Alycia Holwerda

            In the spring of 2018, I was elected as the President to D.R.E.A.M. (Data Resources for Eager Analytical Minds). My main responsibilities were to keep the recognized student organization (RSO) active, conduct bi-weekly meetings, and organize data related opportunities for members. D.R.E.A.M.’s executive board consisted of the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Personal Relations chair, Graphic Design chair, and Web Design chair. Together we were able to plan, conduct, and organize meetings. We also prepared a SAS workshop and Microsoft Agile workshop. We organized teams for three hackathons: MUDAC, Data Derby, and MinneAnalytics. We planned special meetings to prepare for these competitions by teaching valuable skills such as statistics or visualizations. We helped plan and supplied volunteers for MUDAC since it was held at MNSU campus. I met with our advisor to learn his goals for our RSO, like a CEO would meet with a shareholder. Being President was a huge responsibility shared with the rest of the executive board. I applied my leadership capabilities to this opportunity.

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            As this was my third year being apart of the RSO, I saw many things that were effective and ineffective in leading meetings. In past years the advisor to our RSO would mainly lead meetings, but due to a limited schedule he was unable to lead meetings the year I presided. He was a very effective leader by instilling passion, drive, and curiosity in our members. However, the meetings did not follow a schedule and carried into the night too long. Members started to lose interest. I saw both effective and ineffective leadership styles (Values Level 3). I re-evaluated our goals and meeting setups to continue sparking interests for D.R.E.A.M.

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            As President I used my personal leadership theories and values to lead D.R.E.A.M (Values Level 4). I hoped to inspire passion for data science, data analytics, machine learning, and research into these areas. I would seek feedback from members to improve our weaknesses and gain opinions on where interests lied. As leader of meetings, I would announce all opportunites to members every single meeting. Every meeting I would create a schedule to follow and conduct meetings to stay on task. I would break down tasks, assess the board’s strengths, and delegated responsibilities to other board members. I would periodically check in to ensure we were staying on tasks to meet the goal deadline. In doing so, we were more productive and thus more successful as an organization.

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            Leading D.R.E.A.M. was a team effort. Each member of the board had their roles (Teams Level 3). The Vice President booked rooms and took over for the President if needed. The secretary communicated opportunities to D.R.E.A.M. members and took notes. The Treasurer oversaw financial obligations. The Personal Relations chair recruited members, secured funding, and talked with business professionals. The Web Design chair created the website. Graphics Design chair took pictures and created fliers. Each person was elected to their specific role because it played into their strengths. We each played to our strengths and delegated our weaknesses. For example, I have no idea about creating a website, so I delegated that to the Web design chair to complete. I played to my strengths of managing others. However, when one person tried to complete tasks outside of their role, it started to hinder our group.

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             Together we organized meetings and opportunities for D.R.E.A.M. At our Executive Board meetings, I would organize the agenda on what need to be discussed and planned. Together we would brainstorm ideas. I allowed everyone to be heard. We all would voice our opinions, but in the end, it was my executive decision as to what we would do. I helped manage these meetings to stay on task and get all ideas covered.  On certain occasions, a board member would try to argue and decide what was best for the organization. During these conflicts I would hear their side, communicate my opinion, and come to a compromise. This was very important in the success of D.R.E.A.M.

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            After my experience as President to D.R.E.A.M., I can now articulate a general leadership philosophy to guide future collaboration within groups (Teams Level 4). My philosophy is to utilize strengths and delegate weaknesses. When working in a team, all members must feel that they are heard. As President I listened to all ideas and then formulated a decision. I created a working, successful board that future presidents could emulate to continue to grow D.R.E.A.M. I can now express general leadership philosophy to others, pinpoint specific personal leadership experiences, and apply to my future opportunities. In January 2020 I can directly apply my leadership abilities to my career at IBM. I can use my philosophy in groups by doing my part of playing into strengths and asking for help with my weaknesses.