“The Leadership competency area addresses the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required of a leader, whether it be a positional leader or a member of the staff, in both an individual capacity and within a process of how individuals work together effectively to envision, plan, effect change in organizations, and respond to internal and external constituencies and issues.”

Over the past two years, I have been able to lead by motivating others, students, colleagues, coworkers, and supervisors. It has always been my belief that to inspire other through both words and actions is to be a leader. The leadership competency area is about more than being a leader it is also about helping others reach their leadership potential, facilitating team building initiatives, encouraging others to make contributions to their communities and serving as a mentor. It is in these ways that I am proficient in the competency area of leadership.

Activity 1: Personal Leadership and Role Modeling
The leadership competency focuses on one’s ability to demonstrate leadership amongst students, peers, and departments. I believe that by navigating the Department of Residence Life I have been able to align my professional actions with the values of the department and act in ways that are loyal to these initiatives and myself. Through this experience I have learned to see myself as a role model for acting in ways that are authentic and genuine to myself. I believe it has been this experience that has allowed me to step into the role of Hall Coordinator as a graduate student and gain respect of student staff and professionals.



I believe leadership is a continuous learning process. I seek feedback from my supervisors, student staff, and peers to ensure that I am gathering information from all those I work with in an effort to grow in my leadership and supervisory styles. I have been able to recognize this year that I must also provide feedback to those who give me feedback, in this way we are able to grow as a team. At times I find myself asking for context about decisions that are above me, in this way I am often questioning if the decision reflects student centered thought, by gaining context for decisions I am able to explain policies to students and other staff members.

Activity 2: Team Building Initiatives
I took it upon myself in my second year being in Residence Life at BGSU to devote a great deal of time building community within the residence hall in effort to create an environment that encourages students and staff members to make contributions to the hall community and to the greater community of BGSU. I stand firm on the idea that the stronger I am as a leader to student staff, the more dedicated that will be to their community and therefore the more residence will respect and feel connected to their community.

I have a collection of team building initiatives that I have used progressively bond the student staff over the course of the year. The biggest lesson I have learned in leadership is to use a transformational leader style that allows others to invest and have input in the building of the team. Each week at our RA staff meeting I provide time for staff members to talk about highs and lows of their week, as well as any announcements they may want to share for the group. I have found that this time is often used for staff members to find times to collaborate with each other.