Welcome to Focusing on Leadership: Different Perspectives.  I’m Monica and am glad you’ve found me.  To tell you a little about myself, I’m currently studying leadership in pursuit of my MPA from Troy University.  This is one of my last few classes before I graduate this year.  I currently have a Bachelor’s of Science in Engineering as well as a Master of Engineering from the University of Florida (Go Gators!).  My desire to grow and learn more about management and working for a utility company led me to want to pursue a Master of Public Administration.  After some research, Troy offered the best option for online studies for those of us who are working full time and going back to school.

I’ve been an engineer for over 15 years, starting as a consultant and now working for a utility company.  The experience I gained as a consultant helped to develop and refine my technical abilities to design and troubleshoot problems for clients.  This critical thinking also lead me to project management for clients.  The ability to look at the big picture often created leadership opportunities to coordinate projects to meet the client’s needs. Being more on the public side now at a utility has provided new opportunities.  I’ve learned that those proficient at their trade skill or state licensure status will step up and lead in times of need and it is often around their comfort level of the situation and their desire to want to help. 

Several leadership positions have been in my history, starting as early as the drum major of my junior high school as well as captain of a high school dance team.  Then in college, I stepped up to be the Executive Vice President of my sorority, in charge of regulation and discipline.  As my child entered her first years of school, I always volunteered to be the class mom and found myself stepping up to the plate to be the PTO president for a few years during the elementary school days.  As my child entered high school and joined the band, I agreed to step up as the vice president of the band parent association.  Throughout my profession as an engineer, our local organizations have varied in membership size, but I still help to maintain the scholarship program and ensure that our annual middle school math competition happens, thanks to the help of a few others dedicated to running the event.    

This blog is being established to provide my insight on leadership today as it relates to public administration and other topics.  Leadership is a topic of interest of mine and I’m excited to share my insights as we explore various aspects of leadership.  I find that there is not one right way to do anything in relation to leadership.  It’s all about being adaptable to the situation.  I think Northouse best described the interaction as an event between a leader and followers working towards a common goal (2016).  Depending on the given situation, someone will often step up to be the leader, while others sit back and participate.  Leadership is a process and there are several ways to view leadership which will be explored and discussed throughout my blog.

The day might not be exact, but I plan to post to my blog weekly.  When writing its often about when the moment strikes you to share insight rather than being forced to post on a certain date and time.  However, I do promise that there will be a new post each week through May 20^, 2018.  You can find my blog by bookmarking this LINK. 

As previously stated, I’m excited to share my insights with you regarding various leadership topics.  Over the course of this blog, there will be several different media that will be reviewed to discuss leadership, such as journal articles, books, movies, and video clips.  Looking at leadership from various aspects helps emerging leaders gain perspective of different people to help them be more well-rounded as they develop their leadership style.  I hope you will follow me along on this journey to explore leadership.