Melissa MBAA Blog for ERAU

Have you had to lead in similar situations? How were you able to lead? What tenets of Adaptive leadership might be employed in such situations? In the article,  How to Lead When You’re Not the Boss , it gives a five-step approach to leadership. The steps are to establish goals, think systematically, learn from experience while it’s happening, engage others and finally to provide feedback (How to Lead When You’re Not the Boss, 2009). This leadership technique can be applied in a multitude of situations including an office environment, a team, a group or even a school.  When I consider these questions, I think about taking part in a world record skydive.  In 2015, I had the privilege of taking part in the head down vertical world record at Skydive Chicago.  I was one of over 170 skydivers who came from around the world to participate in this event. Over the course of two years each participating jumper had to attend try-out camps and s...

Has your own attitude toward leaders changed in your life, and if so how? If we take as a starting point the attitude to those in authority/leaders as held by your grandparents, and then look at those attitudes held by your parents, and then by you, and then by the younger generation, is there a changing trend? If so, what is it? Why do you think that this has occurred? While we live in a world with more information about leadership and leadership practices why is it that we have an apparent gap in the quality of our leaders and how do you think we can close this gap? As a kid my parents were my first lesson in leadership and they were the boss.  I would say that my first understanding of leadership from a child's perspective was that of a total oligarchy and whatever my parents said was the rule.  I was brought up in a Christian family, so the values of a belief system helped to shape my world view as well as my understanding of leadership and how those values sho...

Reflect on your perceived value of this course. Include both positive and negative aspects of your experience. What might you have done to improve your learning experience in this course? How might the University or your instructor provide additional support for your learning? Were there topics covered in this course that seem particularly relevant or irrelevant to your experiences and to what you expect to come in future courses? When I signed up for this course as a part of my minor in Leadership for the MBAA at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, I wasn’t entirely certain as to what to expect.   Most of my courses have been to do with aviation and business up until now and this was my first leadership course.   I expected there to be a lot of reflective thought, writing and reading.               Once I got into the course it became apparent that critical thinking was the primary element of the course. ...

Take some time to reflect on the current state of your critical thinking competencies. Consider your thinking processes when you started the course. Have they changed at all? Have you been able to internalize any of the techniques and concepts you have learned? What will it take to make lasting, positive changes in the way you think?      Going through school and life we naturally develop our critical thinking skills to a degree.  Different courses and projects may challenge our critical thinking more than others and aid in our critical thinking skills development.  I have found that being able to take a step back and look at a situation with an open mind and taking the time to see it from different perspectives has helped me in my own development.  If I try to rush or am too tired when thinking something through then I will just end up frustrated and unproductive.        Accident investigations are one area in my life where I have ...