Changing the World

This blog might be the last blog for our class. So I want to write both about what we learned this week and what I think "Change" can do to our world.

Change. This is what we learned this week. Change can happened in personal, organizational, or positional. It doesn't matter that it is hard. It is matter that what is changing. The change can start from your inside or might be outside which is your personal change (attitude). The change can be positional when there is someone lending to the change.

We are all changing everyday. It is from the appearance to characters. It is depends on the environment we live in.The world is changing everyday as well, but human can be known as the main impact. Natural disaster in Japan is the newest appearance change in the Earth. It also came with changes in thousands family and thousand lives. Do you believe you can change what happened in Japan? We can't change what happened, but we can save a live in Japan. Instead of holding on to some usual fun activities, we can sacrifice and donate. This action can change a live. This is also one action of changing yourself and it is the first step of changing the world. So...Change is good!

Let's get Ethical!

Every week when I write a blog, I said this is my favorite topic which I like the best. This week, I would say this blog might be the best among others (even compare to some topics in the future). 

I learned a lot about Ethical after the lecture on Monday. The guest speaker was so impressive. I would say he is the best speaker in this class. I could say everyone trust his examples. He made the listeners feel comfortable and a connection. 

There are two quotes which I learned from him:

• ·         More time means more difficult
• ·         Trust is the oil which make things go smooth

I could apply all of these quotes to not only my leadership role but also my life. For example, one person in VSA Presidency set up a time to meet up and discuss. However, this person usually didn’t show up. I wanted to tell his/her to be on time and do what he/she said he/she is going to do. But I was afraid to make a comment because I don’t want to make a negative feeling to that person. What do you think? Is this considered as unethical? I would consider it as an unethical action. I should make a comment to his/her right away and it would be easier to say. I might not hurt his/her feeling if I tell him/her from that day.

A small act can lead us to an unethical act. For example, we usually use our neighbor wireless. What do you think? We are stealing our internet connection without paying!!

Ethical can be applied to a very minor problem and a business world outside. I believe practice being Ethical is a necessary thing.  From the time I was baptized, I realized: Unethical can only help me in short term. Ethical is what I need to be succeed in a long term and get closer to our Heavenly Father!

What kind of leader are you???

Can you answer that question?
Probably some of you can, some of you can not (because you are not in our class. Ha). There are four situational leaders you can become:

1. Supporting
2. Coaching
3. Delegating
4. Directing

These are also four different way to approach the problems. Which one is the best one to be a great leader?
I would never know until I was in some situations in Wednesday lab. For example, in some of the problems, you can use supporting and coaching at the same time. But sometimes, I can't use coaching.

Coaching sometimes may be too harsh to talk to your team members. Directing may get people thought you are trying to teach them what they already know. Supporting only may cause people don't concentrate in their tasks, etc. Therefore, I believe a great leaders is the one who have all of these four. He/ she can combine these four ways to a big and greatest way to lead their team members.

I think delegating is my leader style. Now, I need to remind myself to blend these four characters to be a better leader  in the future!

R...A...C...E!!!

R...A...C...E.....!!!!
Yeah, that is the fastest way to do a case.
R means Research
A means Action Plan
C means Carry Out
E means Evaluation

This week, I had a chance to solve a case about Marriot School problem in lab. I think this was very interesting to be a part of a team and did some brainstorm.  Each of us  make the "RACE" better. We followed the R A C E steps, and we wished we have a chance to Carry it out to the real life. However, as I been researched about Marriot School GPA, I realized they actually  set a goal for their student GPA. For example, they set a goal of having an average 3.5 GPA. Therefore, they will do a curve in any business program to make their goal happen.

From my research I realized the case we were given is not exactly right and we also have to do the research before we can analyze the problem. Anyway, it was a great practice for not only me but also our class. It makes me think about it a lot during the week about the power of a team work. I just saw a promotion on the I-15 high way: "A team is better than a group of individuals".

I believe we can apply this quote and the RACE plan to our leadership role. Right now, VSA still looks like a team, but sometimes it is a group of individuals. In my opinion, I can apply the RACE plan to VSA situation right now in order to solve any problems!

GO RACE!

Time Management!

That’s just what I want to learn in this class. I’m always a bad planner. I tried so many things to improve my time management skills. I quite succeed in the first and second month of this semester. I wrote down everything I want to do the next day, and they are my goals for the next day. It became my habit for quite a long time. Then, I had to work and start to lose my planner habit. I thought I can just remember all and do it to save sometimes (write down to my note book). And yes, I was definitely wrong.  On the day I did my presentation, I thought I have at least one hour to prepared. Then, I didn’t have time to prepare and did badly in my presentation. 

This is a lesson for me. Even I know I’m not going to have a good grade, but I learned to get back to my planner note book as soon as possible. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said: “One always has time enough, if one will apply it well.” I agree with Johann quote about time. We need to apply our time more efficiency and more helpful.  Other than that, we are time-wasters.

I also really like the Time Management Sheet, because I can actually look at it and see how many hours I am in a time-waster role rather than in my leadership role. I have started print out a lot of time management sheets to keep track of my hours each and every day. Hopefully, I can bring that good habit to friends around me.

Public Speaking!

I have learned how to do a presentation in a business casual, but I haven’t learned how to be a great public speaker. The lecture really helped me in improving my public speaking skills. I usually shy to stand up and talk. I think it is a challenge for me, but there is a tip: “Practice, practice, practice”

We all know it is very difficult to get attention from a public place. There are several ways which I learned to get attention from audiences; such as story, video, stats, or experts.  From our last lab, I think all of my classmates did great on their presentation. They used pictures or stories to start their presentation. I can see everyone was very confident. That’s what I need to improve. 

I didn’t have a chance to do my presentation, but I’m going to plan and practice more for my presentation. I would definitely need to use the tip “Practice, practice, practice.”