You may be asking yourself, "What can I do now to continue to become a better leader?" Perfecting your leadership skills is a continuous process and requires time, energy and effort. The opportunities afforded to you while you are a student here at SBU to develop your leadership skills are many and varied. Here are a few:
Mentors: A mentor, a trusted counselor or guide, can be invaluable as you work towards achieving your leadership goals. Your mentor might be someone you meet through a structured program or it could be someone you meet on your own. Finding an experienced professional on campus to act as your mentor may be something that you wish to pursue. This may be your advisor, supervisor, hall director, professor, TA, supervisor, or any one of a host of other professionals on campus.
Choosing a knowledgeable mentor is important in the development of a leader. Sometimes leaders have several mentors. In different situations various people could be of assistance to you. For instance maybe in your career goals you have one mentor and in your on campus involvement you have another. You may have someone who is your mentor in a sports club and another person who is your mentor in pursuing a graduate degree.
Although there are a lot of different tactics to finding a mentor remember that it is important to feel comfortable with the person and trust the information they are giving you is truthful and in your best interest.
Programs/Workshops: Short-term programs and one day workshops offer a wealth of information to assist you with your own personal leadership development. At Stony Brook there are a variety of offices offering many such programs and worskshops.
For instance there are workshop series that are offered such as, L.E.A.D., G.O.L.D., and Leadershops. There is also a full day program offered such as LEADSTRONG Conference, Stony Brook Day in Albany, and other programs which would assist you in gaining leadership skills in a variety of areas. Resident Assistants, Orientation Leaders, and Peer Advisors offer outstanding training programs that focus, in part, on leadership related skills.
Classes: Finally, many classes may offer you information and insight about effective leadership strategies, historical leaders, ethical issues confronting leaders and other information critical to a full understanding of leaders in today's world. For example, Sociology 268 is a class that could offer you development and understanding about leadership.
Peer Education classes also offer you a variety of leadership skills such as communication, public speaking, personal skills, motivating and educating others as well as outreach to name just a few.
There are several Peer Education classes including: AIDS Peer Education, Chill, CHOICE, Diversity Peer Education, Nourish, Sexual Assault Facts and Education, and Swallow This! Each one of these Peer Education classes is very different in its organization and purpose but, each one offers the opportunity to develop yourself as a leader.