Oh. My. God.
Sep. 4th, 2002 08:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sinjunNot meaning to offend anyone but I'm a little stunned here. I have to do a journal for my course, so I'm going to write it here, and well, you all can just cope with it. I'll use the old lj cut so that those of you who aren't interested don't have to worry about it. For those of you who don't want to read... nyah. You don't know what you're missing. ;)
So, anyway, Tuesday I went to work, and Tuesday evening was my first night at class. Orientation. Joy. We got Launch Week 2002 t-shirts, and all kinds of pieces of paper. Reading from here until next century. We had a guest speaker, and that's the topic of my first lj cut on this. Other than that, the Dean of the School spoke ad nauseum, and there was a panel of CEOs who were interesting to listen to. They all had different careers and different approaches, but what struck me was the common theme of hard work, making luck, and taking opportunities.
After the speech, we got separated into our teams - 6 people I'll be spending a good part of the next 4 months with. We also discovered that our first 2 assignments are due on Wednesday. Yes, that's right. Here we are in orientation, and we've already got over 200 pages to read, and pages to write. I'm still not sure what I've got myself into, but it was kind of electrifying.
Our guest speaker, on Tuesday, September 3, 2002, was one Brian Smith, a noted educator, or so it seemed by the introduction he was given. He spoka about Leadership. He said basically (paraphrased, of course into my own words) that the essence of the MBA is Leadership.
The simplest definition of leadership is that "Leaders know what's important to them."
So, the question was asked of all of us to take a couple minutes and reflect on what is important to us. Then we joined in groups of three to discuss our answers with each other. What are we passionate about? What has meaning to us? Common threads included Family, Friends, Growth, Making a difference in the world, and freedom.
I originally had Family, Friends, Teamwork, and Creativity, but as I listened to the others talk, and give their very passionate appeals, I could see my way clear to being passionate about challenge, because I hate being bored. Learning is one way to challenge myself, which is why I'm in this MBA program. I needed to get out of my comfort zone and step things up a notch.
We always have enough time, energy, and money for things that are important enough to us. It's a statement from a course I took once called the Context of Excellence. It's not literally true, of course, except that in the way we prioritize and what we choose to spend our money, time, and energy on, we do define what's important to us. It is that energy that will propel us throughout our career. So finding something we're intereseted in is more than a nice to have. If we want to go places, it's a must have.
Some of the other conversation with Mr. Smith involved creating a Shared Vision. We had to think about how to define a vision, which should consist of apsiration and imagination. This should be high, even if it seems we can't quite get there. And when the going gets tough, we need to try to stick to it. We need a true perception of current reality to contrast against the vision. This creates both emotional and creative tension, which must be managed in order to move towards the vision. The emotional tension is really a biproduct of the whole thing, and is best dealt with via a support network. In order to get to where we're going, we need to hold the vision, keep the lights on, and throw deep. Taking risks is part of achieving any vision.
Everyone should have at least one nourishing person in their life, as part of that support network for dealing with the emotional tension. This means someone whose face lights up when you come into the room. Someone who has few, if any, plans to improve you. Someone who will listen to you when you rant, and help bring you back to reality when you need it.
Another part of the speech had to do with sharing the vision, and how to enrol others in your vision. First, be enrolled in it yourself. Second, be honest. Be genuine. Third, value the relationship. It's not necessary for the entire world to be enrolled in your vision. Sometimes people will share it and sometimes they won't, but that is their choice.
As much as possible, see the big picture. Talk to others and get their input. Systems thinking is more than trying to do it all yourself, it involves looking at the trees and the forest, and getting help where needed to see other perspectives. Getting out of the box, putting on a hat of a different colour, these are all good metaphors for this tool.
That's the notes I took while listening to this speaker. I found him witty and well-spoken, worthy of the laud and honour paid to him by his introduction. A lot of what he said made good sense, and was only built upon by experiences that followed. Though, that's reason for another lj post.
In retrospect, thinking over the important concepts of that speech, I find that the ones I probably have most difficult with are dealing with emotional tension and knowing what is important to me. At work often, it's difficult to find any project important to me, because they're all someone else's project. Someone else's baby, someone else's important idea. Not mine. It's not always easy to assume responsibility and leadership around these things, and yet, if the corporation is to succeed, if I am to succeed, I have to do just that.
