Final Reflection

Dustin Parkinson
Leadership Development
Bro. Ward

Final Reflection

This class has taught me a lot about leadership. Before joining BYUSA I thought I was a pretty good leader and did well at many of the things that I tried to accomplish. Through this experience, I have learned many of my weaknesses and how to improve on these things for my future leadership endeavors. While I write this paper I will show some of the different things that I will apply as I go forth and serve in my employment, church, community, and home.

One of the things that weight heaviest on my mind right now is my future career. I have always loved business and the way that money can work for a company and an individual. Because of these things I am a business management major with an emphasis in finance. One particular area that interests me is the area of Investment Banking. I like this area for a few reasons such as the possibility of international work; I like the idea of interacting with other like-minded business individuals, doing mergers and acquisitions, and doing initial public offerings. These areas are all things that interest me.

There is only one drastic problem with the investment banking career. Investment Bankers are renowned for working extremely long hours. These hours are at least 80 hours a week but I have heard as many as 120 hours a week. That is 17 hours a day for 7 days a week! If I were to seek out this career path I would not be able to do anything besides work. There would be no chance that I could serve in any capacity, or even have anything of a social life. Investment bankers are so busy they don’t have a chance to lead out in their workplace. I would not like to do that very much.

The way that I will be able to go forth and serve in my life will be by picking a career that will be able to give me the flexibility to be able to serve. I have now moved on to the idea of doing private equity work in the finance industry. This career field also appeals to me because I get to work with investing in new start-ups and new companies. I love entrepreneuing, and I think this would be a good fit. The hours are less and the pay is very competitive. There is only one drawback to this; most people who work in the private equity field have come from the investment banking industry. This makes it very hard for me to be able to find a way to serve while I am younger and trying to get the work experience I will need to get into the career that I would like and be able to serve how I would like.

The career that I choose will also have a large impact on my ability to serve in the Church. Earlier, I mentioned that I am interested in working internationally. One of the reasons I would like to do this is to get to see other cultures and see how these cultures can be applied to my own. The next reason I would like to work internationally is for opportunities to serve in the church. Coming from Idaho, I have seen how the church functions when it is very developed and there are lots of members to draw from for service and leadership. When I went on my mission to Hong Kong I saw different ways that I could help in the church that I would never have if I were to stay in Idaho or Utah. Even if I were not to live outside of the Unites States, I would try to live somewhere where the membership of the church is not as strong so I could truly use my talents and abilities to benefit others.

Where I live will also determine how I can be involved in my community. Before hearing Mayor Winder speak, I have never thought of involvement in the community as something that was really that important. I had never known anyone who was involved with the city or state that was close to me. One of the reason’s I think this is important is to help spread the Gospel. I often think as Mormons, we get too involved in ourselves. We can become very inward and only focus on our families, our jobs, and our church callings. To be more than this, I will try to be involved at least on the city level with my community. I feel like I would best do this by representing some aspect of the business community like someone who represents a union (but not like a union because I don’t really like unions). Another thing I would like to do is be involved coaching sports teams for the community. Anyway that I can serve the community and let people in the community know who I am will be beneficial.

After considering career, church, and community service I need to consider what Brother Cox said was the most important aspect of service, which is service in the home and family. With doing service and trying to lead at church, work, and in the community there doesn’t seem like there is much time left for family. I think the way that I will best serve in my family capacity is to make my family my number one priority. I think this can be explained by some of the things I do to prioritize in college. I love to play intramural sports. To me this is a priority above all else including my school work, so I always have time to play them. To others though, this is not a priority and they will rarely show up for our scheduled games. The same can be applied to family. If I make my family a priority above all else, I will always have time for them.

In conclusion, I have learned a lot about how important it is to continue to serve even after my time in BYUSA. I hope to go forth and serve and have a great career and family and to be able to serve in the church and community as well.