Blog #5

Vince, Katie and I read Toy Box Leadership : Leadership Lessons from the Toys You Loved as a Child.

Toy Box takes childhood toys and uses them to explain essential concepts of leadership. LEGO bricks represent Relationships, Slinky Dog for Vision, Play-Doh for Mentoring, Yo-Yo for Creativity, Mr. Potato Head for Communication, Rubix Cube for Ethics, Rocking Horse for Efficiency, Little Green Army Men for Strategy, Lite-Brite for Message, and Weebles for Endurance. 

This book helped to form my concept of leadership. We often think of just the high up CEO, or President, or extremely rich innovators as leaders, but that is far from the case. Toy Box takes the qualities of these great leaders and makes them understandable to everyday people. I'm so glad we chose this book because it took very open ended leadership ideas and applied them to toys you can see working. Toy Box helped change my view of leadership from such a widespread idea to an actual tangible, workable concept that can be played with, just like toys. 

I definitely agreed with authors Ron Hunter Jr. and Michael E. Waddell throughout most of the book. They applied a lot of the book to leadership in business, (which is convenient because Katie, Vince, and I are all business majors). In the chapter Yo-Yo, the authors put a huge emphasis on the importance of allowing for failure in the workplace. That idea is one most people disagree with. Everyone is expected to accomplish tasks perfectly on the first try today, but we must realize that success takes time. People need time to experiment and grow. "Many times you reward the attempt rather than the result." I definitely agree with the idea of allowing for failure. I know that the times I have failed are the times I have learned the most, and the fact that it applies in business makes complete sense. I hope to one day be working in a place that allows for these mistakes to happen and allows each employee the chance to grow and develop. 

However, in the chapter Rocking Horse, I had a slight disagreement with the authors. They state, "History books never record mediocrity, nor do we see statues built for people who were average. The Smithsonian has no exhibits for achieving the status quo." This sounds bad, but I have always been an advocate for the middle ground. I am not saying that I think people should sit around and be lazy or shouldn't try, but mediocrity is sometimes the best way to go. Not every person wants to go down in history or have a holiday named after them, and that does not disqualify them from being a leader. Some people lead through daily life and small actions that attribute to the ethical way of life that won't get them a statue or a great resignation, but they can still be great people who are only making it to the "status quo."

My favorite part of the book was the chapter Mr. Potato Head.

This chapter "spoke to me" because I think it is one of the most overlooked aspects of leadership. We worry about doing and saying the right things all the time, that we sometimes forget our faces exhibit just as much about us. 90% of our message is nonverbal. We wonder why people don't understand us sometimes, but maybe it's not their understanding but rather the way we are delivering the message. Not in our tone or words, but in our faces. Our faces have to communicate congruently to our message. "People will trust you once they know you have genuine concern for them." The best way for others to  know you are concerned with them is through your face. Every leader must pack 8 faces to explain what we mean. Empathetic, Confident, Intense, Attentive, Disappointed, Happy, Sincere, and Optimistic. These 8 faces, when used correctly and in combination, can deliver any message you need and connect others with your message. I find this aspect the most interesting in leadership because it requires us to see outside ourselves to how we are coming off to others, not just how we come off to ourselves. 

A few other lines from the book that particularly stood out to me:

"Are you consciously choosing who you imitate, or are you simply following whoever happens to be in your environment?" -- When we pick a mentor, we need to be selective. I know I have been influenced by people who I would not consider role models, and knowing that I have the decision to follow and imitate only those who I want is an empowering feeling.

"The most important creative freedom by far is the freedom to fail." -- like I emphasized earlier, failure being essential to growth is something I value. 

"It's time leaders improve the character of their business rather than letting the business ruin their character." -- Our corporate leaders seem to have such a flimsy idea of ethics today that only those who are adamant in remaining fair and ethical will go on to be considered great leaders. 

"It is not enough to be busy. The question is: What are we busy about?" -- Especially as college students, we consider ourselves sooo busy, but when we sit back and think about what consumes our time, it's normally stuff that really shouldn't even be considered important. 

"The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win." -- The chapter on Little Green Army Men explains that we can't just want to win, we have to want to prepare to win. Preparation is just as important as the actual accomplishment. 

"In people's attempts to be elaborate or clever they often leave their audience confused rather than enlightened." -- I am constantly confused when people are trying to be smart, especially here at OSU, so the idea that others agree with me, makes me happy.

Toy Box is definitely applicable to my life. The emphasis on business will help me in my hopeful career. I plan on going into human resources where communication is key. Building relationships like LEGO suggests will help me connect with people and using the 8 key faces of Mr. Potato Head will remind me to be genuine with others.  Another important aspect of human resources is in the hiring and firing department. Weebles remind me that when someone makes a mistake, they don't necessarily deserve to be let go. "A good leader recognized that when an employee makes a multi-thousand dollar mistake, you don't let him go. You just paid for his education, and what he learned from that mistake will benefit him and your company."

