Extroverts vs Introverts

        When we did the extrovert vs introvert exercise, I found myself surprised with what I was classified as. I thought I would be an extrovert since I consider myself to be completely outgoing and down to earth. But once reading through the lists and critically thinking of who I am as an individual, i found out that I am an introvert. Everything in this list just really described who I was as an individual. I like the quiet to concentrate because too much noise easily distracts me. I have trouble remembering names and faces. I can stare at an individual for hours and now that they look very familiar but cannot remember how i know them. I can work on one project for a long time without interruption. Once I am focused on something and especially if i have a deadline for when i need to get it done, i put myself in a quiet environment and finish it.
         I am also very known for thinking before I act. I will think of every pro and con in a situation to figure out if actions are required or not. I don't like to be in odd situations so in order to avoid it I will weigh out every possibility in order to determine which is the best plan of action to take. And I come to realize that I am not a confrontational person at all. I tend to stutter over my words when put in awkward situations so sometimes written communication is better for me.
         It was interesting to go down the list and see that this characteristic describes me so well. Even my friends were amazed when I told them that I was an introvert instead of an extrovert since my personality when I am around them is so different.

Social Judgement Skills

        When going over my notes from the beginning of the year, I came across a topic we had discussed early on. It was the topic of social judgement. Having social judgement skills is having the capacity to understand people and social systems. It enables leaders to work with others to solve problems and to marshal support to implement change within an organization. Social judgement skills are the people skills that are necessary to solve unique organizational problems.
       When reading further into my notes, I noticed how I could relate this towards my life now. Being President of an RSO is a lot of work, especially a Greek council. I have to have many skills in order to be successful in my position. I have to have perspective skills, meaning to understand the attitudes that others have toward a particular problem or solution. I have to apply empathy to my problem solving. I have to be sensitive to other people's perspectives and goals- being able to understand their point of view on different issues.  I also have to have social perspectives to see how others in my organization  function. I have to know what's important to them and what motivates them. I have to be able to understand their unique needs, goals, and demands of different organizational constituencies.
       This leadership class has really helped me become a better leader. I am more aware of how I act toward individuals. Having these different perspectives has allowed me to have a sense of keen of how people will respond to any proposed change in my organization. It really allows me to know the pulse of my group on any issue at any time. Also I have learned that it is okay to change my leadership skills in order to meet the new demands. I have become a better communicator and have created an open door policy with my group. They know that they can be honest with me at any time since I want to build more of a relationship then just boss-employee. This leadership class has really helped me become more successful and an all around better leader.

mistakes

The other day at work, I had gotten into some trouble. I work in the bloodbank at the hospital and I had mistakenly issued the wrong unit of blood to a patient. It was an honest mistake but now I have to prove to my supervisor and staff that I am competent again. When talking to my supervisor, I had explained to him that we were just very busy and I had a lot on my plate at the moment and he was very understanding. He explained to me that mistakes happen every day and we are only human. I was  relieved when he had told me this. For now on I just have to be more aware. People make mistakes everyday but I just dont want to repeat my mistakes again. I prefer to learn from them and make myself a better employee.

Firing someone

The other day we hosted elections for the new NALFO board. I am currently the President and will be President again for next year. The elections went very smoothly and everyone was extremely happy with the results. However, the following day I came across some important information. The newly elected vice president was unable to run due to the fact that she is only part time. I had spoken with my advisor to see how I should go about the situation and he told me that I needed to tell the individual that they would no longer be able to hold their position in office. I was a little nervous at first since the person and I were rather close friends. However, it went a lot easier then I thought. I explained to the person the reasoning behind me having to dismiss them from their position and although she was upset at first she understood completely. We talked about things and I explained to her that I could still use her help and just because she wasn't on the board anymore didn't mean that she couldn't still be extremely involved within the group. She was very pleased to hear this information.
I think I handled the situation very well. I was informative yet I still displayed empathy. I tried putting myself in her shoes and its hard hearing that kind of information but I knew it would be harder hearing it from your good friend.

Communication

The other day at work I learned how important communication is. I work in a blood bank at the Christiana Hospital as a clerk and I really enjoy my job but it requires me to be alert at all times. One mistake and I could put someones life at risk. I really enjoy my job and when I first started working there I thought it was going to be a piece of cake. However, the other day I found myself in a dilemma. A nurse had ordered blood on the floor for two patients. It was an extremely busy day in the blood bank and when i distributed the blood, there was some miscommunication on where it was going. I was told by the nurse that it was going to one floor, but in my computer screen it had said another location. I finally decided to take matters into my own hands and call the doctor himself to figure out where this blood would be going. Once I called the doctor I had found out that the blood was going to a completely different location all together. I ended up calling the nurse back to tell her where the patient had been transported and she had no idea that he had even left her ward.
It was crazy to think that this is someones life we have in our hands and no one was able to keep tabs on him properly. Everything ended up turning out just fine but it was very scary to not know where this patient was, knowing that he needed a massive transfusion. But I think she learned her lesson that communicating with the "big" boss is always important and you shouldn't always take charge without knowing what is going on first.

