Resume Review

The average reviewer only looks at a resume for 7-10 seconds. In an attept to form a more competitive resume, I went to the walk in resume review at Roosevelt Hall. The 15 minute appointment was very informative. I learened: 

• undergraduates get 1 page
• be concise
• only include the most relevant material
• start statements with active verbs
• bullet when feasible
• current material is placed first
• Place the dates on the right side to conserve space

As a result of the meeting my resume is significantly smaller, more concise, and easy to read. The experience was very helpful, and I strongly recommend this service! With summer and fall internships around the corner, the extra resume boost won’t hurt!

Alternative Spring Break: Birmingham Alabama

                     Alternative Spring break was an amazing experience! As a part of the honors Classroom Without Boarders, 17 URI students went to Birmingham Alabama to team up with Habitat For Humanity. Our jobs were to help build a house. Initially, some students doubted their abilities on the work site. I used the Servant Leadership Model to support them through their struggles. There was a learning curve on many of the projects, and not much guidance. I exhibited an optimistic and supportive mindset, and helped people improve their skills. Even hammering in a nail can be difficult, but with advice, support, and practice everyone at the end of the trip were capable workers.

            Rather than telling someone they were doing a project incorrectly, I would persuade them to do the work in a better way. When people experienced frustration, I used empathy. I experienced frustration too, and could relate to the annoyed feelings. I listen to directions well, therefore I had some foresight when handing the siding on the house.

            Before the siding can be laid, tracking (or framework) must be put in place. The tracking must be meticulously hung, completely straight, and level. When I saw the tracking start to wave, I informed the group we needed to start over. Although it was frustrating to repeat the work, everyone agreed it had to be redone. The end result was high quality, level tracking. Everyone in my group was extremely proud of the work, regardless of our initial misstep. Working as a team to complete the task made the experience even more fulfilling.

            Our group leader and carpenter, Geranimo, was an inspiration. A single dad of two, he possessed the strongest work ethic and optimism of anyone I have ever met. He told us, “Nothing in life is impossible. Absolutely nothing, especially at 19 years old. Life is hard, buying food is hard. Nothing in life comes easy. You just have to get up everyday and try your best. Never think about how hard life is, you just have to forge trough life with everything you’ve got.” He inspired me to be a better leader, and a better person. I’ll never forget him. 

Perspective Student Visit

The monumental act of choosing a college can be stressful and daunting. That’s why I thoroughly enjoy sharing my thoughts and experiences with perspective students. The College of Life Sciences offered me the opportunity to talk to a perspective high school student interested in biological sciences and marine biology. As a junior and previous URI freshman mentor, I was thrilled to share the knowledge I have gained in my 3 years at URI. As a leader, I acknowledge the importance of helping students grow and aid them in their personal journey. Even though admissions counselors and URI staff possess a wealth of knowledge about the university, I feel it is imperative for students to gain a first person perspective from a student who has lived through the process. I shared my views on classes, housing, professors, study abroad, and campus life. I could see the student and her parents experience a little relief as I explained my thoughts and opinions. I truly believe a student’s perspective can aid in the decision process of a perspective student. I fellow URI student and I talked to the family for around and hour and a half, answering specific questions. They were so appreciative by the end of the meeting, and I was thrilled to help out. As a leader, I believe passing on information and experiences enhances communication skills and creates a positive, open environment where questions and input are encouraged.

Positive and Negative Energy: Coping with Stress

Academic success and mental wellbeing are directly linked with stress management.  When midterms and finals hit, an exorbitant amount of stress can build up. Rather than imploding under pressure, stress-reducing techniques are essential to perform at an optimal level.  While positive stress can increase alertness and mental simulation, chronic stress results in mental and physician deterioration. Stressful past experiences have enhanced my coping mechanisms for stress. My personal stress coping mechanisms are to:

• Remain calm
• Take deep breaths
• Remove yourself from the situation
• Evaluate the relevance and importance of what is causing your stress
• Meditate and reflect

I strongly believe physical and mental stress relievers should be used in tandem. Running is my physical outlet for stress, and yoga is my mental outlet for stress. Both keep my mentally and physically fit, able to handle the unexpected pressures of life.  I enjoyed learning alternative stress reducing techniques after the Stress Reducing Workshop. New methods of coping with stress:

• Breathing techniques
• Zoning out
• Smiling
• Acknowledging negative thoughts and compensating with a positive attitude

I realized the “irrelevance” of stress. Not that stress is unimportant to address, but that there is no need to waste energy on a negative emotion. When viewing your emotions in terms of positive and negative energy, stress is release of negative energy. To me, negative energy is a waste of energy. Rather that wallowing in negative energy (stress), I aim to invest the same energy in a positive way. Thus, in the grand scheme of life, stress is completely unnecessary and, for intensive purposes, an “irrelevant” waste of valuable energy.

