My original thoughts about leadershape involved obstruction. To Christmas break that is. Even though the first few days of the institute may have followed along to such beliefs, I got so much more out of it than I ever planned.
Each day at Leadershape had a theme, day one was building community, day two: the value of one, the power of all, day three: challenging what is, looking to what could be, day four: bringing vision to reality, day five: living and leading with integrity and day six: staying in action.
The first day, being only a half-day was merely dipping our toe into the pool of leadershape. We met the faculty, cluster facilitators, did a few icebreakers, defined leadership and my favorite, met with our family cluster for the first time. In defining leadership, it was broken down into seven parts. My group had the term ‘positive change’. We said that in terms of leadership, this should be the end goal, to create positive change. Being aware that everything you do has an effect on those and the world around you, and you want to be conscious in making sure that that change is for the better, and therefor positive. The official definition for leadership in general is as follows “Leadership involves living in a state of possibility, making a commitment to a vision, developing relationships to move the vision into action, and sustaining a high level of integrity. Effective leadership takes place in the context of a community and results in positive change." In reflecting at the end of the day, I noted meeting my family cluster to be my high point. Knowing how we interacted at the end of the week makes me realize how quiet we were to begin with. However we all still opened up to share our backgrounds, and I personally felt more valued and listened to in the small group. On the first day we also got to create our team name, along with a banner and a cheer. A word that had been tossed around a few times in the Learning Community was synergy. Well, we took that idea and created Team Sunergy: the light of us all combines to make the brightness of the sun. And you cant forget, # we’ve got photons.
Day two started off with an exciting low ropes course. However disregard the name there were very few ropes involved. They lied to us, it was teambuilding exercises in disguise! We participated in many an activity that challenged both conventional thinking and traditional group dynamics. We couldn’t work as a group following just one leader, we all had to be involved in the process. One of the activities entailed lifting half of the group over a five foot rope and the other half sliding under one that wasn’t more than a foot tall. We had to trust people to lift us off the ground, and relied on everyone’s communication to make sure that this was a safe and comfortable process. We also learned the DiSC profile; there were four options: dominant, inducement, submission and compliance. I was labeled, no surprise, as dominant. Doing this test and the activities associated with it really helped to discover how I work with others and how to tailor my instinctive responses and actions to work better with a group. While I am efficient, honest, and determined, I can be or come across as demanding, insensitive and intimidating. In our small group after this activity we came up with a GAGG for the week, a ‘going against the grain’ goal. Mine was to be conscious of my reactions and the timeliness of them, taking time to sort through my thoughts, knowing that I don’t always need to provide input and to be cautious of getting immediately defensive. This was also the first time that we talked about active listening, something that I know see as an extremely valuable tool, listening for the sake of paying attention not formulating a response.
Day three was all about creating our visions, something that I didn’t think was possible in just one day. One of the things that really stands out with me, and a point made again and again during the week was the idea of having a healthy disregard for the impossible. Of course, limitations exist, but the definitiveness of the term “impossible”, I think its debatable. One of the ideas that I brought up in my application for leadership was Steve Jobs’ goal of a computer on every desk and in every household. People thought that this was crazy, that it was impossible. To Steve Jobs it wasn’t impossible, it was a challenge. One that he successfully completed. With our visions we started by creating a list of things that we are passionate about. Mine included things like literacy, women’s equality, ALS awareness, dance and domestic abuse. The harder part of this was thinking of what we wanted the future to look like having changed this topic. Concerning literacy, I said that I wanted everyone in the world to be able to read. Later that night we created a headline with our vision and the beginning of an article that would be published explaining what we had done. My vision incorporated three of the topics that I am passionate about, literacy, women’s equality and Disney.
Each day at Leadershape had a theme, day one was building community, day two: the value of one, the power of all, day three: challenging what is, looking to what could be, day four: bringing vision to reality, day five: living and leading with integrity and day six: staying in action.
