Today in class, we talked more about leadership styles during interviews. We watched videos that showed different interview styles. Most of these were obviously meant to be funny, but there was still some truth behind them. We need to make ourselves interesting to our employers, and stand out in the best light. We talked today about how we can benefit our companies. These topics made me think about my interviewing skills. What traits do I posses that would make a company want to hire me? How can I be beneficial to an organization? These are important leadership questions that I wonder as I begin to apply for post-college jobs.
Today was also the day that our groups were supposed to be finalized by the end of class, or group members would get -50 points. I don’t really understand this concept. I mean, if I’m in a group that is complete and other slackers in the class can’t get it together, why should I be punished? I guess this goes along with the concept of any organization. If the class is supposed to represent a company, then each part needs to run in order to function properly. HR, finance, product development, sales, upper management, etc.—these parts all need to run efficiently together in order to be successful.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Class: Mon. Feb. 9
Kirk Weisler Presentation
This presentation was inspiring. Kirk began the presentation by talking about some of his life experiences. He spoke about leadership in the workplace, and in life. He gave an extraordinary presentation, and we were all lucky to have been there to hear it.
Toward the beginning part of the presentation, Kirk explained that a Gallup Management Journal survey was conducted 17% of American workers are actively disengaged. This means that they are at their job, doing it, but not completely disengaged from what is going on. Not only are they disconnected from their work, but they are going it on purpose. They mean to be disconected. He continued to explain that 54% were not engaged. Over half of all workers are not connected to their job. They're completely zoning out. Finally, he explained that only 29% of Americans are engaged in their work. These numbers were shocking. It is hard to imagine that people are so disconnected from their work.
He continued to explain that it is more important to discover your strengths than to work on your weaknesses. He asked, "What are your 5 major themes?" He went on to say that most high performers do not spend much time on their weaknesses, but instead they exploit their strengths. What a concept! Instead of thinking to yourself, "How can I better my weaknesses?" One should spend time concentrating on what they do best, and completely take advantage of these things.
The cork game was an interesting display of the need of balance. It is important to make adjustments in one's leadership style in order to have balance. There is synergy when everything is compliant and balanced with each other.
I enjoy reading, and I always love getting book recommendations. The book that he recommended that I found most interesting is "QBQ," the "Questions behind the Questions." I think this is an interesting concept for a book, and soemthing that I will look into. The book describes the six most important decisions that one will ever make. This is an intriguing concept that I will look into further.
Kirk described that there are 5 ways to say "I love you," and that a leader will use any of these 5 ways to show his team that he appreciates them. These 5 ways include: words of affrimation, gifts, time, physical touch, and acts of service. I knew that couples in relationships have different ways of telling each they're in love, but I didn't think that a leader would use one or more of these ways. It really makes you think about the way your superiors show it...
"The single greatest thing to inspire growth and development, is to grow myself."
"Be contagious."
"The quickest way to connect to a leader is to speak their language. Read what your leader is reading."
"We can make excuses or we can make a difference."
These were just some of the many powerful quotes that I picked up on. Kirk was inspiring to be a leader. He described it from all different angles. From superiors, from the followers, those looking out, those looking in. He had some powerful things to say, and I hope that I use some of his techniques in the future. What I thought was most interesting, was how Kirk got his start. He spoke about the average to below average grades that he got in high school and in the start of college. He started to figure out methods to improve. He started sitting in the "Magic T," section of the classroom. He started becoming friends with the bookworms, etc. It is inspiring to know that great leaders can come out of nowhere, just like Kirk. Now, he is getting paid thousands per presentation, and he is doing simply what he knows how to do, what comes naturally. This presentation was something that seemed to stick in my mind, and I hope to utilize the methods that he spoke of to eventually be a powerful, inspiring leader.
This presentation was inspiring. Kirk began the presentation by talking about some of his life experiences. He spoke about leadership in the workplace, and in life. He gave an extraordinary presentation, and we were all lucky to have been there to hear it.
Toward the beginning part of the presentation, Kirk explained that a Gallup Management Journal survey was conducted 17% of American workers are actively disengaged. This means that they are at their job, doing it, but not completely disengaged from what is going on. Not only are they disconnected from their work, but they are going it on purpose. They mean to be disconected. He continued to explain that 54% were not engaged. Over half of all workers are not connected to their job. They're completely zoning out. Finally, he explained that only 29% of Americans are engaged in their work. These numbers were shocking. It is hard to imagine that people are so disconnected from their work.
