Team Work/Leadership

Many of the management courses I have taken often involve a leadership component as well as a team exercise.  As a result, I have learnt the art of effectively working collaboratively on teams in order to delegate tasks, stick to timelines and provide immediate follow-up toward a shared goal.

During my MPA, I worked with a team of fellow students to create a Strategy Proposal for the Center for Sex & Culture (CSC) ; in a leadership course with a group of fellow students we made a presentation on Presentation of Leadership Without Easy Answers (Chapter 7) by by Ronald Heifetz. Individually, I have considered leadership theory by offering a Critique of Authentic Leadership, by Bill George as well as a Profile of Ron Noble, Interpol Secretary General .

My current position as Linguistics Department Manager occasionally requires the planning and execution of major department projects involving coordination among various university departments.  Recently, my department hosted the Linguistic Society of America’s 2007 Summer Institute, attended by 700 linguists from around the world.  To host the event, I worked on a team of 4 to coordinate both university units (including Conference Services, Housing and Dinning, etc.) as well as outside organizations (including the Linguistics Society of American, Google, etc.).  Together, we developed and managed a $1M budget comprised of funds from the President, Provost, Vice Provost and Dean’s offices, as well as corporate donors and attendees.

My experience on teams goes beyond my working life.  From 2000-2005, I was part of the community that built and supported the art festival in the Nevada desert, known as the notorious Burning Man.  During my years participating in the event, I worked to support small, group camps building shade structures, showers, and coordinating food/water in order to comfortably live in the Black Rock City (BRC is the area created by the Burning Man community).  I have also worked as a Ranger, often taking undesirable night shifts. BRC Rangers are a small group of volunteers who support participants and help create a safe environment for all.

[Pictured Gearhead in process and complete]

In 2005, I helped construct a large theme camp on the Esplanade.  Theme camps offer art, entertainment and participatory moments for inhabitants of Black Rock City. Our group built a large art piece, the gear-head, to preside over our dance floor and light up the night across the deep desert.  The project took months of preparation beforehand and several days in the desert itself to construct.  In the end it was a gorgeous beacon for wayward burners.

 

 

 

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