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Emotional Intelligence

Week 4 Relfection

For this week’s reflection I want to focus on the Goleman (1998) article. I want to analyze how well or poorly I demonstrate the five components of emotional intelligence.

Self-awareness – This one is interesting because I feel like I display some characteristics of self-awareness very well but I struggle with other parts. I think I am able to recognize when my emotions are affecting my behavior. I can look at a situation and take a step back to realize that my emotions are influencing my decision and then rethink those decisions. I lack self-confidence though. I am often quiet in new situations. It takes me a while to get comfortable in a new group. For example, even though I have power on our 4-H committee as a 4-H professional, it took me a while before I felt comfortable expressing my opinions.

Self-regulation – I think this is very important for an Extension professional. I also feel that I excel in this area. While I was reading about the executive who had to step back and think about the poor performance of his employees it reminded me of a situation I faced with out Junior Fair Board this summer. One of our volunteers was discussing their performance during a show at the fair. I made sure to point out that it is possible that we didn’t necessarily train them as well as he could have. He commended me for being able to recognize that it may not be 100 percent their problem and for taking responsibility for their actions as their leader.

Motivation – This is another area where I feel I have strengths and weaknesses. I am highly motivated in my work. I want to positively affect the youth of our county and I am highly motivated to develop new programming to make that possible. I feel like I often lack motivation when it comes to other aspects of my life such as school work (this has been a problem since high school,) exercise, and eating healthy.

Empathy – This is another component I feel like I really excel in. I like listening to others’ problems and helping them work through them. I like to act as a peacemaker between friends. For example, I am a volunteer swimming coach for River View High School. The head coach and assistant coach both have children on the team and that has caused several disagreements. Both of them will come to me with their problems and I often try to explain to them how the other is thinking, and why they may have done something. I also do this when there is gossip in our office. I want everyone to get along, and I use my empathy skills to help make that possible.

Social Skills – I think I have good social skills in a small group setting, but I struggle in a large group setting. I think some of this comes from being very young in my profession. In a small group I feel more comfortable and less like the “newbie.” I think this comes back to lacking in self-confidence. I think if I work on my self-confidence, my social skills will improve as well.

MBTI in Leadership

Week 3 Reflection

This week’s information really helped my understanding of MBTI and how I should apply it to myself and in my future leadership roles. I have taken MBTI style tests several times throughout my life. The first time I took the MBTI test I was a junior in high school. I don’t remember what style I got, but I do remember that most of my scores were justly slightly one way or the other. Since then, I have taken free online MBTI style tests and I haven gotten variable results.

After reading the Michael (2003) article, I felt better about these mixed results. I realized that these traits weren’t necessarily dichotomous. After viewing the video and reading the Introduction to Type video, I decided I am en ESFJ, although I had a very difficult time choosing between judging and perceiving. I read through the description for an ESFJ and an ESFP and I felt that both described me pretty well but I felt like I leaned slightly more to judging than perceiving, especially in my work and leadership life.

I think having both perceiving and judging could actually be very beneficial in my work. In some ways, Judging can be very beneficial because I can be very organized and well planned. When it comes to planning for programs and events, it is very important to be able to plan ahead and be organized. For example, I am starting a completely new program, Project Butterfly Wings, with a community garden in Coshocton this summer. Because this program is new, it will be very important for me to think ahead and plan thoroughly to ensure that this program runs smoothly. On the other hand, it is also often necessary in 4-H and Extension programming to be flexible and open to change. When I worked as a camp staff member at Canter’s Cave, it was often necessary to be able to change plans last minute. I felt very comfortable with this flexible atmosphere and I was able to adapt quickly.

I want to learn more about how to use my MBTI results to become a better leaderĀ . The Myers Introduction to type article (1998) was very accurate when it discussed problems that ESFJs may have. It discussed that they may worry a lot and get stressed when a group isn’t in harmony. These are huge problems for me. I am often stressed about the quality of my work. I also stress easily about everyone getting along both in my personal and professional life. I would like to learn strategies to help not only deal with the stress, but prevent it all together.

Overall, this week’s material was very helpful in my understanding of the MBTI and how I can utilize it in my work.

Transformational/Servant Leadership

Week 2 Reflection:

This week’s content really caused me to think in depth about my own leadership style. After reading the description of transformational leadership in the first article, I thought “That is definitely me.” Then, as I read further, I also thought servant leadership was my style. Although reading the rest of the articles helped make it more clear, I also had to really think about my past leadership experiences to determine which leadership style fitted me best. I determined in the end that I am more of a servant leader than a transformational leader.

I also determined that the best leadership style for my work as a 4-H professional is probably a combination of both servant leadership and transformational leadership. When working with youth I think it is important to put their needs first. I think we have to ensure that each child has a positive experience in our program. Sometimes this means putting the needs of one child above the needs of others. In contrast, when working with 4-H advisors the opposite is sometimes true. We have to value all of our 4-H volunteers, but I think there are times that we have to put the value of the youth and the program above the needs of one volunteer. This can make for difficult conversations, which is something I definitely struggle with, and will have to improve on. Hopefully more experience will make it easier, although I think because I am more of a servant leader, it will probably always be something that is difficult for me.

What I Hope to Gain from AEE 8420

AEE 8420 Week 1 Reflection:

I hope to gain my own sense of leadership from this course.

I would like to learn how to better utilize my leadership skills in my daily life.

I would like to learn skills to lead both our customers but also how I can use leadership skills with my coworkers.

I want to learn how to use my leadership style in the most effective manner.