Sarah Lachman

LDRS 2014
5/2/19
Final Peer Leadership Paper

The leadership practice that I predominately demonstrated during my experience as a

peer leader was “Model the Way.” As Chief Human Resources Officer of a business fraternity, it

is important that I lead by example and set the standard for what is acceptable within my

organization. I do this by always arriving to every meeting early and prepared. I also go above

and beyond for my organization, by attending all the extra social and professional events. I also

hold my peers accountable, by making them aware of any time they are not acting according to

the rules of the organization.

I have improved more in “Challenge the Process” during my time as a peer leader. I have

spoken up about things that I would like to change within the organization in order to improve. I

really did not like fining people for not following the rule, I felt it was unfair because not

everyone is in the same position financially. Therefore, I convinced the rest of the executive

board to allow me, as CHRO, to have serious conversations and explain to the members why

they are being fined and how to prevent it from happening again. Now, the number of fines given

out has gone down dramatically.

As CHRO, it is my job to make everyone feel comfortable within my organization so

they can get the most out of it. A big part of my organization is our professional development

program, where we train our new members one various professional skills. In order to do this,

you have to be comfortable with being wrong and recognizing your faults. I have helped to

create a welcoming and nonjudgmental environment by voicing what my weaknesses were

before going through the program. I also made sure that no one of creating an unhealthy learning
Sarah Lachman
LDRS 2014
5/2/19
environment throughout the program. This helped all of our new members develop themselves

professionally.

I feel as though I was successful in my peer leadership experience because I did even

more than what was expected of me. I enforced the ByLaws and sent out fines like I was

supposed to, but I also went out of my way to help improve my organization. I created a new

fining system so that it is much more organized now, I went out of my way to make sure I had a

good relationship with all of our members so that everyone felt comfortable voicing any personal

issues to me. I also, thanks to this class, became a better leader as the semester went on by using

the new leadership skills that I have been learning.

Before my leadership experience, I used to associate bad leadership with a lack of effort.

I know realize that being a bad leader doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t care; it may mean you

simply don’t know how to be a good leader. I am now a lot more understanding and less hard on

people who seem to be struggling in their leadership positions. That is why I think it is not only

important to have at least one leadership role while in college, but to go out of your way to learn

different leadership skills and styles. This learning could take place on your own or through a

class like this one. It is hard to know what your strengths and weaknesses are until you put

yourself in a position where you need to lead. I also learned that it is important to touch base

with someone who is observing your leadership so that they can give you advise on what

improvements you can make. Through my meetings with my advisor, I realized that you don’t

always notice what your own strengths and weaknesses are. It is also important to fosters and

good enough relationship with the people around you, so that they feel comfortable giving you

advice.