My father has worked for Unilever HPC for 25 years now, and he always talks about how it's a different kind of company then when he started there. Obviously things will change over the span of 25 years, but the changes made by the company have altered the way the employees act and feel about their jobs. I remember every year my parents going on a week long "company trip" to some great exotic location, all expenses paid. Numerous activities were planned, momentos were given out and the empl...

Today was a very interesting class because I think that it is the first time we have actually stepped back and taken a look as to what changes need to happen. Some of the groups suggestions I thought were not on target, which I was suprised about. The way I view the class is that I am in a group and I am responsible to my group and they to me. At no point have I found it necessary to include the rest of the class into this structure, it is just way too big. I was very surprised by other g...

Tonight I had the opportuniuty to hear Lou Cassara speak about his authentic leadership model. Hearing him speak before, since I am in the same sorority as his daughter, I knew the main idea of what Mr. Cassara would be speaking about. However, his speech tonight was much more then I had expected. Mr. Cassara's basis of his speech and book is based on three keys to leadership. 1. Be clear. 2. Be confident. 3. Be capable. and most importantly, be a first rate version of yourself! Thi...

Time management...a concept that most people struggle with and few perfect, is something that I used to have control over and have suddenly fall victim too. I don't understand where my time has gone. In middle school, if I had a project due in October, I would finish it in Septemeber. Now I am lucky if I start with the task the day before it's due. Dr. Feinberg said that time management is the key to good leadership, and I cannot agree more. The most successful people I know are in compl...

Today's class was based around mission statements and the components of what is considered a good mission statement and what is considered a bad one. To be honest, I couldn't really tell the difference between a good one or a bad one. When looking over the individual group mission statements, I thought all the lofty ideas looked similar to Starbucks. The listing of all the great environments that will be produced and the morale amongst the employees or in our case, group members, seemed to...

Before the the living obituary was assigned, I had never really given my own obituary any thought. The idea of someone speaking at my funeral was never a subject that crossed my mind. However, after I started interviewing my assigned person, I could not help but ponder what people would say about me. I guess this sounds a bit conceited, but after I began composing my person's obituary, I truly wondered about my own. During class, people volunteered their husbands and girlfriends, already ...

Today a major topic discussed during lecture was cohesiveness. I had never really thought about cohesiveness and leadership together, probably because I have never dissected leadership to this extent before, but I found what Dr. Feinberg had to say was rather interesting. The part that caught me off guard were the two ways to reach cohesiveness, which were 1. Have a common enemy and 2.Have a common goal. The second suggestion was something that I would have thought of, however the first on...

Today in class we watched a video from the t.v. show, "Real Sports" about a boy who was born with no arms or legs. Now to most, this would mean that you would be "disabled" your whole life. Someone must look after you at all times and make sure that you were fed, clothed and bathed. Well most people are not like this certain individual. This young man was absolutely amazing. Not only does he lead a "normal life", he leads a "normal life" with great success. HIs ability to be an excpetio...

The task presented today, which was the tower building competition, proved to be a success. Even though my group did not win the overall competition, and our tower tumbled to the ground right at judgement time, I still found today's class to be very interesting. The initial task was creative in itself, as it forced the group to come together and decide on basically our first group decision as of yet. This group project allowed our group to meet one another and learn a little about each per...

During class today, we had the pleasure of watching the leaders convince the audience why they are good leaders and how they can handle a certain task. Not in the interviewing stage of my life as of yet, I was unaware of how boring certain questions can become after they are answered numerous times. It was shocking how each leader had clear, concise answers that would fulfill the "cookie cutter" concept of leadership, but sounded like a bunch of crap when sitting there watching. I personal...

Before entering this class, leadership was a concept that I took for granted. I did not think that everyone had the capabilies to lead, nor want to lead. After the first class, which started off without any leader, I was pleasantly suprised with how many people stepped up and took charge. Granted some of the ideas thrown around where not on task, but I was intrigued by the students who took it upon themselves to lead. As the class has progressed I have learned that it is your choice to be...