Leadership and Advocacy
Leadership and advocacy are areas within the counselor education profession that I have become enthusiastic about. Through previous leadership experience, I have developed a passion for serving graduate students in the counseling and counselor education professions. Specifically, I have found it necessary to support the professional, research, and scholarly development of graduate students.
Leadership Experience
During my time as a member of the counseling and counselor education professions, I have had the privilege of serving as a leader in numerous capacities. Two leadership roles that have influenced my advocacy for the professional development of graduate students included (a) the Co-Chair of the Ohio Counseling Association’s (OCA) Graduate Student Committee and (b) Co-Chair of the Professional Development Committee for the CSI Kappa Sigma Upsilon Chapter. Through my role as Co-Chair of the OCA Graduate Student Committee, I created and organized the All Ohio Counselor’s Conference (AOCC) Graduate Student Poster Presentation. This was a necessary addition to a well-established conference because it provided graduate students with the opportunity to receive research and scholarly experience that they may not have received elsewhere. Further, it allowed the students to develop their respective professional and research identities. The Graduate Student Poster Presentation continues to be held every year at AOCC.
As Co-Chair of the Kappa Sigma Upsilon Chapter’s Professional Development Committee, I worked to create and organize the First Annual CSI Ohio Conference in Spring 2020. I helped develop a CSI conference that could be hosted and organized by different CSI chapters every year. During this time, I advocated for the involvement of graduate students as organizers, volunteers, and co-presenters. Unfortunately, the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic occurred and the university that was hosting the conference transitioned to remote learning a month before the conference. In response, the Professional Development Committee and I chose to change the conference to a webinar format. This required additional research and discussions about an online conference. I communicated directly with all presenters, attendees, and volunteers to inform them of the change in format. Further, I led meetings and helped develop plans to transition the conference online. I utilized the resources that were already available to continue the conference as best as possible. Despite the change, the presenters still agreed to present, and the conference was well attended and profitable.
Theory of Leadership (Abbreviated)
As a leader, I subscribe to the situational theory of leadership (Hersey & Blanchard, 2013). In situational theory, a leader adapts his or her leadership style to match the needs and motivations of the followers (Blanchard et al., 2017). The variety of leadership styles and follower developmental levels cause the theory to be prescriptive and geared toward problem solving. I have used situational theory in every leadership role I have held, and each time I have found success with it.
I used the directive behaviors when communicating the goal of First Annual CSI Ohio Conference to my chapter and Professional Development Committee. In this case, I used situational theory to identify the committee members’ overall developmental level. Then, I matched it with an appropriate leadership style – in this case, the high directive-low supportive style. Finally, I followed the prescription of situational theory and focused communication on goal achievement and supervised the members’ work. Situational theory has allowed me to be goal-oriented and foster worthwhile professional relationships with other members of the profession.