Leadership Spotlight: JustSophia

This month we celebrate a very inspirational Quality Mentor, @JustSophia!

From the nominator: Sophia is a diligent and dedicated leader who always puts forth her best effort. Whether you ask for help or she notices that you're struggling, Sophia is quick to offer her assistance. She possesses great patience and wisdom while remaining open-minded and able to tackle any challenge. Her kind and friendly demeanor makes her a pleasure to work with, and I am very proud of her.

Here are a few more shoutouts:

"Sophia, I'm so proud of you for everything you've accomplished so far on Cups. It's be a great opportunity to watch you grow into the incredible listener that you are. I look forward to seeing where you go from here." - AnnaS

"JustSophia is an absolutely fantastic listener and Quality Mentor. They are really kind, smart and empathetic and truly have a heart of gold. I feel that they truly believe this spotlight, their contributions to our community is wonderfully wonderful 😊✨ Thank you for all the amazing work you do here on Cups, Sophia ❤️" - IA

"Sophia, your passion for our community is noticeable in your thoughtful approach to quality. I see you proactively mentoring listeners and being such an incredible support in the forums. You are without a doubt an extraordinary leader. Thank you for all you do!" - Glen

Now for a Q&A with Sophia!

What motivates me to be a volunteer:
I became a Listener at 7 cups because I find it rewarding to help others, and I felt like I could contribute something positive. I’ve found that connecting with so many people and offering support in such a variety of ways has been very meaningful.

My proudest 7 cups achievement:
What pops immediately to mind is not really a single achievement, but rather being a part of others’ achievements. Facilitating any chat where someone has an “ah-hah!” moment is the greatest achievement I think I could have.

Advice:
I would say to be honest, forthright, and to communicate clearly (but in a non-confrontational way)

Leaders I admire:
I admire @Jenna because she has always been welcoming and supportive, and she’s always made herself available to answer whatever questions anyone’s ever had. She can offer information about anything related to this site and uses this expertise to help others develop their own knowledge and skills. She knows so much and has continued to be a source of support and seemingly endless knowledge throughout my time here. I would be thrilled to know half of what Jenna does.

Sometimes someone’s leadership doesn’t have to be public. Someone can be a leader one on one by being a role model and helping another person to learn and grow. I admire @AnnaSilverberg for this reason. In addition to her positive presence in places like the Listener Support Room, her willingness and ability to support me in exploring challenging issues has helped me to become a better leader and supporter. I believe that such attentiveness and ability to help others grow is part of being a great leader.

What’s next:
I really don’t know what’s next on my 7 cups journey. I like being available to offer support whenever and wherever someone needs me, so that may lead me to explore additional roles. I like learning, problem-solving, developing my skills, and taking on new challenges. That may lead me to explore greater leadership opportunities. I like exploring how things work. I like research. I like mentoring others. I like just offering support through listening. That’s what motivated me to become a Listener at 7 cups, and it’s still the core of what it means to be here. If I “just” stayed in my current roles, that’s ok too. Ultimately it comes down to how I can contribute the most.

Dealing with challenges:
I’m not sure if you mean biggest challenges at 7 cups, or biggest challenges in general. I suppose both involve getting active support – talking through things to figure out my thoughts and next steps (can you tell why I appreciate the listening process?). Sometimes it involves accepting the things I don’t like. I don’t have to like them, but fighting them - either internally or externally - is a waste of energy. I’m not very good at that one a lot of times, but when I succeed at it, that’s a major way I can get through some tough things.

Other than that, it depends on the challenge. A lot of times it involves accepting the help and guidance of those who are better equipped than I am to deal with whatever is going on. Sometimes, when things are very difficult to do, it involves reminding myself of my values and my commitment to living up to them. Sometimes, frankly, it involves skills that I’ve learned in lots of years of therapy. It all depends on what I’m trying to face.

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Please join me in giving congrats to Sophia!