Lorena Reyes-Retana

A011940485
The Dilemma of the Neighborhood Board

When coming into a situation that requires leadership and patience it is of great importance to
become self-aware and aware of the environment in which you are dealing with. Especially when
you are in charge of a community, it is important to have self-knowledge, emotional intelligence,
social intelligence and self-development.

In the case presented, it’s clear that the person understands the responsibility that being a neighbor
and being part of the board represents, and that feels that he/she possess certain personality traits,
like open mindedness that are important for the role. However, there is a feel of tiresome because
of the constant pressure of pleasing everyone. So, the question is what should you do in a position
like this?

I believe that the first step is to do some introspection work and try to remember why you wanted
to do the job in the first place. As mentioned before, it all starts with self-awareness. Knowing
ourselves helps us grow personally and professionally, we can relate better with other people, face
the challenges coming our way and feel more comfortable. Then, you must evaluate how much of
the pressure is really coming from the outside, what is the environment that you are dealing with.
Understanding how much you are imposing pressure and how much is really out there, could help
find a solution to prevent burnout.

Working on our emotional intelligence is something everybody must do; especially when in
positions of listening to other people complains and comments. Balancing our emotions, assessing
the way we face what happens to us and how that influences how we act is extremely helpful in
managing our daily activities, personal and work related. In this case, understanding why the
person is feeling overwhelmed, if it is a mood or something that may not be related to his job in
the board, or if there is a way to control it and channel it in a positive way, for example with
meditation or exercise, can really help out. Knowing your strengths also allows you to focus on
the positive things, for example in this case having an open mind and patience are mentioned,
which is a great strength when dealing with many different people and should be something to
keep remembering along the way.

Another key factor is social-intelligence, it is not enough to understand yourself and the
environment, it is also necessary to recognize the emotions of others and establish positive
relationships with others. Empathy is necessary in leaders, connecting with others and learning
from them allows us to socialize and grow. In this case, it is clear that social skills are necessary
for the job, and if the people on the board understand the neighbors, it may be easier to help them
and to make them feel satisfied with the job the board is doing.

So, what is next? After understanding, yourself, your emotions, your environment and the social
skills necessary, an action plan must be developed. In this case, positive health can be the first
step, maybe trying meditation and open communication to help reduce stress. Emotions are also a
great area for development, commit to your society and improving the emotional climate,
relationships and specially communication. Finally, there needs to be a direct conversation
between what the board member is feeling and how he wants to help in order to keep continuing
his/her job. Maintaining positive relationships with the neighborhood with respect, patience,
resilience and empathy will allow having a better environment and growing into a better
community.