What are some ways that you have encouraged others to generate creative, resourceful solutions to problems and what were the outcomes? Please use a specific incident in your answer.
I have had many opportunities to encourage others to generate creative, resourceful solutions to problems. I am so lucky to get to associate with such great volunteers that are creative by themselves, but I know everyone needs a little encouragement sometimes. Just the other day, I was asked to attend a Care Week Committee meeting with Pete. Pete is probably one of the most innovative people I know, but this was definitely a time for encouragement. The committee had decided on the tag line, 'who cares?' for Care Week 2010. Now, I know they didn't want to have a slogan that could be misinterpreted, but they definitely needed to revise their slogan before I was comfortable with the message of care week being publicized to BYU students. I was able to offer the committee some constructive criticism, and then I was able to encourage them to use some of their other ideas. I was able to hear their new ideas today and they were so insightful. Care Week 2010 is going to be represented with the idea of helping hands instead!
In your opinion, what are the most important behaviors (as defined in your student manual) in getting results with a project or problem? Explain why you have chosen these and use specific personal examples to add merit to your claim.
For me, the most important behaviors, as defined in my student manual, are trust, creating a high-performance team, and innovation.
Trust - I chose this behavior because it is the basis of any lasting success. Without trust, individuals on a team will be unwilling to work for the team's success for very long. As stated in the manual, "For people to be committed to achieving results, they need to have a reasonable level of trust in their leader." It is impossible for others to be willing to work for my vision for our area, if they don't first trust them. It was really interesting for me to work with Nate the past few months. When it comes right down to it, I didn't allow myself trust him and he didn't trust me. I don't really know what I could have done to improve that trust and it's obviously too late now, but it's too bad we won't be able to see the results he could have brought to the table. By working more to improve trust, I may have seen an increase in his focus on results.
Creating a High-Performing Team - By myself, I can't even afford to focus on results because it would be impossible to achieve anything great. It is essential that I focus on creating a well-oiled machine with my team, so we will all be competent in our jobs and have full understanding of our area's potential... together! I have noticed over the last little while that as I have had more time to focus on my team members and helping them to feel appreciated, I have seen an increase in club presidents in the BYUSA office, event assistance being used, and in events by clubs. The results are directly due to my team being more confident in their positions, and more able to perform together for success.
Innovation - I want to be a leader that fosters innovation. Unfortunately, I'm not very innovative myself, but I know some of my teammates are. I want to be able to challenge my team to achieve significant results and actually strive for the BYUSA vision. If I do this, I will be better able to come up with new ideas and more willing to try them. I am impressed by Charne's ideas for Clubs Night. I don't know if my vision was really there for clubs night, but her innovative ideas have really helped us to create a vision together and accomplish more than we thought we could.
What are your personal strengths in getting results on projects or problems, and how can you use and implement them in your current leadership position to benefit your team?
In terms of getting results on projects or problems, I would say one of my personal strengths is my knowledge of the Clubs Area and my vision for what I want it to be. I was so excited when we were finally able to agree on a vision for our area at the beginning of this year. I feel confident that our vision will be able to encourage us to really go places and encourage positive changes in the way we do things.
During class, Adrian shared the following quote: Act well thy part, there all the honor lies. This quote reminds me that even more so than my personal abilities, I need to be acting in a manner that will expect results. If I am selling us short with my actions, we will not see any positive change. Instead, I need to believe in our vision and help my team to believe it can really happen. Chris has taught me the importance of inspiring your team. He is always inspiring me on different levels... as a friends, fellow leader, student, and member of the Church. I want to be able to better emulate his care for students because it has led us as a team to greater success. He has shown me the importance of helping volunteers to be better than they think they can.
For me, this is what results is all about. It isn't about the numbers I can put into a graph, but it's about the people who have grown as leaders and students. It is the individual who can look back on their experience at BYU with a smile.
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