holtzlau22

[holtzlau22]

Scavenger Hunt 4/20

I like how last week we discussed conflict, and the importance it has in relationships. I think college is a great tool for learning how to deal with conflict in the real world. Between roommates, classes, and work schedules, college kids are flooded with difficulties daily. Learning how to overcome these challenges is a part of maturing, and can benefit you later on in life. Conflict is not always easy, but I am a firm believer that dealing with an issue up front is loads better than holding it in until it progresses into an even larger disaster!

[holtzlau22]

Reading Reflection 4/13

I love Amy Poeher because she is so down to earth! She has great advice in this video for dealing with bullying, or confronting someone that is bothering you. In the video, a girl India writes in and asks Amy how to deal with a girl who is mocking her during ballet practice. Amy tells her to pull the girl aside, confront her, and tell her that her actions are hurting her feelings. This one simple confrontation may work the first time, but if it doesn’t Amy suggests bringing in a third party to help solve the issue. I love this advice because even though it is extremely straight forward, many people have problems confronting an issue. I personally have had to confront roommates multiple times about personal, sometimes painful issues, and I didn’t want to, but I knew it would make the situation better in the long run. My mom is a huge advocate of confrontation, and has taught me to communicate when something is wrong. Otherwise, when people hold in anger and regret, it can blow up into a huge issue that could have been solved moderately in the first place. Confronting someone is not easy, but sometimes you have to do it to hold onto important relationships. A big part of confrontation can be compromise, because you most likely will have to admit that you were wrong in some aspect, which is not easy to admit. However, you have to remember the long term benefits, and if one little fight is worth spending a ton of time and energy on.

[holtzlau22]

Scavenger Hunt! 4/6/14

For this week's post I decided to focus on the impact student volunteers make in the community. I think people tend to forget how much dedication, time, and commitment volunteers can bring to an organization. Even if its for a class, or for credit, volunteers are a positive influence and bring lots of inspiration to the table!

[holtzlau22]

Reading Reflection: March 18th

Reading over the many types of riots that occurred in East Lansing, Detroit, and Los Angles, struck a nerve. It was difficult to be informed of the extreme police brutality, assaults, beatings, robberies, and deaths that happened. Even though each riot had a different cause and outcome, the middle of each one resulted in pure human chaos. It’s scary to think how animal-like humans become when there is no structure in the community anymore; all sense of morals are lost.

It was interesting, however to read the different reasons behind each riot. While the 2013 riot in East Lansing was one of celebration and comradery, the riots of Detroit and L.A. were more devastating. As well, East Lansing did not suffer the severe amounts of police brutality, deaths, and beatings that occurred in the other two cities. The police brutality that resulted in both Detroit and L.A. was vicious and out of control.  Police officers have an obligation to step in when riots occur, but when they begin to abuse their power and hurt more in the community, they completely contradict the purpose of their job, which is to protect the community. The story of Rodney King was especially tragic because in one news interview a woman mentioned he might not have even been speeding, but regardless the police pulled him over and beat him for 15 minutes straight. How can someone do that? When riots occur people almost have an alter-ego sense of reality and completely go bezerk. Imagine ripping down a tree, or bashing a building in during a normal weekday! Riots are like mini-wars and can be extremely devastating in several different aspects. While they are tragic, it is interesting to learn why each one occurred, and learn from mistakes in previous riots in order to eliminate the chance of repeating history.  

[holtzlau22]

Scavenger Hunt! March 16th

I chose this picture because it relates to this week's theme of encourage the heart. I think people tend to forget how long a smile or please and thank you can go. It means a lot to have manners and can brighten anyone's day.

Today I went grocery shopping and instead of speeding through the checkout line in a hurry, I looked the cashier in the eye and said thank you after she gave me my receipt. She seemed pleased and smiled back instantly. You never know what other people are going through; everyone has their own struggles. Why not cheer up someone's day with kindness?!

[holtzlau22]

Class Reflection - Last Week of February

This past week was interesting regarding the incident we encountered on Tuesday! I was blown away by how quickly everyone in our class came together and worked as a team. Some people were more worried than others, but I’m glad we took protective measures, such as closing the curtains, and barricading the doors.  We truly utilized teamwork and put trust into each other to remain safe and continue on with our lesson. Even though the gun alert turned out to be false, I’m glad we had a chance to come together as a team safely and responsibly during an emergency situation. 

As well, I enjoyed discussing Jaspreet’s story, and enabling others to act. I know we all have trouble doing that sometimes, but it can be beneficial if work is divided up evenly. A huge component of enabling others to act is communication. If others don’t understand what you are trying to convey, people may become upset, and misinterpret your instructions or duties. Even with the groups we have been placed in for our service positions, as well as groups in class, we have to use communication to reach our goals. I like how we have been doing a lot more group work, and engaging in various types of icebreakers. Every icebreaker allows for people to become more familiar with each other, and comfortable speaking in class. Keep up the great work everyone and have a great spring break!

