Developing others was a strength given to my by the Strengths Finder Test Mason provides free to its students. After taking this test three different times, developing others was always in my top five. Not until I started working in the LEAD Office did i understand what it meant to develop others and help them discover the leader inside of themselves. I have always been a person heavily oriented around caring about others and ensuring their life is the best it can be. Working in the LEAD Office as a Leadership Consultant has instilled in me a meaning for what I unknowingly spent my whole life doing: developing others. The five Leadership Consultants of the LEAD Office strive to discover how each individual can blossom though different activities and workshops.

The first thing I always explain when describing our office is how we believe in each person’s potential to become a leader, and that being a leader does not mean having an authoritative or management position. Facilitating workshops on and off campus helped me discover ways to develop each individual I worked with and how to step over obstacles put in front of me. An example of how I helped develop someone was from an on-campus workshop facilitation for an Integrative Studies course where the content was revolved around team building for an upcoming assignment they had to complete in groups. My coworker and I were leading this facilitation and split the class into two smaller groups, so more individualized attention could be given to each participant. The activity I was in charge of was called “Blind Shapes” where every person was given a piece of a circular rope to hold onto. Except for one person, “the leader”, everyone was given a blindfold where the objective is to create the shape the facilitator yells out and have “the leader” guide the group to make the proper shape.

The first leader chosen for this activity taught me how developing someone is extremely individualized and takes patience and resilience from both parties. As I was guiding the activity and yelled out for a start to be made as the next blind shape, “the leader” of the group got extremely frustrated, dropped the rope, and out loud said she was not having fun. Knowing she was frustrated, I became patient and put myself in the game where we were both leaders together and finally made the group into a 5 point star. Seeing a participant struggle is a great teaching moment because it allows me to help the person overcome their personal obstacle in order to succeed. Once I entered the game and gave the help she needed to thrive, her attitude completely changed into a radiance of positivity and helpfulness towards the rest of the group.

Developing others helps me develop myself because seeing the progress made by the help of your own doings is an incomparable reward.