Social Change Model and my life.

            This week in the foundations of leadership class we talked mainly on the Social Change Model that we analyzed in our reading. The Social Change Model is built on the basic premises that the model is inclusive, views leadership as a process rather than a position, and promotes the values of equality, social justice, self-knowledge, personal empowerment, citizenship and service. In the model there are seven key values that include: Consciousness of self, Congruence, Commitment, Collaboration, Common Purpose, Controversy with Civility and Citizenship. All of these factors contribute as to what makes change possible in our society today.

            Out of the seven values of the Social Change Model, I have used Congruence the most in my life. For example, I was the captain of the varsity dance team my senior year in High School. It was up to me to keep order among a group of 17 girls at practice and at competitions. Of course there were always arguments between 2 or a group of girls and it was usually up to me to be the peacemaker. I had to use the skill of Congruence by not choosing sides but rather coming to a collective decision in the situation.  With congruence, I had to make sure I heard both sides of the story before I could make an informed decision on the matter. I had to be honest with the girls because then the best decision could be made for the sake of the group as a whole. Being a team captain was very challenging, but the skill of Congruence helped me be the best captain I could be.

            Another value of the Social Change Model I utilized was the skill of Collaboration. Collaboration is a vital aspect if you want to have a successful dance season in the world of competitive team dance. Collaboration definitely helped us reach our goals in 2010 by winning the State Championship! Through Collaboration, we as a team all put in our own ideas as to how we thought our pom routine could be better. We all sat down one day at practiced and just brain stormed ideas until we all came to the conclusion as to what is best. This method resulted in the winning of the state title and allowed us all to feel as though we all contributed to winning state. Clearly Collaboration was the key to our success last season and will continue to help well into the future.

            In all, the Social Change Model has helped me tremendously reach my goals personally and with a team. There are many things I learned about leadership because I was able to base my leadership skills off of the different values of social change. The “Seven C’s” of the Social Change Model clearly demonstrates what it takes to create a change or reach a goal in a specific situation and people everywhere should study these seven values so that change in our society can happen in a faster and more beneficial way. 

Myers Briggs personality test and me

Leadership has and always will be a huge part of my life. After taking the Myers Briggs personality test I came to realize why leadership and responsibility is a natural part of my personality. On the test, I turned out to be a ENTP and after figuring out what these mean, I was able to figure out my 8 mental functions and how I can relate them to my everyday life.

My top mental function was Extraverted Intuition. This means that I create possibilities for the future and spontaneously recognize patterns and connections. For example, I recently was interested in the sports broadcasting network called CatNation here at University of Arizona and I immediately contacted someone that could help me reach my goal of becoming a sports reporter for CatNation. In doing so, I was offered to shadow CatNation this Friday to go behind the scenes and fully understand what it takes to be a CatNation reporter. Because I noticed the connection between my extroverted style of communication skills and love for being in front of the camera, I was able to determine what I want for my future.  My personality profile fits this situation perfectly.

In contrast to my number one mental function, my last mental function is Extraverted Sensing.  This can be described as being alive in the moment and aware of what the senses are able to immediately experience. I am clearly the complete opposite of that. I plan everything out before I do it and make sure that I am always setting myself up for the future. Many of the decisions I make depend on how it will affect me in the future. For example, my friend loves to take pictures and is always documenting our every move. We always go to parties together and the flash is always going off. It is hard to monitor what pictures are being taken and put on Facebook so me, having Extraverted Sensing last, I always ask her not to put the ones making a fool of my goofy self up on the internet. I partially do this because I don’t want my friends to think I’m a complete nut, but I mainly do it because I don’t want my future compromised by my crazy photos. I would be devastated if I did not get a job because of one crazy night in college. This is just one example of many that represent how I live my life not in the moment, but for my future.

Obviously the Myers Briggs personality test can tell someone a lot about his or her personality.  I noticed many things about myself I never really noticed before and it helps me make sense of my day-to-day actions.  I believe that putting a meaning to everything you do makes someone a more mature and self-confident person.  When a person understands the root of what is causing them to act in a certain situation, that person is better able to evaluate themselves and everything around them.