Running Head: NASPA LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES 1

NASPA Leadership Competency Self-Assessment

Donavon A. Barbarisi

Fort Hays State University

NASPA LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES 2

NASPA Leadership Competencies

The NASPA leadership competencies represent major aspects that leaders must exemplify,

no matter their position. In terms of these areas, being able to identify one’s own strengths and

weaknesses, providing opportunities for staff to develop in leadership, and providing mentorship

and support for developing leaders represent three of the most important aspects. These three areas

of training leadership competency are vastly important due to the notion that they aid in new leader

development. By focusing on these areas, it allows new leaders to be created, and creates a positive

cycle of development for any organization.

Competency Strengths

One area perceived as being strong for me is my ability to recognize my strengths and

weaknesses as a leader and in a team. This area has been vital to my success in leadership roles as

it allows me to put myself in the best roles for my skills, and to work at delegating those tasks that

may be better suited to other skillsets. I feel strong in this area because I take time to assess myself

as well as my staff. I also make an effort to take criticism, which aids me in identifying the areas

that others assess as being weak or strong for me.

Another area of strength for me is my ability to encourage others to promote their

leadership skills and to convince them to step into leadership roles. By being as visible and

integrated into my community as I can, I build relationships which allow for easy conversation

about student involvement. I push for this to be a strong area for me because Astin’s theory of

involvement describes student development based on how active in organizations and communities

our students are.

NASPA LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES 3

My final area of strength is my ability to facilitate consensus when support is needed. By

challenging myself to be as involved as I can be in my work committees, I have been able to play

devil’s advocate for many of the scenarios before our committees, and by doing so, it often gives

me a chance to make sure all voices are heard when it comes to the actual plans to enact. Often,

by serving this role I can incorporate ideas and work towards developing a plan that aligns with

the best interests of all stakeholders.

Competency Areas of Improvement

One area of possible improvement is promoting reflective evaluation in my staff and

department. By doing this, it ensures that we are accounting for past mistakes and honing those

areas that can be refined. This has been a growing area for me, as often it is easy to get caught up

in what is ahead to a point that forgetting about past mistakes and mishaps does happen. This

could be improved through the coursework by learning about methods of reflective evaluation, but

also means of implementing ideas to fit organizational culture.

Another area of improvement for me regarding the leadership competencies is gathering

appropriate personnel for handling issues as they arise. This area occasionally presents as an issue

for me due to the uncertainty that comes with emergencies. When a process comes to a “by-the-

book” method, I tend to excel, but flexibility has sometimes been a struggle for me and this comes

specifically with identifying all appropriate personnel. This process could be improved for me by

learning how to identify stakeholders more thoroughly, and assess means of communicating issues

to ascertain solutions.

Overall, a major area of possible growth is understanding what leadership is as a construct.

While I have served in a variety of leadership roles, it has been more from the view of doing what
NASPA LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES 4

is needed for positional success and community development. Often, there was not the greatest

understanding of why, and that is something I hope to learn. This class overall will teach me more

about this background and logic which may help me develop my leadership as well.

Questions

1. How do I better identify potential future leaders, and how can I promote their involvement?

2. How do I account for organizational culture in my leadership style?

3. How in-depth will we get into the leadership frames, and will we see more of how they

play out in universities?