At the last class, I could not help but remember back to the very first one. The first class when we all stood around in bewilderment as to what we were supposed to do. It is odd, but I feel I have defiantly grown as a leader throughout the semester. At the beginning I did not think that one class could have that much of an affect on it's student, but I am proof that it is true. Being a leader is much more then just dividing up work to others. It is much more then working for the title a...
Today we listened to Kirk Weisler give his presenation on leadership over the phone. Even though he was on the phone, which most would find impossible to captivate people through, Kirk grabbed me from the beginning. His whole concept behind being a good leader is "genuine intent." Everyone wants to follow the "everyday guy" that treats them like a person. His idea of being the least painful and the most fun is obvioulsy working and catching on in the workplace, as his tremendous success p...
As the years have gone on, more and more attention has been brought to the perpetually growing problem of sexual harassement. Through stories my father has told me as well as friends, I have seen how it affects the people involved and how traumatizing this harassement can make the workplace. My best friend's older sister experienced this problem first hand. She was a new employee for Hyatt Hotels in Chicago and was fresh on the job. A Senior Vice President was very interested in her, even...
I have found that every time I have had a problem in my life it was due to poor decision making. Going out on a Thursday or staying in to study? A question I pondered often but never seemed to choose appropriately is a perfect example of where my bad decision making has taken me. As we discussed in class, it is your decisions that are going to get you places. If you make numerous bad decisions and never attempt to change your ways, this will bring you to bad results. In this class, Dr. F...
Today we viewed a video that gave us real life examples of leadership that is not so common in the workplace; leadership that is started at the front line, leadership that is brought about by the factory workers. The first example showed a sausage company who had a very unique way of running their business. It was all done by the fellow employees, firing, hiring, pay raises, etc. If a person was up for hire, it was up to that department to evaluate the worker and make sure they would be a ...
Today we did the exercise in which you ranked 15 items from most important to least as if you were stranded in the desert. I have done exercises like this before but I am always left feeling stupid after the "expert" tells you what you would need. I always find it interesting to see what people would think they would use and then later to find out that they had it all wrong. In our group in particular, some members thought that cleaning out injuries was a big concern at the moment, as othe...
Listening has never been my strong suit. Always known for talking my way through anything, I have never quit perfected my listening skills, which sadly puts me at a disadvantage. As our class experiment proved, listening is a key characteristic if one hopes to find any success in their life. Whether it is a business issue or a personal issue, if you do not listen, you usually accomplish nothing. When the girls went behind the screen to give directions, I could not help but notice how much...
After watching the video on Jack Welsch, I could not help but ponder on his concept of firing. Each year ridding his company of the bottom 10%, keeping only the most productive employees, which earned him the nameNeutron Jack, caught my attention. Is this concept all it is cracked up to be and how do the employees respond to such a harsh policy. After thinking about my personal reaction, I would like to hear the honest truth. Too many bosses tell their employees what they want to hear, le...
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...