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Journal #5: Generative Listening 1

Jessica L. Thompson

February 9, 2016

Reflection #5

SPA 506: Group Dynamics & Leadership

Concordia University Ann Arbor

Anita Bohn, Adjunct Faculty


Journal #5: Generative Listening 2

As the 2nd Annual William Monroe Trotter Lecture approaches and I sit in reflection

around our last class when we learned how to listen in a generative way, I am overjoyed! After

meeting with the students who are participating in the lecture this past Friday, I was approached

by one of the student speakers who requested we meet in private. Upon walking into my office

I could sense that something was weighing heavy on this student. After inquiring about how she

was doing, she began to express her fears around the upcoming lecture. I could immediately

assess that my moment to apply what we have been learning in class was upon me and I could

not drop the ball!

As I continued to listen I could tell she needed to be reminded about how amazing she

truly is; as well as, how much I admire her as a person and a student leader. She felt as though

her story was not as important as other classmates stories might be, she also indicated that she

feared she would be perceived to be tooting her own horn after sharing her story at the lecture.

I reassured her that I chose her for very specific reasons and listed them all in full detail.

Additionally, I needed her to understand that success speaks for itself. I have watched her

mature and grow as a young woman over the years. She has never bragged about her successes

as a student or student leader, and her humility speaks louder than her potential words or typical

boisterous billboard behavior, oftentimes displayed by young student leaders ever could.

The moment had presented itself for me to refer to the list of core capacities, skills and

values we were provided when doing the listeners worksheet last Tuesday. She shared with me

some of the challenges and successes she is currently facing within the student organizations she

serves on the e-board of, she also shared that she is helping her cousin with his local city

government campaign and finally shared her excitement for graduation. Throughout her stories I

found an extreme amount of consistency in capacities, skills and values. I informed her that her
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leadership skills could be quantified in this manner: advocacy, creative expression,

communication, community organizing, conflict resolution, decision-making, facilitating,

leadership, planning, problem-solving, program management, dependable/loyalty, analytical,

persuasive, resilience/persuasiveness, family, achievement, balance, collaboration/cooperation,

integrity, intelligence, power, respect, honesty and privacy.

I was certainly glad we had more than six minutes to unpack all of this and I am grateful

that I was able to reassure, affirm and encourage her. Our conversation ended with a hug and a

smile! I have proudly earned my Mama Trotter title and I am beyond words grateful for this

masters program! Learning how to be a cutting-edge Student Affairs practitioner is the most

amazing experience to date!

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