My

Personal
Developm
ent
Plan
Joyanet Prado
Aged 260

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 I. Leadership For What?

The presence of leadership in our society, our community, and within our

individual lives is one that we all must pay close attention to. The people in leadership

positions in our lives have a tremendous responsibility. They have the power to impact

another’s life, to become role models and mentors, and to influence others to achieve a

common goal. To me, this experience is not only valuable, but is extremely rewarding.

Leadership is a beneficial learning process and a worthwhile practice.

As a result of the value of leadership, it has become very important in my life.

Throughout my life, I have and will experience many different points where I can be a

leader or I can be a follower. In such a case, I will either be learning to lead or leading.

As I grow to be a mature adult, I will meet amazing people who will influence my life,

and then of course, it will be my turn to have that impact on others. This, in fact, is an

experience that makes me complete. I am very passionate about leadership in this way. I

feel that my individual contribution to an organization will be determined by how much I

understand the qualities of being a leader. The more I know about my subordinates, the

better our relationship will be and the more successful we will all become in achieving

our goals.

As I become involved in student organizations and eventually join the workplace,

leadership will be present in all manners and forms. With the appropriate characteristics

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and skills, I too, will be a leader in different contexts. This is relevant to my life and

future goals because the experiences will define the person I will become and the success

I will realize. The more effective leader I become, the more rewarding the experience will

be for me and I will be more confident in my endeavors. I will have more confidence in

setting the bar high, for attaining the highest of my goals and dreams.

II. Core Values

One of most important part aspects of my individuality and the way I present

myself to my subordinates will indeed be my core values. The extent to which I lead a

certain manner and many of my actions will be influenced by these values. Among the

many values I can have, three core values which I have chosen include: social

awareness, personal development, and achievement. These three values illustrate three

aspects of my life which I feel is important. In no particular order, these values are

important to me in the way that they impact the way that I lead and live my life. The

values which I hold dear to me come from the influence of my family, my upbringing and

the experiences I have encountered throughout my life.

Social Awareness is a core value to me because it shows the importance I place

on the relationships I have with others whom I am surrounded by. Social awareness is the

extent to which one is sensitive to the thoughts of others, the extent to which they

understand it, and the way they lead accordingly. This is a core value to me because I

need to be aware of those around me in order to lead them well. I need to be able to

understand this in order to strengthen my relationships with my subordinates and others

and in order to lead effectively. The process of becoming socially aware is one that

ultimately benefits anyone because they are less egocentric, much wiser, and dependable.

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Other values which support this core value include family happiness, professionalism,

and friendship. The more social aware I am, the better effort I can make to show my

families that they are important to me. I can also demonstrate the qualities of

professionalism better as I understand how to be a stronger team player. I can also

strengthen my friendships when I can understand of the values and preferences of those

with whom I associate.

Personal development is another core value that I hold dear. Personal

development is very important to me because I always look for ways in which I can

improve as a person and as a leader. It allowed me to learn how to be better, feel better,

and do better. The value I place on personal development can de seen by the way I treat

obstacles that may come about. I like to think that we better ourselves by making the

right or the wrong decisions in our lives. Aside from having a value which corresponds to

an awareness of those around me (social awareness), this value correspond to me, and

the importance of my individual development. The supporting values corresponding to

this core value include health, independence, and a successful career. Health is an

important supporting value because it corresponds to the care I put into my mental,

emotional, and physical care. It is important because the emphasis I put on my health

illustrates the fact that I value my life, and do not take my well being for granted. In

order to be a better leader, it is important for me to consider health in my personal

development so that I do not lose sight of my strengths. Another supporting value related

to personal development is independence. I feel that independence is important because

it reveals the confidence I have in myself. This relates to personal development in the way

that without learning how to function on my own successfully, I have not fully developed

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personally. I have included a successful career as a supporting value to personal

development because the extent to which I have reached the climax of my personal

development will reflect my career and everything I put my heart and mind to in the

future.

