Weekly Journal 7

Wednesday, October 13, 2021, 2:30–4:14

What opportunities for leadership development does this class/ readings/ work bring to me?

This class discussion was based off of our reading of El Muerto. The main character took on some traits that we could compare to our other readings as well. To be specific, we got to see what a good mentor looks like to some of us so far, and also what a bad mentor looks like as well.

Those are a few quotes I’ve came across recently that I wanted to share regarding mentorship. I believe they are relevant because we believe that a lot of our mentors are here to encourage and enable another person’s professional or personal development. Whereas, I’ve now been introduced to a bad mentor. Imagine being taken under the wing that you no longer want to be under, and it becomes a trap that you can’t escape. Most importantly, In EL Muerto we spent lots of time trying to determine his reasonings for his motivations. So first I’m going to start by listing those 9 motivations that we discussed and if they apply to me, as well as things I’ve thought about including examples that ties into our goal of building our leadership development.

The first motivation is a sense of duty or obligation. For this purpose, its a person that has to have something done for them or to them in order to give it back in return. They may feel obligated to do something for other people because it was done to them first. For example, you could start a business and decide that you won’t support anyone else’s business for the sake of your business, but you come across someone that you see owns a business and is supporting yours as well. So now you decide to supports theirs as well because you feel obligated to do so since they did it for you. On the other hand, this may look like someone that is constantly in regret, or may seek loyalty a lot more often than average people.

The second motivation is: In order be in control or have power. This person may look like someone that is constantly in worry. They are very organized. This particular person may need to take parts in situations where they are there from the beginning of an event/situation to the end just in case anything goes wrong. I feel like there’s a good and bad side of this as well though. When you want to manage situations so strongly you may forget that you may not get the intended outcome to every situation as you had imagined. On the other hand, this is someone that has confidence that everything is going to be alright which I believe is a good mindset to have a person. In some instance, I can detect a little bit of this motivation within myself. I sometimes feel like when I’m in control of something it makes it easier to know that I can hold myself accountable in anything that goes wrong or also right. I also don’t want this to be consumed too much into becoming a control freak because I’ve ran into many people like so. For example, at my last job we have positions of power like any other job, but you have cases where people want to perform tasks and be more in control than what is expected of them.

The third motivation is Domination. When I hear this word I first think of being alpha. Like an alpha male or an alpha female. An alpha male is someone that may be very outgoing, bold, self-confident, and also demanding. They may have lots of self- respect, they don’t believe in failure, have courage, and take action. Whereas a alpha female is partaken to me as a powerful and successful woman. Although, a man could also be the same, you see a lot of alpha females in leadership roles and they can be quite intimidating to other women as well as men. Some traits that they may pursue are beliefs that her ability to achieve is limitless, have a confidence that is contagious, be recognized by others as powerful, and have extremely high ambitions. Aside from that, to reflect back onto our readings this could also be someone that loves authority, and may throw it in others face, and potentially bully or plot against others. This isn’t someone that you want around because they may constantly believe they have to be over you and try to compete for your spot.

Motivation number 4 is honor, praise, and recognition. This is someone that may also want confirmation about something that they are doing. In a classroom setting, they may want to be the only one answer all of the questions the professor is asking and may expect for them to say something like, “ so and so is the only one providing great answers, would anyone else like to share?” because it makes them feel good. Although, I do believe that every now and we all do love a little praise and recognition for the things that we do and accomplish which makes us feel good about ourselves, but definitely not all the time. Also, to be a leader sometimes you don’t always encounter those situations, but that doesn’t mean you stop being a leader if you get what I’m saying.

The 5th motivation is prestige. A person with prestige requires respect and admiration felt for someone or something on a basis of a perception of their achievements or quality. This is someone that always wants to stand out and will seek all opportunities to be seen and may not consider the thought of others being seen as well. Although, in some truth, many jobs may come with prestigious positions which can be the result of a good thing or a bad thing.

The 6th motivation is love of design. I see this person working in positions as a lawyer, judge, architect, in real estate, and etc. Being able to draw up a plan, and have a vision for it, as well as set goals to it is a good thing to have. When working in a team or alongside colleagues or classmates this is a great thing to have, but I believe you would also have to constantly be in control of managing the feelings of others. In this case, it could only become bad when you are self-centered and don’t reflect on everything and everyone else that may not fit into your criteria or benefit you.

For the 7th motivation; love of humanity. I couldn’t really connect this one to life, but I do see this as someone that wants the best for everyone. So with that being said they may always see the good in people, focus on people’s potentials, choose love over hate every time, and also treat everyone as equals.

The 8th motivation is the position that I see a lot in my mom which is nurturing concern in addressing my needs. Even at the age I’m in now, I call her for everything and she’s here to listen to everything as well. She does things like find solutions to my problems, she sympathizes, and take of my basic needs. I believe this is someone that is good in our task of leadership development because they tremendously help in addressing the needs of others.

The last motivation that I’m going to elaborate on is profit. This is my most least favorite examples of all of the motivations, especially with the thought and idea of money existing. I believe that in most cases when money is involved people forget the overall mission of what’s at stake and passion is also lost in the process. For example, when you encounter a teacher that loves what they do vs. a teacher that’s just doing it for the money you notice a big disconnect. I’ve also had a few teachers in the past that has said that to be specific, and it’s very noticeable. If it isn’t about a check, there’s no reason they need to imply themselves. I’m very adamant on doing things that you love, and even in a case that you aren’t doing what you love try to be the best at it because it motivates you to go harder and helps set a goal within yourself. When money is involved I feel like that isn’t possible and the only goat at stake is making a bigger check than the one before. Another example I can name is the foster care system. I have a big soft spot for the foster care system and social work was my 2nd major choice. Besides that, I say that because in the system they encounter so many foster parents that are only in the system for the money. They are the parents that treat the kids horribly and they take lots of kids in only for the sake of money. In the end it damages a lot of them physically, mentally, and emotionally. In terms of leadership, this may be essential to them.

Wednesday, October 13, 2021, 10:00 PM- 11:00 PM

After our discussion of the 9 motivations brought up after reading El Muerto, we posed a serious of questions about our self- awareness that reads as follows:

Are you aware of your emotions and their impact on you? Do you know your strengths and weaknesses? and what kind of person is good at seeking self awareness?

I’m not ashamed to say that very recently I’ve became more self aware of my actions. For example, there has been many times before where I was bad at the way that I came off to people. Sometimes it would be things like my tone, attitude, facial expressions, and more. My mom would have to correct me a lot of times of that behavior and I used to brush it off and never really change anything. It took time for me to realize it and after several incidents I came to realization that it wasn’t something that I agree with and now that I’ve been working on changing it and I’ve gotten better. So now when I notice that in other people I say something because just like me in the beginning, I wasn’t aware of it until someone told me about it. Now as I grow I believe I’m getting better at becoming aware of my emotions and their impact on me, and also how I present those emotions to other people as I’m going through them. In addition to that, I believe the same thing for knowing my strengths and weaknesses. In order to be aware of them you have to grow and with growth comes new strengths and weaknesses as well. So everyday I’m becoming aware of that and it influences my everyday life. A person that is good at seeking self awareness is good at showing empathy and taking others’ perspectives. Lastly, you can become more self-aware by getting feedback from people that you may know, completing self-assessment surveys, or being in courses like this as such.

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