Epilogue

This blog was originally started as just an assignment for my leadership class, as a recitation of the different concepts learned there.  Over time, however, I was able to start to better understand the purpose of it, and adapt my writing to it.

What I thought was the purpose of the course at first was to teach students "leadership concepts" and how to better interact in group settings.  While it touched on these subjects, the course did not really "teach" the biggest parts, at least not in the conventional sense, because I believe it wasn't meant to teach them.  Instead, we the students already had these concepts in mind, but couldn't really bring them forward or direct them anywhere.  That is where the course stepped in!  We were given a focus to these thoughts, and the introduction of our community involvement allowed us to explore these concepts in more detail.  The course allowed us to build bridges among the concepts, and find new and innovative ways to explore and apply them.  I especially, being home schooled almost my entire life, found this course to be a pretty big eye-opener to the outside world, and it was slow going for me at first.

Now at the closing of this blog and the semester, I feel like I was able to not so much discover as rediscover the core of my values.  And with the continuation of my education, I'll also continue to advance my studies in leadership, and apply the concepts I've seen to as many areas I can in life.

Final Blog Post: Failure

"I have a congenital aversion to failure." - Lincoln

Hi everyone, this is my final blog post for now, and in it, I'd like to discuss a subject that plagues the consciousness of the human race:  The idea of failure.

We humans have been conditioned to strive for our highest possible potential, and to view failure as an event ranging from the unpleasant to the devastating.  We have developed different ways of coping with failure, some good and some not so much.  The problem is, we have failed to see the upsides of failing and all that could be gained by learning from it, to the point where we are terrified of failure.

The flip side of this is where we have people that that are not afraid of failure, because they believe they can do no wrong.  People like this have what is known as the "God complex."  While it's not particularly bad  to have some measure of confidence when approaching difficult situations, people with the God complex refuse to believe they are wrong even when they might clearly be!




The sad truth is that this God complex is far too common in many, even authority figures, who are so convinced their way is right that they are willing to let their organization and followers suffer from their bad decisions.  The first step to becoming a good leader is admitting that one isn't perfect, and will in fact fail, if not frequently, then at least once in a while.  Admitting failure is probably the biggest, and hardest, step a leader can make, as it is believed that by admitting failure, that somehow makes one weaker and incapable of leading.  On the contrary, by realizing and acknowledging that not everything is successful does not actually make one weaker, but displays aptitude, and as long as a leader chooses to capitalize on his failure, it also displays a willingness to improve.  Willingness and understanding of a situation are among the most important traits of a leader, and by admitting failure and preparing to work on it, one displays those traits.

With this final blog post, I will end with one last quote by a great leader, Abraham Lincoln:

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing."

What's in a Name?

"Tact it the ability to describe others as they see themselves." - Lincoln

I was among a group of friends the other day, and one of them was eating a meal he had prepared himself.  When I asked if it was any good, another one of my friends blurted out, "Of course it's good!  He's Cuban, they're awesome at cooking!"  Despite us all laughing it off, it made me think of what I had learned about preconceived notions about different people, and stereotypes in general.

As we advance in in technology, knowledge, and progress, many stereotypes have still persisted, sometimes stubbornly and against reason.  Only recently have women been considered for, but not yet admitted for, active combat roles; gay men are still barred from donating blood to blood banks; most Muslims are regarded with distaste, if not open hostility; and all of these examples are motivated by misconceptions and negative stereotypes.


In all of these examples, however, there is one positive element.  For each stereotype, there are constraints put on people, telling them how to act around others, how to behave, and how to shape their personality.  Looked at the surface, this is not particularly helpful or good for individuals.  After all, how are restrictions placed on a person good?   However, looking at this another way, these constraints are a challenge, a positive challenge for people to break these barriers, and go against the stereotypes that they feel do not truly define who they are.


And for those who are on the other side, and observing and collaborating with the stereotyped, this would be the perfect opportunity to realize what stereotypes they are coming in with, and see beyond that, and notice anything and everything that does not adhere to that model.  Each person is unique, and despite thoughts that each person fits a certain "cookie-cutter" mold, even from the person the thoughts are being directed towards, it is important to see that just as no one's life history can be seen from a first meeting, a person cannot be classified according to a stereotype.

Spheres: What are they good for?

"There has never been but one question in all civilization-how to keep a few men from saying to many men: You work and earn bread and we will eat it." - Abraham Lincoln

People have always had power over others, whether friends, employees, or entire regions.  These people have what's known as a sphere of influence.  Just like a planet keeps satellites in orbit around it by the sheer force of gravity, people can slowly attract others that have similar interests, or are willing to hear what what one has to say.  These people then open themselves up to be influenced.  That's not to say that one has to be high up in position to have a sphere of influence, or really have actual control of people at all.

