Leadership December post

December 19th, 2024

For the December event, I was part of Spirit Week. During our first leadership meeting on December 1st, we brainstormed ideas as a group and finalized the themes for each day. I was assigned Thursday’s event, which included a Santa photo booth and a hot chocolate stand. During this meeting, we also discussed roles, and I volunteered to be part of the hot chocolate stand. Furthermore, I offered to help with advertising and creating posters. I worked with other leadership students to design posters on Canva as well as a slideshow post for Instagram. I made sure the posters were attention-grabbing and informative, making sure to appeal to the target audience.

During our second meeting on December 11th, we divided into our smaller groups for each day to plan and discuss the details of the events. After the meeting, I volunteered with another leadership student to put up the posters around the school. During our final meeting on December 18th, we learned how to make the hot chocolate and discussed specific roles within the hot chocolate stand. We also decorated the board for the Santa photo booth. On the day of the event, I made sure to come 15 minutes early to help set up. We got the hot water tank, organized the supplies, and put the tables in a way that would help make sure we had enough space for everything.

During the event, I was responsible for adding hot water and stirring the hot chocolate.However, when I noticed one of my teammates looked overwhelmed with their tasks ofadding marshmallows and handing out the chocolate, especially since a lot of people were waiting, I offered to switch with her. In the first half of lunch, we struggled with not having a lot of customers, so I decided to go around the school and raise awareness about the event. While this did help get more customers, we began to become a bit overwhelmed by the amount of people waiting for hot chocolate. Therefore, I worked with my teammates to create an assembly line that way, everything would move faster. Furthermore, when I realized that some students were getting impatient, I offered them candies and treats while they waited. Despite the rush, we worked as a team to make the hot chocolate, making sure to communicate with each other.

After the event, I stayed to help clean up and put away the supplies and tables. In the post-event discussion, I reflected on what went well and what didn’t. I wrote that I believed the event needed more advertising, as many students asked if the hot chocolate was free or didn’t even know what we were selling. I also think we needed clearer announcements, specifically for the Thursday event, and more social media advertising, as this is the mainway a lot of people find out about events. In addition, I think having the Santa event on the same day made it a bit overwhelming and took away attention from the chocolate stand. However, we were still able to work together a team and deal with these challenges. 

 

Curricular Competency: Theme 4: Public Relations and Forms of Communication—Develop listening skills needed to be a positive leader and active listener.

 

Curricular competency alignment with goals:

Public Speaking: My goal was to improve my public speaking skills. By actively listening during meetings and participating in group discussions, giving my ideas/suggestions, thishelps me practice being more clear and confident when speaking and communicating my ideas. 

Collaboration Skills: I wanted to improve my ability to work within a team. Listening to my teammate’s ideas, helped me better understand different perspectives and share my own. Also, when we ran the hot chocolate booth, we had to work as a group to ensure everything went smoothly. Which helped me become more comfortable communicating with others.

Teamwork and Inclusivity: One of my goals was to create an inclusive environment where everyone felt heard and valued. Actively listening to some of the quieter team members and encouraging them to share their ideas helped me create a more supportive environment.

Adaptability: I wanted to get better at adapting to new situations. Listening to feedback during group discussions helped me see how I could adapt to improve for next time. Also, by listening to students ask what we were selling, I had to adapt quickly and go around the school to raise awareness about the event. Furthermore, depending on the amount of customers, I had to adapt the rate at which I was making the hot chocolate.

 

Actions Taken

Before:

Before the event, I actively listened participated in meetings and asked questions to ensure I understood my role and responsibilities. I also shared my ideas and built off my teammate’s ideas. Furthermore, during the meetings, I made sure to listen to my teammates’ ideas and feedback, creating a positive and supportive environment. I also volunteered to work at the hot chocolate stand and took the initiative to help with advertising by designing posters. I worked with other leadership students to make the posters, making sure everyone was included by sharing the Canva design link in our team’s channel. I also made sure to listen to the feedback and and suggestions to improve the posters.

During:

Listening was very important during the event to ensure everything ran smoothly. While setting up, I made sure to communicate with my team on how we were going to organize supplies and arrange tables. Furthermore, throughout the event, I made sure to listen to my teammates ideas and concerns. By listening and stepping in when needed helped us work better as a team and ensure the event went smoothly.  In addition, I listened to student feedback and comments during the event, taking there suggestions and reflecting on what we could change to improve the event. Moreover, when I listened to students and noticed some getting impatient while waiting, I offered them candies and treats, making sure to stay positive.

After:

After the event, I demonstrated my listening skills by actively participating in the debrief session. I listened to my teammates’ reflections. By taking the time to listen to and reflecton feedback, I learned how we could improve for future events. I also added my suggestions, communicating that I thought that we worked well as a team and were able to adapt quickly to problems but could improve on promoting the event and the preparation/organization on our part. 

By applying my listening skills before, during, and after the event, I was able to support my teammates, adapt to challenges, and ensure the event went well. Also, by reflecting on feedback afterward, I was able to see areas for improvement and what I could have changed to improve the event. Overall, through this process, I learned the importance of listening to others and communicating.

 

Evidence:

Example 1: (Before)

• Example: During our meetings, I actively listened to my teammates as they shared their ideas and suggestions. I also encouraged quieter teammates to share their thoughts, making sure everyone’s voice was heard.
• Explanation: This shows my listening skills as a positive and active leader, emphasizing how I value my teammates’ ideas and am working towards creating an inclusive and positive environment. Also, building off of my teammates suggestions, encouraged us to collaborate more and work as a team.

Example 2: (During)

• Example: During the event, I noticed it was getting busy, and many people were waiting for their hot chocolate. One of my teammates looked overwhelmed with adding the marshmallows and handing out hot chocolates, so I asked if she needed help and offered to switch roles with her. This allowed us to manage the workload better and improve the event.
• Explanation: This shows my ability to actively listen and step up to support my teammates. By offering help and switching roles, I demonstrated adaptability and problem-solving skills. This not only helped the event run faster but also created a positive and supportive environment.

Example 3: (During)

• Example: During the event, many students asked what we were selling and whether the hot chocolate was free. After hearing this, I quickly adjusted by going around the school and communicating with students about the event and price.
• Explanation: This shows how I use my ability to actively listen to improve the event’s success. By listening to feedback from students, I was able to react quickly and make improvements. Answering their questions and spreading the word about the event and the prices, helping attract more customers. 

Example 4: (After)

• Example: After the event, I participated in the reflection by actively listening to and reading my teammates’ ideas. When someone suggested that we needed posters for the hot chocolate stand with the prices, I agreed and added my own ideas as well, suggesting we needed more advertising and announcements. 
• Explanation: This shows my ability to actively listen and contribute to group discussions. Considering my teammates’perspectives, helped me come up with suggestions and improvements for future events. Being willing to listen and share ideas, shows that I respect my teammate’s ideas and value their opinions.

Photos:

Hot chocolate stand

Group photo