The End

Well, this has been a fantastic semester! I have loved it! Also, I strongly feel as though my leadership skills have grown a great amount. Last week in class, we had the chance to hear from our student body president. She was great! She focused her thoughts on seeking and creating service opportunities. I learned a lot, and enjoyed this presentation so much! In class, I really learned about the importance of serving others. This is by far the best quality of a leader! Serving does not necessarily have to be a big and major event, but it can be a small and simple act. I feel that the small things are what really matter. There are so many opportunities to serve those around us, whether we are in a leadership position or not.

leadership for change/servant leadership

Overall, I was really glad that this week we are able to just do something fun before finals. With finals coming up, I have found myself becoming more and more stressed out. So, I decided to take some time for myself this week. I got with some of my good friends and was able to play some basketball. I LOVE BASKETBALL!!! It just relaxes me. So, I was extremely thankful to be able to take some time this week to play.
The other week, we were able to learn about servant leadership. Throughout the entire lecture, I kept thinking about the good old scripture mastery of Mosiah 2:17. To sum this scripture up, when you are serving others, you are serving God. How true is this? I have always found it amazing to serve others. When I serve others around me, I always find that I leave the situation a better individual. I love service with all my heart and am thankful that Heavenly Father is constantly wiling to bless and serve me. In leadership, service is crucial to success. It doesnt matter what position you hold-you still must find ways to serve. By doing this, others will be more wililng to work with and follow you. Also, I strongly believe that while serving each other, both will gain a greater love and appreciation for eachother.

leadership in the home

Growing up, I have always been fortunate enough to have been surrounded by truly amazing individuals. The individual that most frequently comes to my mind is my mother. She in all honesty is one of my heroes. I love her with all my heart. I realized how strong of a leader she was by how she handled situations. When I was twelve, my father passed away. This was obviously a very trying time for my family. However, my mother was the glue that held us together. She showed so much strength, love, and optimism. I never once heard her complain. She only tried to keep our family close to each other and our Heavenly Father. From this, I learned that its always important to be optimistic about whatever comes in life. By doing this, we grow spiritually and emotionally. Without my mothers example, I know without a doubt that I would not be the strong person I am today. She is an incredible leader who I hope to continue to emulate.

Ethics and Morals

This week, we were given the chance to learn about ethics and morals. I have found out that this is a very complicated and general issue. There is so much that is not defined! However, discussing this has made me think about issues that both my peers and I have to deal with in life. This week, I went to lunch with my mother who mentioned she heard that kids would take their friends i-Clickers to class for them. This has constantly been on my mind. This sounds so appealing to most college students. However, it is wrong. I believe that in order to get credit for a class, you need to be there. These are the types of issues that I see my peers and I struggle with. Most of the ethical and moral issues I face are with more personal issues. Overall, I am very glad I was able to analyze what both ethics and morals are. It all comes down to context.

conflict resolution

In class this week, we discussed conflict. I felt that this was a very important issue to discuss due to the fact that it is something that we all have in our lives. I really enjoyed lab this week. We discussed the importance of being able to calm down. How important is this? VERY!!! I strongly feel that this is a key element to successful conflict resolution. We also watched a clip from the office where Micheal Scott says something very profound. He tells Angela and Oscar to "own the situation". Well, something to that effect. I feel that he was hinting toward action. There needs to be some sort of action in order to resolve an issue. From lab, we discussed the three main possible solutions. There is win win win, win lose, and compromise. I feel that we all should strive to obtain the first of the three- win win win. If we do this, I feel that regardless of the situation, we can and will become more successful in our ability to solve conflict.

Lift where you stand

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said in one of his conference talks "Brethren, stand close together and lift where you stand." What an incredible phrase and challenge. Do we have the courage to stand close together and lift? Some would say no-however, I say yes! I feel that each of us has the ability to rise to our best selves and meet this challenge which President Uchtdorf has issued to all of us. For as long as I can remember, I have always set a very high standard for myself. So high, that often I cannot reach it. In a way, I try to lift the piano, or in other words, every challenge and trial myself. This is no way to do things! I have learned that life is much easier once you allow others to get close and lift along with you. The simple yet profound statement "stand close together and lift where you stand", is a concept which can be applied to almost every aspect of life. I love the example of the 2,000 stripling warriors used by President Uchtdorf. He explains that we cannot name any of them as individuals, however as a group, they are remembered for honesty, courage, and their willingness to serve. These three traits that are vital to leadership. From the phrase, I realize that we cannot do everything alone- nor should we. We have been given the incredible blessings of friendship, communication, and leadership-let us all use them to the best of our ability. At times we may be down trodden and even beaten by the hardships of life, but why must that have such reign and influence on our day to day conduct? I say it doesn't have to. We have a loving Heavenly Father that is willing to stand close to us and lift- Its up to us to let him (and others around us) help us lift our burdens, trials, and challenges. We all have gifts and a purpose in this life. I strongly feel that the only way to discover them is to do as President Uchtdorf challenged- "stand close together and lift where you stand."

time management

In class this week we had the chance to learn about time management! Brittany Beattie was kind enough to come speak to us. She gave us 5 steps to having better time management. They were as follows: seed ye first the kingdom of God, keep water in your well, follow the 10 second rule, choose best over good and better, and focus on people not a process or things. Overall, I really enjoyed the lecture. In class, we were challenged to pull a if/then principle from Mosiah 4:27. I came up with 'If I find balance in my life, then all parts in my life shall fall in place and i will find out who I am'. I also watched the Olympics this week. I watched snowboarding, ice skating, skiing. Balance was key to all of these. I found that everyone kept falling-especially in the womens half pipe.

service challenge

In class on Monday, we were able to hear from Brother Cox. It was fantastic! He spoke to us about Divine Centered Leadership. Brother Cox said that there are five practices of a divine centered leader. They are as follows; Sharing an inspired vision, challenging unrighteousness, modeling the way/truth/and the life, knowing each heart, and serving others so they may act.
For our challenge this week, we were supposed to do some form of service. This was such an exciting opportunity to serve those around me. Brandt, Carlie, and I decided that we would buy a bunch of candy and give it to people outside of the testing center (I also gave high fives). It was so fun to see all the students responses! We could tell everyone loved it! I think that what we did falls into what Brother Cox was telling us on Monday. Our service falls into the last two practices. It showed people that we were able to care for those we didn't know and also that simply going out and serving others, hopefully they will do the same.