As a leader with such values associated with my personal development, I am more

confident in myself and can therefore elicit that same confidence in others and help them

realize the aspects of themselves they need to take care of and not lose sight of.

Last but not least, another core value I have chosen is achievement. The reason I

chose this as a core value is because it is a driving force behind everything I put my hard

work into. This is the intrinsic reward I receive from personal experiences. This is very

important to me because it allows me to learn and grow. The growth and learning

process contributes to the way I lead and therefore, is important to me as a leader. As

supporting values, creativity, responsibility, and inner harmony all reveal a sense of

achievement important for the way I choose to lead and live my life. The reason creativity

is associated with the core value of achievement is because it reflects the problem solving

abilities one can improve by focusing on different alternatives. This is important as a

leader becomes confronted with issues or obstacles towards a goal they are trying to

achieve. Responsibility is associated with achievement as it brings out a sense of duty

which can therefore, allow the process of me contributing to a goal to be much easier

because once I know how to make use of responsibility among other things, I learn that

the sky is the limit. Inner harmony is an important supporting value of achievement

because it refers to a personal level of achievement, one of tranquility and peace with

myself. I feel that this is important to achievement as it expresses a need to take on tasks

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without it conflicting with my inner self. In that way, my achievements make me feel

better about myself. Such values impact the way I lead in the way that I deal with

conflicts or obstacles in situation. By trying to establish achievement and further working

for achievement, I use what I already learned to learn even more- the key to wise and

great leaders.

III. Trait Approach

The two assessments in which I found information relevant to this approach

included the Leadership Trait Questionnaire and the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. The

scores on the Leadership Style Questionnaire are supposed to provide information about

how I see myself and how others see me as a leader. The scores on my Leadership Trait

Questionnaire indicated that my observers indicated lower scores for the intelligence

trait. This is composed of two leadership trait- articulate and perceptive. While looking

at the observers’ instruments, I noted that I was rated a little lower on agreement with the

perceptive trait. There was also a significant difference between my scores and the

observers’ scores for the self confidence trait. While for the intelligence trait I had rated

the degree of agreement of myself higher than the observers, the observers’ rated me

higher on the self confidence traits which consisted of self confidence and self assurance.

This reveals that I show more self confidence than I feel I have. My observers’ responses

and my own did not differ very much for the determination trait. The difference did,

however, come from my observer rating me a little higher on the trait of determination.

This same phenomenon occurred for the integrity trait, with the traits of trustworthy and

dependable being associated with it. The difference was found in only one of my

observers agreeing to a lower degree that I was trustworthy. I found this very surprising

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and confusing but it was the score of only one observer so I am not sure how accurate it

is. This could, of course, depend on the relationship I have with the observer who agreed

to a lower degree. The total for my sociability trait did not differ at all from what I had

agreed to in this questionnaire. This seems to express that the traits associated with

sociability- friendly and outgoing- are both traits my observers and I feel that this

adjective describes me.

The Keirsey Temperament Sorter assessment revealed that my type is ENFJ

(Extraverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Judging). For the strength of the preferences, I

distinctively express extravert (67%), I moderately express an intuitive personality

(25%), a moderately express feeling personality (50%) and moderately express judging

personality (56%). The results of this assessment are pretty accurate. According to this

assessment, ENFJs are referred to as “teachers” and idealists and tend to be very

reliable. They tend to pick up on the vibes in a given situation and act accordingly. They

seek to have harmony in the relationships between group members. They also tend to

have a number of acquaintances. I feel that the extraversion aspect does describe me, as

I do love to be in situations where I can meet people and establish many relationships.

For the intuitive personality part of my personality, I do agree that I am somewhat

intuitive in my decisions. If something does not seem right intuitively I tend to try and

stick with what feels like it will yield the better outcome. The feeling aspect of this type is

very accurate as well. I do incorporate my feelings into everything I do but it does not

totally govern my feelings, even though it does influence it a lot. I also agree with the

judging aspect of this because I do assess the situations I am in and determine whether I

should do something or not bases on that analysis.

