Student Leadership Practices Inventory

In the Student LPI (Leadership Practices Inventory for those of you not fortunate enough to be taking these assessments) gave me some insight, but I feel like it is biased. It said that I was extremely high in Challenge the Process, way higher than I would have guessed.

I have always been a person that has challenged the status quo, but never to the amount that I've done in the past few months. In my Capstone class, The Idea of a University, we are continually thinking critically and analyzing the current trend in higher education. This has inspired me to challenge the status quo in other aspects of my life as well, especially in my job. I feel that I have stopped growing and am accepting the stage that I am at, and my instinct to challenge the process has begun to take over and I'm looking for more innovative ways to accomplish my responsibilities. I feel that my score is based off the current situations at institutions of higher education, changes that I was in the process of making for the Northern Iowa Student Government election process, and because of the SWOT (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) Analysis I had been analyzing regarding the future of a corporation I am involved with. These three instances all showed me that change needs to happen, and change needs to happen soon.

Reflecting on my ability and willingness to challenge the process has shown me that change can happen. Whether it is this assessment or John Mayer's song Waiting on the World to Change that just came on the radio, I have seen how simple challenges to the status quo can make monumental differences. In the song, John Mayer discusses how people cannot challenge the current situation they are in; they just need to wait their turn. My distaste for this sentiment, a distaste that began growing in high school, had a major impact on my score for the Student LPI.

Also high scoring was inspiring a shared vision and encouraging the heart. I always try to create a sense of community within any group I am involved with. I have seen that having a long-term vision or goal in mind motivates the group and helps build that sense of community. I try to focus on this sense of community and use that to celebrate victories that happen in the group. I believe that showing off the skills used to make the group successful will help inspire the shared vision.

I think that model the way is last is because I don't always share my personal values with those around me (unless it's the belief that coffee is the beverage of the gods). I know what things are important to me and I try to surround myself with individuals who portray those values, but it is never something that is discussed.

Overall, I felt that my scores were well-rounded except for challenge the process which can almost be considered an outlier. This assessment showed areas for improvement I was unaware of before and will help when approaching new teams that are as unfamiliar with me as I them. I need to work on not bringing my scores closer together to be a better-rounded individual. At the same time I need to cherish and celebrate the strengths I do have and continue to find ways to use them to my advantage.