Hello and welcome to my ePortfolio!
My name is Joe Downey. I am a Senior at Virginia Tech studying Business Information Technology with a concentration in Operations and Supply Chain Management along with a minor in Leadership and Social Change. I am originally from Mechanicsville, Virginia and went to Atlee High School before arriving at Tech. After completing my undergrad at Tech I intend to stay for one more year to complete a Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Business Analytics. After that… Well! I’m am open-minded to what I can do and where I’ll go, but I’d be most comfortable staying near Richmond, Virginia with my family for a while.
Throughout this ePortfolio I would like to discuss some of the ideas I have learned during my time as a student of leadership studies. I would like to start with my personal definition of what a leader is: someone who inspires others to make a change. I would say that is my most basic idea for what a leader is, but I have many ideas for how they should go about it. Trust is a huge key to being a successful leader, in my opinion. I do not believe that a title or any sort of birthright can declare an individual a leader, but rather some type of connection must be made with followers so that they can recognize the leader’s authority. A leader should always hope to grow, but should focus on how they will grow their followers first. In essence, always putting the well-being of their followers first.
Looking back at how I described an ideal leader when I first arrived at Tech, I can see most of my beliefs have not changed. Even back then I saw the importance of the leader trying to get the best from their followers, as well as have a strong connection with followers via mutual respect. Due to experiencing three years of the current president and the antics (to say the least) that have ensued, I believe I have become more firm on my belief of leaders needing to gain respect from their followers and not simply be born leaders. One last detail that I now realize the importance of within a leader is forward-thinking. I did not realize this in the past, but a leader should always think about where they and their organizations can go in the future, and have some sort of plan to get there. I recognize now that I still struggle with doing this myself, but to plan and predict the direction you and your followers should take while also contingency planning for pitfalls is a skill that I think many of us expect our leaders to have.
With some sort of end goal in mind and with the advice of the people around them, I am positive a leader with those qualities can be effective and successful. I hope to talk more about my perceptions of leadership via this ePortfolio, especially in the context of me working towards being the best leader I can possibly be. Before we get into that, I would like to share with you my background experiences as a leader.
While I was in high school I was apart of a student organization that would educate local 4th graders on making sound life decisions and the dangers of drugs and alcohol. I was also heavily involved with my Boy Scout Troop, acting as a mentor, Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, and Senior Patrol Leader. I was proud to run an anti-bullying campaign in my Troop, which overall led to higher enrollment in our program and made for a more welcoming Scouting community. I received my Eagle Award in October 2015, after creating an information kiosk for a local dog park as part of my Eagle Scout Project. The project accumulated over 40 man-hours of labor to complete, but it along with my other accomplishments throughout the program left me with skills and experiences that I will use the rest of my life.
Before I even arrived in high school I began volunteering for my local Parks and Recreation department to work at a local day camp for Elementary schoolers. While I initially did not think I was cut out for the opportunity, I quickly grew and adjusted to become an amazing camp counselor! Each day I would lead the campers in arts and crafts or gym activities, socialize with them at meals, and overall make sure they had a good time each day they were at camp. As I kept returning to the program each year I would gain a new position with more responsibilities and eventually a supervisor position. As supervisor, I could run my own camp however I saw fit. I tried a variety of different ideas that I was not able to implement as a normal staff member, and the campers and their parents ended up adoring those activities! There was a lot to learn from what went well and what I could have done better as a supervisor, so those seven Summers working for Parks & Rec. have had a huge impact on how I lead others.
In college I started off hoping to learn more about leadership, so I joined the Residential Leadership Community. My time there taught me a lot about leadership theory while exposing me to new people and experiences. My first year with the RLC had me work with others to complete a project with a Lynchburg group whose goal was to encourage local students to go to college. Working with my group, we organized a trip to visit these students and discuss why we enjoyed going to college in a panel discussion and a lunch conversation session. Later in the semester we organized a tour date for students to come to Tech and see some of the campus and hear from some faculty and student athletes. The organization was proud of what we were able to achieve, plus the students loved the events we put together, but it can all be owed to the teamwork and leadership we displayed!
Being with the RLC encouraged me to seek out opportunities to lead on campus. First was with the Pokémon Club on campus. The club typically met on Saturday nights, played the games together, and otherwise just socialized. It was a more relaxed environment than what I expected, but I found that to be appealing. I sought out the club because the Pokémon games were always something that brought me comfort at home, and I wanted to have that comfort when I came to Tech. After a while I became the club’s Webmaster, posting weekly messages on Facebook on what the club was up to, but I eventually became the President of the club. I now work to organize the different events we hold throughout the semester and encourage others to join the club. I believe it is important to have a space where people can go at the end of a long week and be themselves, and I believe I have shaped the Pokémon Club to become just that.
Now, to be completely honest, I was fairly hesitant to come to Virginia Tech originally. I mean, I knew the school would be the best for my major and I liked the campus, but I was not sure if I would fit in at Tech. When I finally arrived and became part of the RLC and involved elsewhere on campus, I realized how much Virginia Tech meant to me, and how I wanted to explain that emotion to others. That is why I became a Hokie Ambassador, or one of the campus tour guides. I volunteer every so often to guide prospective students and their families throughout the campus and tell them everything I know about the school. I love getting to talk to the visitors and hear where they come from and what they hope to do. I am happy I get the chance to help someone through such an important decision, especially one I know I struggled with. I have also had the opportunity to aid the organization in recruiting and training new members so that they may have the chance to tell their own stories to prospective students. Giving my time to contribute to the Hokie Ambassadors has been my way of giving back to the school, and in return it has given me great experiences that have helped me grow as a leader.
In a similar spirit of giving back, after my time in Boy Scouts I was hoping to give back to the greater organization, and I found the avenue to do so within the Campus Scouts at Virginia Tech. The Campus Scouts create different events for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts throughout the New River Valley so that they may learn new skills and progress within their respective programs. We run many events each year, like a Merit Badge College to teach Boy Scouts a Merit Badge in a single day, or a Girl Scout Camp-o-ree that provides an easy first camping experience for Scouts who may have not had the opportunity to camp in the past. In the past two years I have served as the Webmaster of the Campus Scouts, and in this past year I have taken the role of President to organize the different events and volunteers. I have been excited to see many new members join us this year, as I believe that type of momentum will allow the club to accomplish even more each year in the future.
I hope that gives you a good background on myself! I will be referring back to many of these experiences as I document and re-explore all that I have accomplished as a leader within this ePortfolio! I hope you will keep checking back to learn more about me!
Joe Downey's Leadership Blog 