Hanna Taylor

OGL 360
Module 1
January 14th 2023
Still Life Experience

My still life was done a little untraditionally as you can probably tell. I didn’t have much
time at home this week to layout my items so instead I collaged photos I already had of my items
to portray what leadership means to me. The landscape beach scene was from a recent trip to
Malibu. I thought that the calming waves was a great representation of the different types of
leaders. A calm wave represents a stable, good natured, and loyal leader. Whereas a huge tidal
wave could be a very harsh, unforgiving, or aggressive leader. Next, I included an image with
some books I recently got. The books represent building knowledge and open-mindedness. As a
leader it is important that we are always learning and adapting. Then I used a photo of my
planner since so much of leadership involves planning. Being organized, and prepared is an
essential skill for leaders to have. The water bottle represents wellness, taking care of yourself
and your team. At the end of the day a project is a project, but we are people. Treating others
with kindness and prioritizing everyone’s wellbeing is something I value highly. Finally, we have
the eraser. This one is a little confusing, but it made sense in my brain. I knew I wanted to
include something about how mistakes are okay, so when I started looking for an object I thought
of an eraser. Now, I don’t mean we should erase our mistakes or minimize them but instead we
should embrace them and learn from them. In class we discussed humility and accountability,
two very important characteristics for a leader. Whether we are making mistake, or a team
member does, we should lead with grace and honesty.
My experience completing this project was enjoyable. It was a great change of pace
compared to the typical reading and quiz sequence from my other courses. Being creative is fun
and eye opening. I enjoyed finding the items and uncovering what leadership means to me and
how I hope to lead one day. My main takeaway was after the in-class discussion where we got to
hear about each students still life. I learned how while much of our ideas or values were similar,
we all had unique ideas and combinations. There is no one way to lead and no right answer,
every individual and situation is different, warranting different ways to lead.