Personal Mission Statement

I signed up for the Leadership Certificate Program to get more involved on campus and I

believe that this program can at least help me develop and muster traits needed to engage in

anything from self-volunteering to joining and taking part of an organization or group.

Leadership plays a huge role in working with others and a good leader has the ability to

communicate and collaborate effectively within a group, while motivating others to achieve their

goals. From my experience and understanding, a leaders main qualities should include

inspiration, commitment, vision, and a passion that drives them to achieve common interests or

evoke positive change.

As a leader, I have developed values that guide me when I work towards my goals. I

value commitment, adaptability, consistency, and selflessness. Commitment is paramount when

working in groups because it allows members to participate through involvement and is

beneficial when working towards any goal. Consistency is also important. Any group or

organization cannot function without the constant participation and attendance of its members.

Adaptability allows for flexibility in any situation or environment especially in regards to people

because no interaction is the same. Selflessness is a great way to contribute to others without the

expectation of something in return and when working within a group its best to think in terms of

the entirety of the group. I follow these four core values when I make decisions and goals to

ensure that I am always abiding by them.

My personal life goals are to work for the government on real-world environmental

projects that would potentially benefit society and promote the sustainability of our environment.

With these goals, I aspire to be a leader among co-workers by creating a positive, productive

work environment by modeling service before self and a commitment to a cause that benefits
society. By learning a variety of leadership skills, I will be able to express my leadership style in

a way that can help me achieve my goals, while encouraging others to achieve theirs.

While in the Leadership Certificate Program I my goals are to develop my leadership

skills. I hope to better understand my leadership style and learn how to maximize my potential as

a leader among different types of groups.

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Getting more involved on campus through student programs and volunteering is a great

way to develop leadership skills and cooperative involvement with others. I understand that

while Im on campus I have an abundance of opportunities to volunteer, join a registered student

organization, or a club that would allow me to be more involved in the Champaign-Urbana

community. I am a senior and will be graduating in a semester, so I understand that I have a few

months to get involved. The office of volunteer programs provides informational resources for

students who are willing to serve. Im expecting that I can get at least one day to commit to

volunteering. Five months exactly is when Ill be graduating so I think I can at least participate in

volunteering work for the next five months to accomplish this goal.

Completing the Leadership Certificate Program before I graduate is the one goal that I

have prioritized. Im involved in this program to improve my leadership skills but also to give

myself more opportunities to participate on campus outside of the classroom setting. The

Leadership Certificate Program is typically completed in about three semesters but Im

graduating soon and Im expecting to finish before the end of the Fall semester. Seeing that I

graduate in the Spring semester, I dont have a lot of time so it would be best for me to make this

a top priority goal.

Competency
Personal/Self Level
Empathy- Understands the
perspectives of others,
without necessarily agreeing
with them; Recognizes and
acknowledges the emotional
context of interactions
Openness- Values new
experiences and people;
Maintains a strong sense of
personal values while being
responsive to new ones
Interpersonal/Team Level
Communication- Shares
perspectives and gathers
viewpoints, in both formal
and informal environments;
Engages in active listening
Cultural Competency-
Possesses the skills,
knowledge, and attitude
necessary to create authentic
relationships with those from
different cultures; Recruits
diverse membership within
groups or teams
Organization Level
Innovation- Values
continuous assessment and
Leadership Objective Evidence
In order to better understand It is often characterized as the
people who come from ability to "put oneself into
different backgrounds, I another's shoes", or
believe that it is best to experiencing the outlook or
develop a sense of emotions of another being
understanding of other within oneself; a sort of
peoples feelings through emotional resonance and I
their perspective believe that in order to truly
relate to someone on a
personal level you have to
understand where they are
coming from
For Openness, especially in Openness comes by accepting
regards to experiences, I change and having a
believe that in order to willingness to embrace
improve individually one differences that one may not
must be advocates to change agree with
and new experiences
In terms of my To improve my
communication skills, I want communication skills, I will
to be more attentive to attend group meets or
instructions and listen better presentations with questions
to the ideas of others prepared in order to not only
engage but learn from others.
This will allow me to be more
attentive and be able to grasp
valuable feedback from my
audience
In a world full of diverse I think that I can improve my
people with many different relationship with others by
cultures and backgrounds, I exposing myself to other
believe that in order to truly cultures aside from my own
connect with others it is best and possessing the
to work in groups with people knowledge and appropriate
that possess a variety of attitude to create relationships
different skills and talents as on an interpersonal level
well as diverse cultures
Innovation is always essential It is always best to develop a
in a constantly changing level of innovation that
improvement; Challenges the
traditional ways of doing
things; Changes processes
and structures with purpose
and meaning
Community/Society Level
Service Minded- Finds
meaning in their work
through service to others;
Models service to others by
engaging in actions that serve
others in and outside of their
community
world. There has to be
challenges to the status quo
to keep things fresh and new
Being service-minded is
essential to contributing to
any community. I believe that
it is important to model
service and volunteer
challenges traditional norms
which is why I believe that
you must balance between
adaptability and innovation to
keep stability within the
structure of the group
To enhance my ability to be
service-minded, I will
continue to volunteer for
projects that better the
Champaign-Urbana
community. This will help me
give back to my community
while modeling service and
satisfy a fulfillment of
selflessness