The #IlliniLeader's Digest

A digital space for ILC stakeholders to learn and voice their perspectives about leadership...

In her experience as a Corporate Affairs Chair for the Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA), Miranda learned the value of listening in leadership settings. This reflective piece expands on the trust, confidence, and comfort that can come from being truly heard and feeling seen. Leading a team starts by listening to them first. 

Remember the saying that we all wanted to believe as kids? You can be anything you want to be when you grow up. One of the best ways to end up in the kind of career that earns you respect, recognition, success, and happiness is to do more of what you're good at.

Click the title to read this article by Jessica Buono from Gallup with CliftonStrengths, one of the programs presented at the ILC!

In this post, Aditya shares his experiences as an ILC employee from his data analyst position and his outreach position, and his work in the (dis)ability Design Studio alongside Dr. Deana McDonagh. Through his involvement in these jobs, he's realized that leadership is less of a role and more a mindset. Leadership is awareness, honesty, and a willingness to connect with others. 

The Illinois Leadership® Center (ILC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has received the largest outright gift in the history of Student Affairs at Illinois with a $1.17 million gift from Jane and William (“Bill”) Donaldson.

In this post, Ezra reviews the benefits, consequences, and things to consider regarding a critical skill that we often forget to practice: listening!

In this blog post, Charlotte discusses the many ways that leadership can manifest in digital spaces. Special focus is paid to the role that digital leadership plays in communication and social justice.

This post explores how shedding the stereotypical perception of a leader as a commander and stepping into the role of a facilitator can help build trust and increase group productivity when stepping into a leadership position for the first time. 

In this post Tim Chen speaks on how efficiency is key to all bodies, and how the role of a leader is to "manage" and establish systematic processes and automation.

This post goes into detail on the importance of Common Purpose in Leadership and how practicing this competency will make you a great leader. 

In a world stuck between virtual and in-person programming, our leadership skills need to encompass both settings. This article discusses one way you can be a leader in a virtual setting.

This post provides insightful advice on how to be a confident and effective leader in your first leadership position.

This post shares the experience of a Ph.D. student who also took on the Leadership Certificate Program, offered at the ILC. He talks about his experience, why he decided to do it, and the benefits that came out of the program for him. 

This post talks about the experience of a Ph.D. student and how the ILC has influenced her journey. Through all the resources offered, she has been able to recognize her strengths as a leader. 

This post discusses the importance of diversity in concepts of leadership and areas of life. 

Leading a team can be intimidating, so here are six tips to help you the next time you are tasked to lead a team.

This post explains the importance of self-leadership and goes into some topics regarding self-leadership. 

The LeaderShape®  Institute™ was a great opportunity to learn more about social justice and hear from different viewpoints. My time at The LeaderShape®  Institute™  was very influential and I wanted to share how it helped my viewpoint of social justice. 

This post elaborates on a few strategies that students can implement in order to become a leader in a virtual setting. 

This post is a student employee reflection on her time at Illinois and working at the Illinois Leadership Center. 

This post is about the tools you will need as a leader online, and how to work on the skills you are confident in to succeed in a virtual environment.

This post goes into details on Innovation in leadership. It describes what innovation is and ways to embrace innovation in leadership and in our daily lives. 

This post talks about how to build your own personal leadership style and the benefits that can come from it. This post also gives advice on ways to improve your leadership and be a better leader to others in many different scenarios of life. 

This post talks about innovation and the impacts it has on leadership. Innovation helps start trendsetters and conversation starters for leaders. It is important to recognize the impact innovation has on leaders. 

This blog post highlights the importance of leadership and how it can positively influence your career readiness. Leadership is about constantly learning and to do this you must seek out experiences that will enhance your life design.

This post talks a bit about the importance the ILC has had on one of our own employee's college experiences. She shares how she got involved with the ILC and where that has gotten her today as she is finishing her time here at the University of Illinois. 

Leaders have the power to control people to do what they want. However, being a leader is not easy. He or she needs to face many challenges to build a strong, healthy working relationship with employees.

This blog sums up the leadership qualities necessary for success when working in an advertising agency. It teaches college students how to prepare for the industry by being mindful of the way they act and work with others.

In this blog post, Emily Chang, a Graf Intern at the Illinois Leadership Center, discusses how listening is an often-overlooked leadership quality and how it can be beneficial in making others feel more comfortable participating.

This post shares some ways to help relieve stress in your life. With the end of the semester quickly approaching, this is a great post that gives some tips on ways to help handle the stress in your life!

This post goes into depth on sustainability in leadership and emphasizes the importance of it. 

This post reflects on the past semester and all the progress we have made from the start till now. It also emphasizes the importance of your accomplishments and future goals you may set for yourself.

This post talks about how important team members and team mentors are to an entire team. The post explains the importance of each role and effective ways to go about them. 

This post highlights why being a sustainable leader in today’s climate is important. The author challenges the reader to explore sustainable practices and try to implement them in their daily lives as well as their leadership roles.

This post talks about power of integrity and what makes it so important in life and leadership. 

Since October is Emotional Intelligence Awareness Month, this post goes into detail on the importance of emotional intelligence and how to effectively use it in leadership. 

This post gives 5 tips on ways to develop yourself over the summer. Summer gives us the opportunity to develop ourselves as we get a break after the long, hectic school year. There are many ways to help develop yourself this summer, but these are just 5 examples. 

This post gives some advice on starting your first leadership role and how to be successful in the role. 

This post goes into detail about what the Social Change Model of Leadership is and how we can use it in our every day lives with relation to leadership. 

We are always asked the question, "what makes a good leader?" Through all the different studies and approaches learned, I discovered what I believe makes a good leader and it may not be what you think.

This post shares some ways to help relieve some stress. With the start of a new semester, it's always important to find ways to calm our stressors and still remain calm during all the chaos that is to come. 

The movie Team Foxcatcher (2016) is a perfect example of how multi-faceted ethical leadership issues can be. The story shows what bad leadership can do to subordinates and how maybe the leader isn't the only person to blame for the end result.

This post explains more information on the Leadership Studies Minor and gives student perspectives on the minor itself. 

This post starts by comparing empathy to shoes, displaying a metaphor for being the listener for someone's story. This post also shares a comparison and a way to think of empathy in a different way. 

This post talks about the importance of openness and shares how the importance of practicing openness will be impactful in both your professional and personal life. 

This post goes into depth on the National Day of Encouragement, a day that recognizes the importance of encouragement in our everyday lives. It'll go into more detail on the history, facts, and ways to increase the use of encouragement in your lives. 

In this blog, we explore the powerful connection between optimism and resilience in leadership. Discover how a positive outlook can help you overcome obstacles and inspire those around you, ultimately leading to greater success and fulfillment in both your personal and professional life.

This post goes into detail on the importance of networking and some benefits of it. 

This post goes into detail on one of the most important soft skills for a leader to have: creativity! Creativity helps leaders with problem-solving, communication, and team building. 

This post talks about the importance of reflection and how it is important for leaders and teams to practice reflection. 

This post shares ways to be an ethical leader and practice integrity as a leader in our every day. The author shares some personal stories as well on the topic of integrity.