The first day, being only a half-day was merely dipping our toe into the pool of leadershape. We met the faculty, cluster facilitators, did a few icebreakers, defined leadership and my favorite, met with our family cluster for the first time. In defining leadership, it was broken down into seven parts. My group had the term ‘positive change’. We said that in terms of leadership, this should be the end goal, to create positive change. Being aware that everything you do has an effect on those and the world around you, and you want to be conscious in making sure that that change is for the better, and therefor positive. The official definition for leadership in general is as follows “Leadership involves living in a state of possibility, making a commitment to a vision, developing relationships to move the vision into action, and sustaining a high level of integrity. Effective leadership takes place in the context of a community and results in positive change." In reflecting at the end of the day, I noted meeting my family cluster to be my high point. Knowing how we interacted at the end of the week makes me realize how quiet we were to begin with. However we all still opened up to share our backgrounds, and I personally felt more valued and listened to in the small group. On the first day we also got to create our team name, along with a banner and a cheer. A word that had been tossed around a few times in the Learning Community was synergy. Well, we took that idea and created Team Sunergy: the light of us all combines to make the brightness of the sun. And you cant forget, # we’ve got photons.
Day two started off with an exciting low ropes course. However disregard the name there were very few ropes involved. They lied to us, it was teambuilding exercises in disguise! We participated in many an activity that challenged both conventional thinking and traditional group dynamics. We couldn’t work as a group following just one leader, we all had to be involved in the process. One of the activities entailed lifting half of the group over a five foot rope and the other half sliding under one that wasn’t more than a foot tall. We had to trust people to lift us off the ground, and relied on everyone’s communication to make sure that this was a safe and comfortable process. We also learned the DiSC profile; there were four options: dominant, inducement, submission and compliance. I was labeled, no surprise, as dominant. Doing this test and the activities associated with it really helped to discover how I work with others and how to tailor my instinctive responses and actions to work better with a group. While I am efficient, honest, and determined, I can be or come across as demanding, insensitive and intimidating. In our small group after this activity we came up with a GAGG for the week, a ‘going against the grain’ goal. Mine was to be conscious of my reactions and the timeliness of them, taking time to sort through my thoughts, knowing that I don’t always need to provide input and to be cautious of getting immediately defensive. This was also the first time that we talked about active listening, something that I know see as an extremely valuable tool, listening for the sake of paying attention not formulating a response.
Day three was all about creating our visions, something that I didn’t think was possible in just one day. One of the things that really stands out with me, and a point made again and again during the week was the idea of having a healthy disregard for the impossible. Of course, limitations exist, but the definitiveness of the term “impossible”, I think its debatable. One of the ideas that I brought up in my application for leadership was Steve Jobs’ goal of a computer on every desk and in every household. People thought that this was crazy, that it was impossible. To Steve Jobs it wasn’t impossible, it was a challenge. One that he successfully completed. With our visions we started by creating a list of things that we are passionate about. Mine included things like literacy, women’s equality, ALS awareness, dance and domestic abuse. The harder part of this was thinking of what we wanted the future to look like having changed this topic. Concerning literacy, I said that I wanted everyone in the world to be able to read. Later that night we created a headline with our vision and the beginning of an article that would be published explaining what we had done. My vision incorporated three of the topics that I am passionate about, literacy, women’s equality and Disney.
Imaginations Soar and Female Opportunities Expand as Literacy Meets New Requirements Worldwide
A book is so much more than paper covered in words. Reading takes you on a journey, over mountains, across oceans, around the world. Reading can take you to another land; let you be another person, even if only for a few hours. Through reading, children engage their imaginations much more in their daily lives. They are shown that it is okay to dream and to wish for their own happy ending. With literacy standards set worldwide, children, even without the opportunity to get an education, are taught to read. Through initiative from Disney, children are encouraged to live their own fairy tale. The same opportunities are even being presented for women, giving them the tools for societal mobility. This is in hope of removing them from culturally defined roles. Allowing them to have the ability to choose their own life, or a the very least the chance to improve it.
