Personal Leadership Vision Statement
When I imagine 5 years into my future in the healthcare field, I picture being a part of a team willing to provide the best care possible for our patients. I understand that this means I will occasionally be leading these teams, which is a big responsibility, and I am grateful I have the knowledge to be the best I can at this role. I am currently majoring in Radiologic Science and when I graduate, I will become an x-ray tech. In this field I will always be part of a larger team working together for the sake of our patients, but when I think about leading a team, I find myself wanting to do so as a person-oriented leader. In my experience I have worked with many different types of leaders and I always enjoy working with those that truly take the time to care about their team the most. In this course we discussed different relational leaderships and leaders as ecologists always stood out to me. Being able to work with my team to learn from conflict and criticism has always intrigued me because I like to look for opportunities during tough times. As a leader, I want to connect with my team and work alongside of them in order to succeed rather than work above them.
In order to achieve this goal of becoming a good people-oriented leader I must gain as much knowledge as I possibly can so that I may make informed decisions and lead a team well. Though I feel like I have learned a lot this semester, I know there is always room for growth and learning which is what I plan to do. While learning in a classroom is helpful, I think hands-on life experience is critical for learning how to work amongst other people in a profession. I want to become a part of more healthcare teams during the next two years of my college career because I learn the best from personal experience, so I think working with different types of people will help to teach me how to be a better team player and leader.
Key Factors for Achieving Success
To achieve my goal of becoming a good person-oriented leader I understand that I must first gain as much knowledge and experience as possible. To do so I plan to spend the next two years in college focusing on studying teamwork in my classes, discussing leadership skills with my instructors and peers, and gaining real life experience from my clinical site. Learning from those around me such as my instructors has always been something I focus on, because I know that if I want to better myself, I should look to those around me who are more educated on the subject that may help me to better learn and grow along the way. I will need to work hard to succeed in this goal, it will take time and effort, but I know in the end it will only make me a better leader later in life.
Organized and Measurable Goals
When trying to reach a goal, I know the best way to set myself up for success it by setting what is called SMART goals. This means specific, measurable, achievable, realistically high, and with a target date. My overall goal for the next 5 years of my future is to become a good people-oriented leader, in order to accomplish that I have first set specific goals to complete along the way that will lead me to success. My biggest and most specific goal on my path to becoming a good healthcare leader is to first graduate college with my B.S. degree. This is a goal that I have given myself a target date to complete as I am planning to graduate in May of 2022. It is a tough goal, but reasonably so, and I know it is achievable with enough hard work and planning. I know if I achieve this goal, I will have a good foundation education to build on and grow with. I will have experience with teamwork and leadership from working in teams for classes and clinical sites. Another specific goal I have set is a bit of a smaller and more easily achievable goal, but that is to gain at least two good mentors before graduation. I want to accomplish this because I know it will be beneficial to have mentors that I may go to for help or guidance, and for recommendations for future career opportunities. I plan to work closely with my program leaders, academic advisor, and clinical instructors to help me meet new people and create new connections within my field. Again, I plan on reaching this goal within two years, by my college graduation.
Conclusion
I find myself imagining my future often, such as what I want to do and where I want to live, but I have only recently started imagining where I want to be as a team member and leader in my future. I am working toward graduating from ETSU’s Radiologic Science program, and becoming an x-ray tech. As this is a healthcare profession, I know it will be very common that I find myself as part of a team and even a team leader at times which is why I have made it a goal to educate myself more on leadership. If I ever decide to further my education, I know that having good leadership skills will help me out greatly along the way, so if I begin focusing on growing as a leader now, I will have better opportunities in the future. After completing my smaller specific goals along the way to accomplishing my goal of becoming a good people-oriented leader, I will know when I am getting close to my main goal because I will be able to lead my teams more successfully and efficiently, I will also rely on feedback from my mentors and peers to establish when I am becoming a better leader. I look forward to continuing my education and working toward these goals, because though it may be challenging now I know it will benefit me in my future career opportunities.