By Delaney Tufts, Contributing Writer
Heather Tyner, the assistant director for student leadership development, is holding four seminars throughout the course of four weeks to focus on the process of becoming a leader. The purpose of the seminars is to provide student leaders with the tools and resources for practical growth and theoretical understanding in leadership.
The overall vision Tyner has is that students will grow in their “inward and outward leadership, and have a positive impact on those within their sphere of influence.” Tyner explained that this “inward and outward” leadership is concerned with “how we lead ourselves and how we lead others.”
“As leaders the most difficult person we lead is ourselves,” she said. “It is only when we know how to lead ourselves effectively that we can begin to lead others effectively.”
Tyner has a passion for watching and helping students grow within themselves. These seminars were sparked by her “desire for student leaders to have the same foundation of leadership and to practice using the same tools, so that when they leave Asbury, they will leave with the same key concepts and visions of how to lead.”
When deciding what topics to teach, she asked student leaders on campus for their opinions. She is taking pieces from the previous seminars and molding them into this year’s selection while still including new aspects for last year’s attendees. The topics for the seminars will include self-awareness and authenticity, comparison and confidence, rest, renewal and rhythm, and failure and success redefined. The only speaker this year will be Tyner.
Rachel White, a junior who attended last year’s sessions, said she enjoyed participating in an exercise that helped students discover what causes them daily stress.
“I thought it was really helpful to identify the root of what was stressing me out that day,” White said. “After I did that, I could recognize it and work through it instead of letting it loom over me and ruin my attitude.”
Student Body President Matt Jackson, who also attended the seminars in the past, said, “What I enjoyed most about them is that they built off of one another. Each session involved a speaker providing narratives from their own experiences about how one grows as a leader by knowing themselves through the lens of being a child of God.”
“These seminars will be tremendous opportunities to develop requisite skills for leadership,” said Associate Dean for Student Leadership Development Paul Stephens, who spoke at last year’s sessions. “To say ‘I don’t currently hold a specific, formal leadership position and, therefore, don’t need to attend,’ sells short the influence you do have right now and that which will come later down the road.”
The dates and times for the seminars are as follows:
Tuesday, August 30th from 10:50-11:50 a.m.
Topic: Self-awareness and Authenticity
Tuesday, September 6th from 8-9 p.m
Topic: Comparison and Confidence
Tuesday, September 20th from 8-9 p.m
Topic: Rest, Renewal, and Rhythm
Tuesday, September 27th from 10:50-11:50 a.m.
Topic: Failure and Success Redefined
Each seminar will be located in the Farm Boys Room in the lower level of the Kinlaw Library.