[holtzlau22]

I love this quote! I completely agree that you won't make it anywhere in life if you don't challenge yourself. I'm not always the best at standing up in leadership roles either, but I can tell this class is already strengthening everyone!

I like this quote not only because of who said it but the message it sends. Even though it is a little sexist I am going to encourage you all to think of it for people of all sexes. This message speaks to me because there are many situations when it is good to stand up and be a leader of a group. I am not the best at having courage and standing up to take a leadership role, but when I do I feel great and I feel that I lead my group in the right direction. If you don’t take a stand then you don’t accomplish anything and what is the fun in life if you don’t accomplish anything. Therefore, I would like to say to you all no matter what the thing is you decide to do take courage, stand up, and be motived to accomplish your goals. So to summarize being courageous and challenging the process can be a good thing and I am determined to do it more! 

[holtzlau22]

I wish I could have been there for two truths and a lie! I love that game! Its a great way to find out fun facts about each other.

I have also been a TA as well, and it is hard work. It would have been interesting to hear everyone's different approach to challenging the process.

This week in class what stood out to me the most was our activity on Monday with our groups, making our own icebreaker for class! I really enjoyed working with my group and we came up with a really fun activity, two truths and a lie…only to find out that Erin’s group came up with the same one :/...

[holtzlau22]

Reading Reflection: Enable Others to Act

         Jaspreet’s story was inspiring, and touching because I’m sure it relates to all of us in some way. He thought he could take care of the entire workload himself, and was afraid to ask for help. He didn’t think others could bring more values to the table than the ones he already possessed, and figured if he couldn’t accomplish the job, no one else could. However, as his schedule filled up, he realized he couldn’t continue alone anymore, and needed teamwork. I, like Jasper, have the issue of asking others for help when I am feeling stressed out. I tend to think I can do everything by myself, and see it as a sign of weakness if I have to involve others. However, everyone has their own unique and special qualities, and can actually improve any project!

        Jaspreet’s story is like the quote “Many hands make light work”. It is much easier, and efficient to divide up tasks between group members, than try finishing it all by yourself. Trust is a key component when enabling others to act. If you delegate a task, a member may not accomplish it at first, but with the right words and actions, everyone can contribute. As well, it is better to divide tasks because the source of power is evenly distributed. There isn’t one firm dictator; rather the group is a democracy. When the group is aligned in this fashion, members are more open and willing to communicate with each other. Members will feel less stressed out, and more independently motivated. In conclusion, enabling others to act is a great way to ensure trust, openness, communication, and efficiency!

[holtzlau22]

Wow this is such an awesome experience! I have never seen dog racing before and would love to see how the mushers interact with the dogs. I would also like to know how they keep them healthy and in good shape. The mushers must be extraordinary leaders in order to inspire the dogs to stay motivated for 200 miles!

This week’s classes were about discussing how to inspire a shared vision. This weekend I was lucky enough to come up to the UP to watch the UP200 Sled Dog race. To give a little extra information, the UP200 is a qualifying race for the Iditarod. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s...

[holtzlau22]

I also wrote about Hannah's story and I completely agree that she should have consulted management and her coworkers before changing the seating arrangement. I think her idea had the right direction, but if she would have communicated more efficiently, her process could have been smoother. Also, as you mentioned, by giving more experienced waiters more tables and less experienced waiters less tables she divided the amount of tips everyone received, and therefore completely changed everyone's pay without consulting anyone. I know I would have been very upset by this change and would have wished Hannah talked to me and the other coworkers before challenging the process.

In the hostess story, Hannah recognizes that the current method used for dividing the amount of customers among the staff at the restaurant where she works is not appropriate. This is because not all of the staff are capable of serving the same amount of customers simultaneously due to varying...

[holtzlau22]

Reading Reflection: Challenge the Process

  Hannah’s personal story regarding challenging the process is quite inspiring. When she first started her waitress position she was not worried about rising above or below her position, and accepted everything as it was. She chose to diligently do her work and chat with her co-workers when she had time. However, over a couple of weeks she observed a misalignment between servers and customers, and switched the seating chart without consulting her boss. She challenged the process and took a risk, figuring it would be beneficial in the end. Even though her boss was initially frustrated, Hannah made the right choice in challenging the process. She made a change, and was able to have a sense of internal intuition, which all great leaders should possess. In order for a goal to be accomplished, a leader must be willing to make adjustments along the course of the goal. No goal has a straightforward path, and many roads to success are messy. A leader must be proactive and competitive in order to keep their business, group, or company afloat. The world is always changing, and likewise leaders need to encompass this mindset. I think that is one of the reasons Steve Jobs was so successful at Apple. He was creative and was constantly changing his products to be more user-friendly and fun. When he was in college for awhile, before starting Apple, he took a calligraphy class which helped inspire the fonts on Apple products. He was always open to new ideas, and was willing to challenge his company in order to become the best it could be. Leaders who challenge the process realize they might fail, but try anyways because every failure can lead to learning. Leaders find out why they failed, and attempt their goal in a new mindset. Every challenge or setback leads to a new realization and motivation for a goal. Without challenging the process, leaders do not push and change their goals, and therefore are not able to accomplish nearly as much success as if they had tested themselves.  

