Class reflection

What I valued most about the class was getting to learn about other chapter presidents. I particularly enjoyed learning how each of us is a leader in our own personal ways. It’s very cool to see different people enable their unique organizations that are all a part of a larger community.

I have taken this back to my organization by striving to learn more about the other members on and how I can enable them with their unique perspectives to be the best leaders they can. Something I admit I have not given much thought to before.

I think the seven C’s were also very helpful and I hope it continues to be applied to future classes. It’s very easy to understand, but it doesn’t pretend to be easy to apply. I also like the fact that it presents the concepts with the idea that they are all tied together. Leadership models that attempt to compartmentalize aspects such as these are unrealistic, and thus are a waste.

Collaborating with and learning more about other chapter Presidents is definitely the most beneficial part of the class.

If I could offer any advice it would be to increase individualization. Chapter Presidents have many outside pressures on them that can force them to not be themselves at times (leadership conferences, executive board members, chapter members, alumni advisers, consultants from nationals). Each of these things can serve a positive role by helping presidents grow into better leaders. However, they can also push individuals into focusing on what they should be and not what they are. Without adequate self-reflection, an individual can only take so much of this before starting to become a disengaged leader. Additionally, I don’t think it’s possible to cover ground on your weaknesses if you don’t know your strengths. 

Personal values

Values are beliefs and philosophy meaningful to certain individuals. We come to value things first because we have personal connections with them, and ultimately because they help get us somewhere. As an example, from an early age my grandfather taught me the importance hard work. At first I valued this because of my personal connection with him; I valued most things he taught me. It was only after I put this value to use in my own life, and reaped the benefits of applying it regularly that I’m able to own this value.

There is no question that living our values is what makes us the happiest, this is something I have learned, both the easy and the hard way. For as long as I have remembered I have valued physical activity, lately I have noticed that I have let that value slip by letting myself get way too busy to get in a workout on a regular basis. Not being able to fit this value into my schedule has only caused me more stress, which in turn does not help my endeavors as a student or Fraternity President. In order for us to be at our happiest we simply have to learn how to make time for our values.

The most important lesson to remember about values is that living your values GIVES you energy, and not living them SUCKS your energy. The most successful and happy individuals in our culture understand this principle and apply it every day. 

Personal Vision Statement

My personal vision statement is to put myself in a position where I am free to live out my passions on an everyday basis by choosing a career that allows me to closely align my personal and career goals. I am passionate about gaining knowledge, but also sharing it; achieving big things, but also giving back; and accomplishing my personal goals, but also helping others get where their going. I seek to have a positive impact on every person with whom I come in contact. I see true success as being able to balance all aspects of life such as career, family, and personal well-being. In order for this to happen I will need to conduct all my daily actions in congruence with my personal values that include honesty, integrity, responsibility, good-heartedness, and respect. 

Collaboration Reflection

Typically speaking, individuals find it hard to collaborate with others because we find it hard to let go of our own opinions. Those of us fortunate enough to be in leadership positions often fall into the trap of thinking that we must know best because we’re the groups elected leader, and since we were elected by a democratic process then that must mean that the group has given us discretion to make decisions for the group.

Having the mindset that leadership is grounded in relationships with others, not within a leader’s innate abilities is what can empower groups to collaborate. Personally, it was coming to this realization that allowed me to increase collaboration in my organization. As a leader it is often hard to tell if certain members of your team have this mindset or not. I try to insure collaboration by involving everyone in the group and creating responsibility that can be handed out so that members become accountable. Creating common goals is one way to spread the responsibility.

Another personal flaw that has allowed for lower collaboration within my group in the past has been my inability to capitalize on the diverse strengths and perspectives of group members. This goes back to the first point about not being able to let go of our personal opinions. When a leader assumes his opinion must always—or at least most of the time—be right, then he cuts his organization of from the many different ideas these different perspectives bring to the table. Getting out of this mindset has been one of my leadership goals for the quarter, and so far I am proud to say that I have made considerable process. 

Citizenship

I’ve become a more effective citizen because I’ve learned that responsibility is at the heart of citizenship. I used to think citizenship was represented by actions such as voting or doing “one good deed a day.” The mere change of how I define the word is not in itself responsible for the transformation, it’s more about deeper understanding of the concept.

 I believe getting involved with a fraternity has definitely helped me evolve in how I view citizenship. My old way of viewing citizenship was so dry that it left me with very little motivation to get engaged. As a result, service was an obligation, not a responsibility. Helping re-establish a fraternity has not only engaged me in the Greek life community, but also with the Ohio State community. As a result of this engagement, I now feel a sense of satisfaction when I participate in service, whether it’s direct service, philanthropic giving, capacity building, or any of the forms of individual civic engagement.

As a goal for our colony this quarter I would like us to see achieve 175 total service hours. Since we started the quarter with 15 active founders—each required to do ten hours a quarter—we should hit at least 150 hours at a minimum, and I believe the eight new guys will be able to cover the rest. Rather than just throwing this goal out there, I would instead like to alter the way the colony views citizenship similar to the same way I altered my view. I believe this is the change that all of our brothers need to make if we’re serious about helping improve the image of Greek life at Ohio State.

Individual change reflection

During last week’s assigned reading I came across one of those “ah-ha” moments while reading about the notion of individual change. In particular, there is one quote from the chapter that I will personally focus on for the rest of the quarter, “When people who are actually creating a system start to see themselves as the source of their problems, they invariably discover a new capacity to create results they truly desire” (Komives and Wagner 106). This idea has opened my eyes up to the fact that a leader’s failure to impalement group change is sometimes because of his own failure to accept individual change.

It was while reflecting on the progress that the group made over the fall quarter during my winter break that I began to realize that last quarter I focused too heavily on a results-based view towards the other officers. The problem was that this led to only two possible reactions on my part: frustration or satisfaction. The feelings were split pretty even throughout the quarter, only the problem was the frustration would outweigh the satisfaction in my mind, which would only lead to more frustration and stress for everyone.  A further problem was this left no room for positivity because even if officers met their goals I wasn’t immensely excited because this is what they were supposed to be doing anyway.

This quarter I am committed to taking more of an “individual based view” which will allow me to focus on each individual officer personally, and the unique skills that each officer brings to the group because of their diverse perspectives. Hopefully, this will also allow me to bring more positivity to the group, which will lead to individual motivation for each officer.

Social Change Reflection

On February 20^th 2011, I was pinned as an associate member of Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity in the basement of the Ohio Union. The experience was anything but conventional to the standards of most Greeks. I was pinned by a member of the Board of Governors, not a brother, I had only known of the existence of the organization for about a month, I knew no one who had ever been in the organization, and my “new member” class had nothing to do with learning about the fraternity, but rather starting one. It marked the beginning of an amazing, albeit unconventional experience of Fraternity life as a “re-founding” father.

 The Gamma chapter, which has been at Ohio State for 100 years now, was kicked off in 2007 for hazing—amongst other moronic policies—had clearly lost sight of what it meant to be a fraternity man. We wanted to reform the image of this fraternity from just another party house on campus back to the young men’s leadership organization it once was.

From the beginning it was very clear that our mission was positive social change. I believe all of the seven C’s were present during the process. More specifically I think our group was high in citizenship, common purpose, congruence, and especially commitment.

We have made we have made great progress towards our goal in the past year. Although I think we are only about half way there, seeing our progress so far has given me one of the greatest feelings of accomplishment I’ve ever experienced.