Build The Skill: Leadership

Introduction

My name is Parker Walton and I am a senior at the University of Arizona, where I am double majoring in Criminal Justice Studies and Public Management & Policy. I am involved heavily on campus through my position as Vice President of Turning Point USA's Arizona chapter, but I will be applying the modules within this course to enhance my leadership skills for the organization that I am the Arizona Chapter Vice President of. I believe that these course modules will provide me with extensive amounts of knowledge that will benefit my future career endeavors. My primary goal for Build the Skill during this course is to adequately learn and incorporate leadership skills with the people that I work with. Leadership in the workplace is a pivotal component and driver for success and efficiency, so I am confident that this program will help me develop and enhance that skill.

Emotionally Intelligent Leadership

Personal SWOT Analysis

The results of my emotional intelligence self-assessment were similar to my prior perception of the type of leader I am. I knew that my strongest categories would be in adaptability and influencing, yet I was intrigued to see that my motivation score was one of the lowest and my emotional self-control was my weakest skill and behavior. I believe that I have managed my emotions and stress pretty well in a group setting, but I discovered that characteristic is something that I need to improve upon. My adaptability score of 100% was not necessarily shocking to me because I am flexible and accepting when responding to change and when I uncertain situations are thrown my way. I learned from the previous Build the Skill program on professional communication that I am a results-oriented person so in order to be so, I have to be adaptable and accepting of change.

In a team setting I understand that I produce adequate skills in motivation and contribution, although I enjoy working by myself, so the 100% score that I received on the influencing section did not come as a surprise to me. The one skill that I want to develop is emotional self-control because I thought that category would be one of my top skills, but now that I know it is not, I think it is a crucial component of leadership when someone can manage their emotions and stress in a team setting. In order to build that skill, I must improve how I understand my feelings and discover ways to better deal with them so that I do not create issues within the group that I am working with. Emotional intelligence is important for leadership because it helps you handle interpersonal relationships empathetically and also lets you be aware of the emotions of your team members.

Consciousness of Self

I thoroughly enjoyed talking to my co-workers and mentors about what certain times or events where they saw me at my best. The microinterviews were extremely beneficial because they offered me insight into what others have seen in me during my most productive and prominent times. The tip that I found most helpful for managing stress from the reading is redefining balance. I think that this is crucial to managing stress because people, situations, and life in general are always adapting and altering over time. Understanding and making choices that back your core values and beliefs can help you feel balanced in an environment and society that is ever-changing.

In response to my microinterviews, I was surprised with the words and appraisal from my club's President. Although I agree with what he said, I never fully acknowledged and interpreted who I was as the Vice President and a member of the club in general, and how I conducted myself to others. That was very encouraging to hear because as I look back I now can see the different skills that I have developed and improved on. By knowing and fully understanding the skills that my coach and the President of the organization I am involved with told me about, I can now utilize those strengths of mine for leadership opportunities in the future. I believe that it is crucial for a leader to understand and explain their feelings and reactions because it can help them improve on things that they acknowledge a weakness in.

Consciousness of Others: Empathy

A situation where I was required to listen attentively and display empathy happened during my time as the Vice President of the organization I was a part of at the U of A, Turning Point USA. When talking about politics, which is what the organization revolves around, there are times when you meet someone with alternate opinions or feelings. It is crucial to show empathy for people with opposing views and not just lose all emotional self-control because in politics that does absolutely no good. The specific example that I will be speaking about is the time when my club members and I attended a speaking event and one of the members of my team was involved in a debate with someone who had different political views. My team member began to feel flustered from the opposing person's words and began to speak out in a semi-unprofessional manner. I dealt with this problem by pulling him aside and telling him that politics can become very heated fast, but emotional self-control is crucial to get your points across. So I told him to listen to what that person was saying and show empathy to their viewpoints because not everyone believes in the same things. In sum, I taught my clubmate to show empathy towards others and understand that they may have feelings that differ from their own. In the end, my clubmate returned to the table that we were speaking at and practiced what I had told him and the conversation flowed in not only a more respective manner, but also the two parties came together and produced very informative and successful dialogue.

The reason that this situation came to mind is because it shows how important it is to show empathy towards others because it is crucial for the success of a conversation, especially in politics. Empathy is crucial for leadership because to be a leader you must be able to understand what others are feeling and going through.

Consciousness of Context

The SWOT analysis was thought-provoking and very informative because it allowed me to look deeper into the organization that I am a part of and truly analyze its components that are both good and bad. I realized that the group that I have been a part of has many strengths, but the weaknesses and barriers that we have come across have placed a small burden on the success of my organization's chapter. Understanding the culture and the dynamics of a group/organization is an important skill of leaders because it will help influence and direct how and why the organization gets things done. The concepts given to me in the SWOT analysis can be utilized to see how the organization you are a part of is doing, the challenges they have faced, and how/what can be done to produce more success and efficiency for the program as a whole.

Final Reflection

I really enjoyed the Build The Skill Leadership program because of all the skills that I have learned and strengthened through the practice material that it provided me. All of the activities in the modules helped me improve my self-awareness and knowledge on what a true leader is and the different skills and attributes they possess. The program taught me about my strengths and weaknesses in regards to leadership, but it also taught me how I can become a better and more aware leader in the future. The microinterviews were definitely my favorite module activity because they offered me an outsider's perspective of how I have been a leader in the past and what skills that I gained from those events in my life. I am looking forward to applying the information that I have learned in the course modules to my future career endeavors.