[holtzlau22]

Wow I really liked how you related our discussion of values to Justin Bieber! Like you mentioned, fame is going to his head and he is losing all sense of himself. What he might not realize too is that even though he didn't intend to become a leader, he is one to all of his fans and followers, especially young teens and kids. The actions he makes reflect his image everyday and he is not a great leader. I do agree with you that he is a good person, and has intentions to make music for others, but even with honorary intentions his values need some work!

SCAVENGER HUNT:

Last week I enjoyed our discussions on values. However after dwelling on the discussions this weekend I discovered that sometimes values can be used differently - either bad or good as discussed in class.

I decided to chose this recent mug shot of Justin Bieber. (Keep in mind that he’s smiling.) We’ve all heard about the story of Bieber’s drunken, drag racing arrest. I could tell that fame is getting to his head a bit. He could have easily been killed, or killed an innocent bystander. But because it’s Justin Bieber, many of his fans thought that this ludicrous activity was perfectly okay. As discussed in class, it’s sad to see our favorite celebs disintegrate in front of our eyes but in Justin’s case he lost all of his values because of his careless actions shown in the festivities he partakes in and having the audacity to smile in his mug shot like racing while intoxicated is perfectly legal. I can tell that Justin’s life is falling apart. Fame is overwhelming him. And with other young celebs, the new brat-pack of baby celebs are barely making it through their teens. Their lives are being derailed, corruption is setting in, when they are at their most innocent. Justin Bieber is very lucky to be alive today and I feel like he needs to rediscover his values because although the makes good music, his actions are a totally separate aspect of what he values the most.

Most importantly I have nothing against JB. I still listen to his music, it’s just that he’s hurting himself the most. I see that the big money and superstardom is taking over this 19-year olds life.

This story of Bieber connects to the activity we did in class where we talked about the values of the companies and how they sometimes do not enact on their values.

Overall I feel like in order to become a leader or role model, which no one is asking Bieber to be, it’s still important that you have values, morals and goals because at the end of the day when this fame and fortune is all swept away from you, you’ll be a useless individual because you don’t have a mind set to make a change and grow as a person.

[holtzlau22]

I love this picture! To me it looks like a transfer of wisdom, and values between parent and child. I liked how you mentioned the important of values. People are always going to have differing views, and you have to stand up for what you believe in. Also, like in the picture, I think its very importance for these ideas to passed between generations.

Scavenger Hunt:

This picture/poster I found definitely relates to what we went over in class this week, which was values. This image made me think of something we didn’t necessarily talk about directly during class, which is how having good values reflects on those around you and how it can inspire others to improve their values or maintain their personal values and not fall in to pressures of the world.

Due to how your values affect the people around you makes me want to stick to my personal values even more! Although I may be the odd person out by not falling in to some pressures like drugs, I stand by my values to stand up for what I believe in, in hopes that this may help some others stand by their personal values too.

[holtzlau22]

Scavenger Hunt: Hershey's and Model the Way

I really liked how in class we broke up into groups and discussed individual companies. Our group had Hershey's chocolate, and we listed the various attributes that company possess. Hershey's promotes happiness, family, education, sports, donation/philanthropy, and equity to name a few. Their corporation is massive, and consequently they must have leaders that are reliable, smart, and can model the way for their employees.

I would love to interview an employee of Hershey's and see how they are treated, and represented in the corporation. I'm sure employees are handeled differently depending on which area of service they work in, but it would be interesting to see if working for Hershey's is as beneficial as their company boasts. My brother actually lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one day maybe I'll actually be able to visit Hershey, Pennsylvania!

[holtzlau22]

I like the picture you used to symbolize model the way! It was clever how you incorporated something as simple as ducks in row in nature, and related it to leadership. The duck in front is like the leader, and it is important for him to pave the path for the other members!

This week I decided to do a scavenger hunt about our readings in chapter three. Our chapter this week was based around the leadership concept of “modeling the way.” I feel this picture strongly represents leadership, since ducks travel in a line formation with a single leader. Just how it is...

[holtzlau22]

I like how you said you are more comfortable as a one-on-one leader, rather than a leader in front of a whole group. That is how I feel too, and am working on improving my communication in groups! I also like how you noticed other members have great input that can be unexpected, and when a member offers a great opinion, it makes it feel like you are aiming towards a common goal, rather than an individual goal.

on monday i was a reading facilitator for class with my assigned section being inspire a shared vision. being a former sports team captain i would say i have a pretty good grasp on how to inspire a group to work towards a common goal, but when we incorporated what i was an ‘expert’ in with a...