Blog 3-Caitlin L. Jones

One of the ideas that was expressed in the chapter that stuck out to me was reflection. I feel that reflection is a great quality to have when one is a leader. Reflection can be responsible for improving one's performance and honing their skills. If a leader makes a negative choice that has bad consequences, they shouldn't repeat it. Plain and simple. If they refuse to reflect on the situation, they can ultimately create even worse problems or go on repeating those mistakes. I had always loved the quote, "those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Reflection isn't about beating yourself up over mistakes, it's about learning from them to become a better leader. After my term as social chair had ended, I was left with the decision of whether or not I should run again. The end of my term as social chair had been rocky. There wasn't necessarily anything wrong with the events I had planned/etc., but I had gone through personal struggles that made me not put as much effort into it as I should have. No one else was running for the position; many had expressed surprise and even shock when I stated that I didn't plan to run again. To them, things seemed great, events were planned, paperwork sent in on time, and no major problems had occurred with social events. No one was quite sure who would even want to run. However, I made the choice to not run again(or for any position) and instead focus on myself and improving my situation. This choice was influenced heavily by my own reflections and analysis of my term. If I was going to run for a position in my chapter again, I would want to make sure that I could fully devote myself to living up to my chapter's values without distractions.  Without proper reflection, I might have foolishly tried to run again and risk making things worse as a whole. In the end, I feel that the right choice was made and now I can focus on becoming a better leader for my chapter and to give them my all.