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 So under what kind of circumstances do these preferences come into play and

how does being a teacher play into my leadership? First off, extraversion is integral in

reaching out to others- at this point in my academic life, this applies to registered student

organizations. When I went to an RSO retreat and met people of other organizations, I

served as a representative of the Puerto Rican Student Association (PRSA) and such

traits were very beneficial. As our organization strives to create successful programs,

extraversion is a key element to the outreach and my involvement in the rso can easily

include this element. As a judger, I can continue to interpret situations I encounter as a

leader. Through intuition and thinking, the relationship with my subordinates can

continue to develop and I can make appropriate decisions based on what feels right. By

utilizing such traits I can further develop skills useful in leadership situations and

understand my growth as an individual and a leader.

IV. Skills Approach

The assessments associated with the Skills approach were the Leadership Skills

Inventory and the ECI-U assessments. These assessments gave me insight on the skills

which I appear to possess and/or demonstrate more than others. According to the

Leadership Skills Inventory, I possess about the same amount of all following skills-

technical, human, conceptual. The lowest of my skills falls under technical skills which

had a score of 25, conceptual skill was at 28 and human skill at 29. This assessment tells

me that I am pretty balanced and fairly equal in all of the skills, which according to

Northouse, would make me eligible to be in any of the levels of management in an

organization. I do agree with these scores and the order in which they came up in this

assessment. I feel that my human skills are the strongest and one that I am constantly

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working on as result of meeting and talking to many people. I am usually uncomfortable

being in an organization that does not establish meaningful interactions among members.

When I am confronted with that situation, I try and establish a relationship with other

subordinates and as a leader, I tend to communicate and establish relationships with my

subordinates and really As for conceptual skill, I feel that it is appropriate as the middle

score because at this point in my life, I do not work with many ideas or problem solving

situations but I do see myself as stronger in that than in technical score-my lowest score,

because I am hardly working with my hands or worrying about how things work. In these

three skill areas, my greatest goal consists of improving my problem solving skills. I plan

to do this through a retail store manager trainee internship experience that I may have

this summer. Along with this line of thought, being involved in a committee which plans

programs can probably enhance such skills as well because and encourages looking at

the big picture in order to plan successful because it encourages looking at the big

picture, and dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty. This can in turn, enhance my

problem solving and creativity skills would allow me to grow in other areas of leadership

where I am weak, such as what is expressed in the ECI-U inventory as well.

As for ECI-U Inventory, I found the results to be very interesting, especially

because it was a very thorough assessment and measured different aspects of emotional

intelligence. Out of the four quadrants in this assessment- self awareness, social

awareness, self management, and relationship management- social awareness was the

quadrant where my average rating was the highest. This makes a lot of sense to me

because I always seem to focus on those around me, sometimes more so, than myself. My

self awareness cluster was the second highest, and interestingly enough, I found that my

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self confidence was the lowest rating up there which leads me to believe that I need to

start believing in myself and my capabilities more. This relates to my lowest score in the

self management cluster which was initiative and my lowest score in relationship

management, which was inspirational leadership. Perhaps the fact that my self-

confidence is not as high as it could be, other factors in these quadrants are being

affected. However, I was a little uneasy about some of the questions in the assessment as

I felt they did not relate to me and therefore, to the competency listed so I am not sure

how I feel about the results.

Putting that aside, I still feel that this assessment was accurate and in turn, I am

dedicated to improving my self confidence so that I can take more initiative in different

leadership situations and become a better leader. Maybe I can take on more duties in

organizations that I am part of but do not have a title in. Since I plan to develop greater

skill in problem solving and taking initiative and being an inspiring leader, I can begin by

setting sub-goals to accomplish this. This can begin by encouraging brainstorming when

an organization is having an issue. Another way to improve is by analyzing how a task is

done, for example, planning an annual event for an organization (i.e. Latina Fashion

Show) and taking it to the next level to improve some aspect (participant’s motivation and

public attendance). This may just be my next task if I decide to apply to be the committee

chair of Latino Programming at the union for next year.