Servant Leadership Model

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” -John Quincy Adams

            The Servant leadership model truly resonated with me. My personal beliefs of leadership strongly correlate with the 10 aspects of the model. I posses an innate sense to serve others. To me, collective benefits outweigh personal benefits.  

            The model simply relates to my personality. Based on the Meyer-Briggs personality test I am an Introvert, Intuitive, Feeler, and Perceiver. I am only a mild introvert, but am extremely intuitive and rely heavily on my intuition to find value in life. I aim to find the truth and meaning behind life, which makes me an extremely open and approachable person.

            I have a genuine interest in people and their emotional wellbeing, so it is enjoyable to listen to people. I am constantly trying to understand people… how they function, their beliefs, and how the cogs in their brain turn. Listening to others is a cathartic experience for both sides. I have an urge to help them.  I am a strong advocate for teamwork; I aim to elevate others in a supportive and open environment. I feel bossing others around is an insult to their intelligence and ability. Regardless of age or experience, I view others as my contemporaries rather than subordinates. I am not smarter, or better than others. As a leader, I aim to help others achieve and grow. Unknowingly, I have implemented this leadership model as a URI 101 mentor.

Listening

As a mentor, I consistently asked students how they were acclimating to life at URI. I enjoyed listening to their accomplishments and well as their concerns. I encouraged communication via class participation, email, and text. I acted as a knowledgeable resource, as well as an emotional one.

Empathy

I possess a great deal of empathy as a “feeler” personality type. When a student was late to class due to a family emergency, I immediately placed myself within his shoes and was able to understand what he was going through. He appreciated my empathy and interest in his well-being. Also, as a student, I could empathies for the stress and emotional turmoil many freshmen experience.

Healing

When a student was stressed about an unhappy living situation, I offered consolation. As a freshman, I experienced an unpleasant living situation first hand. It is emotionally draining and upsetting at times. After she voiced her concerns, I helped her explore other options to solve the problem.

Awareness

I possessed a strong sense of clarity and awareness as a mentor. I knew what was going on in their lives, because I had experienced it. In addition, I knew of a multitude of resources that could help them adjust, both academically and socially, to college life.

Persuasion

I believe ordering others is completely ineffective. I prefer to ask rather than to order. And if asking failed, I would resort to persuasion and sound reasoning.  I told students they were in control of their life… and every within their life was their personal choice. I tried to express the concept of personal accountability. I couldn’t force them to do anything, but doing their assignments and work would only benefit them in the future. By treating my students like mature and rational adults, they acted as such. The level of respect we shared was mutual as a result.

Conceptualization

I often asked students to think about their long term goals, and reflect on their future. A huge part of success within a career is making connections. I told students of the invaluable benefits of networking, and encouraged them to make connections with professors. Not only can professors write letters of recommendation, but they can also offer insight into the desired field of study.

 Foresight

I was once in my students’ shoes. I did procrastinate. I did pull all nighters. I did make unwise decisions occasionally. And I had to live with house consequences. I learned form my past and tried to convey the knowledge I learned to better the lives my students.

Stewardship

As a mentor, I delegated work and encouraged students to branch out. Rather than preaching about student involvement, I had each student attend an extracurricular event or URI club. Each student was required to present their attempt at involvement to the class. Not only was the experience informative, it helped them explore extracurricular options. Rather than taking on the presentation myself, this example of delegation was much more beneficial to the student.

Commitment to Growth

I applied to become a URI 101 Mentor because I was committed to the growth of other students. I wanted students to benefit from my past experiences and have a smoother transition to college life.

Building a Community

The whole purpose of URI 101 is to inform students about URI and to have student interact with others in their “learning community”. Students are grouped together to make connections with others within their major. I made the students do interactive “ice breaker” games to foster socialization and build a sense of community within the classroom. 

