A Glyph on Leadership

Close to the beginning of OT school, we were asked to draw a person based on the questionnaire below. Now that we are close to completely the didactic course work for OT school, we were asked to do the same thing and compare the drawings. The only (yet significant) changes from my drawing today is that my character has big eyes and that my name written next to my character is now written in cursive instead of print. This means that I now believe that the vast majority of OTs are leaders and that I also believe that I am a leader. This is because going through OT school has taught me what it means to be a leader and has given me several opportunities to learn how to be an effective leader! Of course, I'm still learning. :)

Face Shape: If you believe that leadership is an inborn trait, draw a triangle-shaped head.  If you think that leadership stems from nurture over nature, draw a square-shaped head.

Eyes: If you think the vast majority of OTs are leaders, make big circles for the eyes.  If you think there is a fairly equal mixture of leaders and non-leaders in the field of OT, draw small circles for the eyes.  Fill in the pupils.  Add glasses if you feel that you have had more experience in leadership roles than most other people your age at this point in life.

Eyelashes: Draw one eyelash on each of the eyes for each of the five themes you can name based on your personal Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment from earlier in the curriculum.

Eyebrows: If you like to take the role of the leader in an out-in-front way, make curved eyebrows.  If your leadership style is more behind the scenes, make pointy eyebrows.

Nose: Draw a triangle nose if you think that seeing yourself as a leader is necessary to being a leader.  Draw a rounded nose if you believe that a person can be a leader without seeing himself or herself as a leader.

Skin:  Add a freckle anywhere on the skin of the face if you believe that self-awareness is vital to effective leadership.  Leave the skin clear if you don’t think it’s an essential trait.

Mouth: Draw a smiling mouth if you can think of at least one leader who has had a positive impact on you.  Draw a frown if you can’t think of a good example of a leader.

Ears: Draw round ears if you think technology is an important part of effective leadership in many situations. Draw pointy ears if don’t think so.

Hair: Draw the hair based on a continuum, based on your personal viewpoint in two areas:

What’s more important in leadership:             Curly hair  <------------------------->  Straight hair 

          creativity or organization?            Creativity  <-------------------------->  Organization

WAVES

                   AND

Can an introvert be an effective leader?         Short hair <-------------------------> Long hair

                                                           No way  <------ I’m unsure -----> Definitely yes

Accessories: Add at least one accessory (example: a piece of jewelry) if you see yourself as a leader.  Add a hat if the way you think about or approach leadership has changed as a result of what you have learned since beginning in OT school.

Jewelry and hat

Finishing Touch: Label your paper with your name, writing in cursive if you have a written plan or goal about to serving in leadership roles in the future; write in print if you do not yet have a written plan. cursive

Today's Drawing

Previous Drawing

Internal Locus of Control

I completed an assignment filling that asked questions, such as, which one of these do you believe?

"a. One of the major reasons why we have wars is because people don't take enough interest in politics.

b. There will always be wars, no matter how hard people try to prevent them."

This was to see whether I had more of an internal locus of control or external locus of control. Locus of control is the belief about who or what controls your life. If you have more of an internal locus of control, you believe that you have more control in shaping your future whereas external locus of control means that things just happen to you and you don't have control over them.

On the Internal Locus of control assignment, I scored a 15/23. This means that I fall towards having more of an external locus of control versus an internal locus of control. I believe if I took this questionnaire even year ago, my score may have been different. Since the COVID-19 pandemic has happened, I have realized or remembered that I don't have as much control over things as I sometimes think I do. While some people may think that this is not a good thought process to have because it will cause someone to not try as hard, I believe this is a good thing to remember so you are not completely caught off guard when things "out of the ordinary" happen. As a future OT, this will help me be adaptable to a situation.

However, I think it is also good to have an internal locus of control. It is good to accomplish goals and work towards something in order to cause a good change. As a future OT, I believe it is good to try your hardest towards a goal in hopes that accomplishing can cause a change.


I think it's also important for therapists to help their clients or patients understand the balance between having an internal and external control. It's important for them to understand that their hard work in therapy can pay off and help them getter better and get discharged faster. At the same time it is important for them to understand that the reason they are in the hospital may be something that is out of their control (ex. a health client who had a stroke) and that they shouldn't feel responsible for why they are in the hospital.

*While I think this questionnaire is good to think on, there were several questions where I either agreed with both choices or disagreed with both choices. For this reason, I'm not sure if my score truly reflects what I believe.