Such goals and plans could help me grow as a leader and be strong in many

areas and allow me to understand how to utilize my stronger aspects in my leadership

style while improving my weaker skills.

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 V. Style Approach

The assessment linked to the Style Approach was the Leadership Style

Questionnaire. The score of this assessment determined that my task leadership behavior

is in the moderate low range and that my relationship leadership behavior is in the

moderate high range. I agree with the results of this assessment because I know that my

focus and behavior is more geared towards the subordinates. I am interested in the

relationships among subordinates and I like to encourage and support others in the

process of accomplishing a task. For an example, in any given leadership position that I

have encountered in high school or even now, I feel better by knowing everyone’s names.

I also make an effort to recognize those who work hard and let them know that I feel their

contributions are meaningful. For an example, after a stressful “Taste of Puerto Rico”

dinner provided by PRSA, I came home and emailed everyone telling them they did a

great job and the dinner was delicious because some of the leaders of the organization

were so tired and caught up with their job that they did not take a second and recognize

individual efforts. However, I think this is a strong indicator of team excellence and unity.

The comfort of being supported and appreciated allows others to become more motivated

and therefore work harder.

From the results of this assessment, any goals that I would have to improve my

leadership is to continue to work on my relationship leadership behavior and task

leadership behavior by making more efforts on both aspects. My results fell in the range

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that they did because the highest choice I picked was a 4(often) instead of 5(always) so

as long as I remain consistent in my actions, I will be high in both behaviors and be a

better leader. Ways in which I can do this is by taking part in the logistics of planning

events within my organization. For an example, by volunteering for an event which

requires research and outreach. I can possibly investigate how we are going to pay for

snacks, or when we will have a speaker, or how we can achieve other goals like how we

are going to fundraise and what is our financial goal and how we can get there. The

emphasis on such task and relationship behavior can also allow me to determine under

which circumstances I should lead a certain manner and what I need to do to lead

correctly depending on my subordinates needs.

VI. Situational Approach

The assessment that was connected to the Situational Approach was the

“Determining your Preferred Situational Leadership Style” questionnaire. The results I

obtained in this assessment as a result of the answers to the situations, was the coaching

style with the supporting style right behind it. Most obviously, this assessment tells me

that my preferred situational leadership style is the coaching style. This is accurate

because I do focus on communication on both achieving goals and meeting subordinates’

socio-emotional needs (high directive/high supportive). I do involve myself with what my

subordinates do and I do feel that encouragement is always a good method to remind

someone that their work is appreciated. It also makes sense that the supportive style was

very close to the coaching style because, as I have seen in all of the other assessments, I

can easily fall in the high supportive/ low directive style. Sometimes I do feel that it is

important to use supportive methods to bring out the best in others to accomplish a task

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and to remain available facilitate problem solving. This assessment also tells me that I

am not very flexible with the other situational leadership styles. While delegating and

directing have a score of 1 and 2 respectively, the coaching style had a score of 5 and

supportive a 4. Because it is not distributed evenly, this assessment suggests that I go

about using the coaching and supportive style interchangeably. Based on the lack of

flexibility as indicated by this assessment, maybe there should be more flexibility in

styles. There may be situations where my coaching and supportive styles will not be very

effective because it may require little communication and more focus on the task at hand.

In that case, one of the other situational leadership styles should be used. This suggests a

need to recognize which situations require a certain leadership style and adapting to

such a style to be a more effective leader and accomplish the task at hand. Such

situations occur in large group setting where there are difficult tasks and one may not be

able to pay specific attention to each and every individual. Again, when the task requires

extensive work, individual attention may delay the process and it may be more effective to

use a delegating approach. This is also easier in tasks that have time restraints, for an

example, filling out the appropriate space request and funding forms for an event.

