Yongbo Qian

Intersect

 

The Intersect Leadership program is designed to help students focus on the interpersonal knowledge required for effective leadership, and it is the very first i-program I have ever attended at the Illinois Leadership Center. I chose Intersect above the other programs because I highly value the interpersonal skills and teamwork capabilities and consider them important to learn.

 

In the program, students were distributed into different groups for the activities throughout the day. With my previous experience at the LeaderShape Institute, I was comfortable in this group-discussion oriented environment. After some interesting icebreaking events, I found some similarities between the other group members and myself. Becoming more familiar with each other enabled us to conduct more effective discussions. In the morning, the program was more focused on identifying our listening style and improving our listening skills. Not until I started to reflect on my own listening behavior did I realize the importance of being an active listener and distinguish between different listening styles. My most natural listening style is evaluating. I am used to thinking critically, capturing the intention behind words, providing feedback and making the proper decisions based on my judgment. However, in some circumstances, appreciative or other listening styles may be more appropriate. By knowing which listening styles I am strong in and those in which I need to improve, I could actively listen for others’ opinions by asking questions for elaboration and connect main ideas with supporting points.

 

After lunch, we started the second part of the event. Each group was given a list of supplies and we had to build a catapult and compete with the other teams. We were only allowed to choose limited supply bundles, so which to choose is important for making the structure functional. Although there were some different opinions, we finally reached an agreement based on evaluating the usefulness of each supply and how they can be combined together. We kept this open-minded discussion throughout the building of the catapult. Although the chosen supply bundles did not work exactly as expected and there were some obstacles in actually building up the catapult, our group members all contributed to the team with our own skill sets, knowledge and expertise. With the power of cooperation, we successfully created a fully-functional catapult. Although we did not get the best result, we were satisfied by our efforts in working together. Impressed by other teams’ work, we learnt that we should always be looking at things in different ways and be open to new ideas. This activity was not only interesting, but also practical in developing team-work capabilities.

 

Finally, we concluded the dimensions of effective teams presented in the group. We were able to develop clear group goals, appropriate decision-making procedures and encourage conflicts and different perspectives. Personally, I successfully used the results of the Personal Listening Style Assessment to increase the effectiveness of my communication skills with others. Through this program, I believe I am positioned to build better relationships with others in team.