HTM 301 CAPSTONE PROJECT

KALEIDOSCOPE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PLAN (LDP)

SECTION ONE: VISION AND GOALS

________________________________________________________________

About Me

Student Name Anzhu (Angel) Li

Section and Semester HTM 301 Spring 2019

Degree Emphasis Meetings and Events Operation Management

Current Job N/A

Expected Graduation Spring 2020

My PRINT Major 8 Minor 2

The Ideal Hospitality Leader

Use the following questions to guide you in your narrative. You do not have to answer each question one by one.

What is unique about the context of the hospitality and tourism industry?
How do leaders excel in this context?
How do current managers and faculty members define/talk about/say is important about leading
in the context of the hospitality and tourism industry?
How has my view of leading in the hospitality and tourism industry changed?
What are the behaviors for each of the competencies that are most connected to my vision of the
ideal leader in the HTM context?

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Provide a narrative about your vision of the ideal leader in the hospitality and
tourism context and the leader you envision yourself becoming.

Hospitality and tourism industry is an everchanging industry with many aspects and
elements. Because of the varieties within this industry, I believe an ideal leader in the
hospitality and tourism industry should be someone who is open-minded, flexible and
adaptive to new ideas and changes, and this is also what I envision myself to become in
the future. I used to percept a good leader in hospitality and tourism industry is just
someone who is able to stay organized and delegate different tasks at the same time.
However, after exploring more about this industry and learning more about different
elements of leadership, my perception has definitely changed. I believe having an open-
minded attitude is very important of being a hospitality and tourism leader, because of the
changing trends within the industry, the new technology that is being involved in the
industry, and the new generation who will be working in the industry, it is best that a great
leader can accept and adopt to new things, and not limit the new possibility that could
occur within the industry. With accepting new changes, it also means that the leader
should be able to expert in interpersonal communication and networking. Networking can
help a leader to stay up to date with new information about the industry, and a great leader
should actively practice interpersonal communication in order to understand and respect
different employees with different generation and culture backgrounds.

Career Goals
Use the following questions to guide you in your narrative. You do not have to answer each question one by one.

What are the possible ways to sustain the lifestyle I want in the experience economy?
What kind of work would take advantage of my talents, as I perceive them now?
What am I considering that I never thought possible before?
Even though the job doesn’t exist today, how would I really like to spend my time?

Based on what you know about your values, passions, and talents, what would
be your dream career in the long term? Hint: Think Bigger.

My dream career is to be able to work in the entertainment industry, I am hoping

to be live concert director for an entertainment company who will be in charge of
planning the concert, as well as being part of the creativity production team. I am
passionate about event planning and stage designing, so I hope to be able to
create memorable concerts for music lovers.

What would be an ideal position/career/life choice for you 5 years after

graduating?

The ideal position for me after graduating 5 years would be becoming an event
coordinator and plan for events with my team, or to be someone within an event
company who will be traveling to other countries to put on events.

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List a short-term career goal – achieved by your graduation date.

By my graduation, which is May 2020, I hope to complete an internship within

hotel in order to learn more about hotel operations, and gain a better
understanding on how hotel and event are correlated with each other. I also hope
to get experiences from an event production company because I am very
interested in event technology and event design. Not but not least, I hope I can
either get a job with an entertainment event company, or gain an offer from
management in training for hotel meetings after graduation.

Other Goals
Use the following questions to guide you in your narrative. You do not have to answer each question one by one.

What extra curricular things could I do to help toward my dream job?

What scares me that I should try to overcome?
What skills do I think I want to develop?
How can I get more involved in the industry in ways that suit my personality?
Who do I know that I should reach out to that might help with my career?
How can I learn more about the possibilities for me upon graduation?

Identify 3 goals for your college journey. Begin each statement I Will…
1. I will be on board for MESA, offer the best I have for this organization to attract
more members, and getting out of my comfort zone to work with other board
members/HTM students.
2. I will become a teacher assistant for HTM 201 in order to practice coaching
and mentoring, as well as learning how to work with people who I am not familiar
with.
3. I will expand my connections through my internship position, as well as
attending more HTM events and professional associations.

SECTION TWO: REFLECTIONS

________________________________________________________________

Simulations

Reflect on your strengths and weaknesses during the simulations. Identify the
changes you made from the first simulation to the second and areas where you
think you made the most improvements.