Putting that aside, when my subordinates have high motivation and commitment, there is

no need to coach or support then and it is makes more sense to simply trust their work

(delegate). One can easily encourage that motivation early in group meetings and

determine their commitment and soon enough after, direct them to tasks without worrying

that the main goal in misunderstood or unclear. Similarly, one can direct in a situation

that requires little support and higher directive approaches. In order to use these styles

interchangeably, it would help if I am placed in different leadership situations that vary

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on individual tasks and needs for directive, supportive behaviors. I can improve the

flexibility in these styles by trial and error- simply trusting that in situations that require

smaller groups- smaller event planning, supportive behavior can be used and in larger

tasks- being in charge of a dance group, directive/ delegating will prove more useful.

VII. Leader-Member Exchange Theory

The assessment associated with this theory was the LMX questionnaire. This

assessment was very different in structure and in fact, interesting to consider when you

think about the different answers you can obtain by thinking about it in the perspective of

the leader versus a follower. This assessment looked at the relationship between a leader

and their subordinates.

When I took the assessment, I thought about it in the role of a subordinate. The

results revealed that I have a strong, higher-quality leader- member exchange. I agree

with the results of this assessment. I do usually develop high exchanges with my

subordinates and the quality of our relationship is very strong. I feel that this is an

important part of the group’s interaction and value its existence.

When looking at the questions of this assessment, I was particularly interested in a

question which asked if my leader would “bail me out at their expense.” This question

stuck out to me particularly because my response was low, which is an issue I feel I not

only think about me but consider in my leadership practices. I feel that many times,

despite the sacrifice, many leaders I have confronted are not willing to do this. While I

know that many leaders fear being taken advantage of, I do not expect them to truly trust

that taking that risk will affect them negatively but I feel that some leaders I have

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confronted just do not care to develop a closer, trusting bond with their subordinates, one

where you trust that those who you lead will not either take advantage of you.

Personally, I know that this question would have received a high score had I

considered it in terms of my being a leader. As a relationship based, empathetic leader, I

do my best to help out my subordinates and do what I can to help them, even if it means

that it is at my expense.

As a result of the implications of this assessment, I know that the quality of the

leader-member exchanges within any group that I have can grow to be stronger.

Specifically, I would like to take a step and improve the quality of these exchanges by

trusting those who I am working with. I realize that with that trust and comfort, my group

member and I, as a whole, can feel comfortable in defending one another’s’ decision

while the others are gone. This can be done by clearly stating goals and allowing the

group members to feel like we do not need to function solely as a group achieving a task,

but as a community of individuals whose goal accomplishments allow us to have common

ground and priorities. I can begin improving this exchange by using icebreakers when in

a new leadership position and consistently interacting with my subordinates. A simple

conversation about a weekend can let somebody know that you care and makes them

more likely to trust you, like you, and be willing to “bail you out.” Meaningful

interactions between my subordinates and is also important in determining the factors

described in Transformational Leadership because you can determine your subordinates

motives, satisfy their needs, and treat them as human beings. This allows them to

accomplish more while incorporating charismatic, visionary leadership.

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 VIII. Transformational Leadership

The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), the assessment related to the idea

of transformational leadership was very interesting in its description of my leadership

style. The results of this assessment are consistent with the way I feel I lead. The results

showed that I fell in the high range in all of the factors except for one. It demonstrated

that I am in the moderate range for the laissez faire style. Factor 4- individualized

consideration was the highest of the scores. This factor indicates the degree to which I

show interest to others’ well being, assign projects individually, and pay attention to

those who seem less involved in the group. This is very consistent with the results of all of

the other assessments that I had taken thus far. I am very relationship oriented so the fact

that I consider others in my decision and pay attention to my subordinates does not

surprise me. Something else in this assessment worthy of note because it is an area of

potential improvement is the factor of intellectual stimulation in my leadership style. This

factor indicates the degree to which I encourage others to be creative in looking at old

problems in new ways, create an environment that is tolerant of seemingly extreme

positions, and nurture people to question their own values and beliefs and those of the

organization. Something that I plan to do to improve this is to take on new ways to plan

programs with the organization I am a part of. I plan to look at new ways to get the

message we want to convey out to the public. I can start this by brainstorming sessions,

learning how to think outside the box, and challenging myself even in my personal life by

taking on more creative activities( as I have by learning how to play songs on a piano

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and playing sudoku). I think it should be important to stimulate the mind of those

around you, to have them think about different ways to look at life in general, because I

know I do that every once in a while, and in my opinion, it makes me an inspired

intellectual.

