On March 24 and 25, LILAC hosted a Leadership Assessment Center to help students explore their strengths as well as opportunities for growth regarding their leadership skills and potential.
Assessment centers are usually found in larger organizations and are utilized for the purposes of employee selection, training, promotion, and/or development. In LILAC’s case, students participated in a simulation that mirrored a day in a professional workplace and then received comprehensive feedback from alumnae, industry professionals, graduate students, and college faculty and staff.
“It helped me get better at thinking on my feet and formulating arguments in a short amount of time,” says Maya Ulin-O’Keefe ’17, who participated in the program. “It also helped me learn more about my personal work style. I’m grateful that I will have this experience to draw from after I graduate.”
In addition to the actual assessment day, the event consisted of an orientation session, two pre-surveys, writing a case study, a post-survey, and a final feedback meeting. Based on their feedback, students also built a developmental plan to help build upon their strengths while growing additional skill sets.
“The leadership assessment center is one of the few opportunities students have to get feedback about their professional performance and presence in a learning environment with incredibly low stakes,” says LILAC’s Associate Director of Experiential Education, Jessica Hollinger. “This is an incredible learning opportunity for students to receive honest, concrete, behavior-based feedback that will absolutely benefit them as they prepare for life after Bryn Mawr.”