Leadership

Dungeons and Dragons Club

Founder and Co-President

P2P Student Council

Co-Head of Publicity

Thespians National Honor Society

President

Leadership Philosophy

Leadership is more than holding power. Leadership is the autonomy to make change in your life and inspire others to make change in theirs. Leadership is knowing who you are and what is the positive impact you can make. This is my definition because I believe that with the right paradigms and goals, anyone can be a leader, creating positive change. The best leaders do not use discipline, fear, or their rank, instead they work collaboratively from a place of the heart in order to inspire and guide towards a positive future.

I am a leader. I am in leadership positions in three organizations, but what truly makes me a leader is my mindset. I live in tune with my values, constantly strive to improve myself, and try to leave the community better than I found it through working collaboratively.

This has not always been what leadership meant for me. Only a few months ago, I had confused leaders and managers; I would define a person’s leadership based on their title and control over their organization. This change happened in Carla Flanhofer’s Leadership course. We were taught by expert leaders that our definitions had been wrong and unproductive. Alexis Kandra-Olmstead described how leadership was thought of as only being about being bold, decisive, and commanding. Instead, leadership comes in many forms, many of which are not limited to bold, extraverted people. This changed my mindset, and got me thinking about how leadership is not dependent on control. Likewise, a Ted Talk by Drew Dudly shifted my paradigm around leadership. Dudley discussed that leadership is put on a pedestal, and thus everyday accomplishments are devalued. He said that leadership does not need to be noteworthy, it is about little acts that improve ourselves and the world. A great leader should unconsciously be creating small improvements in people's lives all around them. Leadership is not defined by mistakes, it is defined by effort and passion. As Courtney Johnson described, failing is an important part of life, and true leaders welcome failure and are afraid of not trying. The best leaders focus on relationships, not profit. Leadership is not dependent on power, I realized, it is only dependent on impact.

Through this course we had many more discussions and activities designed to make us create a nuanced definition of leadership and improve our leadership skills. One final moment which truly broke my expectations about leadership was going on a field trip to get a talk from Dave Ventimiglia of Tipi Raisers, a farm and nonprofit organization. Instead of sitting in a classroom, Dave put us in a giant tipi and ordered us to discard our notes. He described that we often make leadership a concrete thing, but leadership is not about the brain, it is based on emotions and interactions. To lead someone, you need to foster trust with them and be able to fully understand what they are thinking. As practice, Dave had us interact with a group of horses. This one again changed my ideas around leadership, and led me to start prioritizing the trust and understanding with the people in my teams.

My definition of leadership will continue to change, but my Leadership class has been very impactful and prepared me for life.

Resume

Resume Parker Manley.pdf

Key moments of learning

Modeling the Way

The first unit of our course was about redefining what leadership meant. Leadership is not a momentous act based on power, it is something anyone can achieve if they have the right mindsets about inspiring change. In particular, this unit taught us about how to inspire others to follow. One big way to do this is by modeling the way. As Suzanne Steven, a sales manager Pilgrim, explains, leaders need to be the first penguin in a group, the one who jumps off the cliff into the water first not knowing fully what lies below but taking a risk so that the rest of the penguins can follow. Leaders need to do what they want others to do.

Parker Manley - S 2.1 Communicate a personal why (Personal why statement)

Parker Manley - S 1.3 Guest presenter reflection (Reflect upon guest presentations and relationship to leadership growth)

Parker practices in team development and envisioning the future

Inspiring a Shared Vision

Unit two was about making goals for what the future could look like, and being able to share that vision so that everyone on a team has a collective mission. Effective leaders start always with envisioning, then towards encouraging. Only with a shared vision can everyone be fully collaborative and not metaphorically pulling in different directions. We were also taught about how to keep that mission in mind white working as a group as a way to minimize conflict and improve morale and efficiency. The unit taught us about the phases of team development (forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning), and tips to be strong leaders through each phase.

This semester was full of many impactful moments. I have noticed my leadership improving as the concepts taught in this class appear in every aspect of my life. It has been the most impactful semester of a course I have taken by a large margin.

The one activity which left the largest impression on me was our book group. I read “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey. This book describes how to become a better leader and better person in only a few tangible steps. Covey’s first three habits are about internal paradigm shifts: be proactive (taking accountability for your actions in order to have control over your life), begin with the end in mind (creating a vision so that every action you do is in the right direction), and put first things first (focus on what is important versus what is urgent and necessary). His next three deal with working interdependently: think win win (strive to achieve solutions where everyone gets what they want), seek first to understand, then to be understood (strong communication originates from effective empathetic listening), and to synergize (understand that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts). Lastly, Covey urges us to sharpen the saw, continuously striving to improve our leadership. Through analyzing this book and discussing it with my peers, I have realized that my life could greatly benefit from its principles. I realized that I was not communicating effectively, gaining an internal locus of control, or working collaboratively. I have started striving to implement these habits into my life, and have already seen improvements in my relationships, organizations, and mental health. I highly recommend reading this masterpiece of a book, and I was very lucky to have fruitful discussions about it in my leadership class.

Parker Manley - Change Project Plan

Challenge the Process

Unit 3 of the class was about adding nuance to our definitions of failure, and understanding the role of change and adaptation in success. Without challenging the way that things work and taking the risk to make improvements, processes will become harmful and not be able to succeed or inspire in the changing world. While many people are afraid of failure, and thus will avoid it at all costs, the best leaders learn from their mistakes to be constantly improving. Leaders need to focus on the negative, but with a positive mindset. We took these ideas, along with the concept of an Impact matrix, and put them to action through our Change Projects, where I worked to understand a problem with accessibility of morning announcements and make a change.

