Students embrace leadership development
While most students were spending winter break recovering from finals week exhaustion, 24 Carlson School students partnered with 24 Institute of Technology students and spent part of their vacation examining and growing their leadership skills at LeaderShape. During this six-day leadership institute, the participants learned self-awareness, created a vision for their work, and explored how to live and lead with integrity.
Katie Selby, an associate undergraduate program director, played an instrumental role in getting the Carlson School to participate in the program. Before joining the Carlson School staff last year, she had worked with the LeaderShape program for six years. Selby brought the program to the Carlson School through a $40,000 grant from Cargill that she helped acquire.
Throughout the week at LeaderShape, participants engaged in large- and small- group activities centered around self-awareness, core values, and how your work and life is affected by those choices.
Brianna Peikert, a sophomore majoring in human resources and industrial relations, feels she is able to apply what she learned at LeaderShape to her classes. “I learned a lot of really useful leadership tools that I know will come in handy as the semester continues and after graduation. We also spent significant time figuring out what our core values are and how to live with integrity, something that is going to greatly impact my behaviors from here on out. I know that the skills I learned there will come into play as I begin my group projects in my I-Core classes.”
Felyn Goh, a sophomore majoring in accounting said, “One of the biggest lessons I learned was that one should never be afraid to dream big. We are surrounded with an abundance of support, helping hands, listening ears, and positive feedback – tools that will enable us to be better leaders for the future.”
Adam Lueck, a freshman who plans to double major in finance and economics, also feels that he can apply what he learned through LeaderShape to his life in the real world. “I learned a lot about myself during the week through the numerous discussions and activities, and I think this will help me become better at networking, serving as a team member, and leading a team in a corporate setting. The coursework at Carlson requires many group projects, assignments, and presentations. I think the institute really helped me develop the skills to become a better teammate, and that will help me greatly in group assignments and projects.”
Three of LeaderShape’s seven goals are to build skills to successfully work in groups and teams to accomplish a collective vision, articulate action steps necessary to implement a vision, and increase participant’s capability to produce extraordinary results. Selby says that the Carlson School believes these goals match well with the mission and vision of the school, and plans to continue participating in the program.
LeaderShape participants take a minute out of their week for a group photo.
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