G2. Current Student Letter of Promise--Kara Adams
LO 6: Developing and demonstrating skills in leadership and collaboration
The entry contains a letter of professional promise written by my colleague in the CSCE and the SDA program, Kara Adams. I have worked closely with Kara in a number of professional situations, and she highlights in her letter several examples where we have collaborated to produce academic and professional projects. I greatly value Kara’s opinion and have very much appreciated having such a thoughtful, caring, and reflective co-worker.
This entry demonstrates my skills in leadership and collaboration through my ability to utilize political leadership skills, my awareness of social identity and its impact on professional and personal interactions, and my commitment to critical thinking.
Political leadership. Part of effective leadership comes as a result of collaboration with others in addition to a recognition of which leadership frame will prove most successful (Bolman & Gallos, 2011). Kara highlights instances where I have exercised my political leadership skills in a professional setting. Though I operate from a predominately human resources frame, I took the opportunity to develop my political frame with Kara’s support. It was uncomfortable, but in our situation, political leadership was necessary in order to achieve our goal. In collaborating with Kara and others in the CSCE, we were able to communicate our concerns in a rational and clear manner, building a coalition to advocate for our needs.
Awareness. Awareness of social identity, systemic context, and relationships with others are critical to providing a solid foundation for effective leadership and collaboration. Kara highlights in her letter my ability to bring my own self-awareness into a leadership context in order to model social justice thinking and advocacy. This is an element of my leadership that I value above all else, and I find it imperative to operate from a place of self-awareness and authenticity in all contexts. In reading about Rowe, Bennet, and Atkinson's White Racial Consciousness Model (1994), I realize that my awareness of myself as a racial being, awareness of my identity in relation to people of color, and my commitment to social change indicate my integrative racial attitudes (Evans et. al, 2010, p. 263). I realize that I still have a lot of growth to do in this area, as I sometimes feel that I am upholding oppressive systems by how I act or do not act in certain situations; because I value effective leadership and collaboration so much, I put a lot of pressure on myself to always do right by others, particularly when it comes to oppression. While I should always strive for this, I have also learned to allow myself to make mistakes, and in that grace will find peace.
Commitment to critical thinking. Effective leadership and collaboration is a result of willingness to ask hard questions in order to produce innovative results. MBA 516 coursework brought to my attention the importance of avoiding groupthink and tapping into the group process in a productive way. Once concept we explored in MBA 516 was that of the Abilene Paradox, which tells a story in which every member of a group disagrees with the group choice, but does not voice their disagreement; because no one expresses their disagreement, no one realizes that conflict is present (Okhuysen & Bechky, 2009, pp. 313-314). This example stuck with me because I have found myself in situations like this before, and I have gone along with the group at moments where it seemed easier or better to do so. This goes against my commitment to critical thinking, and through exploring the concept of groupthink, I have a greater awareness of when I am just going with the flow to appease others or to make things go smoother. I strive to demonstrate my commitment to questioning that which sometimes goes unquestioned in a way that encourages creativity, and knowing potential pitfalls will help me to continue to do so.
References
Bolman, L., & Gallos, J. (2011). Reframing academic leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., & Guido, F. (2010). Racial identity development. In Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice (2nd edition) (pp. 252-270). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Okhuysen, G. A., & Bechky, B. A. (2009). Making group process work. In E. A. Locke (ed.), Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior: Indispensable Knowledge for Evidence-Based Management (2nd ed.) (pp. 309-325). West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
The entry contains a letter of professional promise written by my colleague in the CSCE and the SDA program, Kara Adams. I have worked closely with Kara in a number of professional situations, and she highlights in her letter several examples where we have collaborated to produce academic and professional projects. I greatly value Kara’s opinion and have very much appreciated having such a thoughtful, caring, and reflective co-worker.
This entry demonstrates my skills in leadership and collaboration through my ability to utilize political leadership skills, my awareness of social identity and its impact on professional and personal interactions, and my commitment to critical thinking.
Political leadership. Part of effective leadership comes as a result of collaboration with others in addition to a recognition of which leadership frame will prove most successful (Bolman & Gallos, 2011). Kara highlights instances where I have exercised my political leadership skills in a professional setting. Though I operate from a predominately human resources frame, I took the opportunity to develop my political frame with Kara’s support. It was uncomfortable, but in our situation, political leadership was necessary in order to achieve our goal. In collaborating with Kara and others in the CSCE, we were able to communicate our concerns in a rational and clear manner, building a coalition to advocate for our needs.
Awareness. Awareness of social identity, systemic context, and relationships with others are critical to providing a solid foundation for effective leadership and collaboration. Kara highlights in her letter my ability to bring my own self-awareness into a leadership context in order to model social justice thinking and advocacy. This is an element of my leadership that I value above all else, and I find it imperative to operate from a place of self-awareness and authenticity in all contexts. In reading about Rowe, Bennet, and Atkinson's White Racial Consciousness Model (1994), I realize that my awareness of myself as a racial being, awareness of my identity in relation to people of color, and my commitment to social change indicate my integrative racial attitudes (Evans et. al, 2010, p. 263). I realize that I still have a lot of growth to do in this area, as I sometimes feel that I am upholding oppressive systems by how I act or do not act in certain situations; because I value effective leadership and collaboration so much, I put a lot of pressure on myself to always do right by others, particularly when it comes to oppression. While I should always strive for this, I have also learned to allow myself to make mistakes, and in that grace will find peace.
Commitment to critical thinking. Effective leadership and collaboration is a result of willingness to ask hard questions in order to produce innovative results. MBA 516 coursework brought to my attention the importance of avoiding groupthink and tapping into the group process in a productive way. Once concept we explored in MBA 516 was that of the Abilene Paradox, which tells a story in which every member of a group disagrees with the group choice, but does not voice their disagreement; because no one expresses their disagreement, no one realizes that conflict is present (Okhuysen & Bechky, 2009, pp. 313-314). This example stuck with me because I have found myself in situations like this before, and I have gone along with the group at moments where it seemed easier or better to do so. This goes against my commitment to critical thinking, and through exploring the concept of groupthink, I have a greater awareness of when I am just going with the flow to appease others or to make things go smoother. I strive to demonstrate my commitment to questioning that which sometimes goes unquestioned in a way that encourages creativity, and knowing potential pitfalls will help me to continue to do so.
References
Bolman, L., & Gallos, J. (2011). Reframing academic leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., & Guido, F. (2010). Racial identity development. In Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice (2nd edition) (pp. 252-270). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Okhuysen, G. A., & Bechky, B. A. (2009). Making group process work. In E. A. Locke (ed.), Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior: Indispensable Knowledge for Evidence-Based Management (2nd ed.) (pp. 309-325). West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
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