Empathy Leaders

After a whole week if having to go to sleep late and wake up early I was finally able to enjoy my rest and have a great morning! I woke up at 8:00 to be ready by 9:00 to head of with the girls to have breakfast and go to our first day of class.

Class was so wonderful and fun. Our professor, Kisa Takesue was so welcoming and nice. She introduced herself to all the girls and ONE boy, individually. I felt very welcomed in her class. As all students took their seats Kisa's TAs distributed notebooks to us all.

Then our ice breaker began. Kisa asked us all to form a large circle and gave us instructions about an ice breaking game. It was a very delightful game. Through this game I memorized almost all the names of my piers. Afterward we played a game where Kisa would give us two words to choose from and ask us what kind of leader do we consider ourselves to be, for example she would say "Do you consider yourselves to be a peanut butter leader or a jelly leader?". This game allowed us to understand the different kinds of opinions or ways that our piers interpreted the word and how it connected with them as leaders. once we were familiar with our piers we had our lunch break.

After lunch was over, I headed back to class along with Iris. We went upstairs not knowing that we would be surprised by the lovely presence of Dean Robin Rose. She was there to give us a lesson on Listening and Feedback Skills. I really enjoyed this lesson because I learned how to respectfully give someone feedback when they need it and I also learned how to be a good listener and not critique anyone until I fully understand what they are talking about.

Another topic that we covered was the "I" Component, which is a simple and respectful way of giving someone feedback while expressing how one feels about the situation. the simple format of the "I" Component is "I feel...when you...because...I need...". I also learned that when doing the feedback to never say the words Always, Never, and Should because these word will get you nowhere, and just create another dispute.

Later in the afternoon I took a Leadership Compass with Leader Fellows. This session was for us students to figure out what kind of a leader we mostly relate to. I learned that I related to the empathy leader, which is the leader that cares a lot about others and makes them feel like part of the group or helps encourage people. I am so glad to know that I am a leader who could help others in a more sensitive way.