We are down to the wire! As I approach graduation in May, the time has come to make the final revisions to the ePortfolio I have been working on during my time at O.D.U. For the past two years I have been working on taking my ePortfolio from a student portfolio to a professional one, adding the necessary elements required as a Communication major while preserving the integrity of my professional image as a resilience coach. I was thankful to start this journey with a considerable amount of content already available to me making some of this process fairly simple, especially considering my marketing and branding experience from previously held positions. Even so, there were several hurdles I had to overcome in truly making this a professional portfolio.
Among those concerns was how to incorporate coursework into the ePortfolio in a way that blended with my career aspirations. Coinciding with that was the need to reconcile my professional “personas” into one cohesive individual and narrative that would make sense to my audience. To do so, I sought advice from professors, professional colleagues, previous coworkers, friends, and my wife to streamline the process. Previously curated content throughout the course of my educational journey included a revamped Homepage complete with a more relevant Summary section, added sections specifically dedicated to my time at O.D.U. including a section for Course Projects, Awards and Distinctions, and a dedicated section for my work as a LeADERS Candidate. Overall, I am pleased with the current version of my ePortfolio and how it represents me personally and professionally.
Reflecting on Leadership
I think about my time working with two of the largest automotive dealership companies in the Hampton Roads area. At the first dealership I began my career as a receptionist but quickly realized my passion for all things tech, especially in marketing. Concurrently, upper management realized my strengths in it and how they could utilize it to their advantage. Thus began my career in marketing, automotive marketing specifically then, and I quickly went from working in internet sales to having my own internet sales department to becoming the e-Marketing Director for the entire automotive group. One of the greatest leaders I worked with there was the General Manager for our Infiniti dealership branch at the time. He was brought in as a transplant at a critical time for the company and came highly recommended, and with a plethora of accolades. He was extremely charismatic and articulate and, as a Toastmaster, commanded attention any time he spoke. He was also very much a people person who’s smile immediately welcomed you into the dealership day in and day out.
After almost ten years working at that automotive dealership, I left the corporate world choosing to focus on small businesses and nonprofits with my freelance work until circumstances led me back to a competing automotive group a few years later. It would be these same qualities that I found in the Vice President of my new automotive home. What was different in this instance is that this was now a VP versus a GM. It was expected of a General Manager to be present within the dealership on a daily basis interacting with staff and customers; however, that is not the case for the Vice President of a large automotive group. They are far too busy to be chumming it up with the daily grinders. But not this VP, he was visible every day and I was working at a central administrative office instead of within one of the actual dealership buildings! Not only did this VP show up to our central office every day but he also made time to come by everyone’s desk just to say hello. I had never seen this type of involvement from anyone at C-Suite level .
To this day I still consider both of these men examples of exceptional leadership. They were both intelligent, articulate, passionate, and dedicated. Both were accomplished. They also were engaging and empowering public speakers. However, what I admired most about them both was their willingness to commune with the “common folk”. At no point did it ever feel that they were too “high up” to associate with us. They treated every employee with respect and recognized their individual importance to the organization. Their actions made us feel seen, heard, and validated. They were the epitome of “there is no ‘I’ in team”.
Reflecting on Events
Being that my wife and I own an entertainment services company, we often do a lot of weddings. Weddings are some of the most memorable moments in people’s lives, although not always pleasurable ones. I recall a wedding we went to a few summers ago that was what we call a D.I.Y. wedding, meaning that there was no professional wedding planner coordinating the wedding. Now, I fully understand that not everyone can afford to hire a professional to assist them but there are some very key advantages to having one for such an important event. And that was certainly the case for this wedding.
There was no sense of direction when it came to this wedding. Family and friends ran amuck taking care of vital details such as setting up the tent, table, chairs, and other rentals. This was made more difficult considering the venue was a backyard on an incline! There was no pre-approved and rehearsed timeline for the event so it started late, which affected the timing of all the remaining portions of the event. The forecast also called for rain and this was an outside ceremony and reception; there was no rain contingency plan in place. Nor was there consideration for the DJ and their equipment being safely accounted for in the case of inclement weather. During the ceremony, there was no microphone provided for the officiant and the couple so guests could not hear what was being said. We only knew the ceremony was complete when the cheers came from the front row after the couple’s first kiss!
The after was equally concerning as there was no real space for guests to go while the backyard was being flipped for the reception. Food was inside a terribly small kitchen and buffet style which made the dining portion of the wedding quite crowded, and don’t get me started on when guests needed to get to a bathroom! While we had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed (and appreciated) the invitation, this wedding was one in a list of many that made us heavily consider the necessity of having some sort of professional help in organizing our wedding.
Final Thoughts
As I start this course, I am hopeful that it will provide me with a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of leadership and events management. This will be immensely helpful to the success of my wife and I’s company advancement. I/we will be intentional about applying strategies and techniques learned within this course. Further, the leadership portion of this course will undoubtedly provide me with ways to develop and grow within my coaching career as well. As such, I look forward to adding to my ePortfolio this semester and curating material that will further enhance my personal and professional image within both companies! Stay tuned for future revisions featuring an updated resume, additional coursework including resilience focused research papers, an updated LeADERS section, and a brand new head shot for the Welcome Page!
Commentaires