- How have the workshops and discussions on leadership this week changed your understanding of what leadership means?
The workshops and discussions that we have engaged in as a cohort this week have broadened my understanding of what leadership means and how we perceive and value leadership. I think for many people and definitely myself, I tend to consider the "leader in-front" archetype to be the most valuable because that is who receives attention in textbooks and in many history classes. However, I now understand that there is value and even further, a necessity, for other types of leadership such as leading from behind and leading side-by-side (an archetype I believe I resonate heavily with).
- How might you imagine applying one of the four ways of leading during your summer on campus?
This summer I hope to conduct oral history interviews as a part of the qualitative aspect of my research. One of the defining characteristics of oral history interviews is that they are largely driven by the story-telling of the interviewee. In this way, I envision myself employing the leader side-by-side archetype as the interviewer. I will co-lead through my development of guiding questions and an overall framework and also give the interviewee the space to co-lead through story-telling.
- What is everyone most excited about engaging in as part of their summer research project?
I am most excited to engage with the genre of oral history because it is a format that I don't have any experience with, but seems like an extremely insightful way to understand others and provide them with the space to share their story on their terms. I believe that it will be a valuable addition to the quantitative measures which I plan to employ in my research in crafting a narrative response to my central research question.