High heels or flats when it comes to footwear? It seems like a simple question at first, but what would your argument be for either option? Furthermore, how would you present this perspective to an audience and successfully convince your listeners that they should agree with you? Those questions were some of the thoughts that crossed my mind last Tuesday during an event with the Athletic Director’s Leadership Institute (ADLI).
The event was organized for the sophomore class of the ADLI with the intention of putting the members in uncomfortable positions that many leaders come across. Now, most leaders may not ever have to discuss their footwear preferences with a crowd of people, but they may be called upon to confidently answer a question posed to them out of the blue. Furthermore, this question may be one that they have not considered before or developed a concrete opinion on. However, in order to maintain an image of confidence a leader needs to possess the skills necessary to discuss such a question with composure and decisiveness. The purpose of the ADLI event, therefore, was not to determine our perspective on shoe options, but to introduce us to uncomfortable situations in which we must react with composure.
The event began last Tuesday night at 7:00, which of course cut into the President’s course for the Epsilon PLA class. As a result, Christian (who is also a member of ADLI) and I arrived a half hour late without a clue as to what we were about to participate in. Before we even knew what was happening, we had been put in front of a room of our peers and asked to convince our audience whether heels or flats were more important. I obviously had the upper hand, because I have had experience wearing not only flats but heels as well, while Christian was not as familiar with high heeled shoes (or at least I hope that’s the case). I therefore assumed that the task set before me wouldn’t be that difficult because I have never had great difficulty speaking in front off my peers. I was surprised then, when I opened my mouth to speak and realized I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to say. I had to create the context for my presentation, develop my opinion, organize how I presented it, and express it eloquently without missing a beat.
While I managed to develop a solid argument, I realized afterward that the organization of my discussion was lacking. For instance, I presented my opinion that flats are better solely (excuse the pun) for the consideration of comfort, before I even mentioned the context in which I defined my opinion. This context, which consisted of which type of shoe I believed would be important in a setting involving presenting to others, was critical to my opinion of why comfort mattered, yet I failed to mention it until I had already stated my opinion. Therefore, the experience taught me that I need to focus on organizing my thoughts before I open my mouth to speak before an audience. Furthermore, I gained an appreciation for practicing such leadership skills as addressing unforeseen questions and quickly developing an opinion. I hope that we find a way to include such leadership activities in future PLA classes because I feel that I gained much from being put outside of my comfort zone by the ADLI last Tuesday.