Leadership Ethics

First of all, I really enjoyed the pizza.  I ate many slices, which was a problem because I had already eaten dinner.  The panel had a certain spark to them last night, which is greatly due to the fact that they were all related.  It was quite amazing that each one of the women on our panel had opened and run their own business.  One of the woman actually re-opened her father's business, but none the less.  I appreciated that these women could tell us their entrepreneurial  stories.  I'm not sure I could ever open my own business, but I admire people that can.  I think it takes a certain amount of confidence to put you and your business out into the world with no reassurance that our product will sell. 

After words, I talked to one of the panelist's daughters about their crazy uncle.  Then this conversation ended and I started talking to another panelist .  We had an interesting conversation about gyrokinesis, which my dance teacher is one of the few people certified.  It was a small world situation. 

I'm really excited to meet my mentor next week.  I hope her and I have similar personalities and we both benefit from this placement.

Safety Blog

Not sure if I had to blog this week, but just to make sure here we go!  I attended the FYE event The Tunnel of Oppression.  One of the rooms talked about woman and the glass ceiling in the workplace.  Another room showed how hurtful words and media can be towards women.  I think these two rooms go right along with our Women in Leadership class.

The glass ceiling room just refreshed my knowledge of all the horrible statistics about women in the workplace, such as ow low women's salaries are compared to men's and how few women are in the CEO and top managers of Fortune 500 companies.  These statistics bother me and I hope that these numbers make an impact on other girls. 

The room about the media effects on girls was almost nauseating.  There were pictures of girls throwing up to become skinnier.  There were pictures of girls doing extremely dangerous drugs to take them away from the world that they live in now.  There were dehumanizing words along the walls.  It was a lot to take in at once.  Many people agree that the media needs to change, but it seems like no one is doing anything about it.  One of the problems is that nobody knows how to address this problem.  Companies are going to do whatever to get their products sold and if that requires a barely clothed anorexic woman, then so be it.  This needs to change, but that requires people's wants to change.  That change could be impossible, and if possible would take a extended amount of time because these "perfect" images are already ingrained in the minds of the youth today.

Well, wrapping up, I obviously had some strong feelings towards The Tunnel of Oppression.

Emerging Opportunities for Women

This week's class really had an effect on me.  That video that we watched was unbelievable in two different ways.  First off, it was amazingly well done.  The different scenes that the producers strung together was impeccable.  Secondly, I was so inspired to do something about women's position in society after only watching two-thirds of the movie.

All the comments about the women politicians were extremely distasteful.  It is disguisting that a women does not get judged on what she says, but what she is wearing. Also, it seems like a women's personal life is brought into the picture more often than men politicians.  "Who will watch the kids?" is often asked to only women.  For example, John Edwards had small children, but no one seemed to ask about childcare. Women are not taken seriously in politics which upsets me because our government is supposed to represent the ENTIRE population, not 49% of it.

Men are not fully to blame in the political circus.  Not only are women not running for any elections, they are not voting for women either.  My personal belief is that women are too smart to run for a political position.  The political arena is tough and women are just too intelligent to dive into that.

Anyways, everyone, woman or man, should watch Miss Representation!  Such a great movie!

Leading Myself

My views on leadership have dramatically changed since I started this class.  Above all else, the speakers and readings have just exposed me to all types of leadership.  I knew there were different kinds of leaders, but I did not know how many strategies or studies that have been done on leadership.  I have come to believe that anyone can become a leader; it would just take a bit more of an effort for some.  I learned that some are born leaders, some become leaders and some have leadership thrust upon them. 

I believe the most powerful type of leadership is authentic leadership.  Leaders that are authentic have such passion and can truly do whatever they want to achieve.

I've also learned that leadership is difficult; more difficult than I thought.  My biggest problem to overcome will be accepting the fact that not everyone will like you or your idea.  I've always been the kind of person that wants to make everyone happy, and when leading change everyone is not going to be happy.  People do not like change, and I just need to get over it.

