Influence and Inspiration 2/21/10

Influence is when one person's words or actions affect another person's words or actions. We influence others by just doing what's right and responsible; by doing this others will see you and want to be like you. You can't demand influence though because a person will only follow by will, which is why you must first earn their respect. Influence is very critical to leadership because you can only lead if people follow, and people will only follow if you influence their lives. You can influence people by being yourself, but if you want to be a positive influence then you must do what's right. Others will notice and will follow, whether you know it or not. Everyday I can earn influence from my teammates by making positive choices (not drinking, drugs, etc.), keeping my grades up, and keep up the positive attitude that I have on the court in school too. And as John Maxwell said, "No matter what anybody else may tell you, remember that leadership is influence-nothing more, nothing less."

Vision and Goals 2/19/10

Life Sentence: A person who leads by example in faith and puts others before themself, and who gives 100% in everything they do.
Through sports and school and faith and life in general, I want to be known as a person who never gave up and who always was willing and wanting to help others. I want people to think of me as a positive person who helped raise people up, and not bring them down...I set goals for myself so that I can have the power to make an impact in others' lives. My goals go along with what Leading Your Team said, "As a team leader you'll provide leadership through your conduct, attitude and the way you think. Leadership will be visible in your every action."

Team Motto: Fuel heart with desire...you know!
Representing the volleyball team we chose this quote because a goal of ours has always been to play with heart, no matter the actual outcome of the game. For in order to succeed you have to play to win, and not play to not lose. And in order to play with heart you must have a burning desire to be there at that moment and want to play to your potential.

Leadership 2/19/10

Leadership is taking authority over a group of people to help lead and succeed; to reach certain goals. It involves setting your own goals and following through with them, and using trust, honesty, and positive character to earn the respect of people who are then willing to follow your lead, and then everyone works together to bring out the best in your fellow teammates. Just as the author of Exploring Leadership said, "Leadership is not a position that someone gives you; it is ultimately a privilege that you must earn and maintain." Vocal leadership is leading someone else by words, and taking authority when speaking to the rest of the team. Performance leadership is leading by actions, and demonstrating things they want done by actually doing them themselves. Personally I am a performance leader, because I would rather show people what I expect than just tell them. I need to work on using my voice though because you can't always get through to people by just actions and at certain times vocal makes more of an impact than performance. I believe that both are vitally essential when it comes to being a successful all-around leader. I also believe that leaders can be born a leader, but they can also be made into one. Someone can be born with great leading skills, but they have to actually practice those skills and be "made" into a leader in order to make the most impact. But someone who is born without leadership skills can also be taught how to make them and how to lead others, and they may not be quite as successful as the person born with talent but they can still be a good leader. So in other words, leaders can be born and made.

Trust and Honesty 2/18/10

Trust is being able to tell someone something and have full confidence that they won't repeat it to anyone else. It's placing confidence in another person and believing what they say is true. Honesty is telling the truth to someone, no matter the conditions. Even if the situation is awkward or other people say to lie about something, honesty is having the courage to tell the truth. Trust and honesty go hand in hand with each other because if someone isn't honest with you then why should you trust them? You have to be known to be an honest person with people, because only then will a person trust you with their own issues if they know you'll be truthful and won't lie about what's right or wrong. Both trust and honesty are essential in being a leader, because you have to be honest with someone for them to trust you, and they must trust you and your actions in order to be confident enough to follow you. "When a leader's character is strong, people trust him, and they trust in his ability to release their potential. That not only gives his followers hope for the future, but it also promotes a strong belief in themselves and their organization." If you're known as someone who has lied quite frequently and you're always changing your mind, then people can't put enough trust in you to be able to follow. If no one is following you then you're obviously not being a successful leader. In The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, it's said that, "Character makes trust possible. And trust makes leadership possible. Whenever you lead people, it's as if they consent to take a journey with you. The way that trip is going to turn out is predicted by your character." Before we even try to lead others, we need to make sure that our own character is how it should be, by always being honest and truthful.

Listening and Communication Post 3

During the week I have been trying to really listen to people when they're speaking, and try to help them with whatever problem/issue they're dealing with. Just like The Best Leaders are Listeners says, "It is no accident that we have one mouth and two ears. When we fail to listen, we shut off much of our learning potential," and this is so true. We're supposed to listen twice as much as we speak, because it's twice as important. In order to learn from each other we have to listen so that everyone's needs are met. I have been trying to focus on what other people are saying this week, but of course I'm not perfect at it. I have a lot to work on because it's still really easy to get lost in your own world when someone else is talking because your problems seem more important than theirs, but I'm trying to stay in focus and truly listen to what they're saying. I need to still work on asking them questions when they're talking to prove I care and want to help.

Listening and Communication-Second Post

I believe that everyone has the ability to inspire and motivate people, but you just have to have the will to do it and the drive to get better at it. No one's perfect, so we can't be amazing at inspiring and motivating people, but we can also work hard to be the best we can be. Maxwell said, "Sensitivity toward the hopes and dreams of people on your team is essential for connecting with them and motivating them." So in other words, one way we can motivate each other is by showing that you actually care about their issues, and by doing this they can see that you're trying to help and it will form a connection between you and your teammate. I try to express my visions to my team in a way that they can relate; that way they know what I'm talking about and as I help them, they can help me to achieve our goals. Whenever I'm having a conversation with someone, I'm really trying to work on keeping eye contact with them and showing that I'm truly listening and that I care about their problem/idea. That way, we can connect with each other on the same level which will help us as a team in our sport. As Maxwell said, "If you want to be more effective connecting with people, make it your goal to understand them."

Listening 2/10/10

I am a pretty good listener, because I'm not really that social. I'm not very outgoing, so I tend to sit back and listen to other people as they talk. I think I need to make a point to actually listen more though, and not just hear the person talk. If I listen to them and comment on what they said then it can help to form a better relationship between the person and me. If the person knows you're listening to them and knows that you're legitimately trying to understand them, then they'll know that you care and it will help them to follow you as you try to lead. Everyone's listening skills can always improve, and in order to get better at it I can make a point to talk to people on my team everyday, and as I listen I can ask questions and make comments so that the person and I both know I'm paying attention. Hopefully by improving our listening skills we can become better leaders.

Transformative Learning-2/9/10

This week we're starting our new blogs...to apply transformative learning. By writing down all our thoughts on that weeks lesson, we can help apply the new information to our daily lives so that hopefully the information will stick with us past this class. Later on in the semester our mentors will be able to read our posts, and they can see what all we have thought about the new topics and we can discuss how they have changed our visions of leadership. By writing new posts every couple of weeks people will be able to follow other's thoughts and see how they are taking in the projects and how they're going to apply it to their lives. Also by posting our thoughts we can go back later, after the leadership class is over, and review stuff we learned so that we can still use it in sports, activities, etc. in the future.