Jace Fredgren

Dr. Brengarth
BA 3500
04 February 2020

As of now, I do not hold any leadership roles. However, over the summer I was a Rho Gamma
for the Interfraternity Council at Mizzou. I was given a group of 20 incoming freshmen who
were interested in joining a fraternity at Mizzou. It was my job to help explain the rushing
process and lead them through their activities throughout three full days. Each day the students
would go on house tours and have meetings with me to discuss what they liked and disliked
about each fraternity, and I would answer any questions they had. I also ate meals with them and
showed them where they were supposed to be going for each visit. I had to make sure that I
didn’t influence their decisions at all, so they found the fraternity that was best fit for them.
After taking the leadership assessment, I found out that my leadership style was “forecaster.” I
feel like this is accurate because I like to take time to gather information and observe different
trends so I can do my business in the best possible ways. I like to be very specific and thorough
when doing anything including leadership activities. One result that surprised me was the
potential blind spot “failing to get buy-in” because I believe that when I am very knowledgeable
about a subject, I can convince others to buy-in to my ideas.
My leadership style influenced my time as a Rho Gamma because I was able to tell the students
my experiences rushing and being part of a fraternity. I was very knowledgeable because I went
through the process and learned a lot about it and about myself through my experiences.
Whenever the kids would ask me questions or for advice, I felt very confident in the answers I
was giving them because I had been through what they were going through at the time. Being a
Rho Gamma was great for me because it taught me the basics of leading people.
Two of the leadership theories mentioned in chapter 1 of Connected Leadership stand out and
remind me of my beliefs about leadership the most. First, the purpose and direction theory
resonates with me because I believe that success is driven by people believing in the work they
are doing and striving to do it the best they can. I think that good leaders understand this and
make sure the people they are leading are dedicated to the work they are doing. My leadership
style relates to the collaborative achievement theory the most because I find it very important to
split up tasks between competent people in a group to get things done. I believe it is much better
for multiple people to work on things together because different opinions and views combined
will lead to the best and most efficient results.
I know that one of the things I need to improve the most is my leadership skills. I haven’t had
tons of opportunities to really be a leader and stand out, but I know I need to get more involved
and at least have a few bigger leadership roles before I graduate college. I want to become
involved in a student organization and instead of just being a part of it, I want to strive to be a
leader in the group.