Running head: LEADERSHIP EXPRESS PROJECT

Leadership Express Project

Rebecca DeRose

Loyola University Chicago

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Table of Contents

My Leadership Philosophy Cajita................................................3

Quote.................................................................................................4
Mirror.................................................................................................5
Keys...................................................................................................6
Pammy Picture....................................................................................7
Efficacy Jar..........................................................................................8
Bracelet, Quotes, & Grace Journal........................................................9
Appendix A................................................................................. 10
Appendix B................................................................................. 11
Appendix C................................................................................. 12
Appendix D................................................................................. 13
Appendix E................................................................................. 14
Appendix F ................................................................................15
References.................................................................................16
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My Leadership Philosophy Cajita

See Appendix A

A cajita is a contemplative teaching method discussed by by Laura Rendn and Mark

Nepo (2009) in their book Sentipensante (Thinking/Feeling) Pedagogy. Although the focus of a

cajita is typically associated with honoring a culture or ritual, it can also be used for student

learning. Rendn and Nepo (2009) specifically mention the cajita project helps students reflect

on their own identities as it connects to different justice issues. This is why I chose this for my

Express project. I wanted to experience this creative, type of reflective practice for myself. I

believe it represents how I have come to make meaning of my experiences as a twenty-five year-

old white woman who is spiritual and relationally driven.

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Quote
See Appendix B

"So get ready for a grand adventure,

the one you were really born for. If we
never get to our little bit of Heaven,
our life does not make much sense,
and we have created our own 'hell'.
So get ready for some new freedom,
some dangerous permission, some
hope from nowhere, some unexpected
happiness, some stumbling stones,
some radical grace, and some new
and pressing responsibility for
yourself and for our suffering world
(Rohr, 2011, pp. 11-12).

The leadership journey is a process. Keeping this framework in mind is how leaders

engage people in an ethical and socially just practice. Unlike leader-centered theories that focus

on person and achieving certain characteristics or behaviors, a leader believes they have

something to learn from people. The group may check a leaders actions or motivations. Leaders

with a critical lens need to attend to power and authority dynamics that play out in formal

[leadership] theories (Dugan, 2017, 14). This is because leaders with unchecked power and

authority create our own hell. Leaders also need to learn to navigate the system daringly but

with humility and hope. Gallegos (2014) echoes this by asserting the need for inclusive

leadership at the individual level that has cultural humility, courage, and tolerance for

imperfection and ambiguity (p.182). This work occurs on two fronts. The first is work to

empower those without it and the second is to keep those who are losing power to stay

engaged in the process. This is the tireless work toward a socially just society.
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Mirror
See Appendix C

The mirror and figurine represent the work of critical self-reflection in leadership

development. People need to examine their positionality and assess their ideologies, stocks of

knowledge, and social location in leadership (Dugan, 2017). Our experiences informing how we

make sense of our environment, our beliefs, and our position in society affect how leadership is

enacted. Leadership is a process of constantly checking yourself given the situation and context

of needing to enact leadership. The Loyola pin (top and center of the photo) and my Libbys

(business card) are the leadership contexts I assessed. While working in both institutions I

became made me aware different aspects of my social identities, stocks of knowledge, and

ideologies because of the contexts. Throughout the semester I was able to look at my experiences

and unpack normative assumptions, how I exercised privilege (and power), and how I

internalized discouragement to enact leadership based on my identity as a woman. Sinclair and

Evans (2015) also discuss this process of unpacking normative ideology as including difference

in leadership. Its about finding the value others bring to the leadership context.
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Keys
See Appendix D

The keys represent the need to navigate the system. This is the system at the individual,

institutional, and societal level. The keys also represent a form of enacting leadership through a

critical lens with the tools of deconstruction and reconstruction (Dugan, 2017). These tools can

help dismantle systematic injustices while surviving and operating within by checking flow of

power or developing agency. After analyzing at my own stocks of knowledge, ideologies, and

social location I value how these tools help me frame a critical leadership lens. For instance, it

has helped me realize as a person with privileged identities, I need to be checking what I am

assuming to be normative, how power flows in a leadership context.

