As part of experiencing a situation in which I take responsibility as a leader, in my group of 3 I had taken the role of informing others about something in which I am passionate about- photography whilst improving from the previous weeks of trial workshops.
Presentation:
Leadership skills I have developed throughout the course of my leadership project include many aspects, from communicating with others better, listening, being organised etc. Skills I had before the project and was able to apply included presentation skills and some teamwork skills when working to make our film. I have learnt that being a good leader means you must be open to listen to other ideas and adapt to situations where issues may rise unexpectedly. Being able to solve these collectively whilst woking towards your main aim is what I feel makes a good and successful leader. My original plan within my leadership role was changed as my group consisted of only two people changing to three. This meant that there were more areas to divide and more concerns as to making sure everyone was involved. My idea about adding a 3 lighting setup video was not able to be done however I had explained what the setup still was, using both the presentation and more of my own knowledge when standing in front of my audience. Other parts such as using a presentation and still explaining the technical and aesthetical sides of photography were still taught and done through.
In the future if I was to do the project again, I would prepare slightly more beforehand in terms of equipment, as it would have been better if everyone in our workshop had a camera to work with. My group could also could of had cameras to demonstrate with and full show sides of photography.
What went well in our final workshop was the division of sections and explanations of our presentation. I had explained the first two slides, with my group member Darcey explaining the next few and the ending lead by Kate. We all spoke on the parts we were most knowledgable on with an activity for our audience to interact with at the end. After the activity we had our audience practice what they had just learnt from our slide by taking photographs. The engagement between us and our participants made our workshop successful. I had also learnt the importance of engaging with your audience as a leader and making sure that you, as the leader have control in the audience situation and are knowledgable as to what you’re talking about and how to physically show this.
Parts that did not go well in our final workshop included not having modern cameras that I and my group use themselves as part of explaining. We could add this and be more organised for future situations.
My favourite part of the leadership workshop was showing the end result of everyones photos. It was interesting to see what they had picked up from listening to our workshop and therefore what they applied when photographing. Both groups were interesting, the first having unique angles based on the technical sides of photography – using mine and Darcey’s explanations and the second experimenting with editing and colour use, using Kate’s part of editing.
The most challenging part of the whole workshop was in planning, when deciding how to involve the audience. As the workshop includes a presentation, we wanted to make sure that our participants got involved in some way at the end and making sure they didn’t get bored, further allowing us to be good leaders and demonstrate interactivity skills.
Working with others presenting to fellow group members was interesting and improved my confidence skills. Working with other people can be challenging due to contrasting ideas however can also be insightful due to the new ideas that can come out of it.
Feedback from our audience –
The feedback given is insightful and tells me what I did well as a leader. The group were engaged as to what we were teaching and were interested when we were showing our own examples of work and next time I will improve on bringing in equipment to demonstrate with along with being able to finalise the whole idea of taking a photograph. The feedback also including aspects such as being passionate, organised, good communication skills make a good leader and overall mean that I have completed my arts leadership challenge by working with others both in smaller groups and within my actual team of 3.
Silver Arts Award 