studentlinc

Prepare To Perform At Your Best

The summer of 2005 will be long remembered as one of the worst hurricane seasons in recorded history.  The devastation experienced on the United States Gulf Coast in the midst of Hurricane Katrina was immense.  Yet, the situation worsened due to a lack of preparation for this type of catastrophe.  The failure to prepare was furthered clarified when contrasted to the high level of readiness from the state of Florida in the wake of Hurricane Wilma.  While neither of the affected areas could control the weather, they did have the ability to prepare for their response to it.

Preparation is the one thing that will help student leaders to be ready when opportunities come.  Those who rise to leadership positions within their schools or organizations typically have strengths in the areas of spontaneity and reacting to impromptu situations.  But these strengths can become glaring weakness if a student leader continually fails to properly prepare for their involvement.

Preparation and practice are closely related.  The way you practice helps you to get ready for those opportune moments.  The question is: What should a student leader prepare for?

1. Prepare information – Know what's going on around you.  Know who your key players are and the strengths and involvements that each one brings to the team.  We must be ready to share our stories and be able to clearly articulate the values of our organization.

2. Prepare possible questions and situations – Think through the questions that you expect other students will ask.  Role play with other student leaders how you’ll respond in situations of conflict or crisis.

3. Prepare for different mindsets – Not everyone will think and believe the way that you do.  What other kinds of perspectives are out there?  How many ways have you viewed the current situation?

4. Preparation is anticipation – Think ahead.

Abraham Lincoln said, “I will prepare and someday my chance will come.”

We prepare for something based on the perception that our preparation will directly affect our performance.  The more we can learn about our positions, expectations, student needs, communication styles, our own strengths – the more in tune our perceptions will be about how to perform when we are doing our job.  False or mistaken perceptions will have a direct impact on how we perform and how we prepare. 

For example, if we believe that people expect us to duplicate what the person in our position did the previous year, our effort will be built around the perception "How did "so and so" do it?" rather than, "How can I best use my strengths and abilities to create the best event ever?"  Perception moves the Performance target and changes the direction of our preparation.  (Note, I use the word perform to mean the various work, tasks, and interaction that we have with our fellow students, not trying to fulfill some role as an entertainer where others merely spectate.)

How To Prepare:
1. Consider other perspectives besides your own.

2. Be able to communicate and simplify various perspectives.

3. Apply things to memory.

4. Get to the point where you know what your response will be in certain situations.  Know the next appropriate action.

Often we don’t prepare properly.  You may be in charge of leading a small group of students, getting ready for an activity, or organizing a roster of clubs.  Throughout the week your schedule overwhelms you and you find yourself scrambling to even show up.  You quickly skim your responsibilities and rush into each situation, hoping to make the best of it.  These kinds of things happen.  But if they happen all the time, we fail in a few areas:

1. We show a lack of respect.
Your time is important, but so is the time of your people.  The old saying goes, “When you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.”  Every moment spent in preparation will show your people that you value both them and their time.

2. We miss opportunities.
When we’re prepared, it provides more options for us.  We have a greater awareness of what’s going on around us because we aren’t as focused on the things we weren’t ready for.  Plus, preparation allows us to be more creative.

3. We do not grow.
Lack of preparation forces us to fall back into old habits or familiar ways of doing things.  When we prepare, we open ourselves up to new ideas and new opportunities.  Proper preparation helps us to break through some of our own comfort zones.  We are better able to stretch our own learning. 

Be A Better Public Speaker

There's an age old debate over which is more valuable: content or delivery.  I tend to lean toward delivery.  If you bring a dozen eggs home from the store but drop them on the way from car to kitchen...then what good are they?  Delivery killed your content.

Over at Lifehacker.com, Eszter Hargittai has written a concise outline of better public speaking practices.  Read the article here.  She offers the following on Confidence & Enthusiasm...

You have been chosen as a speaker because you know your topic. Make sure that you exert confidence during your presentation. Don’t apologize for what you don’t have with you to present or what you do not know. Rather, focus on what you can talk about and discuss the material with confidence. This does not mean that you should be arrogant or patronizing. It means that you should look comfortable covering the material.

