Thursday, January 24, 2013

MBTI

I think this statement is partially true. I definitely do not think that I fall under one side of the spectrum or the other: I am a mixture of both. I think the MBTI highlights the general outline of one's personality and describes distinct extremes of the spectrum. However, it fails to leave room for anywhere in the middle. There are a few traits that I could see myself falling in the middle of two ends of the spectrum, but in general, I tend to lean more towards one side or the other instinctually.

I think that some MBTI types are viewed more positively than others. For example, P vs. J. In class, people made it sound like P's were bad. Coming from a J standpoint, the way that P's act stresses me out, however, there is no problem with the way they complete tasks. They just have a different way of approaching tasks. I do not think that society thinks one way is better than the other. Most people in our class tended to be J's so it made it seem like the P's were bad. However, I believe that in leadership situations, you need one of each type.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Forms of leadership

Part 1:

Of all the different leadership models and theories that we studied in class, the one that really resonated with me was the Relational Leadership Model. I honestly can not think of any issues with this form of leadership. While I believe that this model is very effective and helps build relationships with everyone you are working with, I do believe it applies better to certain situations over others. For example, if the goal in mind is a business transaction, this method of leadership will not necessarily get one the greatest monetary deal. However, it will create relationships with those who you are working with, which, in my opinion, is more important than the monetary gain. I often choose to follow this form of leadership because I value the relationships created rather than the other gains. I think that it's more important to create bonds with other people because in the end, it makes everyone happier overall. This model is definitely applicable to my life. It's funny because when it was read in class, it really resonated with me. I did not realize that there was a term for this form of leadership. An example of this type of leadership from my life is when I was in charge of leading a group of high school students from my church to build houses in Tijuana. The group that I led consisted of 9 students and 2 adults. Although the ultimate goal of the trip was to build a house in one week, I thought it was equally, if not more, important to build relationships with one another. I made sure to take time away from the building time to build relationships with one another. 

Part 2:

I can't find a picture for this example because I am using my phone to post this blog (I'm on a retreat in Tahoe) but if I were to post a picture, it would be two pictures side by side, kind of life a before and after picture. On the left hand side, I would include a picture of cake ingredients (eggs, flour, milk, butter, etc). On the right hand side of the picture, I would include the final product of a cake. There's a lot that goes into making a cake: an oven, the raw ingredients, a person to mix the ingredients, etc. Without one aspect of the process, the overall cake can't be made. Well, it could, but it just wouldn't be good. Similar to the Social Change Model, the different aspects to this form of leadership rely on each other. Without the values of society, group and the individual, the overall form of leadership doesn't work. 

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Elevator Speech

My name is Lauren Eng. I am from Mercer Island, Washington (in between Seattle and Bellevue... and no, you do not have to take a ferry to get to it). I have an older brother who is a sophomore here at SCU. I intend to gain an economics major through the College of Arts and Sciences, with a public health minor. I LOVE volunteering and helping others. I really want to do Peace Corps. when I graduate from SCU. I am excited to be in this ELP class and get to meet other people who are just as enthusiastic and passionate about leading.