IX. Practices of Exemplary Leadership

Kouzes and Posner’s five practices of leadership are the following: Challenging

the process, inspiring a shared vision, enabling others to act, modeling the way,

encouraging the heart.

Challenging the process is discussed as a leader’s tendency to take the chance

and stepping into the unknown, even when knowing that things may not go as planned.

They try new ways of doing things and are willing to listen for creative ideas. In respect

to this practice, the results indicated that I was lowest in this practice. This does not

surprise me because I am a little more hesitant in doing something in new ways where I

do not know the outcome. However, I think that this calls for a new goal. Other

assessments have indicated that I do not take as much initiative or seem very creative, or

do not take risks to challenge the systems. I feel that in order to improve this I can hold a

meeting with this any organization I am a leader of and asking members what they would

change. I can take the most mentioned concerns and work on continuing the strong

points. I can ask other successful people whom I admire for methods of innovation.

Another way I plan to improve my tendency to challenge the process is by becoming the

Latino Programs committee chair and “challenging the way” in which the Latina/o

Fashion Show is organized. As a participant in this show for the last two years, I have

been able to see the way it’s been organized- processes which are very similar to one

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another and it is very frustrating for all of us involved. I hope that I may bring more to

the table and provide some new way to organize the show not only differently but more

effectively. This is related to inspiring a shared vision in the way that I need to be

confident in what I plan to do.

Inspiring a shared vision involves knowing the goal you want to attain and having

a desire to make things happen. It involves being involved with this vision and allowing

others to be just as encourages and involved with the vision as oneself. The results of the

Student Leadership Practices Inventory indicated a high degree of this practice.

Nonetheless, an important way to strengthen this is to constantly visualize the

possibilities of a goal (a successful fashion show). In this way, I can be a lot more

optimistic about the achievement and I can “see” it happening. Continuing, I have to be

able to take it a step forward and get my committee members involved and confident.

The practice of enabling others to act involves a leader allowing their

subordinates to engage in some fashion towards the goal. The leader tries to make their

subordinates feel in strong and capable for the job and that they have power. According

to the results, I was slightly high on this practice. This makes some sense to me because I

can recall many time where I have taken on a role in an organization that I did not

necessarily have to do but do so anyway because I do not see volunteers or do not trust

that they will put as much effort into it as I plan to. Of course, ways in which I plan to

improve this tendency and the relationship with my subordinates is by asking for

volunteers and trusting that they will do a great job. I can definitely communicate to them

my expectations or suggestions but I should trust that any unique characteristic they

bring to the organization can be reflected in their work, and that distinguishes something

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from ordinary to extraordinary. I can also mentor new members so that they can feel just

as helpful and qualified in the process. As for planning events like the fashion show

mentioned previously, enabling the models and committee members to this goal is

essential for the success of the show. Once everyone is on the same page and we all have

the same goal, we will have a great show and hopefully less stress and frustration. If

done so correctly, my leadership can model the way for others- allow them to feel

confident about taking on such a high stress position (just as I am worried) and treating

their subordinates as a team.