Today, the Rocking Horse efficiency chapter is the most relevant. In college, I sit around on facebook and in my dorm accomplishing nothing. Basically, I'm on a rocking horse getting me nowhere, but looking outside of myself and realizing that I am making no motion will help give me ambition to get on a real horse (metaphorically, real horses scare the crap out of me) and get my stuff done. When I get everything I am expected to done, I don't have to explain why it isn't. Little Green Army Men are also applicable. We're all in college "setting up" for the real world. We're placing our little army men in different positions and trying to figure out what works best for us to achieve our goals. As I set up my future, I need to remember to check my troops, my types, and my time. I am allowed to change my men and my future for that matter because, "A leader who is not willing to revise his plan will rarely reach his destination."

There are so many leadership lessons to be learned but sometimes it's as simple as looking at your childhood toys for that little bit of inspiration. 

Alternate Assignment

Since I missed the Annual Conference on Leadership due to attending a different leadership conference, LEAD, in Philadelphia, (I know, go leadership!) I took the Clifton StrengthsFinder online.

It concluded that my strengths are:
Woo
Communication
Empathy
Harmony
Developer

My very first reaction was "My strength is woo?"
But after reading the description, it does fit me perfectly. As I read through the descriptions, I honestly laughed because they fit my personality so well. I never really take time to sit and think, "what are my strengths and weaknesses?" I normally just recognize them as they pop up in daily life, so seeing them on paper is actually really cool.

I discovered how people oriented I am. I mean, I've always known that relationships are something that make me happy, but I never thought of them as a "strength." Each one of my traits relates to relationships with people and working with others. This made me realize how important it is that my future career involves me with people. I've been deciding between Information Systems and Human Resources for a specialization path, and this helped me choose Human Resources. I really hope the people I work with like me much more than Michael Scott likes Toby Flenderson though...

I was surprised when I received empathy. I immediately thought of sympathy instead of empathy, and as much as I would like to understand that, I never have. However, after reading the description of empathy, it isn't that I feel bad for others, it's that I understand others, which then does describe me. I do not feel bad for most situations because I am very realistic, but I can understand the emotions people are having. I don't "sympathize" with them, but empathize their situations. I can tell them how I would feel in their shoes or how I would have reacted.

One theme I thought would show up but didn't was "Arranger." Bringing it up again, my planner is ridiculous. It literally plans and organizes my life and I have always thought my ability to organize is one of my best strengths. It is actually one of my passions as well. I love when my days are planned to the T and my events run smoothly. Hopefully it was next on my list.

I shared my results with my mom and my best friends from my dorm floor. Not one person was surprised with these themes. Woo, Communication, and Developer were the ones everybody looked at me and said "well, duh." They all thought Empathy and Harmony fit me too, but the other ones were more prevalent. My mom told me Communication and Developer were the ones she'd always seen in me. As a kid, I talked to everyone and always made creative solutions. My barbie houses weren't the expensive dream houses that ran for hundreds of dollars. I used toaster boxes for houses, orange containers for beds, and plant shelfs for double decker buses. The themes I received are all perfectly fitting and seemed to have been with my personality for awhile now.

I really liked the StrengthsFinder quiz and wish I could have attended the other sessions of the Annual Conference, but I'll be sure to hit it up next year. I'm sure it will be....

:)

Blog #4

The Stages of Group Development:
Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, & Possibly Adjourning

I'm a first year here at OSU, so to get through all the stages I'm going to back track to my high school student council.

I joined Cambridge Student Council my first week of high school. The President came in on our orientation day and said it was worthwhile. I love being involved, so of course I took it on.

Forming:
Each year, our Student Council encourages these freshman to join. I've been on both ends as the freshman joining and as the President my senior year recruiting them. As a freshman, let's be honest, I was so confused. I remember not knowing what "homecoming" was. I hadn't experienced the events yet, so it was hard for me to have input on what should happen, but that's what I loved about our organization....

Storming:
In the storming part of Student Council, I never felt stupid asking questions. Everyone was open to helping me understand and I always tried to continue that when I was President. As we worked together, we did do a lot of majority voting, but only we had a 30-40 person council, so getting a unanimous vote wasn't normally an issue. We agreed pretty regularly on themes, and fundraisers, and community service opportunities. I cannot remember one "argument" in my 4 years of high school. Yes, people did talk over each other on occasion, but we had a gavel that normally quieted things down. We talked honestly and openly about what we thought would work or wouldn't and made sure offensive comments were never involved in the discussions, which can be quite hard sometimes in high school.