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Throughout the course, we have accomplished two simulations as we worked within groups
with different individuals in the class. The first simulation was to create a new airline
division, and the second simulation was to create and execute a 20 minutes social networking
event. Both simulations were very challenging because not only we had only a week to
generate ideas and present, but also that we were forced to work with people who we were not
familiar with. However, I still wanted to say that I learned a lot from both projects, and I now
understand different roles within a team better. In the first simulation, I was more like a
leading person in my group, I was always keeping track of time for different sections, and
made sure our group covered all the topics we needed to discuss in class. I also presented my
strength and weakness to my group members, which was that I am very good with designing
and creativity elements, but I am not the best writer since English isn’t my first language.
Therefore, I was able to contribute my strengths and designed out logos, printed ads, and
posters, while my group members filled in the gap where I was lacking such as writing and
completing literal related session. When in the second simulation, I was more of a listener in
the group, and I acted as the flexible person who fill in gaps that other members were not able
to do for the projects. Because my group members for the second simulation were very
knowledgeable creative with the pitch ideas, so I did most of the event preparation works such
as getting materials, making the budget sheets, creating our luau themed cups and making the
foods for the event.
For the first simulation, I was very eager to lead the team and contribute ideas, but because I
was such a talker, I unintentionally cut off other members’ sentence sometime and some
members weren’t voicing their opinion enough. I didn’t mean to do these in purpose, but
sometime I just get very excited, and I realized it when my assessor pointed it out to me later.
Therefore, during the second simulation, I kept this criticism in mind, and I waited until
others finished their ideas to speak, and I tried not to take too “aggressive” of an initiative.

My Perception and the Perceptions of Others

Use the following questions to guide you in your narrative. You do not have to answer each question one by one.

What did the industry observers say I did well/competency strengths?

How do my peers talk about my role on a team?
How did feedback from others surprise me?
What were the key lessons from my mentor network?
What disappointed me?
What exhilarated me?
What can I change/not change?
What would I do differently if I could?
What is my role in the outcomes of the semester?

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Consider the questions above and synthesize what you learned about yourself
this semester.
My assessor for my first simulation was Janelle, she was a very good observer in my
opinion and she gave feedbacks from another perspective that I would never expected.
She usually considered herself the quite member in the group, and the feedback she
gave me was because I was such a talker in the group, sometime I would
unintentionally cut off other member’s conversation to give my inputs, and lead to the
quiet members in the group to hesitate to speak up. She said it was a good thing that I
was always contributing ideas to the group, but I should pay more attention to when to
speak up so I don’t disrupt others. This was a very helpful feedback for me, and I
would always keep that in the back of my mind under any setting, so I can behave
more professionally during conversations with others. My second assessor for the
other simulation was Patrick. Patrick was a very experienced assessor because he has
done the simulations himself before, and he played the role of an assessor for many
other classes. Patrick pointed out something really surprised me, first was something
that I never noticed I was constantly doing, which was always keeping our group on
track during discussion. Often group discussion could be distracted by other topics, or
group members would tend to discussion more in-depth on a specific topic and forget
the others that we still need to go over, and this is where I would come in and remind
my group to refocus. I didn’t realize I was doing that until Patrick pointed it out for
me, because I just knew I get anxiety easily if I see the group is falling behind or we
couldn’t cover all of the topics we need to within a required time frame. Another
feedback Patrick gave me was about my body language. Toward the end of the second
simulation’s group discussion, I was a little discouraged because I felt like my ideas
weren’t being accepted or appreciated by my groupmates, I started to look away or
look down when my groupmates were talking, and I wasn’t making eye contacts. This
was something I realized myself, and Patrick also observed it. I told him the reason
why I was doing that, and Patrick kindly gave me a lot of suggestions on how to adjust
my body language when situation like this happens again in the future, as well as how
to adjust my emotion in a short period of time. His feedbacks and advises were really
helpful for bettering myself, and I was very grateful for having Patrick to be my
assessor, and helped me with behavior that I personally struggle with.

SECTION THREE: COMPETENCY ASSESSMENT

________________________________________________________________

For each competency, list four behaviors that convey the essence of the
competency in action aligned with your vision of the ideal leader in hospitality and
tourism. You may find it helpful to review the competency definitions article and
industry interviews. Then, for each competency, assess yourself currently using
the rating scale below. These ratings will serve as your baseline assessment,
and you will reassess your own development in future semesters. Your ratings

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are for the purpose of learning and growth only—ratings will not influence course
grades. Enter a number of 1 through 7 for yourself for each of the competencies.