Modeling the way involves a leader being an appropriate example to those who

they are leading. It includes behaving in ways one wants others to act and treating others

as one would want to be treated. They have to be able to “practice what they preach” in

a sense, simply demonstrating their values and morals by their actions and not solely

their word. I scored high for this practice according to the assessment. I think that I try

and show others the type of person that I am through my actions. I consider myself to be

a very modest person so any manner I present myself is usually representative of the

inner me and I try not to act differently across situations. Ways in which I can keep this

up is by keeping track of how I spend my time, and admitting my mistakes. As humans,

one of us is perfect and we need to be able to recognize that we need to be able choose

our battles. Personally I feel that those experiences are the best learning tools, even if

the outcome is bittersweet, it is well worth it in the end. Again, modeling the way includes

giving constructive criticism and yet respecting how your model will feel. It involves

talking to them as if they are part of a team and not belittling them even when you are

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disappointed in them. These are goals I want to remember when being the committee

chair of Latino Programs at the Union.

Last but not least, the last practice not yet discusses is the idea of encouraging

the heart. This practice involves being a resource for support “when the going gets

tough.” It involves carrying people’s spirits up when they are down and giving them

strength to continue in their pursuit of a specific goal. The scores indicated that I was

around the 85th percentile in this practice. This high score lends itself to my focus on

those who I work with. I try to be very empathetic and helpful to my subordinates or to

anyone in general and there really is not anything like the satisfaction of lifting

someone’s spirits and feeling like you had a positive impact on their life. Ways in which I

can improve this practice is by celebrating different milestones, creating some type of

recognition system- example: hall of fame, make times for others to express their

concerns and joys about their lives and really just allowing a comfortable

communication among members.

This is also especially important when the situation gets very stressful and

everybody starts agitated easily. For example, it is really hard to do well and not be

stressed if everyone around you is stressed and irritable. This happens to be the case the

closer you are to any performance or show you are in (and I have felt the tension plenty

of times). I think that it is especially important to take note of this and do things to lift

other’s spirits by telling them they are doing a good job, having confidence in their

performance and treating them every once in a while (candy, a thank you email or

praise) just so they know their work is appreciated. This, along with so many other goals

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provides the basis of my leadership practice and inspires me to continue to develop as a

one.

X. Personal Mission Statement

The information I gathered from the assessments and from evaluating them have

allowed me to really understand where I would like to improve to be a more effective

leader. The importance of such a leader underlies the hands to which our society’s future

will be held in. Therefore it is important to me, and in a sense, my duty to contribute to

my society, to make a difference the way that my role models have made an impact in my

life; to inspire others and encourage their development, just as my own development has

been supported.

Along this line of thought, it is important to be a leader whose actions support

the values instilled in them and encouraged in their own subordinates. It is important

that as one of many leaders of my generation, that I lead with ethics- morals and values

which allow my actions to be genuine and devote myself to growing as an individual and

a leader. My ultimate ideals are to develop and promote the qualities of a leader who

inspires change and establishes meaningful connections so that we can provide solutions

and accomplish goals we set out to do.

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 XI. Leadership Development Objectives

Finally, this careful analysis comes with a take home message. One that requires

more than just stating what I need to be a better leader. Now it is time to reflect and

determine what next steps, what “milestones” (as my leadership coach refers to them) I

need to overcome in order to obtain my great goals. In order to be the best leader I can

be, I understand it cannot happen overnight nor will it happen the instance I decide to

join another organization. It will definitely take practice, new lessons to be learned, and

determining how I work with others in a given situation. It is all about experience, and of

course, accomplishing sub-goals on my way to the ideal leader.

In order to influence others and serve as a mentor, I am starting by having a pen

pal. He is a young boy in grammar school and we started writing to each other this

summer. He is about ten years old and asks me about what classes I like and how I like

college. I think even if we have about ten year age gap, I can still encourage him to have

basic values: honesty, patience, and encourage him to go to high school and college.

Also, two of my roommates are freshmen and I help them in whatever they need,

including emotional support. As someone who is extraverted, I can be involved in

representing PRSA in retreats and on a more personal level, serve as an example to

freshmen students who come for a campus visit. I can further develop my skills by

practicing computer software programs and creating a different for an organization or

brainstorming for a solution to an ongoing problem.

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