Be sure to enjoy your talk and show your enthusiasm about the content. Your interest in the topic will be contagious and will likely result in a more engaged audience.

Her article also covers such things as presentation format, Audience, Location, Outline, Strong start, Motivation, Timing, Flexibility, Question-and-answer session, Practice makes perfect, and Contact information.

Good communication skills are vital to strong leadership.  Repeat after me: I lead, therefore I communicate!

Minimal Group Theory Or Why We Like Our Team

Have you ever been chosen for a team?  Then, once you were chosen, you suddenly felt an affinity for your team, you began to think that your team was better than the other team, you felt like this was the best team for you to be on.

What you've experienced is known as Minimal Group Theory and has been described in research by the late Henri Tajfel.  It is an incredible and powerful understanding of a sociological phenomenon.   For example, people who are born or raised in the state of Texas have an invisible, yet strong, bond because they belong to the sociological group known as "Texans" and they believe that no other state is as great as Texas (and nobody messes with Texas!).

I've discovered the power of minimal group theory when I've directed camps or retreats.   I've taken a large group of students and put them together into teams.  Immediately, you can begin to see the teams form themselves and establish their claim as "the best team there."  In fact, teams may compete against one another, with one showing more athletic prowess and strength over the other, but the other will then claim that they have the greater spirit or cunning.

Having just gone through the election and selection process of new student leaders, our teams for next year are beginning to form.  It's fun to look at these new groups and who is on them.  In normal, everday contact, these teams wouldn't have come together on their own.  These student leaders don't hang out in the same social circles or clusters of friends.  But having been "placed" together as a "team," their excitement level is high and they are beginning to share how their "team" is strong, talented, and has the potential to be "the best ever."

Thanks Henri Tajfel...

The First Year

studentl.inc is officially one year old.

Birthdays, anniversaries, all of these annual events are great occasions to reflect and celebrate the successes of the past year....

Okay...

...that's about all the time I've got for that.  Time to get back to work.  Looking forward to a great year TWO!

Contemporary philosopher, Steven Wright said, "I remember how freaked out I was when I turned two, because I realized in the course of a year, my age doubled.  I thought, Man, if I keep this up, but the time I'm six, I'll be ninety!"

Can't Coach A Bad Attitude

As you may have gleaned from a previous post, I coach Little League.  This is my seventh year as a coach of boys on the journey to becoming young men.  Baseball is a great way to learn about life (that's why I use a baseball diamond metaphor in my e-book, Touching All Four).

Each year, a group of boys will assess to show the coaches their skills before the draft.  They'll hit a few balls, catch and throw grounders and flyballs, and run the bases.  It's often difficult to distinguish degrees of ability through these simple drills.  But there's one thing that is an immediate scratch off my list - a bad attitude.

For example, a boy will step to the plate and take some cuts at a few pitches.  I'm interested to see if he can hit the ball, but even more interested to see how he swings.  If he's got a good swing, then we can coach him for better contact.  But I also watch his reaction when he misses the ball.  If the kid bangs his bat on the ground or stomps off in frustration...bu-bye.

A bad attitude is the one thing that's an automatic scratch from my list.  You can't coach a boy with a bad attitude.  He won't listen.  He won't give his best.  His head won't be in the game.

A boy may have terrific skills, but if his attitude is bad, I won't draft him.  I will take a boy with less God-given ability who has a great attitude.  Because he's coachable, he's teachable, and he's a lot more fun to be around.

Think about it.  You might have all the skills in the world, but the one thing that will strike your name from the "must hire" list is a bad attitude.  No one wants to be around someone with stinkin thinkin!

So give yourself a check-up from the neck up...because you never know who's watching.

To Email Or Not To Email?

Warning!  This is a soapbox post.

I don't have very many, but on occasion I need to spout.

First of all, I want to applaud EMAIL and all the wonderful things that it has provided.  It is a tremendous communication tool and has simplified a lot of processes inside our organization.

