Leadership and Learning : Heart to heart

Being a freshmen in a leadership class has proven to be a little challenging because even though I am involved with multiple organizations on campus I am not in a "leadership" position. I am involved in a lot of mentor-mentee relationships and I took this class more as of a preparing to be good leader in the future. So when trying to find someone to ask for their opinion on my leadership style, the only person I could really think of ,that I have worked with and value her judgement, is my RA. I have a very close relationship with my RA and she knows how I work in a group environment, and in a leadership position because through her I got involved in Relay For Life as the team captain for our dorm team.

We sat down and had a nice one on one conversation about the class and then she proceeded to tell me what she thought my strengths and weaknesses were. She did bring up a good disclaimer, saying that she hasn't really known me very long, and I considered it while taking in the input she gave me.

The constructive criticism she gave was nothing really foreign to me, because I have heard it before from other mentors in my life. But it was a little disappointing because I thought that since arriving at OSU I had changed that part of my personality. This struck a realization in me about how I act differently in different environments in my life. In the dorm I could act one way, whereas with my friends, or in clubs I could act another way, and this brought to light a weakness in consistency which I need to work on.

The complements on my leadership style were taken kindly and with much of a rewarding feeling. That's the feeling you get when you know people notice your hard work. I'm glad someone notices my vision driven personality and my genuine desire to help people, because I live of those characteristics.

Where do I proceed from here? Forward! All one can do with the good and the bad is see how they can use it to improve themselves and their life style.