To impress your audience

The topic last week was pretty interesting. Those small tips about standing, gesture and even volume will help a lot in future presentation. Personally, I was very impressed by the lady. Being a leader, I feel like the way to speak is sometimes more important and powerful than what you said. It seems ironic, but true. Only those speeches with both strong insight while well presented will be recognized by its audience. Same thing even happens in class. Those classes taught by a wonderful professor with lively atmosphere will certainly last longer in my mind, at least he/she keeps me awake. Applying thus small strategies in future presentations, I'm sure, it will make a difference.

Quality Leadership

First off, I apologize for the late post, that was not my intention and I hope it won't happen again.

What I found most interesting from the speech last week was how employees in leadership positions are encouraged to use positive reinforcement to compensate for the lack of financial incentives due to the economy. In a perfect world, this is something we would continue even if we were not in the financial position we are in now, but it seems as though if this were implemented successfully, morale in the workplace would actually be higher despite the potential for lower pay.

Another thought I had, which as I was reading through other entries seemed to be a common theme was how important admitting your mistakes really is. It amazes me how easy it is to blame someone else, but when we are working on trying to develop stronger leadership characters we need to always be aware of the responsibility for mistakes. Even if does not appear to be my fault, I may not have looked at the situation from all perspectives.

The only criticism I had for the speaker was that I would have liked to have heard at least one negative aspect of the president-elect. No one is perfect, and while I don't doubt her exceptional qualities, having some negative aspects would make her seem like a more realistic and relatable person. Still, I look forward to hopefully hearing the president-elect speak for herself soon!

What I found extraordinary during the last session was how well our President-Elect fit in with every one of the qualities described of great leaders. It seems like Terry Sullivan will be an exemplary leader, which is great for our university.
I think the bottom line of all the qualities of good leaders is to foster an environment where others do not hesitate to become good 'followers', at the same time as contributing individually. I would only be a good team player if I understand that I am being valued as part of the group, and it is essentially the job of a leader to make that happen.

Useful Tips

In the speech last week, I think those two sentences below are the most helpful:
"Good job!", as a leader, we should learn to appreciate and praise other people's efforts. Such positive feedback is important to keep a team going and to form a united and friendly team atmosphere. Everyone's longing for success, but not every effort pays back. Personally, I think achievement is not just about success. Even resulting in failure, if we can learn something and make some progress from it, that's an achievement for me. Thus, it's not only important to praise others, but also important to say "good job" to ourselves.
"I made a mistake.", sometimes, it's hard to apologize. But remember, apology do not necessarily mean "deny ourselves". On the contrary, if one's confident enough to apologize, which also means that he's ready to shoulder the responsibility and is on the right track to improve.
These two sentences, of course, are just little pieces regarding leadership. But if we can start small, and keep working on it, we'll see that "leaders are not only born, but can be trained as well".

Focus!

Since many of us have been talking our interpretations of leadership and the intrinsic qualities that leaders have, I though I might expound upon one that hasn't been mentioned. Its called focus. As a noun, a focus means "the point where rays of light, heat, etc. or waves of sound come together, or from which they spread or seem to spread" or "the starting point of an earthquake," as per the dictionary. But as a verb, which makes more sense here, it signifies "to direct one's thoughts or efforts; to concentrate." All leaders need to have the proper focus in order to concentrate on the specific goals of a group, be it a team, company, or student organization. While this attribute often goes unnoticed, it's something that aspiring leader must carry with him/her through all their endeavors: an undying tenacity to do what needs to be done, in the proper manner, time, and place.

Just to give an example, I lacked the proper focus needed to make this posting sooner (sorry Travis), because I was entirely preoccupied all of last week with watching this music video.

Taylor Swift and Beyonce: WATCH OUT.

Leadership: an Individualistic Endeavor?

I feel as if the point of a leader is to be an individual and take charge of the human, financial, resources and other capital, direct and organize those pieces. In Commerce one day Professor Kemp discussed how in mergers there is never a merger of two equal partners, in the end one organization will take charge of the new engagement. I'm not saying a leader shouldn't listen to others and coordinate with them, in fact, those are key qualities of a leader, but these aspects don't always get the job done well or efficiently, or even at all. I know from personal experience sometimes the group just has bad ideas and at times, or even many times, a leader has to shake them up and organize them to task so the organization can at the very least continue, possibly even thrive. However, a leader who doesn't listen is probably a bad leader - not always though - and a bad leader can almost be as bad as having none at all. I definitely believe our speaker made some valid points, but I also feel, to some extent, she demoted a leader to just another group member who may happen to exert a little more influence than the rest of the group and doesn't want to hurt others feelings, and I don't believe that is the point of someone who leads. The point of a leader is to lead.

