As I have worked on many projects during my university coursework, my communication style has evolved. Open and clear communication lines are my preferred communication style. In my experience leading in extracurricular organizations, I always end meetings by noting that people should reach out if they have questions or concerns and providing my contact information. Doing things like this allows for solid communication channels, which are integral to the success of a project or organization. I am currently the Communications Manager for my Capstone sub-team. In this role, I serve as the primary connection between the City of Navasota and the Capstone. I also manage emails and submit public information requests for documents/information necessary to accomplish team goals. With these responsibilities, I have developed the ability to write more clearly and consistently, which will help me as I enter into future leadership positions.

Given the political nature of government service, conflicts will occur often and leaders need to be equipped to resolve them quickly and effectively. I served as the Community Outreach Officer of the Liberal Arts Student Council (LASC) in my undergraduate time at Texas A&M. One of the projects my co-officer and I completed was forming a 'commitment to dispute resolution' lesson and mission statement for LASC. In this, we taught the organization about the importance of resolving team differences. Being able to learn and teach about the importance of conflict resolution opened my eyes to the burdens it has on many teams dynamics. Hearing people out and finding common ground is essential to settling disputes. Leaders should be proactive in establishing preventative measures to avoid long-term conflicts.

Leaders need to be able to adequately provide direction and clarification to their followers. Whether someone is leading a small or large group, public speaking is something that leaders need to be comfortable with. This is personally one of my biggest struggles. Growing up, I was extremely timid and never wanted to speak with more than a few people at a time, much less in front of a crowd. In high school and college, I was continually given more opportunities to speak to increasingly large crowds. By persevering and developing confidence in my speaking ability, I can now speak to moderately sized crowds. However, it is a continual struggle I am seeking to improve upon. I see myself being able to speak to large crowds in the future, as I proactively seek out opportunities to step out of my comfort zone and grow in my public speaking abilities.

Being the optimist and motivator on the team has always come naturally to me. I think these are some of the most crucial elements of leadership, as no one wants to work under someone who is not passionate and motivated to lead. In my leadership involvement with Boy Scouts, I planned and directed weekly meetings for our troop of thirty people. It was definitely a tough job to keep myself, my leadership, and the rest of the troop motivated to attend and participate. I started every planning meeting by motivating myself and my team and remaining optimistic that new meeting ideas or activities would turn out well. As with everything, some ideas were successful and others failed. Despite this, the true mark of leadership was demonstrated in my continual striving to do my best and remain focused on developing other young leaders.

I have a variety of experiences in leadership and have found a few specific qualities to be most important for innovative leaders. These include the attributes of having good communication skills, seeking out mediation in conflict resolution, having some level of experience in public speaking, and being a motivating and optimistic leader. I have continually improved in each of these areas over time. As a future public servant, I aspire to continually learn and grow in each of these areas.