Next Stop London!

An interesting observation I made from my actual results from the PMAI is that I scored very low as a Seeker. A Seeker is someone that is adventurous, independent, and self-sufficient. Although I do consider myself a bit adventurous, I am not very independent or self-sufficient so I am not surprised that I scored low in this category. The interesting thing to me is that I have recently been thinking about becoming more of a Seeker type. For the past few days I have been thinking about getting a job and saving all the money in order to travel the world, even if I have to do it alone. Not really having thought thoroughly about myself lacking Seeker qualities, I wonder if I have been seriously considering this because subconsciously I know that I am not very independent or self-sufficient. Then again, it could also just be because I have never been out of the country and want to travel very badly. Either way, after reaching my goal of traveling outside of the country, I think I will be able to put some more points under the Seeker category.

The Innocent, Caregiving Jester

After taking the PMAI assessment, I was not wowed. It gave me a ton of information about each archetype but I don't think it said much about me personally. Sure it ranked me in many different categories to show where I stood, but I feel like they were generic write ups that are just forwarded once the system knows what archetypes you are most and least like. When I took the PRINT assessment in HTM 301, I was blown away. I felt that it told me so much about myself that I either knew, knew but couldn't put into words, or never really thought about. I think the success of the PRINT was being able to mix two categories together to make a more in depth evaluation of someones characteristics. I wish that the PMAI mixed different categories together to make the assessment more personal. Right now I just feel like I know the definition of each archetype.

Pros y Cons

There is a theory that is being spread out to the universe called trait based leadership. Basically, the trait based leadership theory says that people have to be born with certain traits that make them a leader. I do not agree with this theory on bit. I think that a pro for this theory is that it makes it easier for some people to become a leader. However, the biggest con for me is that, if this theory is true, no one can develop the skills to be a leader if they were not born with certain traits. I think that with enough drive and determination, most things can be learned and people can excel in them. Some pro athletes were not born with the natural talent to play their sport, but now they are payed millions of dollars to do it because they wanted it bad enough. I think the same thing applies to wanting to be a great leader...maybe not the millions of dollars though.

Leadership Traits

Some of the leadership traits I admire are charisma, drive, self confidence and a motivation to lead. I think that I admire these the most because they are things that I lack. If you know me, you might think otherwise, however when I am with strangers it is a whole different story. Being with people I know is my comfort zone and once you take me out of that...GAME OVER! I admire people that can be self confident and charismatic at all times, in any situation. I feel like it makes it easier to connect with people faster and build relationships. Building relationships is what I think is the most important ability for a leader to have so if I had these traits, it would make my life so much easier.

Learning Through Experience

I would say that the most important trait a leader needs is the ability to work WITH a team. The best leaders utilize their team as resources and through this strong bonds are formed. I made this my philosophy after seeing it in action. One of the best leaders I know was my dance team's director Emmett Agapay. He led our team to achieve more than what any of us thought was possible in the beginning. Many times I have received the compliment that, "You guys really look like you are having fun on stage." I think that Emmett plays a big part in why that is.  He was the glue that held us together by building up our relationships with one another and with him. Small things like asking our opinions about things in front of everyone made us know we had a say in what was going on. It made us even more dedicated to our goals and to the team. Realizing this now, I am going to be more critical of what leadership techniques I take in. I don't want to just do things because experts say they work. I want to see them actually work in real life. Every team is different so leaders need to be able to adapt to that but no matter what I will always believe that the best way to lead a team is to become part of that team. Integrate yourself as if you were their equal and start creating strong bonds. I know for a fact that this works...Emmett taught me that.