital among families who strategically position their children to enter college, or attendance at a high school where college-going is not normative behavior or expected of Latino students.  This fact made me feel so sad because I for one do not think that my high school prepared me enough for college but I did not let that stop me. There was one word that really rung through when it said it wasn’t expected behavior for them to go because we should want all students to go to college no matter their race or background. I can understand that some go through hardships and going to college is sometimes not an option. I did not start off at a four year college I went to a junior college first because during my last year of high school my family and I were losing our house. We did not have the money for me to go to a four year and I was glad that I did not because I feel that junior college really helped for where I am now.

In the other article it talks about Asian Americans and the first quote really confused me. “I think my view of Asians changed…the whole model minority thinking that Asians are always more successful. I held that kind of resentment….Generally, I am much more comfortable around Asians than I used to be. I don’t view them as “others” anymore.” This quote really confused me because I did not understand why she would resent Asians since not all of them are successful. It reminded me of the article we read about White Privilege and how that man did not see all the “privileges” they spoke about. I found this article very interesting especially the part about Asian Americans and affirmative action and the lengths they went to make Asian American studies a class.