Exploring Futures: The Coming of Age Center, Austin, TX - Essay Sample

Introducton

The intended site of my fieldwork is the Coming of Age center in Austin, Texas. It is an initiative by the Travis County Health & Human Services and Veterans Service. Membership is free to everyone above the age of 50. They deal with a wide range of domains ranging from physical wellbeing to emotional wellbeing. They seek to promote a healthy and active lifestyle among its members using a variety of workshops and services. The program helps those above the age of 50 to explore their futures, become community leaders, engage in meaningful community service, and pursue lifelong learning. They also support non-profit organizations to market their volunteer opportunities more effectively, recruit and retain resourceful, passionate, and skilled volunteers above the age of 50. Despite being based in Austin, Texas, Coming of Age is a national initiative, which means it is a large non-profit organization. Therefore, the Coming of Age program is the ideal environment for me to find specific therapeutic recreational values, apply individual communication styles, leadership styles, and various types of teaching techniques to promote learning and motivation.

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The core therapeutic recreational values that I would expect to find at the program include the right to autonomy, the freedom to optimal health, and the right to a quality life. The program is designed to help those above the age of 50 to explore their interest. The exploration of personal interests is a long-term process that one needs to undertake by themselves. That means that the clients or members of the program cannot be forced to undertake certain activities which the staff think will help them explore their interests. That means I expect the center to have the right to autonomy as one to the recreational values. Since the program promotes healthy and active lifestyles for their members, I wish to find the right to optimal health being respected by the program staff.

Based on the setting of the program, both verbal and non-verbal types of communication can be useful tools. Most of the members are below the age of 80 and retain a good measure of listening and comprehension capability. That means that verbal communication will still be a significant part of the communication process that takes place within the program. However, there are also a few members whose listening and comprehension skills are fading due to age and other illnesses. In such instances, I would have to employ a non-verbal type of communication, which can be just as powerful as a verbal type of communication (Robin & Daly, 2010). Also, when it comes to the kind of power, I would expect expert and referent power to be the most effective type of power in such a setting. Expert power would be useful for gaining the trust of peers and maintaining collaboration because they have faith in my knowledge and expertise. As for referent power, it is the type of power that would most likely adhere to therapeutic recreation (TR) values and principles which seek to maintain the client’s autonomy.

A relaxed and informal leadership style would be fitting for this setting because the groups’ activities and processes have already been structured; hence there will be little use for a strong and directive approach (Robin & Daly, 2010). Furthermore, even if modifications are needed on the program, it is highly unlikely that I will be directly involved because there are staff members who were hired for that specific role. It is highly unlikely that the management would rely on a new entrant for such a task.

Some of the techniques that can be used to promote learning, growth, motivation, and teaching include always carrying the therapeutic recreation environment, which motivates and enhances the members learning environment. There are also needs-based strategies that focus on individual members and their main reason for joining the program.

Part B

Based on the population of Coming of Age, where I intend to do my fieldwork, I have selected exercises as the TR activity that I would have implemented while working with them. The goal of these exercise activities would be to prevent obesity, improve locomotor functions, improve and maintain body strength. Since the population consists of those above the age of 50, the exercises would be less intensive. That means strenuous activities such as running would be regulated, while the less intense workouts such as Tai Chi, Yoga, and walking would be more common. The exercise would be dependent on the needs of the client because different members of the program have varying needs. They also vary according to available resources, including time and space.

I selected exercise activities for my specific population because of its health-related benefits. Based on the Coming of Age (2020), one of the agency’s primary missions is to promote a healthy and active lifestyle among their members. Good health is one of the objectives of the people who come to the Coming of Age facilities. As a result, the exercises work towards that goal of generating health-related benefits to the members of the program. Also, I would need to earn the trust of the members before they follow my directives to undertake various activities. Exercise is a good stepping stone as it would allow me to build a base relationship with the members of the group, as I try to advance the type of power towards expertise.

Since I had decided to take a relaxed and informal leadership approach to address this problem, my strengths for leading this activity would-be two-way interaction between the leader and the members, the flexible and casual leadership style allows all participants to contribute towards the program by providing ideas and even modifying the areas in which they think should be changed. The product would be a tailored activity that caters to the needs of the individual participants. On the other hand, the main weakness would be the lack of cooperation and coordination between the leaders and the staff members. The relaxed and informal approach doesn’t show resolve, and I might have a hard time convincing the members to take me seriously.