Norming:

As we worked towards our goals, keeping everyone updated was a must. Having such a small council, sometimes it was hard to get everything accomplished. We kept a facebook group and when I was President, everyone had my cell phone number. As corny as this is, I loved getting texts from members asking questions about StuCo. Our weekly meetings kept everyone informed and students from freshman to seniors interacted without the common "age gap" so dreaded during those years. One thing I wish we had done more of in the norming stage was starting each meeting with our goals. I mean, we said what events we were working on, but had we really talked about what we wanted to see happen, I think we may have even more productive.

Performing:

Our 3 major events were Homecoming, MORP (backwards Prom), and Blood Drives. Once we were done planning, putting together the decorations or working the drives was such a boost. We got to hang out as friends instead of acting like officials which made the reward even better. At MORP, we always spent a song dancing with the people who helped plan it and a shout out when to us from the DJ. It always made me feel special being recognized for our work. Making a profit was great, but knowing people had fun was more important to us. I think the little rewards, the shout outs, the kids who couldn't afford to go to prom thanking us for being able to attend our $2.99 MORP, the smiles from our advisor, and the friendship between our council made all our work worthwhile. 

Adjourning:

Well, technically, I adjourned my council, but it is still going strong back home. On my last day as President, I brought in Monster Energy Drinks for everyone with a note that said "I hope you never lose the energy to stop coming to meetings or attending events! Thanks for a great year!" I wanted to let everyone know how much I appreciated their attendance and participation throughout the year even when I had to leave them. They are not a group that should adjourn though. I have always felt that our Key Club should adjourn at my high school. It had dwindled to 8 members who did not even attend each meeting. We did very little community service and had no money left in our account to work with. Our advisor quit and our new advisor was completely confused on the duties we were supposed to fulfill. I think it would be wise to incorporate those members into our Student Council and then have a better basis to accomplish both social and community service events. 

In the end, realizing that the question of members is "how they should be involved, not whether they should be involved," keeps a leader from overbearing the rest of the group and keeps the rest of the members invested in the goals. The leader must also remember, "Don't just do something, stand there."Leaders have to listen effectively and have a sincere care for their participants to gain their trust and respect.

And i'll end with just some pictures from our events over the years. This might help explain MORP. :)

(toilet paper decorations)

(Sign in "sheets" from over the years)

Blog #3

When reading through Chapter 4 of our book, I highlighted the 4 functions that I thought I exhibited. On page 140, I have extravert, sensing, feeling, and judging colored over in pink. After taking Jung's Typology Test, I got ESFJ. I guess I know myself a little better than I thought.

Extravert
Made-up Definition: Someone who craves social interaction and enjoys being in a group setting. They get bored after being alone with their thoughts for too long and would rather be out-and-about using their energy to meet new people.
I'm not surprised that I received this. From the very beginning, I've been an extravert. My mom doesn't even know my first word because she said, "Once you started talking, I couldn't get you to shut up." I love being around others and having those connections with people.

Sensing
Made-up Definition: A person who is down-to-earth and realistic. They have a hard time visualizing how things could be, but see them more as they are. They build from their own experiences and face life with a sensible attitude.

I am always pretty straight forward and realistic. I have a hard time viewing the unforeseen and imagining strange concepts. I hate "fantasy" movies. Harry Potter, Twilight, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars. They all drive me insane because they are not "real." My mind doesn't wrap around those concepts and they leave me sitting there with a headache.

Feeling

Made-up Definition: Someone who acts on emotion rather than reason. They follow their heart instead of their head and find mercy in daily actions. 

See this one had me a little torn. I am soo 50/50 on feeling/thinking and I struggle with situations because of this. I know what is rational and right but sometimes I let the "inner girl" in me take over. Not always good but it happens. I wouldn't say I'm like this:

(ignore the subtitles)

but I do have that side to me.

Lastly, Judging

Made-up Definition: Someone who is set in their decisions and likes to plan ahead. They plan everything out completely and are very scheduled and organized. They are not very flexible with change and need closure to move on.
Yeppp. That explains me too. My planner is my baby. I write out everything I need to do and love the feeling of crossing things off. I have yet to have a day in college where I've actually finished everything in my planner, but seeing the things I am accomplishing helps me remain focused. In daily tasks as well as organizations, I like checklists and schedules and have a hard time leaving things left open.

And even though I was labeled a ESFJ, I think of myself more like a kldajfdkljalkdfj. I'm a mix of everything and have a little bit of IITP in me too. I may not be the entire 64-color box, but I sure have more than 8, and I hope whatever colors I do have keep changing and growing until maybe I have a complete box, or maybe just a melted one where you can't see which color I "am" but just a blob of swirls with a little of this and a little of that. A hot mess of different characteristics that make me a good leader is what I'm going for.

:)