Communicating has been very easy for me. I am an extraverted person and I love to talk, express myself, write, and let others know what I am thinking. I obviously have grown in this area since I was a child. My report cards always had a comment stating – “Student gets along well with others, must control her talking” or “Needs to limit socializing”. As I went through high school and college, my personality continued to be very flamboyant, but in a more controlled manner. My writing in these years also developed. I had to write to communicate my ideas but also to share in conversation because those were the days of letter writing to family and friends who lived a distance away. I would write letters for birthdays, holidays, and just personal well wishes. It is sad to say that method of communication seems to be a lost art. As I have grown in my professional life, I have honed my communication skills – both in verbal presentation and in writing. I look forward to the final Saturday class and the oral presentation. Notes or not, I could speak, fairly coherently, about any subject and feel very comfortable in the presentation.
I enjoy writing in my professional life and find the reports, memos, and emails are highly effective in clearly presenting my ideas, getting my message across, and meeting the needs of my audience. In filling out our 360 leadership survey, I seemed to feel I did most tasks satisfactorily. Not to be humble, I just feel that I have much growing to do in the effectiveness of my communication skills. Because of my sequencing and judging characteristics, I scored myself as outstandingly effective in a few areas like establishing timelines, preparing for meetings, and creating schedules. All in all, I believe this survey should report some interesting data. I tried to select different types of staff that have different leadership styles in order to get different perspectives. I have always recommended to our teachers to do a parent and student survey because the data can be valuable.
Following this past Saturday class, I feel better about my writing, my editing, and my input for and from my colleagues. The Longwood Cohort is truly a step ahead. We worked hard on our third paper to get it ready for the peer reviews. We worked in teams to give quality feedback. Our professors are exceptional. They are always prepared, informative, and helpful. They expect nothing but the best and push us to produce the best. Continued growth is what I seek and continued growth is what I see.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
