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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Atlanta, GA | Posted: September 14, 2015
Mindy Kao
Hannah Chen is a second-year undergraduate student studying Industrial and Systems Engineering and working as a co-op for the Coca-Cola Company. Her involvement in LEAD includes Grand Challenges and Leading Edge.
Summary Sentence:
Leading Edge Coachee Hannah Chen reflects on her experience in one-on-one leadership coaching and how it has helped her through work and school.
Full Summary:
No summary paragraph submitted.
Hannah ChenLike many of our past coachees, Hannah Chen found out about Leading Edge through her involvement in Grand Challenges, a living learning community program also run by the Office of Leadership Education and Development (LEAD). Hannah thought it sounded like a great opportunity to develop as a leader and with some encouragement from others who had gone through the program, she decided to apply. Little did she know how much she would gain from it.
After being accepted in Spring 2015, Hannah was paired with City and Regional Planning PhD student and Leading Edge coach Camille Barchers. Throughout the semester, Hannah and Camille would meet every other week in Clough to discuss Hannah’s competencies outlined by the 360 Assessment (a leadership assessment completed by all Leading Edge coachees at the beginning of the semester). Unlike a mentor providing advice, Camille would ask follow-up questions to help Hannah think deeper about her actions throughout her leadership experiences, which would in turn help to build her self awareness.
In recalling the most significant thing she took away from Leading Edge, Hannah points to the importance of feedback. “It is very comforting to hear positive feedback about yourself, but after [Leading Edge], I now take the initiative to hear negative feedback about myself so I can improve on what I'm doing,” says Hannah. After doing a project or hosting an event, Hannah will send out anonymous surveys to find out where she excelled as well as where she could improve.
Additionally, Hannah began to see how leadership came into play outside of formal roles and positions in how she interacted with people in her daily life. A helpful acronym she learned through Leading Edge, RASA (Receive, Appreciate, Summarize, Ask), proved to be a powerful tool for creating meaningful conversations whether it was with friends and family or during an interview.
Having been through the Leading Edge program, Hannah now serves as a member of the Leading Edge Recruitment Team, sharing her experience and encouraging Georgia Tech undergraduates to develop their leadership skills through LEAD’s programs.
If you’re interested in applying for the Spring 2016 semester of Leading Edge, you can find more information here.
