LEARNING GOALS
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The intent behind the participation through the Illinois Leadership Center responds to the improvement of two specific learning goals that will strengthen my leadership skills. These goals have been set according to the current aspects that are required to success within my professional development, since working in Construction Management requires the ability of sharing your ideas with many participants and stakeholders, as well as encouraging cohorts and co-workers to get milestones and work completed as planned. Based on these characteristics, I would like to orient my leadership experience to the completion of targets such as public speaking and mentoring others.
Public speaking has been one of objectives I decided to improve from the beginning of Illinois leadership program experience. Although this capability entails the interaction with public, it is mainly focused on the development of personal skills related to the fear of speaking in front of a determined group of people. In fact, public speaking is even harder when your speech is given in a different language than your mother tongue such as the case of academic presentations and conferences in the United States, which also represent a pressure to speak properly to facilitate understanding of your audience. In this context, dealing with public speaking will enhance and reinforce self-management skills and the interrelationship with others.
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Achieving these goals will facilitate the experience as graduate student at UIUC and will empowered the skills as a former constructor / project manager when orienting this objective to the perspective of my professional life to lead meeting and perform public speeches in a very professional and appropriate way. Indeed, the success of experiences mainly rely on the ability of communicate my ideas and concerns with others, and public speaking will surely facilitate the ability to express my ideas with clarity, accuracy and concision.
Additionally, mentoring others is another goal that I am going to implement to my personal and professional life. Since I was child, I experienced diverse ways of mentoring that inspired me in such different ways. My mom, a hard worker elementary school teacher who loves her career and never hesitates to sacrifice her normal sleeping time to prepare stuff for her daily-basis work. My dad, a policeman devoted to help and service others by providing security to our city, country, and therefore to our family. My oldest sister, a successful accountant whose life is perfectly divided between her work and her three adorable daughters. Joaquin, my youngest brother whose creativity and perseverance during school and now at college just amazes me. Karin, Milagros and Pamela, three of my mentor bosses whose obsession with planning taught me the way how things work within the construction industry. Dr. Trujillo, professor at college who was Minister of Construction, and current Minister of Transportation within the federal executive government in Peru. And Dr. Vizcarra, a former civil engineer, and Executive President of the Regional Government of Moquegua (where I worked), whose goals and mindset as a former leader took him to lead the presidency of Peru, being nowadays the current Peruvian President. Among more examples that come to my mind, mentoring has empowered my ability to focus on the objectives I want to achieve, and consequently, to develop my career path. Therefore, I would like to translate this same excitement and inspiration with others by interacting with different groups such as term project teams, student organizations, research programs, and all different environments in where my experience and development could help to motivate others to accomplish their goals in the same way I am accomplishing mines. Eventually, developing this capability will enhance my professional foresight and will facilitate the application of mentoring skills to improve operations within the construction management field.