Family and friends are always important, but they're not so easy to work into our projects at work. Creativity, challenge, and making a difference, those are the passions and the aspirations that need to be remembered and brought to bear at work. They're the ones that will have an effect there. Family and friends are there to bring me back to balance, to keep me from stressing out. They get the most important task, perhaps. If they are up to it.
So, anyway, Tuesday I went to work, and Tuesday evening was my first night at class. Orientation. Joy. We got Launch Week 2002 t-shirts, and all kinds of pieces of paper. Reading from here until next century. We had a guest speaker, and that's the topic of my first lj cut on this. Other than that, the Dean of the School spoke ad nauseum, and there was a panel of CEOs who were interesting to listen to. They all had different careers and different approaches, but what struck me was the common theme of hard work, making luck, and taking opportunities.
After the speech, we got separated into our teams - 6 people I'll be spending a good part of the next 4 months with. We also discovered that our first 2 assignments are due on Wednesday. Yes, that's right. Here we are in orientation, and we've already got over 200 pages to read, and pages to write. I'm still not sure what I've got myself into, but it was kind of electrifying.
Our guest speaker, on Tuesday, September 3, 2002, was one Brian Smith, a noted educator, or so it seemed by the introduction he was given. He spoka about Leadership. He said basically (paraphrased, of course into my own words) that the essence of the MBA is Leadership.
The simplest definition of leadership is that "Leaders know what's important to them."
So, the question was asked of all of us to take a couple minutes and reflect on what is important to us. Then we joined in groups of three to discuss our answers with each other. What are we passionate about? What has meaning to us? Common threads included Family, Friends, Growth, Making a difference in the world, and freedom.
I originally had Family, Friends, Teamwork, and Creativity, but as I listened to the others talk, and give their very passionate appeals, I could see my way clear to being passionate about challenge, because I hate being bored. Learning is one way to challenge myself, which is why I'm in this MBA program. I needed to get out of my comfort zone and step things up a notch.
We always have enough time, energy, and money for things that are important enough to us. It's a statement from a course I took once called the Context of Excellence. It's not literally true, of course, except that in the way we prioritize and what we choose to spend our money, time, and energy on, we do define what's important to us. It is that energy that will propel us throughout our career. So finding something we're intereseted in is more than a nice to have. If we want to go places, it's a must have.
Some of the other conversation with Mr. Smith involved creating a Shared Vision. We had to think about how to define a vision, which should consist of apsiration and imagination. This should be high, even if it seems we can't quite get there. And when the going gets tough, we need to try to stick to it. We need a true perception of current reality to contrast against the vision. This creates both emotional and creative tension, which must be managed in order to move towards the vision. The emotional tension is really a biproduct of the whole thing, and is best dealt with via a support network. In order to get to where we're going, we need to hold the vision, keep the lights on, and throw deep. Taking risks is part of achieving any vision.
Everyone should have at least one nourishing person in their life, as part of that support network for dealing with the emotional tension. This means someone whose face lights up when you come into the room. Someone who has few, if any, plans to improve you. Someone who will listen to you when you rant, and help bring you back to reality when you need it.
Another part of the speech had to do with sharing the vision, and how to enrol others in your vision. First, be enrolled in it yourself. Second, be honest. Be genuine. Third, value the relationship. It's not necessary for the entire world to be enrolled in your vision. Sometimes people will share it and sometimes they won't, but that is their choice.
As much as possible, see the big picture. Talk to others and get their input. Systems thinking is more than trying to do it all yourself, it involves looking at the trees and the forest, and getting help where needed to see other perspectives. Getting out of the box, putting on a hat of a different colour, these are all good metaphors for this tool.
That's the notes I took while listening to this speaker. I found him witty and well-spoken, worthy of the laud and honour paid to him by his introduction. A lot of what he said made good sense, and was only built upon by experiences that followed. Though, that's reason for another lj post.
In retrospect, thinking over the important concepts of that speech, I find that the ones I probably have most difficult with are dealing with emotional tension and knowing what is important to me. At work often, it's difficult to find any project important to me, because they're all someone else's project. Someone else's baby, someone else's important idea. Not mine. It's not always easy to assume responsibility and leadership around these things, and yet, if the corporation is to succeed, if I am to succeed, I have to do just that.
Family and friends are always important, but they're not so easy to work into our projects at work. Creativity, challenge, and making a difference, those are the passions and the aspirations that need to be remembered and brought to bear at work. They're the ones that will have an effect there. Family and friends are there to bring me back to balance, to keep me from stressing out. They get the most important task, perhaps. If they are up to it.