Myers-Briggs

For class on Monday, we had to complete the Myers-Briggs test. To be honest, I did not feel that this test was going to be able to provide me with accurate results. However, after receiving my results, I am very surprised to see how accurate they really are. According to the test, I am an ENFP. This means I scored very well in the following areas; Extraversion, Intuition, Feeling, and Perceiving. Extraversion means that I focus on the outer world of people and things. Intuition means that I tend to take in information from patterns and the big picture and focus on future possibilities. Feeling means that I tend to make decisions based primarily on values and evaluations. Finally, perceiving means that I tend to like a flexible and spontaneous approach to life and to keep my options open. Overall, these four categories describe me pretty well. However, I do not feel that this test is 100 percent accurate, but closer than any other test I have taken.

Situational Leadership

For class, I have decided to read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. I feel that this book will help develop my leadership skills. Most people that I have spoken to that have read this book all have positive things to say.
In class on Monday, Adrian Klemme came to speak to us about situational leadership. He tried to convey to each of us that a leader must act in a flexible manner depending on the situation. To help us do this, he showed us a situational leadership model. In this model, there were four different sections, which are:
1- Directing: This style is meant for those that are inexperienced. You must be able to guide and 'direct'.
2- Coaching: This is a style that focuses more on teaching.
3- Supporting: In this style, you are meant to back up the individual(s) you are leading. They don't need to be guided, but rather supported.
4- Delegating: This is a style where you distribute responsibility. You can rely on those working with you because they are able to perform at high levels. Because of this, it can be a very effective form of leadership.
After this lecture, I was wondering how I could apply these four steps into my leadership role and ability. I realized that this applies to anyone I associate with. Also, that there isn't one perfect style of leadership. Also, I realized that my style should flow between all four of these sections.

Leadership Interview

For class, my roommate Brandt and I interviewed one of our friends that live in the same building as us. His name is Daniel Kellis. In high school, Daniel was student body president and is currently serving in our ward as the publicity specialist. Fortunately for Brandt and I, he was willing to let us ask him a couple questions. The first question we asked him was: What makes up a good leader? Daniel responded by saying "humility, confidence, selflessness, thug status, and simply just being a good example". We then asked him whether or not he had any advice for future leaders. Daniel loved this question and had a lot to say. He said "one thing that i failed at was i got a little caught up in the attention and pride that comes with being a leader. I would advise future leaders to remember why they are a leader, and to focus on the important responsibilities that come with being a leader, and put everyone else before yourself". The last question that Brandt and I asked was how he has been influenced by leaders. Daniel responded by saying "I guess seeing priesthood leaders, and the way that they focus so much on service, I was influenced to become more service-minded. We also had a Student Council Advisor who happened to be LDS, and helped us focus on doing service. seeing my mistakes always influences me to do better, I hate failing, and when i see my shortcomings, i want to turn them around". I strongly feel that Brandt and I learned a lot from doing this interview. Daniel helped make us understand the importance of being a humble and service minded person. If we do this, our capability and success as a leader will greatly increase.

week 2

In class on Monday, we had the privilege of hearing from Nathan Ward. He gave us a presentation on great leaders throughout history. During his presentation, he concentrated on five qualities that great leaders have. They are: Motive, Vision, Challenge, Example, and Knowing/Serving. I felt as though these were simple yet necessary and super effective qualities to posses. I thought it was great how Brother Ward was able to provide specific examples throughout history, such as Admiral Nelson. Overall, it was a very beneficial presentation.
During our lab, Tommy asked each of us to research a little about a historical figure in hopes to contribute to our discussion. He assigned me Napoleon Bonaparte. At first, I felt as though I knew a lot about Napoleon already. However, I proved to be wrong. Many historical figures consider him to be a tyrant. Although this is true in many aspects, I feel that Napoleon has leadership qualities which every leader should have. Just like Brother Ward commented on, I feel Napoleon had VISION. Vision is when a person has a goal/desire and do all they can to achieve it. Being one of the greatest military minds in history, Napoleon had his vision. His vision was to achieve as much power as possible. He was able to win over forty battles and even became the French emperor. Whether people like Napoleon or not, he had vision and did everything to achieve it. That is something we can learn from many of our historical leaders, specifically-Napoleon.
This semester, I am supposed to identify a leadership role in my life that needs improvement. Because of this assignment, I have realized the vast amount of areas in my life that pertain to leadership. However, I have decided to focus on my calling in my ward. In my ward, I am the Executive Secretary. Throughout the semester, I want to make a conscious effort to do everything in my power to magnify this calling. Whether it is becoming more organized, more sociable, or simply serving the ward members more often. By working on this leadership role, I hope to apply and improve many aspects of leadership.

1/06/10 Class!

I LOVED OUR LAB! I thought it was great to meet all of my classmates and learn a little something about each one of them. Whether it was their favorite condiment, vacation, their major, or simply their name. Tommy was great! He engaged with the class very well and kept the class on track (we even learned where Saudi Arabia is located in regards to Nepal). We were able to go over some aspects of the syllabus and class expectations. We are to be punctual, participate, and productive! If we do these things, we will have a successful semester!