Academic Lecture Reflection 1: Alana Hill

Alana Hill was a young woman who came and spoke to us about leadership and how important unity is when you are working with others. She emphasizes that one must feel included in the work force by collaborating with other members of your team and assigning positions with equal importance. By comparing diversity with the rainbow, Hill introduced a clearer understanding of how necessary equality is throughout your company. For example, each color of the rainbow has equal parts in order to consider it a rainbow, and each color merges into the other rather than being completely separate from one another. Just like the rainbow, each worker should have a role that is just as important as their co-workers and should learn to invite diversity into their company. When equality is lacking, the members of the company separate and the rainbow is no longer there. Instead it is illustrated as colored and scattered dots rather than merging, equal lines. She continued to explain how we can embrace diversity and appreciate that not everyone is the same. We must innovate and collaborate, improve recruiting and retention, and lastly set the example as a leader.

Throughout this session, Alana Hill impacted my understanding of leadership in numerous ways. For one, she taught me to embrace diversity in a company, rather than shy away from it. She also helped me understand the importance of forming relationships in your company. This can lead to trust and loyalty from your employees, which can drastically change how they approach their responsibilities and feel comfortable approaching you with new ideas or concerns. I learned that being an ethical leader can lead to ethical followers, and being confident in what you are proposing will inspire others to succeed. A leader should not only care how they are doing, but how their followers are doing as well. Personal values are extremely important in forming integrity in honesty in a company. A leader must think of the things that are most truly important to them, and inspire those around them to grow in the best possible way. I believe I will use the information Hill gave us and apply it to the workforce as well as my daily life. When recruiting new people for my company, I will know the importance of loyalty and how recruiting is like marriage, a life long commitment. I will also remember that diversity is not the same as inclusion. Although you may have different people working for your company, that doesn’t always mean they feel included. Lastly I will know that as a leader I should create opportunities for people to come together and be open to appreciating one another. Making others feel included can open so many doors and improve your company in ways you never believed.