Reflection on Leadership Growth
Robert Roseman
Throughout my time at American University, my experiences and perceptions of leadership have changed. My formal leadership education had been fairly well established when I arrived at American, but the practical aspects have continued to be developed. Growing up leadership was something that I was constantly surrounded by. As a boy scout and later an Eagle Scout, I participated in leadership trainings and can truly claim that this was where my leadership experience began. From planning campouts, to organizing the entire troop, I was tasked with many challenges and had to successfully lead the rest of my troop to come to the best possible consensus. In this role I had to manage the other scouts as well as work with the adult leaders to understand their perspectives and take their advice into consideration. In high school, I was selected to join the Parish Episcopal School Leadership Institute where I was taught the foundational methods and theories behind different leadership styles. This program also enabled me to create a leadership project and drive it through completion.
As soon as I decided to attend American University, I saw the application for the SPA Leadership Program and knew that it was something that I needed to participate in. It was the natural continuation of my leadership journey and would provide a more expansive leadership education, the ability to work with many of my peers, and work on projects that would create a real community impact. This experience has been wonderful. The people I have worked with and gotten to learn alongside have provided me with incredible experiences and background. At the same time, I have been able to apply what I learn in the classroom to my work experiences and extracurricular activities.
I have been very lucky to find internships and jobs that push me to become a better person and provide me with unique challenges that I must face and overcome. During my sophomore year of college, I had the opportunity to work on the government relations team at the Jewish United Fund of Chicago. Through this experience I realized that there were ways to positively impact a community through using a collective voice for change. Within this role, I learned how to share critical messages with key policy makers and organize groups to best share perspectives in order to motivate those same people. Following that opportunity, I realized that I wanted to have an experience in the business field. I applied for and received an offer to become a policy fellow with Schneider Electric. Having worked in this role for a little over a year at this point, I have been challenged in ways I never thought possible. The opportunities for growth have been enormous and the payoff has been immense. I am going to continue working with Schneider Electric and hope to be able to make the world a better place by using the business voice for clean energy and sustainability effectively.
College has not been what I expected. The pandemic forced us to miss many of the experiences that I should have had, and I have had to grow up faster than the usual person. With all that being said, I am incredibly happy with the growth that I have had and am genuinely excited for what is to come in the future. I know that my experiences in the SPA Leadership Program will serve me well and provide me with a strong leadership foundation which I can build upon in future endeavors.
Reflection on SPAL Program:
Robert Roseman
The SPA Leadership Program has continually challenged me and forced me to be a stronger leader. In the first year of the program, I was placed in a group with five other strong and talented leaders. Since we were all strong leaders with loud voices, it was difficult at first to understand what role each of us should play and how to minimize the challenges that our group faced. We each had different strengths and overtime had to understand and build upon those strengths while allowing others to act on the things that we were not as proficient at. This was a steep learning curve, but provided me with incredible lessons about working with a group and enabling everyone to feel heard.
At the backbone of the leadership program is the classroom education. Through interactive activities and lectures, we were taught essential leadership skills and tactics. We listened to case studies, both positive and negative, and worked through what each leader did well and how they could improve. These seminars enabled me to gain a greater understanding of how and why I do what I do and how I can build upon the actions that are beneficial for strong leaders. The key leadership methods that have stuck with me are those of transformational leadership and authentic leadership. For me, these are incredibly powerful and important tools to fostering a positive community and ensuring that those around you feel enabled to be their best and true selves.