Alycia Holwerda

               Before coming to Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU), I always considered myself a strong leader. I was involved with many activities between academics, athletics, and other events. However, the Honors Program allowed me to continue my growth by identifying my leadership strengths and finding identify opportunities to grow in my abilities.

In my first semester of school, I took an Honors First Year Experience class. I was introduced to various leadership philosophies. In this class, I was able to identify my personal leadership values and various roles within team settings. I believe that the authoritarian philosophy is the most effective when it comes to leading a group. In this theory, it takes a group of people working together to succeed in a task. I believe this is the best philosophy, because more minds and bodies are better than one. With more brains thinking together, better ideas are created than if just one person is brainstorming. With more bodies working together, work gets done faster than if just one person was working. This class gave me a solid foundation to build my leadership capabilities upon for the next four years at MNSU.

               The following summer I had an amazing opportunity to continue to develop my leadership skills as a Willmar Fests Ambassador. Since I was working with two other extraordinary women, I practiced group member skills and reflected upon roles within the group. Together we shared the joy of Willmar in our community and in other communities. We participated in parades, luncheons, volunteering events, and much more. In this role I was able to reflect upon my strengths and weaknesses. I am very determined, goal-oriented and a perfectionist. I realized I am not the best at initiating conversations but excellent at continuing interest in conversations. I also realized I am excellent at delegating tasks and managing time and people to make sure goals are completed.

               My freshman year I started my collegiate swimming career at MNSU. Throughout my four years, I was able to see a progression in my leadership skills. I began as a shy freshman analyzing the upper class student’s actions in leading the swim team. Positivity and encouragement were essential for effective leadership. As the years continued, my leaderships continued to grow. I started giving more advice to underclass students and helping lead the team. In my senior year I helped encourage, motivate, and inspire drive in my teammates to push themselves and each other in every set, every practice, and every meet. I was able to utilize my leadership strengths that I identified as a Willmar Fests Ambassador to lead the MNSU swim team such as collaborating with others, delegating tasks, and time management.

               The final capstone to my leadership skills was my role as the President of D.R.E.A.M. (Data Resources for Eager Analytical Minds). I identified various roles within the executive board so we could effectively collaborate together. These roles included a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Personal Relations Chair, Web Design chair, and Graphics Design chair. From identifying my strengths as a Willmar Fests ambassador and identifying effective leadership skills as a swim team senior, I was finally able to apply my personal theories and values to lead meetings and organize opportunites for members. I successfully resolved conflicts between executive board members by hearing all sides of the story and then created compromises between the two parties. Through these challenges, I was able to grow in my leadership abilities.

               After all these experiences I was able articulate a general philosophy to guide future collaboration within groups. I can now take my experiences in leadership to help contribute to my career at IBM. I hope to grow and shape my leadership philosophy as I continue to learn more about effective and ineffective leadership skills as leadership roles continue to evolve.