Real Life Leadership

Leadership is not a piece of cake.

I'm in a leadership position now at my current job. I would like to say that we do a pretty good job of being leaders to our instructors. We are consistent, rewarding them for a job well done, recognize outstanding instructors, constantly communicating with them, and are always there to help out when they need it. We know not everyone is perfect and we don't expect anyone on our staff to be. All three of us leaders are students, just like our instructors, and we know how crazy everything can get. But a recent incident has made me think that there is more we could be doing. Without going into details the bottom line is...we need to be doing MORE communicating, being MORE consistent, sticking to the rules no matter what, and being there MORE so they can come and talk to us about problems they are having. Is there such a thing as being TOO understanding?

So I was trying to think of some ways that we could solve the problem with this instructor and make sure it does not happen in the future with other instructors. One option I thought of was just forget about it, let it go, I'll be gone in a few months anyway and it will be someone else's problem (BAD LEADERSHIP). But that kind of attitude is what got us into this situation last year and I do not want to leave that kind of mark. I want to be remembered as someone who solved the problem for the better, not just put a band aide over the problem. A second (and better) option I came up with (with a little help from Feinberg) was to make little cards with important information on it and give them out to the instructors. This could have information on it like our cell number and e-mail address and just a little note that if they ever need help to never hesitate to get a hold of us. It could also have important things we want them to remember, for example procedures or the goals/visions we set for that semester. I think the goals and vision of our divison would be the most important. This way they have a constant reminder of why they are there and it will hopefully motiviate them to do their best work.

I'm going to bring it up with my boss at our next meeting to see what she thinks of the idea! Thanks Feinberg!

Vision/Goals

Class...

Monday night in class we talked about having a common vision/goals for our groups.  I thought it was going to be difficult for a bunch of different people with different goals to come up with a smaller, concise list that we could achieve.  Sarah did a great job of getting everyone who wanted to have an opinion a chance to have their goals heard.  The final list we came up with is defiantly something that we can achieve as a group if we all put in the effort.  Lets go team!  (I think we could use a team name..get a little sense of community going on!) :)

Thinking about my goal for the team...

As I was making my 4 hour drive to Columbus for an interview I was trying to think of a goal that could work for our team.  After listening to about 543 songs on my iPod I was still stuck.  Then after I got cozy in my hotel I thought of one I thought we could accomplish.  Sent it to my group leader and was done.  No more thinking about goals and values, yes!  Then the next morning at my interviews the first thing my interviewers started talking about was their company's values and goals.  They wanted to know what MY goals were and how I was planning on accomplishing them..(I thought I was DONE thinking about goals!)  SO I guess Professor Feinberg is right about this stuff being important!!  I was able to give my thoughts on values and goals, and I think I may have even got some brownie points :) :)  We'll keep our fingers crossed!  

Funeral Exercise

Even though it was really morbid to think about what we would want people to say about us at our funeral, I think it was a really good exercise and it got me thinking. (Mostly about areas I need to improve on!) I put a lot of "good ___", but I want to be "GREAT ____". :)

One thing I wrote down is that I wanted my friends to say I was a good listener. After class I decided I wanted them to say I was a GREAT listener. Yes I listen to their stories, but do I REALLY listen? Since I am a sales major listening actively is going to be key my profession, so I need to to start improving NOW! Now they probably have my 95% attention, but I want to give them my 110% undivided attention. I am going to improve on this by putting away my cell phone; its constantly in my hand and I'm really not THAT important. :) I am going to really focus on actively listening to my friends, so instead of just saying I was a good listener they can say I was a GREAT one!

A little detour...

I went to a recreational sports leadership conference this past October. We had a speaker come in and talk about being a leader (I don't remember his name, I'm sure if I dug through my office I could find it but that could take forever! But I'm sure it will bug me enough to go find it later.) He had us write down what we thought 5 characteristics of a leader were...this is what I wrote:

1. Trustworthy
2. Responsible
3. Personable
4. Knowledgeable
5. Good Communicator

GOOD communicator? How about GREAT! I need to start using GREAT in my daily vocabulary. Hopefully if I start using GREAT in my vocabulary I will work harder towards being GREAT!

He also talked about 5 keys to a successful leader:

1. Model the Way
2. Inspire a Shared Vision
3. Challenge the Process
4. Enable Others to Act
5. Encourage the Heart

This sounds VERY familiar...

GREAT!