Assignment 1 - Who Do You Think You Are?

Michelle A. Daily
African-American Studies
Leadership for Change
BSB 294
Assignment 1 - “Who Do You Think You Are?

Honestly, when I signed up for the class I was under the impression that the class would include African-American literature or topics in conjunction with African-Americans. The class description was vague, and I did not find out that the class was entitled “Leadership for Change” until my first day. However, after learning the subject matter, I am very pleased to have stumbled upon this subject. After reader the first chapters of the four assigned books, I have become very excited to learn about leadership. Primarily my excitement is due to the fact that I have yet to study about the principals of leadership during my college journey. I believe that leadership is crucial to any journey that brings a successful end. I find the assigned reading very engaging and have already embraced some knowledge of the principals of leadership. With that being said, after reading the assigned works I have already discovered that leadership which brings about positive change can only be accomplished by followings certain principals put into place by people who have experienced successful results. The reading has enlightened my scope of success by making me aware that positive leadership does not just happen automatically, rather that positive leadership is in fact a science; a road map to study and to follow. I desire very much to be successful in all aspects of my life and learning how to be an effective leader will assist me in acquiring my professional and personal goals.

My goal in this class is first to understand the fundamentals of leadership. After which I would like to learn how to put what I have learned into action. I would also like to learn about the negative aspects of being a good leader, learning how to overcome adversity and how to work with difficult people under difficult circumstances. In chapter one of “Exploring Leadership” the subject of “Followership” was discussed. I found this section very interesting because the word “follower” usually carries negative connotations. Contrary to what I thought about followership, the chapter explains how followership can in fact be a positive thing. I also discovered what “type” of follower I am at my current job, discovering that I am a “partner.” After putting my leadership skills into action, I would then like to examine the results of being a strong positive leader. If I can accomplish these three things, I feel that I will greatly benefit from the class.

When I was a child I was most struck by flowers. I was fascinated by the look and feel of flowers. So much so that I would “steal” flowers from neighbor’s yards and replant them in my yard. We did not have any flowers and I felt that my yard should be beautified with flowers as were my neighbor’s yards. I was also fascinated with the sound of the el train that aligned my house. We lived next door to the el and I was very used to the sound of trains that passed every 20 minutes or so. When my parents sold our house and moved away from the train when I was seven years old, I missed the sound of the el train terribly. Sometimes at the new house I still imagined hearing the train passing.

As a child I daydreamed a lot, mostly about living other lives. The reason for this is not because my childhood was unhappy, but because it was fun to imagine myself as other people doing other things. Things like being a famous singer, (I can’t sing at all), I was very impressed with Diana Ross, or being a person who lived outside with the flowers, trees, dirt, and everything that was natural and pure. There was a sense of freedom that came with my daydreams. Freedom of movement and freedom to do something that felt good. Every since I can remember I loved dolls. In my daydreams I would imagine that my dolls all had their own lives. They were my children, sisters, brothers, and cousins. In a sense their lives became my “other lives” and this gave me a sense of freedom of movement and freedom of expression. Every doll was assigned a name, a personality, and a life of their own. Later I realized that their lives were a representation of the other lives I dreamed about living myself. I have never shared this with anyone until now.

Ironically, I still have these daydreams. This admission is a bit embarrassing, my being a grown woman. But the truth is that I still imagine myself being someone else sometimes. Again, it is not because I don’t like myself, but for the same reasons I had as a child. I have always yarned for a sense of freedom in life that I feel I have never experienced. As far as talents and abilities go, my early days are a sign that I would be most happy if I were in a position of freedom. Free to do things that are untraditional or things that are not time sensitive. I also love the environment; being one with animals and nature would make me very happy. Being surrounded by beautiful flowers and plants, (I have a lot of them in my home), but on a much larger scale such as owning an orchard, nursery or farm. I would love to have the freedom of travel to pursue humanitarian efforts in other countries. In my daydreams my dolls lived the lives of travelers or were people who took care of animals or lived in trees. All the things I wanted to do they did for me.


Regards….