My experience in PL
Throughout my time in the Public Leadership Scholars Program here at the University of Maryland, I have grown significantly as a leader. Coming in as a First-Year student in 2019, I was hesitant and unsure of myself. When I entered into the Public Leadership program, I did not have a full understanding of what makes someone a leader. I believed that a true leader was someone who was formally assigned to their position, and it was difficult to earn the respect and cooperation of others if you were not placed into said position. Then, in the fall of 2019, I took the course, PLCY201, in which we learned about all different types of leadership. In this course, I learned that anyone can be a leader, and leadership is not strictly a formal title. Since then, my understanding of leadership has continued to progress. In the spring of 2020, I took the course CPPL101, where we had the opportunity to issue a grant to an organization of our choice. This project helped my understanding of leadership by showing me that individual people can make a true difference in their communities. Since the beginning of my first year, my understanding of leadership has developed into the idea that anyone can be a leader, as long as they have the ability to inspire others and influence people to follow their beliefs.
Additionally, during the fall of 2019, I took a strengths assessment in order to develop a better understanding of my own individual leadership style. My top strengths were competition, woo, and positivity. In regard to competition, I learned that my leadership style is based on success in comparison to others. In regard to woo, I learned that my leadership style is based on winning over others, meaning I like the challenge of impressing others and making connections. In regard to positivity, I learned that my leadership style is influenced by enthusiasm and inspiring others to be as excited as I am about my beliefs. Another activity that I participated in during the fall of 2019 was in order to determine which of the four tendencies I exhibited the most out of obligers, rebels, upholders, and questioners. My results for this evaluation determined that I am an obliger. This showed me that I am always ready to cater to the demands of others, which shows that my leadership style is selfless, and I will always try to please others. Overall, based on these activities, I learned that my leadership style revolves around helping others and catering to their demands, while still being successful and enthusiastic. During my time in the PL program, I completed a variety of projects and papers that demonstrate my understanding of leadership. The first assignment that I chose to incorporate into this portfolio is a paper that I wrote during my PLCY201 class in the fall of 2019. This paper required us to choose a position on the controversy on whether or not concealed carry of weapons should be allowed on the University of Maryland’s campus. Writing this paper helped to develop my understanding of leadership, because it gave me an idea of how both local and federal leaders make decisions on policy. While writing this paper, I thoroughly examined both sides of the argument in order to conclude what I thought would be the best way to establish an effective policy. The second assignment that I chose to include in my portfolio is a leadership philosophy paper from the fall of 2020. This paper demonstrates how my understanding of leadership has grown over the past year because it gave me the opportunity to discuss my understanding of what makes a true leader. In this paper, I wrote about how my grandfather embodies my interpretation of a true leader due to his values and his natural abilities. The characteristics that I wrote about were those that we discussed in all of the courses I have taken for PL over the past year. The final assignment that I chose to include in my portfolio is a reflection assignment that I completed at the end of the spring 2020 semester. In this paper, I discussed the process of events that occurred prior to making the decision of which organization to award a grant to. I think this paper is an excellent representation of my understanding of leadership during the middle of my PL experience. In this paper, I reflected on how I was able to utilize the knowledge that I had gained in order to make the decision of which organization to award the grant to. One important aspect of leadership that I learned in our CPPL200 class in the fall of 2020, as well as other courses in this program, is the idea of informal versus formal leadership. As I stated previously, I used to have a skewed understanding of what made someone a leader. After participating in this program, I understand that in order to be a leader, you do not have to be formally appointed to the position, and most of the time informal leaders will emerge naturally. I find this idea useful in different aspects of my life, but primarily with situations in which group work is required. During another one of my classes this year, we were required to complete a semester long group project. I was able to determine each of the stages of group formation that we discussed in the CPPL200 course, especially as informal leaders began to emerge. Overall, my experience in the PL Scholars Program has inspired me to continue to develop my leadership skills and focus on my strengths, while incorporating the important ideas that we learned in each course. |
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