Emerson Wood

Hardworking and motivated student with four plus years of experience within the FFA Organization. Currently pursuing an agriculture education degree from North Carolina State University. With hopes of becoming an agriculture teacher at a public high school! Experience within the food and customer service industry with a solid history in leadership and team management.

• Community Action Plan- My team and I reached out a local community partner (Note in the Pocket) about a potential community service initiave. We set up an interview for our connection partner to hear about their goals, mission, and accomplisments within their organization. We then crafted a video, essay and poster to further convey the need for our Community Action Plan to be voted in to carry out.

- Winslow Scholarship Recipient

- Impact Leadership Village Member

- Greenhand FFA Degree

- Chapter FFA Degree

- State FFA Degree

- Sister of the Sigma Alpha Sorority

- Clifton Strengths tends to focus on the good things about people or their strengths. Through this test I have learned a lot about myself, how I work with others, and how to focus on what is good in other people. My top five Clifton Strenghts are:

1) Strategic

2) Learner

3) Input

4) Arranger

5) Context

Leadership in a relational context has to deal with your ability to effectively connect and communicate with people. While being a leader, it is important to be able to relate to others and be an open listener. My purpose while being a leader and within this course has significantly evolved. Especially when it came to prioritizing Clifton Strengths when working with others. Oftentimes, I felt myself coming across or being seen by others as bossy, I was able to adjust the way I demonstrate leadership in group settings. Being able to hear others out and understand that we all have something significant to contribute in society and in group settings. Ethical leadership to me, sounds like being an active member of a team. Since I view leadership as something that you can’t do on your own. Not only do you need to be able to work on your team in your life but also you can’t be a leader without people to lead. Although you can demonstrate aspects of leadership on your own, I believe that true leadership is team connection and building. My three core values that I identified were: Kindness, Inclusivity, and Creativity. All of these are aspects that I value in my everyday life. Treating others with kindness is important because you never know what someone is going through and when someone might need kindness in their life. Also, leading with kindness is important because you are able to foster confidence and growth within yourself and others. As for Inclusivity I believe that diversity is a fundamental aspect of life and leadership. Without diversity we are just simply conforming to people with the same ideas as us. That is something that is not progressive and as leaders, we always need to be looking at ways to progress and improve our leadership style. Lastly for creativity, this is something that goes hand in hand in hand with inclusivity. When we allow diverse ideas, creativity is allowed to flow. We always need new ideas and ways to solve problems and complete projects. Without creativity we would be stagnant, unable to change and unable to foster new ideas. When it comes to power within leadership I think the main focus needs to be on empowerment. Especially when it comes to empowering your teammates. Without the support of others, and knowing we have people in our corner, we are less likely to succeed. As it comes to wellness and balance amongst a team, it’s important to not overwhelm people and make sure that the work is divided evenly amongst teammates and no one person is doing all the work.