Enable Others to Act

"Leadership is not a solo pursuit," says an excerpt from the Student Leadership Challenge, which encapsulates the spirit of until four. Leaders are not the ones that are the experts at the job, they are the ones who guide the experts towards the future, and without trust there can be no collaboration. This unit taught us how to inspire trust and facilitate relationships in order to inspire others to follow you. We were given instruction on how to be an active listener and Its impacts, which I brought into use while running Student Council interviews. Guest Speaker Sarah Dobek taught us the power of DWYSYWD (do what you say you will do), and how that is quintessential in creating collaboration.

Encourage the Heart

Unit 5, the final unit of the Leadership course, was about recognizing contributions of people and celebrating them where they are at in unique and heartfelt ways. In able to encourage work that can move mountains, leaders must learn to celebrate the work that goes into the movement of each stone along the way. Recognition of effort, as Lindsey, the U.S. Business Leader at Medtronic discussed, is about finding out how people like to be recognized and doing that because what is important is the way the people feel valued. On our trip to meet with Lindsey and other leaders at Medtronic, we were taught the philosophy of SHUVA (seeing, hearing, understanding, validating, and appreciating). Being vulnerable as a leader, being authentic and imperfect, allows for connection, courage, and compassion. Lastly, we were taught the important of diversity of thought and equity inside an organization.

As the course continued in the second semester, I continued to learn and grow and find applications to the coursework throughout my school and home life. It has been not only an engaging class but an important one.

The culminating moment of the class for me was the field trip to Medtronic. Our class got to tour the medical research lab after having a private panel with four of the leaders of the company, Lindsay, Melissa, Darrin, and Martin. The event was amazing, and not just because of the fresh baked cookies we were given. It was the perfect example of an organization implementing the practices we talked about all year long and finding success through the process. Everything they said connected to one of the units we learned about, reassuring us that focusing on a strong mission, exemplifying the path, striving to constantly improve, caring about relationship and trust are wonderful leadership practices. In every organization I lead, I want the outcome to be like Medtronic: a community of driven, caring, and excited people who are proud of their work and their leadership.

Leadership: Theory to Practice

Semester One:

My first jump into leadership was in ninth grade. I was the director for a one act play. Unfortunately, I was not a strong leader. I had a vision for the play, but did not share it with them while simultaneously forcing it onto them without giving room for adaptation. The play was dull and everyone felt terrible. This year, I set out to direct another play, but first I needed to develop my leadership skills.

In my leadership class, there were two principles I needed to implement into my directing. The first is placing an emphasis on shared goals. In his Ted Talk, Simon Sinek describes that leaders think about the purpose before the product. His golden circle model demonstrates working from the “why” to the “how” and ending with the “what”. When everyone in a group is clear about their purpose, they can work synergistically. The Lafayette Police Department aligns with this philosophy. During our field trip, police chief Rick Bashor discussed how the department proudly displays their mission statement everywhere, and makes sure everyone in the force knows and agrees with it. When directing this play, I made sure to start rehearsals by sharing the goal of the play: to enjoy ourselves and grow as performers. By aligning with this purpose, everyone was able to work collaboratively towards our goal.

The second principle is about trust. My first play failed in part due to me micromanaging the actors, not trusting them to make their own decisions. In class, we did an activity where a rod was resting on everyone’s fingers, and the goal was to move the rod down without anyone losing contact. When we did not trust each other to lower the rod, we would not move ourselves, and the rod stayed put. It only moved down when we trusted the other people to do their part, and thus felt confident in letting our fingers drop. Dave Ventimiglia from the nonprofit Tipi Raisers expanded on this idea of trust. Dave argued that leadership is an emotional practice, all about reading what is under the surface in relationships so that trust can be built. Leading is like working with horses: you need to build up a relationship of trusting and understanding the animal, otherwise the horse will flee or kick you. Taking this from theory to practice for me meant staying open to all suggestions from the actors, trusting them to let their genius shine. Many of the best moments in the show would not have happened if I did not trust them to go with their instincts.

By trusting my group to make their own character choices and making sure we all had the same collective goal of having fun and challenging ourselves, we were able to put on a wonderful show. When performing at the Colorado State Thespians Convention, we received the highest marks possible, but more importantly, everyone was proud of the final product, had a great time making it, and grew their skills.

Semester Two:

One topic that I found most applicable and important this semester was how to become an active listener. In class, we learned how leaders need people to follow them, and those people will only follow if they believe it is in their best interest. The way to get people to follow you as a leader is to make them feel important and heard. To make someone feel heard you need to do just that: hear them. Not simply listen, letting the information flow in one ear and out the other as you are thinking about your next comment. Instead, actually hearing and understanding, becoming empathetic to the other person's situation. It seems easy, but few people actually take the time to do it with intentionality.

In class, we were instructed to watch and hear our classmate with intentionality as they described how their Change Project was going. We focused on our body language, looking in the eye and reflecting their emotions. We asked clarifying and digging questions about them instead of jumping into our autobiographies and own experiences. The difference it made was immense: I felt I understood what my classmate was feeling on a different level than I had ever before.

At one point this year, I was very overwhelmed with a large workload for Publicity. We had tons of video announcements to organize, people to email, posts to make, and it felt like my partner was not lifting a finger. I started typing out a text to her, ranting about her failure to help me and my anger about it. Yet, before I sent it, I remembered what we learned in class, and instead texted her asking how she was doing. We talked, with me practicing the empathetic listening I had learned in class. It turned out, she was completely overwhelmed as well, drowning in a sea of responsibilities that she was bearing alone. I was so relieved: the principles I learned in leadership prevented me from unjustifiably battering down someone who was already under so much stress. We worked out and redistributed our work, and that day made us closer than ever, all due to the active listening skills and focus on relationship that I was taught in this class.

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