Attn: Dr.

Duane Roen Isaac Rodriguez

Dean; College of Integrative Sciences and Arts ijrodrig@asu.edu
Arizona State University December 9, 2017

Dear Dean Roen,

During this fall, I was enrolled in a Project Leadership course under Dr. Ben Pandya at Arizona
State University. Typically, when taking on any challenge, my first step is to prepare myself for the task
at hand with the goal of securing best in class results. What I came away with was far more valuable than
I had anticipated. The purpose of this letter is to capture the areas of significant personal growth as a
result of several interactions with Dr. Pandya.

My baseline expectation of a college level course includes obtaining academic information I can
apply during my professional journey. However, over the past several weeks, my professional and
personal growth was intentionally catapulted by Dr. Pandya who helped renew my perspective of
‘sustainable leadership’ in these three areas:

1. Sustainable leadership creates ongoing momentum within others.

2. Sustainable leadership gives as much as it asks of others.
3. Sustainable leadership creates leaders in addition to accomplishing tasks.

Over several one on one meetings, Dr. Pandya engaged me by asking questions (even when he could
have provided me the answers right away) and allowed me to work out the solutions. This model of
leadership helped me to re-engage the approach of inviting others into the conversation rather than simply
setting top down objectives. Furthermore, Ben not only set high expectations but also committed back to
me above and beyond my expectations. It’s with the law of commitment where a leader’s continued
investment in others allows for a long term, sustainable pace while still asking for expectations to be met.
Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Pandya for developing my leadership skillset beyond the parameters
defined in the syllabus. Although our relationship included a successful completion of the course I was
enrolled in, it was abundantly clear that my personal growth was equally as important to Dr. Pandya.

Thank you for a more than fantastic experience.

Respectfully,

Isaac Rodriguez