Critical Need Some Need About Average Some Strength Role Model

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Business Savvy Competencies – Behaviors and Self-Assessment

My
Numberwise Rating
1 Be able to budge smartly and efficiently 3 Be able to forecast according to
trends and factors
2 Be able to understand and analyze P&L 4 Be able to negotiate about costs
statement and funds
3
My
Planning Rating
1 Be able to set appropriate agenda and 3 Be flexible and adaptable to sudden
goals changes

2 Prioritizing 4 Reorganized and reset goals when

changes occur 5
My
Strategic Decision-Making Rating
1 React efficiently to risk or emergency 3 Be able to analyze strengths and
weakness
2 Be able to take initiative 4 Be able to make the right decision
depends on different situation 4
My
Superior Technical Service Rating
1 Understand the trends and be adaptive 3 Seek for innovation and be open-
to new technology minded

2 Be able to utilize technology tools to 4 Be realistic with technology and

help achieve goals in a more efficient way keep up with the standard
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SECTION THREE: COMPETENCY ASSESSMENT (CONTINUED)
________________________________________________________________

Critical Need Some Need About Average Some Strength Role Model

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 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

People Savvy Competencies – Behaviors and Self-Assessment

My
Interpersonal Communication Rating
1 Being an active listener 3 Welcomed and be easy to approach

2 Be able to advocate for both employees 4 Respect others and their values
and consumers
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My
Networked Rating
1 Active communication with others 3 Willing to step out of your comfort
zone
2 Spend time and commit to a 4 Stay active and connected within
relationship, and keep up with others the industry, attend professional
associations 5
My
Coaching/Training Rating
1 Be able to give constructive feedbacks 3 Stay patient when teaching or
training
2 Be able to recognize and appreciate 4 Act as a role model at all time
other’s works and efforts
5
My
Superior Expressive Service Rating
1 Willing to work above and beyond on 3 Be responsible and accountable as
assigned tasks a team member

2 Take initiative to interact with 4 View customers as god, be able to

customers and understand their needs deal with difficult customers without
being frustrated and disrespectful 4

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SECTION THREE: COMPETENCY ASSESSMENT (CONTINUED)
________________________________________________________________

Critical Need Some Need About Average Some Strength Role Model

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Self Savvy Competencies – Behaviors and Self-Assessment

My
Professionalism Rating
1 Always dress professional according to 3 Keep composure and remain calm
different occasions, use professional under stress
language and body languages

2 Always respecting others 4 Honest work ethic and trustworthy

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My
Time Management | Priorities Rating
1 Utilize calendar or planner to note down 3 Set tasks and goals for daily,
all important tasks and events weekly, and monthly

2 Revise the planner daily and make sure 4 Be able to analyze and identify
all tasks and events are up to date priorities, then plan from here
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My
Self Development Rating
1 Keep an open-minded mind set and be 3 Keep reasonable balance between
always willing to learn new things work and personal life

2 Be able to take in feedbacks and make
improvement
Spirit of Optimism
1 Stay positive when encounter stressful
situation and look for positive outcome
4 Design personal short term and
long term goals and execute
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My
Rating
3 Always greeting customers and
employees with a friendly attitude

2 Be able to adjust negative emotion 4 Be able to motivate yourself and

efficiently and appropriately others
5

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SECTION FOUR: DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY
________________________________________________________________

Summary of Competency Assessment

From the entire list of 12 competencies, identify your top three strengths as well
as three competencies that you need to develop.

Competency Strengths Competencies to Develop

1. Impersonal Communication 1. Numberwise

2. Time Management / Priorities 2. Strategy Decision-Making

3. Professionalism 3. Superior Expressive Service

Develop Activity Ideas

Development activities are customized mini projects that students design to

enhance one or more of their competency areas. A typical development activity
takes 10-20 total hours to complete during a semester. Development activities
help students move closer to their idealized vision as leaders. Students
customize development activities to take place in their own learning spaces—
school, work, social clubs and other personal settings. It may be helpful to review
the list of starter ideas on the following pages as well as the student created
website Kaleidoscope Resources. In the table below, list 3-5 development activity
ideas (project titles) that will help you develop one or more competencies,
provide an opportunity to enhance your leadership, and/or help achieve a goal.
At least one of your activities should also help move you in the direction of your
dream job. The first row of the table is filled in as an example.

