A500.9.3.RB_WilsonLindsey_Course Reflections

Negative & Positive Aspects of my experience in this course:

Honestly the largest positive experience I’ve had, had very little to do with the actual course itself. Coming in as a new graduate student for the first time was intimidating. All of the irrational, “what ifs?” went through my mind before the course. It has been very validating personally to know that I am capable of handling graduate work, and I also realized how much I missed more formal, academic learning. I’ve also appreciated how my learning can be directly related to my personal and professional life. Although I do not oversee any employees in my current position, I can still learn how to be a good leader now and prepare me for the time when I do oversee others. Sometimes it was a challenge to understand how a certain topic related to leadership. For example, how does understanding conspiracy theories make me a better leader? The purpose of this could be more of an exercise in critical thinking, but I felt that I missed the overall objective in that specific discussion. With that said, I think the majority of my learning happened during the discussions. Other student comments and insights were very helpful in helping me think deeper about an issue and I liked when the instructor asked leading questions off of a post to guide student’s thinking.

What might you have done to improve your learning experience in this course?

Overall I feel that I have very good study skills, and I am good about budgeting my time and understanding the goals of an assignment. However, I wish I would have read Nosich’s book more carefully in the beginning. Sometimes it became very dry, or sometimes it would spur my thinking in a direction that had very little to do with Leadership so it was challenging in the beginning to keep my focus. However, as time went on this became easier for me. Last, I wish I would have started asking more questions in the discussions sooner. I felt a little intimidated asking questions, because no one else was. I wish I would have gotten over this fear sooner and just went for it. 

How might the University or your instructor provide additional support for your learning?

Personally I would like more examples or stories to provide a context to my learning. Although I appreciate that the instructor/university doesn’t want to spoon feed students, (especially for in critical thinking) but I remember my learning better if there is something to tie it too. Last, sometimes the written feedback was vague and I didn’t always understand what the instructor was trying to convey. However, I take responsibility however for not seeking clarification. I would recommend more video feedback and putting the written feedback on the actual rubric so I can see exactly where I need to improve as a student.

Overall Learning:

As an individual I feel that I am fairly introspective, however this class taught me to think more introspectively in relation to leadership. In one of our discussions we talked about Sun Tzu’s quote, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”Although I think this quote can be applied to leadership, this class showed me the importance of knowing one’s self. For example, I had a lightbulb moment when I realized that my personal beliefs will influence my decision making both positively and negatively depending on the situation. As a result I will need to apply my critical thinking skills to do my best to make sure that I keep my biases in check, while at the same time not sacrificing my values.  Another major insight for me was our module on powerful and fundamental aspects of organizational leadership in relation to a system of knowledge. I have found Nosich’s paradox of critical thinking to be true in the fact as you learn more, more questions start to pop up. As we discussed and I though more about the fundamental and powerful in relation to organizational leadership many more questions than answers started going through my mind. However, I found this to be exciting vs. frustrating. Although this class was nothing close to what I expected, in a way I am grateful because it forced me to set aside preconceived notions about leadership and to be more open to new learning. I am excited to keep moving forward in my educational journey as an emerging leader.