DEVELOPING, UTILIZING, INTERNALIZING LEADERSHIP...

Leadership. I think first of all that everyone is capable to be a leader, but it takes time to become one. From what I have learned in REDbird, it is an interpersonal skill that involves many aspects about ourselves and others. My main goal for this year in terms of leadership is to engage each team member I have in my Self-Initiated Leadership Project, and I can do this by calling for a general meeting once every month. My action steps are to gather more information from my team about their availability, schedule the meeting in this month, and create an agenda for the meeting. So far, I have listed down several topics I want to discuss, and I plan to organize these within next week. From the core trainings, I learned that it is a significant role for a leader to influence others positively. This involves building rapport and interest with others and making an impact by having a clear goal in mind and encouraging others to be on board the same idea. I think it is also important to inspire others to share the same idea, and this is another goal of mine to have my team in the self-initiated leadership project agree on the same concepts and goals, the mission and vision of our society, which is to create a unique experience of entertainment and leisurely activities open to HKUST students every year as a way to relax from studies and meet new people. I also want to motivate my team by encouraging them to actively act towards our goal. This includes preparation of materials, layout, and scheduling of a workshop we intend to hold about flying model aircraft. Other than the project, I have also learned more about coaching and facilitation through REDbird. I learned about the GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Will) model for facilitation, and about the role of coaches as a guide rather than a manager. I think through these, I can serve as a leader by being a role model to other peers, especially the first year members, whom I now serve as a coach. I am especially grateful that I am able to apply these learnings by being a coach. I thoroughly enjoy and continue to learn from encouraging others to share their ideas and guiding them to develop. Another way for me to contribute in the community is by giving feedback, which we also developed in REDbird. It is important to give constructive feedback, both positive and negative, to make it possible for the receiver to improve his or her ideas. Overall, from my experiences in REDbird, I have developed a lot and gained much insight into the concepts that involve leadership. I truly hope to continue my application of these lessons into my project and my life.