From day to day, I have noticed opportunities to become a leader.  I've noticed that everybody seems to "talk the talk," but does not "walk the walk."  Other people will not take the initiative, I have to be that one person.  I've also learned to show my excitement more.  I used to keep all my emotions inside, making me seem unrealistic, which is not a good leadership quality.  People like someone that they can relate with.

I'm also the kind of person that loves being busy, so this balance of work and family that everyone keeps talking about makes me extremely nervous, yet excited! 

Another lesson I learned from the speakers was to raise your voice.  This is an area I have never been especially superb at, but I'm working on it!

I'm so glad that I decided to take this class.  It has definitely opened up my eyes to the real world.  Along with opening eyes, this class opens doors.  I'm thrilled to be getting a mentor, because at this point in my life I could never ask someone to do that for me.  I believe this class is giving me great opportunities that I plan on taking full advantage of.

Women and Diversity

I absolutely loved last week's class.  The panel was amazing!  I think I might have been super excited for the cookies though..  Even though it was a lot of fun, I still learned a lot.  I started looking at the world in a different point of view; trying to see everyone as an equal.  The story about the car company losing a million dollars over a simple mistake that could have been solved if someone had it was incredible.

I attended a FYS event tonight about alcohol decisions.  It was very interesting and I learned that alcohol can affect every aspect of some one's life.  It can be affected socially, emotionally, physically, economically and spiritually.  We also got candy at the end of the seminar.  My life recently seems to be revolving around food.

Yesterday, I went to a Dames Bond event with Dr. Krendl and some classmates.  Of course, there was food, but it was very informative.  There was presentations about Dames Bond, being eco-friendly, and making sure your business is not anti-social.  I met some important women and I thought it was a great opportunity!

Women and Politics

This week we had some very prestigious women come and talk to us about balancing politics, being a women, and life.  I could not believe that I was in the same room as the first woman Speaker of the House in Ohio.  She seemed like a truly powerful and influential woman.  I enjoyed her quote, "Think like a man.  Work like a dog.  Act like a lady.  Look like a girl."  I wrote it down and highlighted it!  I definitely hung on every word that came out of that women's mouth.  All five of the women essentially said the same thing; volunteer your time, work hard, take the high road, and perseverance pays off.

I'm pretty sure that I do not want to get into politics, but I can see myself volunteering at an political campaign or something of that nature.  I believe that staying up-to-date with political issues is extremely important.  One woman asked if we were all registered to vote and that every vote counts; I believe that fully.  I plan on voting in any election that I can.

We also talked about how the glass ceiling has already been broken and there are so many opportunities that we have today.  Also, how it is almost an obligation to reach and past the women that came before us.

Even though I find it contradictory to what our class stands for, I am SO excited to make cookies at Dr. Krendl's house next week.  I hope that this turns out to be a great experience!

Women and Business

Last week's class was all about Women and Business.  Since I'm majoring in business, I thought this panel would be quite interesting.  Not that I didn't find the information applicable or helpful, it is just that the information was not exactly for me.  The panel mostly talked about starting their own businesses.  I have such a high respect for people who can start their own businesses; I know I could never do such a daring task.  It takes a special kind of person to start their own business.  These people have to be comfortable with failure, something I am not okay with.  I thought the story told by the women who was entrepreneur of her own caster business was almost straight out of a movie.  She had some guts to confront the CEO of a huge car manufactuer. 

On Saturday, I attend the Otterbein Community Garden open house.  I had never been to the garden, so I enjoyed be able to see another part of Otterbein.  I got the chance to decorate pumpkins and sketch into leaves.  I also got to drink apple cider and try roasted red pepper hummus, which was surprisingly tasty!  WARM was an organization that had informational posters up and I learned about hunger within Ohio, and even right here in Westerville.  Supposedly, 1 in 6 children in Ohio does not have enough food.  That statistic was hard for me to believe.  Westerville is an affluent city;  I can't imagine the hunger in other cities around Ohio.  What about the urban areas in Columbus, Cleveland, Cinncinati, or Toledo?  What about the rural areas of southeast Ohio?  I plan on volunteering for WARM sometime in the near future.

