Adapting to Change and Thinking Creatively

When I first began my time as a Leadership Consultant, I was extremely excited to be a part of a brand new group of students. All five of us LCs were new to the office, despite a few of us being involved in previous LEAD programs. This was really exciting because it meant we brought a wealth of new ideas to the office and programs. While we settled into our positions, I could see how this job would not be a “step-by-step” role. At first, I was kind of scared of such a broad and open set of responsibilities, but I was able to practice flexibility and I feel very content with how I handled my LC functions.

This competency was one of the more challenging ones for me, because I often feel nervous when changes arise. However, I decided early on to embrace the overwhelming amount of tasks that this job brought with open arms and simply “roll with it.” Throughout this year, I have done my best to be willing to help all my teammates and find ways to support all members of the LEAD office team. I consider myself to be pretty reliable, and I think that has proven to be a great asset to this team.

Thinking about this competency makes me reflect back to a time this year when I felt the most unsettled due to change. It was our first workshop we facilitated at Hampton Middle School, and a fellow LC and I had planned a really active facilitation. When we arrived at the school, I realized we were a little bit behind schedule, and would need to readjust our plans. This made me very anxious, but I had my teammates around me to help me recover and our plans went as smooth as possible in the end. This competency is very valuable for me as an LC and also as a future educator. Plans do not always go the way we think they will, and it has been really good for me to practice this and challenge myself to figure out how to adapt to any changes I may face.

Plan