He continued to explain that it is more important to discover your strengths than to work on your weaknesses. He asked, "What are your 5 major themes?" He went on to say that most high performers do not spend much time on their weaknesses, but instead they exploit their strengths. What a concept! Instead of thinking to yourself, "How can I better my weaknesses?" One should spend time concentrating on what they do best, and completely take advantage of these things.
The cork game was an interesting display of the need of balance. It is important to make adjustments in one's leadership style in order to have balance. There is synergy when everything is compliant and balanced with each other.
I enjoy reading, and I always love getting book recommendations. The book that he recommended that I found most interesting is "QBQ," the "Questions behind the Questions." I think this is an interesting concept for a book, and soemthing that I will look into. The book describes the six most important decisions that one will ever make. This is an intriguing concept that I will look into further.
Kirk described that there are 5 ways to say "I love you," and that a leader will use any of these 5 ways to show his team that he appreciates them. These 5 ways include: words of affrimation, gifts, time, physical touch, and acts of service. I knew that couples in relationships have different ways of telling each they're in love, but I didn't think that a leader would use one or more of these ways. It really makes you think about the way your superiors show it...
"The single greatest thing to inspire growth and development, is to grow myself."
"Be contagious."
"The quickest way to connect to a leader is to speak their language. Read what your leader is reading."
"We can make excuses or we can make a difference."
These were just some of the many powerful quotes that I picked up on. Kirk was inspiring to be a leader. He described it from all different angles. From superiors, from the followers, those looking out, those looking in. He had some powerful things to say, and I hope that I use some of his techniques in the future. What I thought was most interesting, was how Kirk got his start. He spoke about the average to below average grades that he got in high school and in the start of college. He started to figure out methods to improve. He started sitting in the "Magic T," section of the classroom. He started becoming friends with the bookworms, etc. It is inspiring to know that great leaders can come out of nowhere, just like Kirk. Now, he is getting paid thousands per presentation, and he is doing simply what he knows how to do, what comes naturally. This presentation was something that seemed to stick in my mind, and I hope to utilize the methods that he spoke of to eventually be a powerful, inspiring leader.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Class: Wed. Feb. 4
In today's class, we assessed the quality of leadership among the individuals that stepped up to be leaders. The first couple of groups displayed extremely poor leadership. They huddled up, and each time they were asked to speak to the class since we were the onces ranking them, they went back to being quiet. Not one person in the first group stepped up to be a leader.
The second group did a better job, and one girl stepped up to be a leader. She listed all the qualities and spoke about them. Another kid was trying to speak loudly enough so that the class could hear him. Again, leadership strides were initiated but not completely followed through with.
Finally, the last group displayed tremenous leadership skills. They were confident, enthusiastic, loud, organized, and just overall great leaders. They understood the project that was assigned and really tackled it head on. It was impressive. I hope that I am in a group with any one of the team leaders that were in that group.
The second group did a better job, and one girl stepped up to be a leader. She listed all the qualities and spoke about them. Another kid was trying to speak loudly enough so that the class could hear him. Again, leadership strides were initiated but not completely followed through with.
Finally, the last group displayed tremenous leadership skills. They were confident, enthusiastic, loud, organized, and just overall great leaders. They understood the project that was assigned and really tackled it head on. It was impressive. I hope that I am in a group with any one of the team leaders that were in that group.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Class: Mon. Feb. 2
Today's class presented more leadership ideas. The commercials demonstrated ideas about knowing when to take a step back, take initiative, etc. It was interesting to see that there were many people that claimed they were leaders, but when questions were asked to spark discussion, no one raised their hands to speak.
The 20 sec. leadership pitches showed strong and weak leadership styles. I found it important to give examples with specific with numbers in order to make valid points. It is easier to visualize someones leadership progress when I am presented with numbers. I liked when people fully utilized all 20 seconds. If they finished sooner I wondered why they did not keep going. What would it say about a leader that did not use every asset given to them? Also, I liked it when people had something different to say. Give me a reason to want to pick you. Be specific. Be likable. Give me a reason to want to work for you.
The 20 sec. leadership pitches showed strong and weak leadership styles. I found it important to give examples with specific with numbers in order to make valid points. It is easier to visualize someones leadership progress when I am presented with numbers. I liked when people fully utilized all 20 seconds. If they finished sooner I wondered why they did not keep going. What would it say about a leader that did not use every asset given to them? Also, I liked it when people had something different to say. Give me a reason to want to pick you. Be specific. Be likable. Give me a reason to want to work for you.
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