Development Activity Ideas Description of Alignment

1 BEING A BOARD MEMBER FOR MESA DECISION-MAKING COMPETENCY
(ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF MARKETING) IMPROVEMENT AND NETWORK WITHIN THE
HTM MAJOR
2 BECOME A HTM MINION TO HELP SET UP PLANNING AND TIME MANAGEMENT

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HTM EVENTS FOR THE SEMESTER
3 BECOME A TEACHER ASSISTANT FOR HTM
201
COMPETENCIES IMPROVEMENT AND
ALIGNED WITH CAREER GOAL, ALSO BE ABLE
TO NETWORK WITH INDUSTRY
PROFESSIONALS
PRACTICE AND IMPROVEMENT FOR
COACHING AND TRAINING COMPETENCY

4 BE ABLE TO SECURE AN INTERNSHIP AT PROFESSIONAL, SELF DEVELOPMENT AND

EVENT PRODUCTION COMPANY
5 SHADOWING SUPERVISOR OR INDUSTRY
PROFESSIONAL IN MY INTERNSHIPS
SUPERIOR EXPRESSIVE SERVICE
COMPETENCIES IMPROVEMENT
NETWORK WITH MORE INDUSTRY
PROFESSIONAL AND ALIGNED WITH CAREER
GOAL, PRACTICE SELF DEVELOPMENT AND
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Create your own Kaleidoscope Development Activity

Use the attached Development Activity Template to design a mini project to

complete during the semester you take HTM 480. Sections will include:

Title: Expand my connection with meeting and event industry professional via
being a board member on MESA, introduce MESA to more HTM students.

Background: Networking plays a big part in the meeting and event industry.
Being the upcoming director of marketing for MESA, I wanted to use this
opportunity and organization to learn about how marketing will affect the outcome
of events, to expand my own network, and connecting my organization with both
HTM student and meeting and events industry professionals.

Description: For this project, I will be working closely with event managers in
MESA, board members from other HTM organizations, as well as the HTM
faculties and staff, in order to advertise our MESA events and attract more
attendees to our event. I would also like to utilize my personal connections with
entertainment event company and event production company, I want to invite
them to come hold an information session at San Diego State University, or
schedule warehouse tour with event production company in order to introduce
different aspects in the meeting and event industry to our HTM students.

Success Indicators: The indicator for success for the activity is the result of
being about connected with these industry professionals, and stay in touch with
them for future events or return of visit. I want to establish a relationship between
MESA and industry professionals who are outside of just hotels and venues
vendors. Event turnouts and attendee’s feedback would also be considered as
an indicator for success at the end.

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Timeline: This development activity will take place during the HTM 480 course.
Fill in the semester timeline table to list the major sections in bold and the
specific activities and project deliverables as suggested by the placeholders in
the template.

Semester Week Phases & Activities Deliverables Notes

Contact my personal Email and inform
Prior to Start of 480 connection with industry MESA board
professionals during members and
summer advisor if my
connections are
Research possible event willing to work with
companies us
Week One Present my ideas and Informative power
possibilities to board point
meetings
Week Two Phase One: Officially LinkedIn
reach out to industry connection, emails,
companies as an phone calls
student organization
Week Three Working with HTM staffs
to see availability to
establish events or
information sessions
date

Continuous reaching out

to industry companies
Week Four Confirm interested
companies
List of available
dates for event or
session
Week Five Phase Two: Setting up
meetings (in person
or via online app) to
meet with industry
companies and start
planning
Week Six Meeting with industry
companies, HTM office
to finalize event date and
time
Week Seven Budget control and Present confirmed
present fundraiser events dates and times of
if necessary events that are
agreed by both
Finalize advertisement industry companies
ideas and RSVP list for and HTM office
events

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Week Eight Phase Three:
Advertisement and
making sure all details
for event are finalize
Week Nine Advertise around HTM Create event flyers
major via social meeting and RSVP form
and the HTM office:
informing HTM staff and
faculties, visiting HTM
classes to advertise
Week Ten RSVP form due Head-counts for
the event
Prepare for event
material with budgets Event agenda

Finalize agenda for the

events with industry
company and MESA
Week Eleven EVENT EVENT
PRESENTATION PRESENTATION
Week Twelve Phase Four: Event
debrief with MESA,
thank you
notes/action sent to
industry company
Week Thirteen Host debrief meeting with
MESA board members
and advisor

Conduct survey to obtain

feedback from the events

Design “thank you” card

and generate ideas in
return to thanks the
company
Week Fourteen Sent out thank you
note and gifts to
industry company
End of Semester Make sure to go above
and beyond in order to
establish a long term
relationship with the
industry company.

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