Emotional Intelligence

I took my first emotional intelligence quiz tonight and will take more as time goes by.  It was interesting to see how I was able to identify emotions of the large majority of the facial expressions shared with me.  I was able to recognize people's expressions better than I thought I knew how.  This is extremely important when working with people everyday.  Having the ability to understand and manage my emotions as well as others leads to effective leadership.  What I was able to discover after this week's readings was that I am a servant and participative leader.  Also, having a positive outlook and affect = respect and a strong commitment from followers.  I have been practicing this everyday and see an improvement in my relationships immediately.  I took a second quiz and found out that I am not as emotionally intelligent as I thought I was.  I am still good at it but need to polish my skills. I will work on this through Mind Tools.

Why I Began My MSOL Degree

I was enrolled in an MBA program and having completed a BS in Business, my heart just wasn't in it.  I took a semester off and then discovered where my heart and experience lied - in organizational leadership.  I explored online programs of a high caliber and narrowed it down to two; Manhattan College being one of them.  After careful consideration and a phone conversation with the competing school, I decided to enroll in Manahattan's MSOL program.  I will say that belonging to a mission-centered institution like mine truly made the largest reason why I chose Manhattan.  I have not regretted that decision.  I look forward to continuing with my coursework that will only enhance the experience I receive on a daily basis.  I hope to consult and/or teach in an MSOL program in the future.

Life Experience

I have fond memories of each time I chose or was chosen to lead a group.

1. My first experience was In the schoolyard when we played "follow the leader."  That was one of my favorite childhood games besides jump rope.  
2. Another experience was when I chose to organize ski trips in high school.  I was motivated by free skiing if I put the trips together.  We used to fill up buses and go all over New York, New Jersey and Vermont.
3. The first time I recall being chosen as a leader was to lead the Blue Team for sports night in high school.  I was shocked but equally glad to have been given this opportunity.  My role was to lead hundreds of girls who tried out for teams and competed agains the Gold Team.  The most interesting part of this experience was that I was on the Gold Team for 3 years and then chosen to lead the Blue Team in senior year.  Talk about having to adjust my sails!  I needed to Unequivocally give my new team my word that they could trust me and they did.
4. Since these experiences I have continued to thrive in leadership roles that continued to educate me about people and situations and how best to handle them.  I am still learning because in order to lead, I know that I need to keep my eyes and ears open to better ways of doing things.

Leading and Following

Although I like to consider myself a leader; I am also a follower.  Sometimes I need to step aside to watch, listen and learn what other leaders do.  Leaders come in all forms, whether an official leader by title or not, leaders always stand out.