Since I would be working with a unique population that is vulnerable to emergencies, I may have needed to plan for adopting the art of patience. The majority of the members would likely have trouble with movement and other forms of morbidity. As TR dealing with the group, I may need to adjust my ability to wait or tolerate specific actions. Also, I need to be less undemanding or easy going. Since a proportion of the members are in their twilight years, pushing them too hard may break them either physically, emotionally, or psychologically. Finally, I may have to adjust to cultural differences. The Coming of Age program is mostly made up of baby boomers. As a millennial, there are generational differences that I have to anticipate and plan for, to deliver the best quality of service to the group.

Based on the information available from Coming of Age (2020), I feel like the two most important domains for the members is the physical and the leisure domain. The people who join the Coming of Age program want to explore their futures. Whether they are considering traveling or thoroughly enjoying life, the center seeks to fulfill such wishes through its projects. Therefore, the leisure domain is an essential part of the activities that take place within the center. Then there is the issue of a healthy and active lifestyle for the members. The members have low levels of physical activity and limited mobility. That makes the physical domain one of the crucial concerns in regards to the Coming of Age program.

Part C

Based on the cumulative score of the questionnaire, the most dominant leadership style is democratic leadership. Democratic leadership is the style of leadership that respects the needs and preferences of the majority. All the stakeholders can contribute to the discussion and give their views on the issues that affect them. Democratic leadership doesn’t require a heavy-handed approach as the leader believes in the ability of the members to make an informed decision that is in their best interest and the best interest of the program.

Based on my previous responses to Part A and B, I agree with the results of the leadership assessment. My earlier responses in Part A of the assignment indicated that I would like to apply a relaxed and informal leadership style. The relaxed and informal style of leadership relies on the ability of the members to do the right thing. In a relaxed and informal leadership approach, the leader holds him or herself to the same level as the members. That means thinking of the members as their fellow rather than their subordinates. Such characteristics are found in the democratic leadership approach, which seeks to ensure fairness by treating everyone, including the leader, in an equal manner. Also, like democratic leadership, informal leadership allows for a two-way communication process between the leader and the members.

The other two leadership styles are authoritarian and laissez-faire. The authoritative tone of leadership sees strong control by the leader to his or her members. There is little to no input from the members on how affairs should be running. The communication directed upwards hence restricting the type of communication that takes place between the leader and the members. The other leadership style is laissez-faire, where the leader takes a hands-off approach on the whole matter. The laissez-faire leadership style differs from the authoritative because of members involved in the running of day to day activity. The leader leaves most of the tasks up to the members to fulfill. The leader does not attempt to nurture or control the members.

However, each of the three leadership styles has its advantages and disadvantages depending on how they are applied. In the case of a democratic leadership style, its main advantage is that the members feel like part of the process because of their continuous involvement. However, its main downside is that individual decisions and actions may take longer to be implemented because of the bureaucracy involved. As for the authoritarian approach, its main advantage is that it allows for quick implementation of projects and programs because all the decisions are made and initiated from a single place. The downside of authoritarian leadership is that it may reduce the morale among the members because they feel disconnected from the process and cause a rebellion among the participants. Finally, the laissez-faire provides room for innovation. However, the leadership style weakens leadership and reduces the amount of cohesiveness among the members of the group.

My style of leadership could positively influence my ability to lead in the future by teaching me how to connect with members of the group on a personal level, without crossing the boundaries that exist between them and me. As a leader, I will learn how to make them see me as their fellow and leader at the same time. Also, my leadership style prepares me for the eventuality that I meet incorporative group members. It is challenging to identify incorporative or uninterested group members while using the authoritarian type of leadership. Most of the decisions are being made by the leader, and the members are somehow being coerced into taking part in the activities. My democratic style of leadership gives the members a chance to participate in the process, and that would enable me to identify those who are less interested in the activities.

References

Coming of Age. (2020). About us. http://comingofageaustin.org/about-us-3/

Robin, K. & Daly, S. F. (2010). Therapeutic recreation leadership and programming. Human Kinetics.