Bro'Hill

Hey guys!

Great posts so far!! Travis has already contributed 2 posts, so I thought I would leave something to show you all that we're actually reading these!

Since most of the people in our group are first years, you probably would rather eat anything BUT O'hill and Newcomb meals. However, I wanted to say how much that one meal at O'HIll means to me. I felt like a kid in a big giant candy store, that has not only candy but EVERY FOOD YOU COULD EVER WANT!

And don't worry, I made full use of my visit....I helped myself to two very sizable portions of Ice Milk (WITH oreo crumbles, of course!)

KEEP POSTING :)

What It Takes to Be a Leader 101

What I appreciated most from her speech was her description of our President-elect Sullivan. As Sullivan is new to the University community, we all are not familiar with her as a person let alone her leadership style. By describing positive leader traits--such as, a good sense of humor, attentive listener, gracefully agressive, among many others--and attributing them to Sullivan provides us with a real manifestation of the great leader we are striving to be. It's likely that we all do not wish to lead exactly as Sullivan does (or how we were described she does), as leadership styles are personal. However, many leadership qualities are universal, and she acts as a role model for those traits, if no others. Among everything else, we leaders have a better idea of who our incoming President is as a person, which is valuable in itself. To be a great leader, one must know what it takes. She told us. And to increase our understanding, she brought the characteristics to life through describing the applicable ones that Sullivan possesses.

{ Mardi Gras }

I liked how she made a point to remind us that being a leader is not actually about yourself. A lot of attention is paid to leaders, how they act as individuals, and leaders themselves are usually trying to think of ways to make themselves better executives. Still, ultimately leaders should be the people most able to ignore their own lives in the interest of the group they are the head of. The easiest way to do that, is by finding something that you are truly passionate about, and possibly care more about than the other aspects of your life. Obviously that would be the dream project of everyone to head, but as long as you can get excited about some aspect of the group or event you are in charge of, then you are going to want to stay connected to the rest of the group, to inspire others, to be aware of the public face of it, to always keep learning about it, and to talk about 'we' instead of 'I'. You can really tell when a leader is actually excited about and invested in their project, and it makes such a difference. If you are only in it for yourself then you will end up making decisions for your own benefit, which may be detrimental to the overall goal. Having basic humility would make most of the things on that list a piece of cake



...and seeing that it is Mardi Gras, why not treat yourself to some right now?
Get excited.

"I'm Sorry I Made a Mistake"

It's funny to think that these six words are at the top of the list of what a good leader - and follower - should be saying. But it's true.

We need to accept criticism (even if it's from ourselves), as it promotes an open environment to talk about issues, and not just someone's personal ability. In the grand scheme of things, how important is it for the Committee Chair to think you're on top of everything, only to find out that you've been missing deadlines and bringing the entire committee down? In my opinion, not very important. Yet this desire within ourselves to please others is so strong, there is a certain compellence to.... well.... stretch the truth, to say the very least. Admitting mistakes may seem like it closes many doors, but it actually opens many more. A group can collaborate on how to fix it, and a solution can be reached a lot faster. Most of the time, a problem comes up because someone can't handle it on their own. An open environment is key for finding answers together, and working together alike to find the best solution.

I'm Sorry I Made a Mistake. Let's work together to figure out how to solve it, and prevent this from happening in the future.

These words should be ingrained in every great leader's mind.

To Blog or Not To Blog

In an effort to increase the transparency as to what is expected from you for this blog, here are some guidelines:

Why am I doing this?
This blog is intended to be a forum for reflection and should facilitate the development of ideas generated through your Blueprint experience. It's also a place for you to share your thoughts and feedback with others, perhaps letting you get to know others in the group more intimately.

What should I write about?
There is no right answer to this question, but the general idea is to write about something that interests you and either is a result of or relates to the Blueprint program. I suspect the 'easiest' thing to do will be to write a response relating to the week's speaker, perhaps discussing a specific point that you found informative or disagree with.

How often am I supposed to make a post?
We expect one post for every week there is a speaker.

How long should the post be?
Up to you, five sentences is the absolute minimum though. Ideally I would say 5-10 sentences would be sufficient. However, if you don't have much to say, you're not going to be penalized for writing under 10 sentences.

Are you grading this?
Absolutely not- this is not meant to assess each of you, rather it's intended to help you all internalize what you've learned. However, if we see you're not making posts or writing only a sentence per post, expect to hear from us.

What if I'm uncomfortable posting my thoughts for the group to see?
No problem, just write them down in a format you will be able to show to Carter or myself just so that we know you've been keeping up to date, and let us know that you have done so.

I still don't get it
Just send myself or Carter an email, and we'll help you out.