1. Supervision Assessment Reflection Paper
Christopher Jones
EDU 803B
Helping Skills for Student Affairs Professionals II
Instructor: Dr. Lee A. Brossoit

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What is affective leadership? How do you know when you are working under a good
supervisor or when you yourself are performing as a good leader of a particular department?
What does successful management look like in the work place? How do you know when you are
hitting on all cylinders and your area is absolutely reaching its full potential? These questions
may sound simple, but the answers could be very difficult to answer.
A successful supervisor is one who builds effective interpersonal relationships within the
department, is well respected and trusted by staff members and colleagues, communicates
effectively in person, print, and email and understands the importance of team building and
agreement within the work place. Strong supervisors also spend a great deal of time creating an
environment in which people experience positive morale and recognition and assist staff
members with individual growth and development. In short, a good leader possesses outstanding
communication skills.
In my opinion, communication is the key ingredient for a supervisor or an aspiring
supervisor. Having the ability to clearly express oneself in a non-threatening or confrontational
manner is a true skill to have. In today’s work place that is much easier said than done because
so many individuals have hidden agendas, attitudes, and overall behavior issues they bring with
them inside the department and have a difficult time with not allowing these issues to affect their
work performance. I feel affective communication encompasses all of the other competencies
we are learning about in the program. An individual who exemplified strong communication
skills was the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King had the ever elusive “it” factor. Dr. King
demonstrated great communication through verbal, nonverbal, eye contact, body positioning and
tone.

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As a former supervisor at Bunker Hill Community College in the athletics department,
although my staff and I were very successful and experienced many triumphs, there are many
things I could have done differently or perhaps better to further enhance our overall productivity.
One component I wished I had developed better was the usage of technology communication.
Looking back on my tenure at BHCC, I should have done more with staff development training
in the area of technology. Now that I possess a deeper understanding and overall knowledge
regarding technology and how to use it more effectively, as the department supervisor I should
have been doing more with it along the lines of communicating internally as well as externally.
Employee Training Sessions is a component that many institutions of higher education
are getting away from, but is sorely missed in our colleges and universities today. I clearly
remember in August of 2002 when I was awarded the position of Coordinator of Athletics at
BHCC. My first day on the job, I had a scheduled meeting with my supervisor to go over some
details and particulars. During this meeting I was expecting to receive some sort of training
schedule to assist me with getting acclimated to the college and perhaps some important details
relating to policies and procedures. That training never took place and if I was going to be
successful at my new position, it was going to be up to me to get the information I needed for my
area. As a result of this action, not only did I take upon myself to learn more about the college in
general and develop and cultivated those relationships between other offices, but I also
implemented a three day training session for all new employees coming into the athletics
department and set up multiple personal meetings for all veteran and rookie coaches to ensure
that they stayed on track in terms of policies and procedures at BHCC.

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As a former supervisor if I had to evaluate myself and my areas of strength, I would have
to say I am strong Advising, Leadership, Communication and Teaching and Learning. My
personality is an easy going, peaceful natured person. I have a pretty good understanding of how
to read people and I can usually detect when a person has a hidden agenda. I am a very honest
person, almost to a fault because sometimes I am too frank with people and sometimes
inadvertently offend some individuals. I’m very good at problem solving and conflict resolution
as long as the individuals I’m working with are honest with me as well as themselves. Areas I
need to improve in are Legal Issues, Multicultural Awareness, and Student Development Theory.
I feel I need to continue to improve in these areas because it will only help me with
communicating more effectively with the students. In my opinion, a good leader should be
knowledgeable and well versed in theories and practice. These two areas run parallel with each
other.
Finally, for a current supervisor or aspiring leader, I believe that each person owes it to
themselves and their fellow man to continue to educate themselves and others of the dangers
of unfair treatment and discrimination regarding multiculturalism. Educating, raising
awareness, and changing negative views when needed are not only my plans for the next
several months, but for the rest of my life. In terms of working in Student Affairs as a
practitioner, these components are vital to our success as an individual, and will be particularly
important in enhancing the institutions we ultimately represent.