Feb. 6th 2012

1.Dr. Wilson spoke about the effect working in Student Leadership at BYU had on helping him become a "grown up."  Please describe the ways that your involvement has helped you develop as a leader from when you started serving until now.

I feel like I have developed as a leader in many ways. I think the first way is through understanding what service is, and what it means to be a leader. The most valuable things I have actually learned about leadership are through my job at the Ballard Center - I've done a lot of research involving branding, PR, entrepreneurship, mission/vision statements, and how to run a business, and I've learned that one of the most fundamental differences that people tend to forget, is that there is a difference between management and leadership. I love comparing the two because it highlights that leadership is about helping those around you succeed; it's about knowing their strengths and weakness and helping them to develop in the areas that will make them most successful. It's about having a vision, and helping others catch that vision. It's about inspiring and motivating people to go above and beyond what they thought they could achieve. Leadership is not just about getting things done. Anyone can manage people, time, money, resources, but leadership is the development and art of people. I feel like understanding that has really helped me be a better leader, knowing what and how to define it. 

2. Dr. Wilson shared his experience serving an internship in Jerusalem.  This experience was not part of his program, but was approved because he was willing to do additional work to make it possible.  Please describe the ways you can be effective in advocating for change or making improvement in existing programs.

I can be effective in advocating for change or making improvement in existing programs, by being truthful, and really examining and analyzing problems in a truthful manner. If the problem with a program is that it's not meeting the needs of the students, let's say that. If the problem with a program is that the coordinators don't support it, let's say that. If the problem with the program is that the ED doesn't have sufficient knowledge to make it happen, let's say that. I think honesty is the best policy; we need to be honest with ourselves in order to get anywhere and in order to make any improvement. It's not about being perfect, or that so-and-so has all the right answers, but it's about being realistic, and helping to build people, and helping them and their efforts be successful.