Steven Lamm
Dr. Patton
SLC 101 (001)
5 December 2019
Next Steps – Making It Happen
Relational Leadership was new to me when I first came to the village. Sadly, I had not truly experienced or understood the concept of the Relational Leadership model in my daily life in high school. I have always seen leadership as the parent of the group; calling the shots of what is going on and figuring out the process themselves. I started to gain new insight on what it means to be a leader when I transferred from private to public school between my sophomore and junior year of high school. With this huge transition, I had learned that if I wanted to make a difference in my school, I would have to take the initiative and be bold to bring groups together to form friend groups and include other different people. In my senior year of high school, I started to figure out what Relational Leadership was. Once I started leaving an impact to students around me, I realized how much of a difference I could really make for others. I pursued that idea and have been forever thankful how much of a difference I have made in my senior year of high school. I took this concept and was excited to find a village at NC State that matched this concept of Relational Leadership so I applied to become a villager for my freshman year here at NC State. Since I was offered the opportunity to join the village and move in on the first day, I have evolved in ways that I still cannot comprehend that have made my life better and other peoples’ lives better.
Taking part in this village has not just transformed me but this service action project has too. I have a deep respect and passion for our first responders, especially here at NC State. Trying to come up with ideas for the Life and Safety Department at NC State was not that hard after I had interviewed the Fire Marshal, Jon Brann. The idea for us to do our own “Night Walk” for ILV as a service action that I believe we can accomplish here at NC State. Jon Brann talked with me, explaining that they do not do enough of these walks on campus anymore and they needed to take place. My goal was for ILV volunteers to split up into groups with a returner or two (like we do with Adopt-A-Highway), take buses to different parts of campus and have routes ready for us to walk around campus to find dark areas on campus that are in need of a Blue Emergency Light. This activity can be done in the day or night, any day of the week and the more participation we have, the better turnout and success the activity will be. All we would need to have is a map of that part of campus and just to mark it down on the map as a record if we find a dark zone as we walk our routes on campus. This activity is a strong advocate for Inclusion and Empowerment. As villagers are split up into groups, they get to know one another and empower each other by seeing if any villagers believe there should be a Blue Light in a certain spot. This project would also allow for growth when having to be Process-Oriented. My hope is for villagers to take this seriously and not just walk around campus to get the service hours. This would also help me be more process-oriented when doing this activity. I live by the saying, “Do it right, or do not do it at all” to make sure that what I do is ethical and being process-oriented, while this is still a work in progress for me. I never get in trouble and do not want to get into any trouble, but if I have to get something done, I sometimes may go the more efficient route, even if it is not right and I am working on fixing that. I am also Analytical and a Relator, (my top character strengths) and using these strengths would help me see the small details that the university might have missed. As a Realtor, I also could understand the perspective a villager is coming from based on where they marked dead zones on the map. Using these strengths will make this service activity a success.
I have already considered two concrete action steps that I believe will put this service activity into action. I do not believe I will be working long hours on this idea, especially since this idea is not at all complicated which makes this event a real possibility with a strong purpose. As someone who is a part of Community Outreach, I know Amanda will like this idea and I will take this idea to her to discuss the details and possibility to make this idea an actual thing. My second concrete step is to have the Life and Safety Department stay on the same track and same page as ILV, to make sure we are following any procedures that they want us to follow when we do this activity. If there are certain documents that they want us to use or certain employees with us, I will make sure all of that is straight so ILV can do this service activity. These two actions will secure the plans on making sure this will happen and I will do whatever action that needs to take place if Amanda has any wishes or needs for this idea.
My leadership philosophy follows someone who is a transformational leader. I believe in change to make this community and world a better place and I use my character strengths to make positive change. I started this mindset in my final time as a highschooler in public school and have brought it here to the village. This whole process has strengthened my philosophy of leadership and has helped me to create positive change and build community throughout my suite, throughout my floor, throughout the village, and throughout my classmates. As a Summer Start Mentor this summer and possibly a Community Leader for ILV next year, I plan to use this philosophy to keep making me become a better Relational Leader and to make a difference in as many peoples’ lives as I can. I cannot wait for what the future will hold!!