A641.9.3.RB - Becoming a Resonant Leader

Dear Me,

As we grow, we need to keep mind that there always needs to be an end goal. To keep a goal in mind is to grow. Without a goal, we are only wandering around aimlessly and we will not continue to improve.

The goal that we should always be going towards is mental fortitude. We need to get into the habit of being able to control our own thoughts and emotions. With mental fortitude. I will be able to be a better leader by control of our emotions, being more efficient and learning.

Mental fortitude is about the ability to say or think about something that we want to do and put a plan into motion. Planning is a key aspect of wanting to do something but having the mental fortitude to go do it is key. The first goal is to have better control of emotions. Emotions show plainly on our face and features. We need to keep in perspective what is on our face. Working towards this will be hard but the key is to always have in our mind what we are showing. How our emotions look on our face will direct a conversation. The first step will be anger, we need to keep it off our face and in our mind till we can really dig deep on why we feel that emotion. Keeping a neutral expression and focused on the conversation will keep the emotion off our face and we will be able to focus on the issue at hand. Your employee will feed off your emotions.

Being more efficient, means to me, that we can read a book without distractions. I constantly read a page or email and the thought of what I brought for lunch springs into my mind. Being more efficient or less distracted mentally, can be continuously worked on by addressing the times that I am distracted. When I get distracted, I need to stop and analyze why I got distracted and work towards improving my focus and mental effancy. Kim has an excellent focus, she needs to coach me in how to read without distractions. She reads constantly and gets through a lot of emails quickly.

The last goal for our personal vision is learning and being about to retain what I learn. One of the biggest learning aspect that is very important to me is spelling. I need to learning to spell and punctuate correctly. To correct this we need to follow some of the Khan academy. By completing the entire series on grammar in the next 6 months I will have vastly improved grammar. Carl is always commenting on my punctuation in emails. When he stops replying to my emails with grammar corrections, I know I will have achieved my goal.

A641.8.3.RB - Personal Balance Sheet

People are made up of different strengths and weaknesses. It makes us who we are. The leaders who recognizes their weakness and overcome them with their strengths are resonant leaders. A weakness in leaders needs to be a part of the Real Self that leaders take into account during self reflection(Boyatzis & McKee, 2005).

During the assessment of my weakness and strengths, I found that it was easier for me to own my weakness. While assessing my strengths, I tried to put them off as not as strong as they need to be. The weakness that I know I don’t do well is my defense. Whenever there is a problem presented about one of my employees, I instantly go on the defensive. I always want to defend my employees and point the finger at others. I think this is a weakness because it causes a lot of tension between me and the person bringing the offence to my attention. To change this weakness, I want to listen more intently. I think that most problems are not about the employee with a problem, it’s the action or situation that needs the attention. For example, a production planner complained to me that a part sat on the quote rack for 5 days instead of being in production because my employee put it there. I went on the defense and said that the planners needs to have better accountability with parts and what is on their shelves. After reflection, I found the planner wasn't just complaining about my employee, the planner was seeking a solution to a problem. We needed to label the racks quote hold and production.

One of my biggest strengths is being able to own it. I have a strength that I own my faults, problems and weaknesses. Whenever someone says there is a problem and I did it, I instantly think it was my fault and how can I do it better. I use this tactic to get past the feeling of defense and resentment that most people feel when presented with a problem they caused or a fault. Being able to own my problems has opened a lot of doors for people to be able to come and approach me. When we own our faults first, people aren’t as slow to present problems to us. If we blame ourselves first and then with evidence present that it wasn't our fault it is easier to fix the problem.
I think that this exercise, for me, was more about how to identify my real self in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Before this exercise, I viewed my real self as a post reflection, while this exercise shows that we can pre reflect on actions by knowing our strengths and weaknesses(Boyatzis & McKee, 2005). For example, I need to step back before I send an email or text and reflect on what I am actually saying. Am I using my defensive nature in this email and if so what am I missing? If I can, how will I put some of my strengths into this email? I think that I need to reflect more in the moment and not post action.







References

Boyatzis, R. E., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

A641.7.3.RB - Appreciating Your "Real Self"

After doing the reflection exercises in the workbook for “Your Wake Up Calls” I found that I have not really had any real destructive routines or situations(McKee, A., Boyatzis, R. E., & Johnston, F. ,2008). In the exercises, we were to reflect on the hard times, our sacrifices syndromes and what we are doing in our defensive routines. I don't think that I have had any extremely hard experiences for an extended period of time that I have become self destructive for long enough to get into a sacrifice syndrome.

During my college classes, I experienced some of the first stages of the sacrifice syndrome. When I

attend college classes, I have a tendency to stop working out. This is one of the first states of knowing “Where I Am” (McKee, A., Boyatzis, R. E., & Johnston, F. ,2008). I know that when I start giving up on working out that I am starting down a stressful path. The time that I normally spend working out is in the mornings. The mornings are also my most creative writing times. The mornings are normally when I can get the most school work done so I give up on working out. I know I feel better when I work out but I know I don't get as much done when I do my school work in the afternoons. I also can't bring myself to workout in the afternoons. This is an example of the “limiting beliefs” I have. The time that I could spend working out then doing my homework is blocked because I tell myself I can’t do both or I don't have enough energy to do both. I continue to tell myself that my college classes won't last forever and I'll start working out when they are over. I need to stop breaking my healthy habits for petty excuses.

The next finding I had for sacrifice is the food that I eat. I tell myself thats its too much effort to cook healthy food when I am stressed. When I am on a normal schedule I will meal prep. After doing the sacrifice exercises, I noticed that I don't care what I eat and when I eat during my sacrifice syndrome. Eating is such an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. I know that I should eat better but I dont have the time or energy when I am attending college classes or in a sacrifice syndrome.

In closing, I want to continue being mindful. I think that a good way to prevent sacrifice is knowing that it can happen and what it looks like when it does start to happen. I think I will continue to refer to this book in the future to continue to resonate with my life changes. Challenges in life are always right around the next corner. Life will never stop changing so we have to adapt, having the mindfulness to know that you are starting to sacrifice resonance and leadership quality is the start. Knowing is half the battle.

References

McKee, A., Boyatzis, R. E., & Johnston, F. (2008). Becoming a resonant leader: Develop your emotional intelligence, renew your relationships, sustain your effectiveness. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.