When my little brother and I were 5 years and 8 years old we started to put on neighborhood fairs in our front yard. It started out as something fun to occupy our time but soon became a huge community event. Our first year we only raised $30 but we only went up from there. The following years we began to get sponsors and support from the community. These fairs included carnival type games, bounce houses, dunk tanks, cotton candy machines, donkey rides, DJ, fire truck tours and hundreds of dollars worth of candy, toys and raffle items-all which were donated. Our last several years of the fairs we would make over $8,000 in one day! We donated all of the money to cancer research. For the past five years I worked closely with Dr. Ernie Bodai,the man pioneering the Breast Cancer Stamp, and donated the money from our fair to his foundation, Cure Breast Cancer, Inc
As the fairs got bigger, my brother and I had more help from our friends with setting up, cleaning up and working the fairs. As a leader, I lacked in the delegation department because I had a hard time trusting others. I wanted to do everything myself to ensure that it got done correctly. My lack of trust usually upset the other kids. Although it was so long ago, I still remember how I acted as a leader and it has helped me in current leadership roles because I don't want to make that mistake again. I think of Maya Angelou's quote-- I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel-- and this is how I want to conduct myself as a leader.
FOr more information you can view Dr. Bodai's website:
http://www.curebreastcancer.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=759&Itemid=76
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Importance of Trust
Everyday I receive quotes in my email and when I read this one I instantly thought of leadership.
To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved -George Macdonald
I think that the most important quality that a leader can have is to be trustworthy. It is also very important for a leader to be loved but if there is no trust then the leader will not be successful. Trust is needed in every type of task. I instantly think of leadership roles that can be dangerous, such as the Mt. Everest climb, as needing trustworthiness in their leaders. But it is also very important for business leaders to have trust in order for a company to run smoothly and successfully.
Often times people confuse likeability with leadership. I think of our country's presidents. There have been elections where the president has been elected because he is well liked. It is important for people to know that just because someone is likeable does not mean that they will do a good job as a leader.
It is very important for people to be reminded that trust is a crucial quality for leaders which is why I like this quote by George Macdonald so much.
To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved -George Macdonald
I think that the most important quality that a leader can have is to be trustworthy. It is also very important for a leader to be loved but if there is no trust then the leader will not be successful. Trust is needed in every type of task. I instantly think of leadership roles that can be dangerous, such as the Mt. Everest climb, as needing trustworthiness in their leaders. But it is also very important for business leaders to have trust in order for a company to run smoothly and successfully.
Often times people confuse likeability with leadership. I think of our country's presidents. There have been elections where the president has been elected because he is well liked. It is important for people to know that just because someone is likeable does not mean that they will do a good job as a leader.
It is very important for people to be reminded that trust is a crucial quality for leaders which is why I like this quote by George Macdonald so much.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Conflicting Leadership
Last week in class we heard excerpts from the book "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer and watched a video of Dr. Kenneth Kamler, which both spoke about the 1997 climb of Mount Everest that resulted in the death of twelve people. During this climb, there was a tremendous amount of leadership skills being portrayed but not all were conventional leadership roles.
After listening to the accounts of the people who were involved in this tragedy I began to realize that leadership comes in many shapes and forms and just because someone is appointed a leader, it doesn't mean that they actually are a leader.
Rob Hall was one of the leaders of the Mount Everest climbing group. This was a leadership position that was appointed to him because of his level of experience and expertise. But there is another leadership role that I believe he has that was not necessarily appointed to him.At home, Rob had a wife and a baby waiting for him. In a sense Rob had a role of leadership within his family. He needed to be a good example for his child and help guide him through life. Unfortunately during the climb one of Rob's climbers, Doug Hanson, became extremely ill and was dying on the top of the mountain. Other climbers had told Rob that he should leave Doug because it is better to lose one life than two. Rob felt that he had a task that he had to follow through with and that he would be a bad leader if he left Doug on the mountain alone to die. The outcome of this decision ended with both Doug and Rob dying on the mountain. Many would argue that Rob exuded the most magnificent leadership role because he did not leave his climber. Although I think that what Rob did was definitely an act that should be admired, I also think that he was letting down other people who also needed him as a leader. By dying, Rob was letting down his child and discontinuing the role of being a leader to his son. From this I learned that sometimes people will have conflicting leadership roles and will have to choose which one is more important.
On the other hand, there was another climber named Beck Weathers. Beck was on the mountain flirting with death when he realized that he needed to survive for his family. With his family in mind, he was able to push himself back to refuge and survive. In Beck's situation he showed that the leadership role he plays in his family was one worth fighting for.
Another leader that came from this experience was the pilot of the helicopter that saved Beck's life. Although he was not an appointed leader, he took the risk of flying higher than anybody has ever flown before in order to save someone in need. In this case Beck took it upon himself to be a leader.
From the Mount Everest experience I learned that leadership comes in many different forms and sometimes conflict with one another. Often times leaders and forced to choose which role is most important for them to focus on. Being able to make that decision can sometimes be the most difficult job for a leader.
After listening to the accounts of the people who were involved in this tragedy I began to realize that leadership comes in many shapes and forms and just because someone is appointed a leader, it doesn't mean that they actually are a leader.
Rob Hall was one of the leaders of the Mount Everest climbing group. This was a leadership position that was appointed to him because of his level of experience and expertise. But there is another leadership role that I believe he has that was not necessarily appointed to him.At home, Rob had a wife and a baby waiting for him. In a sense Rob had a role of leadership within his family. He needed to be a good example for his child and help guide him through life. Unfortunately during the climb one of Rob's climbers, Doug Hanson, became extremely ill and was dying on the top of the mountain. Other climbers had told Rob that he should leave Doug because it is better to lose one life than two. Rob felt that he had a task that he had to follow through with and that he would be a bad leader if he left Doug on the mountain alone to die. The outcome of this decision ended with both Doug and Rob dying on the mountain. Many would argue that Rob exuded the most magnificent leadership role because he did not leave his climber. Although I think that what Rob did was definitely an act that should be admired, I also think that he was letting down other people who also needed him as a leader. By dying, Rob was letting down his child and discontinuing the role of being a leader to his son. From this I learned that sometimes people will have conflicting leadership roles and will have to choose which one is more important.
On the other hand, there was another climber named Beck Weathers. Beck was on the mountain flirting with death when he realized that he needed to survive for his family. With his family in mind, he was able to push himself back to refuge and survive. In Beck's situation he showed that the leadership role he plays in his family was one worth fighting for.
Another leader that came from this experience was the pilot of the helicopter that saved Beck's life. Although he was not an appointed leader, he took the risk of flying higher than anybody has ever flown before in order to save someone in need. In this case Beck took it upon himself to be a leader.
From the Mount Everest experience I learned that leadership comes in many different forms and sometimes conflict with one another. Often times leaders and forced to choose which role is most important for them to focus on. Being able to make that decision can sometimes be the most difficult job for a leader.
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