Personal Strength Analysis

 

After taking an online strengths test of strengthsquest.com, my 5 top strengths were

1. Learner
2. Achiever
3. Responsibility
4. Adaptability
5. Ideation

Knowing and acknowledging one’s strengths can aids in the development of a leader. These strengths can be harnessed to determine an optimum leadership style and highlight your assets as a leader. I will explain my personal strengths and discuss there roles in leadership.

Learner

            I am drawn to the process of learning. For me, life is a journey to acquire knowledge.  My passion for new insight will make me a life long learner. For me learning is more about the process and mastering skills, rather than acquiring useless facts. As a result of my curiosity and open mind, I can thrive in a dynamic work environment. As a leader, this is of vital importance. I need to learn new techniques about managing people, and learn new models of leadership along my life path.   

Achiever

            As an achiever, I am highly driven and have a continuous need for achievement. As a leader, my unmatched work ethic and endless motivation allows me to get things done. My quality of work is extremely high, therefore I set high standards for others. As a result, the work of others improves. The purpose of leading a group is to achieve some sort of goal. Because I am an achiever, I strive to help others achieve to their highest potential.

Responsibility

            With responsibility as my 3^rd strength, I have an emotionally obligated to follow through with commitments.On rare circumstance were I can’t follow through, I must go above and beyond to make it up to that person. For me, no excuse is acceptable for failing to follow through. I am an extremely conscientious worker, and expect high quality work. As a leader, I hold others highly accountable to their responsibilities. I also use ethics in my leadership style, and stress the importance of dependability.

Adaptability

I am very flexible. I live in the moment, and I am open to new opportunities that float my way. For me the future is not a fixed destination. Life is a journey, decisions you make not collectively form my future. I feel flexibility is one of my strongest strengths as a leader because I rarely get frazzled when things don’t go as planned. I realize life gets in the way of rigid plans, so I embrace change.

Ideation

            I am fascinated by ideas. I enjoy simplifying complex ideas to explain how the world works. In addition, I strive explore new perspectives. Different and enlightening angles of the world give me a better grasp on my own values and beliefs. Personally, ideas are clarifying, unique, and eye opening. As a leader, I offer creativity and originality. My use of ideas helps me solve problems at hand. 

Relational Leadership Model

Just as the name implies, Relational Leadership involves relations, or connections between people. There are 5 leadership components to this model:

1. Inclusive
2. Empowering
3. Purposeful
4. Ethical
5. Process Oriented

Each component are further broken down in the three categories of “Knowing”, “Being”, and “Doing”. “Knowing” deals with having knowledge and understanding in certain areas, “Being” deals with having certain beliefs, and “Doing” deals with having skills in certain areas.

The (1) Inclusive  leadership component to the relational leadership model refers to all students, staff, or members of a group. This component requires knowledge and understanting, or “Knowing”, of oneself and others. It also requires understanding of citizenship as well as culture, and stresses the need for an open perspective and open mind. The Inclusive leadership component means that you believe in the extreme value of differences, fairness and equality, and the idea that all group members should be included and valued. The skills, or “Doing”, involved are listening, developing, building coalitions, and participating in civil discourse.

The (2) Empowering component  involves empowering yourself, group members, and other  related individuals. The “Knowing” of this component is understanding the concepts of power, empowerment, and self esteem. Empowerment requires the “Being” or belief that every individual within the group has something to offer, that personal growth is important, and that knowlegde, power, and decisions are made collectively. The “Doing” for the empowerment component is balancing power, encouraging, and praising others to become self led.

The (3) Purposeful component within this leadership model involves having a commitment to a person, group of people, or cause. The “knowing” is understanding the concept of change  and value of having clear goals. Within the “Being”, there is the belief that optimism and confidence within a cause can make an impact. Skills involved in this component are envisioning, creativity,  and goal making.

The (4) Ethical aspect of the model is the drive to do what is morally right. It requires knowledge and understanding of core values and the decision making process. Ethical requires one to believe in social responsibility, moral integrity, and to possess an altruistic attitude. The “Doing” for Ethical is using trust, responsibility, and courageousness to make ethical decisions for the betterment of others.

The last (5) component is Process-Oriented, which is building and maintaining a group while also achieving the goals of the group. The knowing of Process-Oriented is understanding the concepts of community, team-building, and multiple-perspectives.  This component values the importance of processing, high quality effort, and trust in the process. The skills in Process-Oriented are collaborative, reflective, and the ability to both give and receive feedback (both positive and negative).

