What have you learned about leadership in general and/or your own strengths as a leader during your time in KNR 171? Provide examples from your experiences in KNR 171 to support your answer.

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On the first day of class we were asked to define what leadership was. I defined leadership as, “taking action in a group setting with the proper skills.” Before taking this class I would have said that I didn’t have the skills to be a leader. I was always used to taking instructions from an individual and completing a task. 

Throughout the semester we learned that you do not need a title to be a leader. Everyone can be a leader. Every individual has their own set of strengths. If everyone had the same strengths then it would be really boring. The strengths that I posses did not seem far off from what I already know. I know that I am responsible, love to learn, and that I like consistency or structure. I believe these three talents are learned overtime, but I think that KNR 171 taught me that I have more potential than what I thought I had as a person. 

I always hated working with other people on group projects before taking KNR 171. I was the partner that always did the work that other people didn't do because they were lazy. I think Leadership Management taught me that you will have conflict. when there are problems they need to be addressed head on or people will continue to take advantage of you as an individual. In KNR 171, my peers and I were informed the first week of school that we would have a group facilitation project due by the end of the semester. I remember feeling a little overwhelmed because of my past experiences. However, in doing the strength test my professor was able to find a group that would be able to execute a proper facilitation and be able to work together. 

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What have you learned about collaboration/teamwork in general and/or your own strengths as a collaborator/teammate during your time in KNR 171? Provide examples from your experiences in KNR 171 to support your answer.

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I have learned through Leadership Management that my team members were always willing to listen to what other individuals had to say within the group. Around midterm, our professor gave us a challenge to build a noodle tower using materials given to us in a paper bag. those materials consisted of hard spaghetti noodles, string, tape, and a marshmallow. We were given five minutes to build the structure within the groups that we were given. The objective at the end of the activity was to have a free standing tower. The tallest tower was the winner. My group was able to communicate affectively to create the tallest free standing tower in the class. We were able to use teamwork and communication to execute our plan action. Through the experience we learned as a group that there are a lot of obstacles that we had to overcome through trial and error.  

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In what specific ways will your learning in KNR 171 contribute to your work as a professional and career goals? Why is this learning important beyond our classroom? What can/will you do with it?

 

Leadership Management focused on how to work appropriately with individuals in a group setting. I believe that the work done in this class will contribute to my work as a professional career because it is the first step in help me understand who I am as a person. Overall, the class helped me to gain the proper skills to be a great facilitator and to create activities that would be successful in the real world. Learning these types of skills in the recreation field is important because as an individual you have to be adaptable to all different types of people and groups. 

 

Recall and reflect on one occasion that you had to utilize one of your Top 5 Strengths from the CliftonStrengths for Students assessment during KNR 171.

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There were multiple times this semester that I used my Clifton strengths. One particular time that I used it was with my group facilitation. One of my strengths as an individual is being consistent. I used communication to make sure that my group stayed on top of deadlines for our project. We did have some trouble staying on the timeline due to an illness that left on of my group members hospitalized. However, we were able to work through the road block and complete everything on time and achieve our overall goal for our facilitation. 

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What areas of growth have you seen in your facilitation skills during your time in KNR 171? Provide examples from your experiences in KNR 171 to support your answer.

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At the beginning of the semester our leadership class was given three goals to meet by the end of the semester. The goals were to become a confident and effective leader, intentional leader, and an effective collaborator. I would say that at the beginning of the semester I had no idea how to be any of these things. I have always done really well with following directions with given them. Throughout the semester I was able to build confidence while working in a group setting. Also, I was more willing to listen my peers criticism. Overall, I felt like working on a group facilitation project helped me to learn how to communicate better as a person. My group was able to work together to come up with a plan that worked for all of us, even when we had challenge.