On day four we completed one of my favorite activities, the Earthquake. The prompt said that we were trapped in a basement and there were twelve tasks that we had to rank in the order that we would complete them, first individually and then as a group. It turns out that seven tasks would get completed and five would not. There were things such as turning off the utilities because it was suspected that there could be a gas leak, finding a source of fresh water and banging on the pipes with a wrench to create a signal in order to get rescued. At the end of the activity as a group we discussed several behaviors. There are three types of group behaviors: task oriented behaviors, maintenance oriented behaviors, and self oriented behaviors. I was marked off in several categories under each heading. In some instances it was a good thing, I was told that I helped initiate, clarify, seek information, and encourage others conversation. However there were also negatives such as aggression, and opinion giving. While I was one of the most vocal people in the group this doesn’t always work to my advantage. I learned that my desire to fill dead air and share most opinions that come to mind, cause many people to shut down in fear that their thoughts aren’t being heard and/or valued. This exercise showed me a bit of the ugly truth. I am great at getting a conversation started and being efficient in working to complete a task, however, I also learned that I don’t always need to fill in gaps in conversation, I should also make more of an effort in getting others to participate. I made an effort in asking for some people who stayed rather quiet to contribute, but it wasn’t a common occurrence and I often didn’t seriously consider their contribution as I should have. I have the natural ability to take charge, but taking charge for myself or for the betterment of a group are two totally different things.
Day five revolved around values and ethics. The first activity that we did was make a list of our core values, which should help shape the decisions that we make and the kind of leader that we want to be. Five core values that I chose were: relationships, learning, service, happiness and authenticity. Under each of these categories I had additional values. Under relationships I listed family, friendships, love, loyalty and trust. Under learning I put openness, curiosity and knowledge. For this one the reason that I didn’t put learning under knowledge is because I value the process more than the end result. It ties in with my apt for curiosity, I want to learn new things, what that is specifically isn’t as important, it’s the act of going out of my way to try something new. Under service I listed caring, compassion, responsibility, and community. Under happiness I put adventure, creativity, fun and balance. There was a list provided to us for many of these values, some starred as ethical and others left alone. Many of the values that I listed under this heading were not pointed out as ethical. To me, your values are your values and it's up to you to decide what you think is ethical, not some list. Especially with majoring in graphic design, creativity is a huge part of what I do and what I’m striving to create a career around, so of course it’s valuable to me. I think that a life lived conventionality and without question is dull. Under my final value authenticity, I listed honesty, truth, self respect and integrity. Interestingly, without realizing it I listed each of these categories in their order of importance to me. Aside from perhaps happiness each came to mind based on how prevalent they are in my life. The concept of leading with integrity was tied in a lot on day five. I think that leading with integrity, while having many meanings, ties into quite a few of your core values. If I lead by my core values then I am also choosing to lead with integrity.
Day six, our final day, if you can even call it that (I think it was really less than six hours) we focused on the future, what was called "day seven". We finalized our visions and how to enact them in the future. Setting goals over the week was a huge part in turning this daunting task into reality. My stretch goal for the week, what turned into my headline was that everyone worldwide over the age of five could read. Beyond that, by adulthood every person could read at an 8th grade level. While these may take some time to accomplish, I also set two manageable goals to get started on campus. One was to take part in an organization that directly deals with international literacy, to find out more about and how to directly help and advocate the issue. As well, I wanted to take part in international service trips to developing countries. If I cant give the gift of reading, I hope to provide the gift of community, giving hope and sharing the message that you can dare to dream. Through this process I learned of Serve Beyond Cincinnati, an on campus organization that offers alternative break service trips around the world. I hope to take part in this in the near future and begin the journey that will be putting my vision into action.