To conclude, the relational leadership model involves viewing people and relations with the upmost importance. All of the five leadership components involve interpersonal skills. They help build and solidify relationships in order to produce change. Being consciously aware of these components can strengthen leadership and lead to a positive leadership environment.

Application of the Social Change Model

After attending the eLe@d workshop on the Social Change Model, I pondered about applications of the model. I was initially reminded of an interesting video that lent itself to the topic.

If you didn’t watch the video, here is the recap:

The los Angeles writer/artist Dallas Clayton wrote a book for his son based on the simple concept of dreaming big. He wanted to inspire others to dreaming big and peruse their greatest passions, so he posted the book online.  The book, entitled “The Awesome Book” received attention form all over the world. Letters came pouring in, giving praise to the author who was inspiring others through his work.  As a result, Dallas Clayton started traveling all over the country on a book tour. He read his book to both kids and adults at schools, bookstores, and hospitals in addition to other interesting venues. As a result Harper Collins, the publishing company, contacted Clayton and offered to make millions of copies of his book. As a result his book is available in bookstores around the country.

How does the Social Change model apply? Well the model is based around a feedback loop and the 7 “C’s :

1. Consciousness of self
2. Congruence
3. Commitment
4. Collaboration
5. Common Purpose
6. Controversy with Civility
7. Citizenship

*Please refer to the diagram below for further explanation

Social Change Feedback Cirlce

The  7 C’s work together to initiate change within society.

First, I will discuss the individual values of Dallas Clayton, the initiator of the social change model. Clayton had a (1) Consciousness of Self, and was aware of his personal value that dreams, inner confidence, and imagination were of the upmost importance. His values and beliefs initiate his (2) Congruence, were he acted upon those beliefs and constructed a book to drive home his beliefs to young and impressionable minds. Dallas Clayton also possessed the (3) Commitment to spread his beliefs. He possessed the passion, energy, and investment towards action by initialing a book tour, touring the country and spreading the word.

Secondly, I will discuss the group values. (4) Collaboration after the public started reading the book and supporting Claytons cause. They collectively worked together to go on tour and share the message within the book. They had a (5) Common Purpose to make an impression on young minds and to inspire children to create large goals for the future. (6) Controversy with Civility comes into play when talking about children’s futures. Some people might say that the book leads to children setting unrealistic goals. While others might believe it is important to follow ones heart and have large aspirations as a child. This open and critical discussion contributes to the controversy.

The last lobe of the Feedback Loop deals with Social/ Community Values. This area deals with the 7^th “C” of Citizenship (7), which is the responsible connection to community and society. This comes into play when Harper Collins, the publishing company steps in and makes a commitment to helping Dallas Clayton spread his book even further. The publishing deal not only hakes the book more accessible it also allows the book to be sold on a global scale as well. In addition to the publishing deal, Clayton has posted a free copy of the book online. He is so passionate and committed to spreading the idea of dreaming big, he wants people who can’t afford a copy to enjoy it as well.

As a result, change occurred within the minds of millions of children around the world. Children, young adults, and adults were inspired to have confidence and pursue what makes them happy.

It is important to note that the social change model does not have to start with the individual. It can start anywhere within the feedback circle, as long as it impacts the other spheres and leads to change within society. While I applied this model to a capricious children’s novel, the social change can be used to initiate change of varying levels of intensity and seriousness. I hope you enjoyed this application of the Social Change Model and I look forward to future posts.

Notes from the Author

Hello readers,

Welcome to my leadership blog! This blog is a way to explore the concepts of leadership in regards to the eLe@d Program at the University of Rhode Island. The eLe@d program, led by the Center for Student Leadership at the university, is a small cohort of individuals with the common goal of enhancing leadership skills. Within level I, students like myself will explore 3 foundational leadership theories and attend additional workshops to enhance our skills.

The following quote aligns with my current leadership beliefs:

“Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.” —Peter Drucker

With high expectations for myself, I strive to help others succeed as well. Weather within a sports setting or academic setting, I aim to help others achieve their highest goals. While I am not a bold person, I lead by example. My hard work ethic, mental stamina, and positive outlook helps bring out the best in friends and colleges. Within this program, I hope to refine my skills as a leader and grow as a person.

Regards,

-Bridget Murphy