Leadership In Action

21-month Leadership Learning

I mentioned in my opening statement the outstanding leadership opportunities that my university and college have available to students. One of these opportunities came to my attention during the spring semester of my freshmen year. The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) was creating their second installment of a program known as Leadership In Action (LIA). This program was the creation of a College of ACES dean and the provost on campus. The program was a funded through a United States Department of Agriculture grant and worked to equip a handful of students on the U of I campus with the tools and knowledge needed to enable them to teach other students leadership. The program was unique and attractive to me because of the fact that it brought together ten students from each of three Big Ten schools and let these students learn leadership together and then perpetuate leadership on their individual campuses. This program was brought to my attention by a fellow student leader, Miss Carly Rakes, and by the end of the 21-month program I had obtained two wonderful mentors, became more self-aware, and worked to foster leadership in other students and in the community.

Leadership In Action incorporated 14 modules that the 30 students participating in the program experienced and then were trained to teach each modules to other students. The experience of going through the modules was really life changing. The first LIA meeting took place in May 2007. At this three day meeting we first covered topics concerning self-awareness. I had never before been exposed to such an in-depth look at how I lead and what mattered to me. Previously, I had always prided myself on knowing what I valued, however this experience brought my values to the forefront. Through exercises such as the Kiersey Temperament sorter and privilege activities, I came to realize what my strengths were, what my weaknesses were and most importantly that no “best” leadership style exists. Each of the 30 participants in LIA had their own distinctive style and set of values. Knowing this I became respectful of and happy with mine, I also quickly realized by working with others, great things could be accomplished. While I am an extraverted, organized leader, others around me are the complete opposite. By forming a cooperative working relationship with those who are different from me I can form a team that is aptly equipped to address any problem or any crowd. By getting to know my own set of values, ethics and abilities, I quickly identified what qualities I brought to a team and what values would go with me always.

ACES 101: What is Leadership

After I had experience leadership learnings from “What is Leadership?” to conflict and change management, I was also given the chance to inform students on my campus about leadership and the great opportunities they are given. The group of 10 LIA students on my campus took on the responsibility of teaching the module we learned titled “What is Leadership?” to the 25 sections of the course ACES 101. The students in this course were freshmen within our college and just the type of students we wanted to target with leadership education and information. As a group we modified our module information to create a 45 minute workshop for students. The workshop highlighted why leadership was important, allowed the students to experience teamwork, and offered them information about how to become involved in student organizations and leadership development on campus.

The experience of working with students was very interesting. Facilitating the workshop was almost as enlightening for me as it was for the students. I was extremely impressed with the students’ responses to our activities and through out all of the sections conversations were started that I never dreamed about. The chance to facilitate a workshop helped me hone my presentation and communication skills. From this experience I got a quick glimpse of what it is like to put on public presentations and workshops everyday. I was also very happy to see several of these students participating in groups and organizations around campus after they learned about them during the workshop. Overall the experience was a time of learning and leadership for everyone involved.

Community Service

The component of LIA that I personally enjoyed the most (aside from the opportunity to meet and learn with students from other campuses) was the chance to work with community service. Throughout the four large group meetings I participated in during the 21 month period, each meeting featured a chance to work with the community. During our initial meeting in Chicago we visited a school for under-privileged children in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. We worked with a literacy program when during our visit to the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus and heard from the Animal Welfare Coalition in Champaign-Urbana. These experiences were invaluable to my learning. I never before connected the idea of leadership to the community, but by observing the work of these groups, I quickly saw what focused leadership could for the better of a community.

The LIA students at my college chose to focus on the Animal Welfare Coalition as our capstone experience. Throughout the 2008 fall semester we worked with Coalition to bring their message to students on our campus. The Coalition was facing an opportunity to raise awareness about animal care among college students. The LIA students helped them identify outlets that students would use to learn about animals. After working with local media, the tenant union and looking into advertising options that would reach students, I know that I have helped the Coalition reach out to the college student audience. I also fully understand their position within the community and the meaningful work they are trying to do.

Summing it Up

When embarking on this 21-month leadership learning I didn’t know what to expect. I knew that I was going to learn about leadership, but never dreamed how much more self-aware I would become. I did not anticipate the wonderful relationships I would foster with the other students in the program and the advisors. Most of all, I never dreamed that I would be involved in leading change and community building within the Champaign-Urbana community. The Leadership In Action experience has been one of enlightenment and learning for me, and one I will never forget.