This blog and website documents my journey to obtaining my Masters of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University. Never did I think I would be here, but greater Hands than mine are governing my life, and this was a venture that Someone knew I would take. A few years back while employed at Kaiser Aluminum here in Spokane, I was privileged to be offered the opportunity to participate in Gonzaga University's School of Leadership Studies Emerging Leaders Program (ELP). Along with other professional leaders around Spokane and the surrounding area, we spend nine months honing our leadership skills under the guidance of Dr. Joe Albert and Rachelle Swather MA. Through leadership seminars on storytelling to organizational theory, from communication to conflict resolution, we all developed ourselves to become better leaders. Graduating in May, 2017, I was pleased to find out that those nine month of work counted toward three credit hours toward the Masters of Arts in Organizational Leadership at Gonzaga. With a gracious employer who offered to pay for the program, venturing forward was an easy choice. So - in the Fall of 2017 I started my "second" course in the program and presto - here I am!
I am just a little over two months away from my graduation ceremony. This portfolio will document the journey that I have been on with my fellow Gonzaga Leadership Studies students, describe to the reader "who I am", provide insight to my career path, and open the doors to future possibilities having completed this program.
My leadership project is on the "Who am I" story and storytelling. ORGL 681 Leadership and Storytelling was one of the most impactful courses I participated in during this program. We all have a story to tell. We all have individual timelines that we follow in life, and as a leader, we lead a team of individuals whose individual timelines merged to one point in life. The met at one common timeline point to engage as team members - all with different strengths and weaknesses, and stories that provide insight to they way each person participates going forward. Leaders must understand those stories, and my leadership project will lay out a series of "Who am I" stories to illustrate that everybody has one to tell. I hope to keep this project going forward post-graduation, to continue to tell that story.
May 11, 2019. I will graduate from Gonzaga University and become an alumnus to one of the most distiguished universities in the country. I am proud of that accomplishment, thankful to both my professors and fellow graduates who helped my become the graduate that I am on this day. I do not know what lies ahead for me, but that same God that has guided my path to places I didn't think I would be today, will continue to guide my path for my next thirty or more years. I am a proud Gonzaga student - soon to be alumnus.
Thank you for reading.