This week's panel is about Women and Politics... This should be interesting!

FYE Events

Since part of our FYS class is to attend some FYE events, I thought I would get some off those out of the way early.  A few weeks ago, after enjoy another lovely dinner in the Cardinal's Nest, my friends and I stopped by the Beer Googles 3000.  I didn't do so hot with this activity; it was quite difficult.  I still blame my scarf for throwing me off balance though!  I swear, the line kept moving!  When wearing the googles I barely knew which way was up.  I sincerely hope, and plan, to never let myself be in a position like that again, unless of course I'm dizzy from a merry-go-round!

I also attended another FYE event called, something like, Balancing Your Plate in the Cardinal's Nest.  This event taught all four girls that attended how much of each food group to put on your plate.  Best of all, there was food to sample at the end!  Surprisingly, I loved the butternut squash and I'm not even a vegetable person.  I'm glad I tried a new food because, otherwise, I would have never known I liked it so much.  There were other foods we were allowed to try, such as turnips, beets, and wheatberry.  The Sous Chef of Otterbein also gave us suggestion on how to prepare food with spices that I have never even heard of.  I plan on eating healthier while in the cafeteria because now I am aware of all the delicious choices.

Last class was about non-profit organizations.  I had never thought about working in a non-profit, but while listening to them talk I was considering it.  I would have to be passionate about the organization I would work for, like all the women that talked two weeks ago.  I could almost see their passion in their eyes and hear it in their voice.

Week 4

I would like to start by saying that I am excited for next week because I want to learn more about everyone's leader.  I'm a little nervous that my leader will not have enough information on her because she never seems to be in the limelight, which I happen to think is a good thing!

Personally, I thought yesterday's class was just an average class, nothing special happened.  The free lotion was definitely a plus though!  I enjoyed that two of the women seemed to be best friends, but then stated that they hardly ever see each other.  This comforts me because I haven't seen some of my friends in over a month.  One woman stated that everyone should create relationships early on; I'm going to try harder to be friendly with the other girls in the class.

An issue that really sparked my attention was the question about if whether the men in the meetings took their ideas seriously.  That has always been an issue for me, I've already been a part of it here at Otterbein.  Once I established myself as a hard-working, intelligent woman, my ideas and plans began to get a little more ground.

The strengths finder seems like a good idea, but I'm not so sure that they will work 100%.  Most people will put the person they want to be, not the person they actually are.  I attempted to take the test last night, showed my friends, and they said something like "This is you, but I could pick out better traits that fit you better."  Maybe if we take the test in class, I'll be more truthful.

About the reading for the class yesterday, I'm not a fan of the Trait Approach.  I think it scares away potential leaders.  If someone feels like they do not have all the traits, they could be scared away and miss out on a great leading opportunity.  The Skills Approach makes sense in my head, but it seems kind of obvious..  Well, I can't wait til next week to learn new things!

Week 3

Last Saturday, I volunteered at the WELD conference in Roush hall.  Even though I was feeling a little under the weather and had trouble concentrating, but still it was an inspirational conference.  I was assigned the meeting about finding strengths.  The women judged themselves on being extroverted or introverted, perceiving or judging, and others.  Then they broke up into groups that had the same personality and were asked questions on how they would handle certain situations.  It was amazing how each women within the group had the exact same answer.  I just sat in the back and watched and passed out papers when it was necessary.  After that exercise, the speaker talked about how each personality should be represented in a team.  There needs to be balance within a group, if the group is going to move forward in a positive way.  I'm glad I got the chance to attend a conference and even learned and thing or two about myself.

The very next class after the conference, we kinda touched on finding your strengths and utilizing them.  I felt prepared when I read the chapter on team leadership.  I found a few criticisms with the team approach to leadership.  I believe if all the personality joined together to lead, one leader would still come out on top.  Also, I argue, that maybe the plan will move nowhere and be stuck in a steel mate because everyone will not agree on an issue.  There are also many advantages to using the team leadership approach,  such as: different perspectives and different ideas.

