For the past weekend, I've been at a leadership conference that I have been taking part in planning since February. We choose a theme, some goals, format, recreation, and what we wanted to teach the girls and it's been a long learning process for all of us. Finally on Wednesday, after countless emails, teleconferences and instant message meetings the five girls and three mentors met for the first time.
Anyway I'm not really going to talk about the event. The reason I didn't get around to sleeping last night was because we were busy writing a report about the event, so I'm all typed out on the subject.
For one session, we had the organization Me to We come in and facilitate activies based on leadership styles. First we did an ice breaking and then our facilitator outlined four leadership styles and we all had to think about what one we fit best in. Quick outline:
Nurturer: this person is the people person in your group. She likes to know how you're feeling and boost you up if you're feeling down. She works best when everyone in the group cooperates and the personal issues are solved. A negative side of this style is that the Nurturer can get wrapped up in negative comments. When given a criticism, this person would obsess about it and get very upset. Another negative side is that the Nurturer, who is always taking care of others, does not have enough time to take care of themselves, which can cause burn outs.
Scientist: This person is into details and problem solving. The Scientist will take a big idea and narrow it down to something more realistic, making it attainable. This person has a talent for picking out possible issues in a plan and creating a counter action to keep things running smoothly. A negative side would be that because the Scientist works a lot around problems and details, they can become pessimistic and start to only notice negative parts of ideas.
Warrier: the Warrier is a common idea people think of when you say leadership. This person likes to be organized with lists, charts and plans, and wants to focus on completing a task as soon as possible. The Warrier likes to make sure everything runs according to their plan and oversee all of their delegations. A negative aspect can be that a Warrier can sometimes take too much responsibility on themselves which can lead to break downs. The Warrier can tend to be abrupt and more to the point that other styles. They like to get things done promptly and efficiently, which can stress some people. Warriers usually have a certain idea in mind for everything and can get frusterated with unenthusiastic team members and slackers.
Visionary: This type is your big picture person. This person can brainstorm huge ideas and can look at every aspect of your project. They have lots of creativity and are great at bringing out that talent in others too. They like to motivate and are very good at inspiring a group to work together and be successful. A negative side would be that these people tend to get distracted a little easily. With all the ideas they have, it can be hard for them to follow through with one thought before a bigger, better one comes around.
So at first I was thinking I'm kind of a Visionary and a Warrier, because I like to stay organized and focused, but I also like to inspire and look at the big picture. The main thing they were stressing is that just because you're one type, doesn't mean you don't have other types, and can't improve in other areas. I may be a hardcore Scientist, but that doesn't mean I don't like to make sure everyone in my group is happy and working together well.
Anyway with each experience you can gain new skills in different aspects. It's important to see what your biggest strength is, but it can also be helpful to see your problem area, and then focus on what you need to do there.
That's all for today. I know there are questions I need to answer but I'm really tired (what with the whole no sleep last night and no crashing in the morning like you can at regular sleepovers) and I haven't actually read your blogs since Thursday so I don't know what I need to deal with.
I'm wondering if you guys would kind of decide what area you would put yourself in (as opposed to a test that will give you answers) and explain that a little. I guess that's like my question: what's your leadership style?
2 comments:
That actually seems like a pretty cool event. I guess I'm used to the superficial, briefly mentioned "what learning style are YOU?" questionnaires that are given to us at the beginning of every school year and that generally have no impact whatsoever on anything. An actual conference seems like it would have some more weight, though.
Oh dear god I hate those things. Every year since 3rd grade, with the same pointless questions. The conference sounds awesome though.
I am NOT going to answer your question in comments this time. That's what happens when I'm tired. I talk and/or type unconsciously, and then when I'm done it's like, "Oh, I've said that much already? Nevermind..."
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