Every since I can remember, I have been a very talkative person. This has been a huge advantage in my role as a Leadership Consultant. I have had many opportunities to meet new people from being in this role, and I have really enjoyed getting to know a diverse group of audiences during my facilitations. It has been a lot of fun forming relationships with my peers and members of the Mason community, and I look forward to continuing those bonds in the future. My ability to adapt to my surroundings and communicate to many different groups has really paid off during a number of my facilitations this year.

One of my first times facilitating to a large and diverse group happened in the fall semester of 2017. I was tasked with presenting a workshop about “True Colors” to a class of INTO Mason students from all over the globe. The True Colors workshop works through a personality test and provides the participants with time to meet people with similar personality traits as their own. It was a really fun group of students, and I took time to learn about all of the different cultural backgrounds they had. The workshop was a blast, and the participants enjoyed working with other people who had the same “color” as them. I had the most fun simply communicating with them and creating bonds with people I might have never met without the facilitation.

Another aspect of this competency that I have enjoyed working on is my empathetic listening. Empathy is one of my top five strengths according to the Gallup StrengthsFinder, and I see it show every day. I love to engage with my LEAD team professionally and personally, and thrive off of those relationships. Many people tell me I am a good listener, and I think that stems from my genuine love of learning. This job as an LC has given me ample opportunities to meet new people and grow new relationships. I truly work to engage and listen to everyone I meet, and I feel that is a skill which will be to my advantage when I become a teacher. Clearly the young and loquacious Gilly is still inside me, and I am lucky that my big mouth has come in handy!