For example, even though I am in no position of authority over others, I still have a sphere of influence among my friends and family, as they listen to my thoughts, and collaborate with me on decisions and steps to take for the future.

This leads to the heart of the sphere of influence.  One can only keep their sphere together as long as they align themselves with those whose values are similar.  For example, if you value helping the poor, a group could be formed with people that are just as passionate about this issue as you, and as the overall influence of the group grew, so too would the power and influence you would have over its members and the ability to find even more people that share your values.

The sphere of influence could be likened to a balloon, expanding as more and more individuals become part of it.  But unlike a balloon, it will never pop!

Communication: Can you hear me now?

"He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas of any man I ever met." - Abraham Lincoln

In more situations than I care to admit, I have sometimes been told during discussions, "Get to the point!", "Great, but my question was...," or even the rare, "I think you have a run-on sentence or two in your essay."  I suffer from what I like to call verbosititis, or, talking too much but saying too little!  With that, I would like to discuss briefly* how communication is important.

I believe that one of the most important fundamental skills anyone would need in a leadership position, or any situation for that matter, would be that of communication.  It is up to the leader of an organization to state their expectations and delegations clearly, just as it is the responsibility for followers to provide constructive feedback and communicate with the leader regarding his/her expectations.  Therefore, the first step to a successful enterprise is establishing an efficient loop of communication among the different branches of a group, from the lowest root to the apex, and everything in between.  Otherwise, one may risk a breakdown in communication and failure in goals.  An example of such a breakdown is in this short story illustrating what is known among Discordians as the SNAFU Principle (Warning: this does contain some NSFW language): http://snafu.priv.at/jargon/html/S/SNAFU-principle.html

Of course, many forget the other equally important half of communication, listening.  Just as ideas must be expressed in a clear and concise manner, one must also ensure that whoever is listening gets the full picture, with no room for misunderstandings.  Going back to the example of the SNAFU Principle, by not listening or verifying the validity of what was being said, each "leader" passed on an increasing opposite view of reality to their superiors, resulting in failure.

So in conclusion, remember, if you need to ask a person "What was your question again?," or you hear "Go for it," instead place of "Don't do it," you should probably work on those communication skills.

*Or at least briefer than if I were given the opportunity to speak in person ... and maybe given enough time too.

Chaaaange! (Part 2)

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." - Lincoln

Last blog, I'd talked about change and how it might not always be the best choice, but what happens when it can't be averted, and is even needed in a group environment?  In that case the most important element to consider is establishing the best guiding coalition to get the change started.

Without support, the idea of change, whether good or bad, lives and dies with the origin of it.  The leader may create the change, use his/her referent power to build up support for it, and use his/her legitimate power to enforce it.  However, as soon as the leader is out of their position, the organization will slowly revert back to the way it was before the change, unless the idea is firmly rooted in all aspects of the organization.  That is where the guiding coalition comes into play.  Not only are they the ones who will create ways to implement the change, they are the movers and the thinkers that will make the pill just that much more easier to swallow.  

Changing views on changes

"Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived."

I share this view on changes with President Lincoln.  Not everyone likes change, and determining when it's necessary and when it's not not can sometimes be difficult, and implementing it is even more so.

Despite that though, I believe it is usually a bad idea for a leader to force change on anyone, whether it be a fellow leader or a follower.  The old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," is the primary reasoning for this most of the time.  For example, someone might come up with a "more efficient" way to get from Point A to Point B, when it isn't necessarily better.  I think this could be likened to driving one's car through buildings to get from their house to the store, instead of going around!  In addition, when the change involves making a decision, more often than not changing something based on a gut reaction may end badly not just for the leader, but for the group for which the decision was made.

So when is change needed and how does a leader handle it?  I think that change is needed when there is some tangible problem that needs to be addressed or at least when a particular solution to a problem is truly better than the one currently in place.  Selling the idea of change to others may be the hardest part in all of this, however.  In my opinion, the best one can do, at first, is to make their case for change and garner as much support as possible before implementing it.  If that is not possible, such as when change will need to come soon or the change will never be immediately accepted by a majority, the only thing left for a leader to do is use their legitimate power to implement it, and use their referent power to put a positive spin on it.  This means that a new leader should never change something as soon as they achieve their leadership position, at the risk being antagonized by followers, decreasing their starting referent power, and threatening his/her ability to implement change in the future.

In the end, change is inevitable, and as future leaders we can only: