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.