During our commencement ceremony on the sixth day, every person was handed a small blue pebble. Impacting those around you was a big idea this entire week and this pebble was representative of yourself. When you throw this pebble into the water, whether you want it to or not, you will create ripples. Hopefully you choose to create good ripples, or positive change, pushing someone’s struggling sailboat ashore, not creating tsunamis.
After attending Leadershape my definition of leadership has definitely changed:
I don’t believe that leadership has one definition, just as I don’t believe that there is one type of leader. A leader is much more than someone in charge, you have to be a visionary. A leader doesn’t have to be the smartest person in the room; a leader is the person that is able to bring the right people together with a common goal, someone that can inspire people by sharing their vision.
I have attached a copy of my Breakthrough Blueprint which further explains my vision and the steps that I am hoping to take to achieve it.
Day five revolved around values and ethics. The first activity that we did was make a list of our core values, which should help shape the decisions that we make and the kind of leader that we want to be. Five core values that I chose were: relationships, learning, service, happiness and authenticity. Under each of these categories I had additional values. Under relationships I listed family, friendships, love, loyalty and trust. Under learning I put openness, curiosity and knowledge. For this one the reason that I didn’t put learning under knowledge is because I value the process more than the end result. It ties in with my apt for curiosity, I want to learn new things, what that is specifically isn’t as important, it’s the act of going out of my way to try something new. Under service I listed caring, compassion, responsibility, and community. Under happiness I put adventure, creativity, fun and balance. There was a list provided to us for many of these values, some starred as ethical and others left alone. Many of the values that I listed under this heading were not pointed out as ethical. To me, your values are your values and it's up to you to decide what you think is ethical, not some list. Especially with majoring in graphic design, creativity is a huge part of what I do and what I’m striving to create a career around, so of course it’s valuable to me. I think that a life lived conventionality and without question is dull. Under my final value authenticity, I listed honesty, truth, self respect and integrity. Interestingly, without realizing it I listed each of these categories in their order of importance to me. Aside from perhaps happiness each came to mind based on how prevalent they are in my life. The concept of leading with integrity was tied in a lot on day five. I think that leading with integrity, while having many meanings, ties into quite a few of your core values. If I lead by my core values then I am also choosing to lead with integrity.
Day six, our final day, if you can even call it that (I think it was really less than six hours) we focused on the future, what was called "day seven". We finalized our visions and how to enact them in the future. Setting goals over the week was a huge part in turning this daunting task into reality. My stretch goal for the week, what turned into my headline was that everyone worldwide over the age of five could read. Beyond that, by adulthood every person could read at an 8th grade level. While these may take some time to accomplish, I also set two manageable goals to get started on campus. One was to take part in an organization that directly deals with international literacy, to find out more about and how to directly help and advocate the issue. As well, I wanted to take part in international service trips to developing countries. If I cant give the gift of reading, I hope to provide the gift of community, giving hope and sharing the message that you can dare to dream. Through this process I learned of Serve Beyond Cincinnati, an on campus organization that offers alternative break service trips around the world. I hope to take part in this in the near future and begin the journey that will be putting my vision into action.
During our commencement ceremony on the sixth day, every person was handed a small blue pebble. Impacting those around you was a big idea this entire week and this pebble was representative of yourself. When you throw this pebble into the water, whether you want it to or not, you will create ripples. Hopefully you choose to create good ripples, or positive change, pushing someone’s struggling sailboat ashore, not creating tsunamis.
After attending Leadershape my definition of leadership has definitely changed:
I don’t believe that leadership has one definition, just as I don’t believe that there is one type of leader. A leader is much more than someone in charge, you have to be a visionary. A leader doesn’t have to be the smartest person in the room; a leader is the person that is able to bring the right people together with a common goal, someone that can inspire people by sharing their vision.
I have attached a copy of my Breakthrough Blueprint which further explains my vision and the steps that I am hoping to take to achieve it.