Learn how to do something new

          On Tuesday in class, we taught everyone how to use twitter. Teaching everyone to use twitter was quite easy. Our group had watched two videos on YouTube for how to set up twitter. We each created one and customized it and all added each other. Our goal was to get as many followers as we could before we presented.
          It was difficult at first to communicate within our group. We had started an email thread brainstorming different ideas. After many ideas were thrown to the table, our leader stepped up and picked a certain topic so we could get to work. We all decided that twitter would be fun and got right to making it. When we finally met together, our leader broke our project up into different topics based on the knowledge we had acquired from the videos.  I think we presented very well.
        This task required everyone to be active. Everyone was required to know how to use the product and it helped us drastically with our communication skills. In order for us to succeed we had to constantly communicate with one another via email and motivate ourselves to complete the task.

My day as a leader- Today you have a problem

     On April 14th, my day as a leader was solving a problem. I was given the title of manager of a small paper airplane construction business and told to describe my culture and explain my plan for employee development.  My company, known as We fly high 4 you, was bidding for a major contract with the USAF. My employers consisted of two new employees starting today, one from MIT and the other a chemical engineer from a local college. I also had a veteran (2 years) employee with high competence, but little commitment and a somewhat new (6 months) employee with high commitment, but little competence.
     Our product was paper airplanes meant for all ages. Our paper airplane would be the best product because they would be made with sturdier paper that would make it unbreakable as it flew. We would also design our planes with cartoons and let them be available in different colors and designs. Our airplanes can be used as greeting cards also, containing messages to send to loved one or friends. Each month a different staff member will be in charge of creating that months paperplane design. These designs would be our main display for an entire month, with the selected employer in charge. This way I can let my employers know that I trust them, and everyone will become more competent at their job.
     As seeing that we would want to be the most successful company, we had to come up with a plan to spilt up the employers and amount of work.  Our veteran was in charge of production. Our veteran was the only one who knew how to make our products, however she had little commitment. I as the manger thought the best solution for her would be to show support. This employer had high competence and with a little motivation and support we were sure we could get her really committed. I as the manager also made her shift leader. Giving the veteran a leadership role to me was letting her know that we want her around and maybe with a little more responsibility and encouragement she would want to stick around also. The veteran worked with both new employers but mainly just oversaw production. I think this was the best option for the veteran because the veteran just needed the extra support. Some people are completely capable of being great employers  however, without the needed support they will not succeed.
       The somewhat new employee was our "go to guy." This employer was very dedicated to the company. He knew what had to be done and would always complete the task. However, he lacked leadership skills. It seemed as though he needed some type of direction.  I believed that he could create all our products quickly and put the required effort into each and every one. With constant practice, this can bring his competence skills up, bettering our company all together. To ensure everything will be running smoothly, I will hold weekly meetings updating my staff how we are doing as a whole and individually.
       The leadership challenge was tough at first. I wasn't sure how to gather up my teammates. I needed to figure out who exactly I was dealing with at first. Once I got to know my employers I automatically came up with ideas to help each employer. I delegated jobs and positions and completed the task at hand.s

My Day as leader

My day as a leader involved me taking initiative to get better ideas for my group project. A leader was designated from each group and was told to stay at the board and get ideas from different groups on how we can better our projects.  I knew that since there would be many people giving me ideas, that I had to develop some sort of strategy and be completely open-minded to everyone's ideas without changing my group goals. I listened to what the group members had to say then  picked which ideas would be more beneficial in the end. It was  tough when I had to come in contact with larger groups because it was difficult to keep everyone on task and have them not have side conversations. However, larger groups were able to come up with more ideas. The smaller groups of one or two individuals was a lot easier to maintain however there was only so much information that they could come up with. I think this really challenged me considering I am a quiet person. It made me step up more so that I could complete the task at hand.

Active Listening

Today I went out to lunch with an old friend that I hadn't seen in a very long time. She has been going through some rough times recently and she really needed a friend she could trust to vent to. When we went out to lunch I could feel that she had a lot of tension and really just needed to let everything out. As she started to open up and let everything out I thought back to our active listening lesson and I thought that this would be a great time to put this to practice. And it really did work. She said she felt really relieved that I was actually listening and I understood everything she was saying. Even though it felt awkward at first to be repeating what she was saying, to her it helped to know that I was truly engaged in her conversation and it made her feel comfortable to open up even more.

The Virtual Water Cooler

My name is Jennifer Ortiz and I am a junior here at the University of Delaware. My major is medical technology and I am thinking about minoring in leadership. I am from south jersey from a little town called Egg Harbor City NJ. I am a member of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority Incorporated and I am also NALFO president. I chose to answer question number 2. It is as follows: Do you hold a leadership position in a campus group? Explain your position. Who are your followers? Is there anyone who leads above you and how does that affect your ability to lead your group?
 I am currently NALFO president here at the University of Delaware. NALFO stands for national association of Latino Fraternal Organizations. Basically what NALFO is is an umbrella organization for all the Latino fraternities and sororities on campus. My job as NALFO president is to make sure all university rules are followed and to make sure my council can be the most affective to the community and to my members. My followers are my follow peers. I currently oversee 3 fraternities and 5 sororities, making a total of 30 people. How NALFO is run is that I basically conduct the meetings once a week with my council enforcing rules, putting on programs, doing community service and fundraisers. I also meet with the assistant director of student life once a week to talk about my council. We discuss my budgets and we discuss what my council does around the university and ways we can improve. I think having someone such as the assistant director of student life above me makes me act a lot more professional at my meetings. It effects me because I know this has to be run right. I feel as if a student were above me I wouldn't necessarily take my job so serious, but because a professional is above me, it makes me want to always be professional.