The class this week was different because we actually got to have a class discussion, those are very unlikely because of all the speakers we have.  I enjoyed the discussion because I actually felt like I did the reading for a reason.  I also enjoyed breaking up into groups and discussing the case studies.  Even though we all had the same ideas, I realized that the girls in this class have the same motivation and ideas that I do!

Week Two

This week our class was assigned a new place to meet.  The class is scheduled to meet in the board room from now on.  Just sitting in that leather chair, up against the mahogany desk, made me feel like a true leader.  I found it quite funny that the room had pictures of the past presidents, all of which were men, but there was a power point screen in front of it that displayed all the great things about women leaders.  I viewed the screen as a symbol of advancement.   The actual screen itself is a technological advance, but it also "shoved" the men in the background, leaving women the room to advance.  Also, the table reminded me of The Knights of the Round Table.  Great things got accomplished and that round table and I think that great things will happen at the table in Roush 338!

I enjoyed the speech from Chasity Kuttrus; I mostly enjoyed her little tips at the bottom of the screen.  I realize that those tips are extremely important because Mrs. Kuttruss definitely seemed to know her stuff.  If I ever want to become successful, I need to work on those tips a little bit!  Like the speakers before, Mrs. Kuttruss talked about the balance between family and work.  That seems to be a very hot topic with women leaders.  I can only imagine and empathize with that struggle.  Maybe I will be forced to deal with that struggle later in my life.  Mrs. Kuttruss mentioned that she worked in Human Resources.  I wish that I could have asked her more questions about her job specifically because I am hoping to receive a degree in Human Resources Management.

Next to talk were three lovely teachers from Otterbein University.  One spoke about nutrition; this was a huge wake-up call for me!  I attempted to fill my plate with fruit and vegetables today, but it did not really work out.  The fruits and vegetables thing will have to be a working progress.  Another woman spoke about exercise, I mean fun activity.  She really motivated me to just get out and do something, which I thought was kind of ironic because my classmates and I were cramped up in a room for three and a half hours.  I am definitely trying out the trampoline building she was talking about!  Even though there was not a lot of time, a third woman talked briefly about our strengths.  As a leader, someone should know their strengths and utilize them to their full extent.  She also talked about how a strength is a blessing and a curse.  For example, she said she was a developer; she enjoys helping people reach their goals.  That strength is all fine and dandy, except when someone is going to let you do all the work for them.

I left class that day reflecting on myself as a leader.  I need to take the time to figure out my strengths and learn to improve my weaknesses.  If I want to improve myself as a leader, I first need to improve my physical and mental health.  Eating a balanced diet and working out regularly is all a part of being a leader.  If I am not comfortable with myself, how can I be comfortable leading others?

Women and Otterbein: A Historic Overview

I truly enjoyed the Historic Overview of Otterbein.  Learning about the history of Otterbein made me feel proud to be a part of this community.  Along with feeling proud, I felt inspired to add my own mark to Otterbein.  Maybe one day, in the future, young women will be learning about my contribution to this university.

I realized that Otterbein is very radical, we kind of lead the way in new ideas.  Being the first university to be co-educational in the entire country is extremely impressive and I plan on telling everybody that fact with pride!  Otterbein's first two graduates were women, but it took them 10 years!  One of first graduates, which I believe her last name is Winter, lived a tragic life after graduating, but that never stopped her.  Even after four major deaths in her family, including her 8-year old daughter, she still proved to be an outstanding citizen.  I find her an amazing woman.  I cannot fathom going through that much tragedy and still having a positive outlook on life.  Of course, she was not the only amazing woman that ever stepped onto Otterbein soil, but she made the biggest mark on me.

Also, I absolutely loved the old black/white and sepia photos; I can only imagine what the people in the pictures were saying, doing and thinking.  It was also amusing to see the fashion and hair trends change through the decades! 

This presentation was interesting.  I think every student should understand a little bit about the history of Otterbein.  It was definitely an inspirational experience!