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Pammy Picture
See Appendix E

Wagner (2009) describes the collaborative work of social changeit is about doing

service with others rather than for others. Pammy is a students I met while volunteering at a

youth group in Buffalo. The first night I met her she told me about her mother recently passing

away and her struggle with self-harm. I had no idea how to help her and the leaders of the

program did not give me good advice for what to do. A year later when she went in the hospital I

decided to spend every Saturday with her. I did not feel adequately equipped like the professional

staff that was with her daily but I felt the responsibility to extend love to her. With that, I

recognize the privilege I had in being able to come and go. However, I feel as though this

situation exemplifies Wagners (2009) point; [s]ocial change addresses each persons sense of

responsibility to others and the realization that making things better for one pocket of society

makes things better for the society as a whole (p. 10). For me this situation was the principle of

doing for one what I wished I could do for many. This is one reason I am looking forward to

entering the field of higher education. Im excited to have the opportunity to work with more

students and potentially affect change at a higher level in the institution.

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Efficacy Jar
See Appendix F

Identifies areas where I struggle with efficacy was one of the most formative weeks for

me personally this semester. I do not think I realized how much I struggled to advocate for

myself in certain situations as a woman who has operated in some male dominated work

environments. I now understand how is it a critical component of leadership capacity, enactment,

and motivation (Dugan, 2017). I am excited to incorporate opportunities for efficacy building as

I continue to work in the Center for Experiential Learning at Loyola with the Learning Portfolio

peer mentor team. I plan to do this by building projects that will stretch them to engage in a new

task while helping support them with feedback throughout the process. This will help build their

internal belief in their abilities to navigate new tasks.

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Bracelet, Quotes, & Grace Journal

See Appendix F

The last corner of my cajita is the critical hope portion. Critical hope is what keeps

leaders engaged working social justice because they believe in what could be even despite

challenging situations (Dugan, 2017; Preskill & Bookfield, 2009b). The bracelet I received from

a friend I met after class in Boystown. Robert or, Allie Cat needed money to purchase a place

to stay for the night before a dialysis procedure in the morning. It was an evening I was feeling

so drained and discouraged but she was so kind, positive, and grateful in light of everything. The

quotes are about purpose from a Five-Year Happiness book. They remind me of critical hope

by emphasizing how to take one day at a time and finding moments of joy (or hope) in each day.

The Grace Journal is a journal from winter break last year when I read a lot of books on grace.

Thinking about grace helps me keep perspective because we all have things happening that are

pretty messed up. I like to think grace covers all of thatit covers my failures and shortcomings

and allows me to try again tomorrow.

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Appendix A
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Appendix B
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Appendix C
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Appendix D
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Appendix E
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Appendix F
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References

Dugan, J. P. (2017). Leadership Theory: Cultivating Critical Perspectives. Jossey-Bass.

Gallegos, P. V. (2014). The Work of Inclusive Leadership: Fostering Authentic Relationships,

Modeling Courage and Humility. In B. M. Ferdman, & B. R. Deane, Diversity at Work:

The practice of inclusion (p. 182). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Preskill, S., & D., B. S. (2009). Learning as a way of leading: Lessons from the stuggle for

social justice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Rendn, L., & Nepo, M. (2009). Sentipensante. Sterling: Stylus Publishing, LLC.

Rohr, R. (2011). Falling Upward. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Sinclair, A., & Evans, M. (2015). Difference and Leadership. In B. Carroll, J. Ford, & S. Taylor

(Eds.), Leaders: Contemporary critical perspectives (pp. 130-149). Los Angeles: Sage.

Wagner, W. (2009). What is social change? In S. R. Komives, W. Wagner, & Associates,

Leadership for a better world: Understanding the social change model of leadership

development (pp. 7-42). San Franscisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.