Second, I think EMAIL is a great way to send short, sound-byte type messages without feeling like you need to send an entire novel-written-for-television-type communication.

But...there is a right time and, what I believe, a wrong time to resort to email within an organization.  Thus my rant...

1. If the situation is tense, if there's conflict, if you find there is a misunderstanding, then please, step away from the EMAIL.

2. Use email to pass along information.  Don't use email to debate.

3. If you find yourself getting angry as you type, move your hands away from the keyboard....cool off...then reach for the phone.

4. Too often we try to fight our battles over email when we should be talking to the person.

5. Let's take that a little further: Too often we call people and talk to them when we should be meeting face-to-face.

6. Don't use the CC line of an email to try and pull people to your side during a disagreement.  Only use the CC when you are giving someone praise to show the person that you want the world to know how wonderful they are!

7. Here's the question: Which form of communication is most effective in this circumstance - email, phone call, face-to-face?

There are probably a lot more "rules of email" and email etiquette sites out there that are a lot better than mine, but I needed to get my manifesto out there.

What Is Leadership?

The answers to this question are varied and numerous.  I believe that some answers are better than others.  Here's one of the better ones:

Leadership is an invisible strand as mysterious as it is powerful.  It pulls and it bonds.  It is a catalyst that creates unity out of disorder.  Yet it defies definition.  No combination of talents can guarantee it.  No process of training can create it if the spark does not exist.

The qualities of leadership are universal: they are found in the poor and the rich, the humble and the proud, the common man and the brilliant thinker.   They are qualities that suggest paradox rather than pattern.  But wherever they are found...leadership makes things happen.

Most people are certain that leadership is about direction, about giving people a sense of purpose that inspires and motivates them to commit and achieve.  Leadership is also about a relationship between people -- leaders and followers -- that is built on firm ground; enduring values build trust.

From Maximum Impact Lesson, The Seven Demands of Leadership. Volume 10, Number 5
Adapted from The Seven Demands of Leadership from Gallup Management Journal

On The Back Of A Business Card

I'm talking about your focus, your purpose, your mission.  Can you state it so concisely and powerfully  it can fit on the back of the business cards you pass out?

As I look at the header for studentl.inc, I view my business card motto everyday...

Developing lifelong leaders one student at a time

That's what I focus on.  That is what I strive to do better each day.

As I close in on the one year anniversary of this blog (this Saturday, March 18), I realize it is this simple, yet highly motivating, get-out-of-bed-in-the-morning-and-conquer-the-world type statement that has given me the energy to grow this blog to what it is today.

So pull out your business card and start writing.  If you run out of room it's too long.  Get it short.  Get it concise.  Then get it out there.

Google Logo Maker [Take 2]

Thought this was fun the first time I saw it.  Now there's a new site where you can create your own Google-type search page with your name in "Google-esque" letters.  You can click on the logo to access the studentl.inc search page.

You can access the page to create your own at

http://007google.com/mygoogle.asp

Good Little League

I just got home from a Little League Coach's Clinic put on by the local high school baseball coach.  This guy knows what he's talking about and has been coaching since 1972.  At the start of the clinic, he looked all the coaches in the eye and told us something that I hadn't really thought about before.

Our high school baseball program has improved because the local Little League program has improved.  The success of our team and the calibre of our players is directly impacted by the quality of coaching and training these kids receive at the Little League level.

Wow.  I suddenly felt a little bit of pressure.  Once again, I'm realizing how important the fundamentals are - how important it is to do the right things...the right way.

I guess that's why I'm so invested in raising up quality student leaders (as well as good baseball players).  I believe that the quality of leaders that enter the workforce and society are dependant upon what kind of leaders are developed while they students.  The quality of leader that you are at the high school and college level has a direct impact upon the quality of leader you are when you step into more influential roles of leadership.

If you develop, as a student leader, the fundamental principles of good leadership while you are a student, it will catapult you above the crowd when you reach the next level.

You are making an investment now into the kind of leader you will be in the future.  It's that way for Little League...it's that way for leadership.