24 Jul Provide a response to each student discussion post.Be sure to engage and share something to enlighten the discussion further. Each response must be at 250 words

Provide a response to each student discussion post. Must be at 250 words.

First post:

The type of leadership style that I follow is participative/democratic. I grew up with six sisters in a small household and not in the best of areas.  Making decisions happened as a group. My parents wanted us to have our input as well as connect and build trust with one another. I believe this style was rooted in me at a young age and I have instilled it since. 

When I first started my professional career within housing, I was given a student leadership organization to advise, that had one member and that was struggling to keep afloat. When digging into the root of the issue, I found that the previous advisor did not allow for input, would skip meetings, would not follow up with the group etc. This had caused many students to leave the organization because they did not see it as beneficial. Coming into this I knew that it would be a challenge. How can I get these student leaders to trust me? I started from scratch. I sent out emails, put up flyers, looking for anyone and everyone for input on what could be done differently. I eventually had 15 students interested. I had weekly meetings with them, allowed for them to have the creative flow for programming and events, really listened to them wanting feedback from university officials, maintained study hours for grades, worked in groups for service projects etc. I wanted them to feel as if they had a voice and could have input on decisions. I started with 15 students and that semester, I ended with 25 students. 

 I do believe that my leadership style helped the situation. Understanding why many students left, I did not want to go in very authoritative and making decisions on my own. That was part of the reason why students left the organization to begin with.  I acknowledged that everyone had received information differently and began to implement some of the suggestions given (building wide meetings, collaborative efforts with other student organizations, meetings with university officials, etc.), while still putting my foot down if needed in which way all residents felt they had a voice. I knew that I had to be adaptable and show the students that I am there for them. Today, I have 60 students who are a part of that same student leadership organization. I don’t know if I were to come in with any other style of leadership if I would have this same outcome. 

Provide a response to each student discussion post. Must be at 250 words.

2nd Post:

Throughout my career there has been a lot learned that has enabled my growth and development overtime. To put things into perspective, I would say one of my great accomplishments would be receiving advisor of the year for my institution while a setback would be my social anxiety. Two opposite elements but yet, both powerful in their own way. 

Working through my struggles and successes I have learned that the following things were and still are important to me during the processes:

· Communication in all forms (both giving and receiving) 

· Transparency 

· Being aware both internally (how I am feeling, self-awareness etc. )  and externally (the situations I come across, who is involved, where etc.)

· Staying humble

Without communication there is no transparency (Simonovic, 2022). Communication is a necessary trait to have to get your message across. Communicating can have an impact on motivation of peers and how direction is taken (Simonovic, 2022). However, with communication comes tone. Sometimes it's not about what is said, but how it is said. Within my career, making sure that I communicate with individuals in a way where I am being transparent with the who, what, why and where is critical for where I would like to be one day. Being aware or self-awareness enables me to remember my why when situations occur. Never forgetting where I come from and showing humility shows my authentic self. It was okay to make mistakes but grow from them. Perfectionism is not reality. 

The main leadership styles that contributed to my experiences would be authoritative and democratic. Depending upon the situation, authoritative leadership allowed me to take the initiative, make decisions and set policies for my student staff/residents with their best interests in mind. With democratic leadership, I took a step back in situations with my student groups and asked for input for better direction. I listened and had to gain their trust. This allowed group cohesiveness to occur because everyone felt their voice was being heard. With all of my experiences that have contributed to my successes and setbacks I realized early on those different factors played a role into my leadership type in that situation or moment. I still feel this way however, I strive to maintain a democratic leadership style.