Over the course of the Public Leadership program my understanding of leadership has changed. I once thought of leadership in binary terms. Someone is given a position of authority and they in turn lead the people under them. My thinking resulted from my experiences working underneath people and even from my own leadership positions, but Public Leadership taught that my superiors and myself were not effective leaders. Public Leadership defined leadership terms such as what is the difference between formal and informal leadership or what is citizen leadership but it also changed the way I view leadership. I now look at leadership as an act of service because it is a difficult, thankless job that often results in harsh consequences for failure. True leadership does not exist because of established positions of authority but instead someone is willing to take responsibility and lead. Public Leadership has changed my leadership style from a more authoritarian perspective to my current style which is similar to informal leadership. One of my five strengths was learning and I use this to become an effective informal leader. I enjoy learning new things, analyzing problems, creating solutions, and collaborating with others to executive these solutions. I also lead by example. From my experience following other leaders, I believe that providing an example for others to follow is the most effective way to become a leader. To highlight how my understanding of leadership has changed, below are my Guns on Campus Case Analysis, my Personal Leadership Philosophy Paper, and the CampusOutfitter Formal Business Plan. I included the Guns on Campus Case Analysis because gun control in general is an issue that I am passionate about and the issue highlights an aspect of how I understand leadership. I do not have a position of authority to create gun control policy and many students are the same way but we are still taking responsibility for the problem and informing ourselves on gun control issues in this country so that in the future we can create change. I included my Personal Leadership Philosophy Paper because it shows how my understanding of leadership has changed as a result of Public Leadership. The last document that I added, CampusOutfitter Formal Business Plan, was written in my first semester of college. It was a group project where we needed to create a company and a business plan to pitch to potential investors. Not only was this a fun project, but it also helped me develop my leadership style. Over the course of that project, I became an informal leader in my group and was the one responsible for giving reports and managing the project. The business plan also highlights that collaboration and planning are required for effective leadership.
In the third Public Leadership course, we learned the importance of strategic planning, and in November 2020, I was elected to the position of House Manager in my fraternity. My position was responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of our Chapter House. I brought strategic planning to my position in order to change how my fraternity handles housing. I created long-term goals and established policies to uncomplicate the process of filling our chapter house and finding off-campus housing for future years.