Balance & Time Management

I really enjoyed this weeks lecture and lab. It was fun to hear a different perspective about time management from someone who was a BYU student and was definitely very busy. Although I'm not as busy as she was, I can still feel overwhelmed. I'm so happy she looked at it from a gospel oriented perspective.
The first thing she talked about was seeking the kingdom of God. If we put the gospel first in our lives, then everything else will fall into place. I find that when I am consistently reading the scriptures everyday and praying morning and night that I am happier and just feel better about life. This semester, in my Book Of Mormon class, my professor makes us keep a log of our daily scripture study and requires us to study 30 minutes every day. I really think this has effected my life for the better. I am less stressed and have had my testimony strengthened. It is really easy to just say, "I'll do it tomorrow," but when we have that attitude, usually things will not get done. Also, sometimes you convince yourself that you HAVE TO finish something by the next day, but don't necessarily think you HAVE TO read your scriptures today. I find that if I write it down, it gets done more quickly.
The second piece of advice she gave was to "keep water in your well." I believe I do this one well - sometimes maybe too well. I take time to sit down and watch a show or relax, but sometimes I get too caught up in the show I'm watching (this past week, the Olympics have been addicting!), when I could be doing something more productive. I think one of the things that rejuvenates me each week is actually what I do for my leadership role - volunteering to help out with Special Olympics bowling. It helps me focus on other people and I have so much fun doing it! The other thing that I've taken time to do each week is play on an intramural basketball team which is something I really enjoy.
I loved her third point of obeying the "Ten-Second Rule." I think if you follow the promptings you receive, that you will receive more and more. I am trying to be better at this by writing down random things in my planner. If I didn't do this, I would most likely forget the thing I want to remember. I heard a quote one time that said "The weakest ink is better than the strongest memory."
Brittany Beattie's fourth point was to choose best over good and better. This part is kind of hard for me because there are so many good things you can do with your time that it is hard to decide what is best. I am going to try to work on this one more and more. I think I can be better about not wasting time. I'm going to try to not over sleep so I can be productive in my days. I also want to watch less TV and be able to limit myself. I think this way I will be able to get more things done and possibly be able to focus on people more in my life.
Her last point was my favorite one - to focus on people, not processes or things. I really try to integrate this into my life. Sometimes people and building relationships can be more important than the things that are going on. It was kind of ironic because when she said this I was trying to remember a quote by President Monson that was said the next day in one of the videos we saw in our Lab. It said, "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." I love this quote because life really is about the relationships we make in our lives. The memories we hold dear to us would not be there unless we shared them with the people we love the most. I am going to try to be better by being more outgoing.
Overall, if we focus on people and becoming like Christ, other things will fall into place. We need to know how to prioritize and make sure we are doing the right things first and foremost.

Divine-Centered Leadership

I really enjoyed class this week. It was enlightening to read the different parts of Divine Centered Leadership. It really made me feel like I have a mission on this earth to be a leader and one with good motive. I liked when it talked about the roadblocks to having good motive. They were the natural man and pride. With our human nature, we want to be the ones who are recognized and praised for being good leaders, when in reality it should be our Heavenly Father who should be recognized. Sometimes I struggle with that part because it is nice to be recognized as an awesome leader, but I believe it is better to be recognized as a humble leader. You don't have to display it and tell everyone how cool you are because you did something.
One leader that I really admire really encompassed a lot of the aspects in Divine Leadership. She was our ASB (Student Government) President my Junior year and everyone loved her. She seriously knew almost everyone at our school and was friends with them no matter what group of friends they were in. This really exemplified knowing each heart. She got to know people not so she could be popular, but because she really cared about them.

Also, this week in lab I enjoyed going around the library and giving people candy. Some people thought it was weird and refused. In fact, one of the library administration told us we couldn't pass it out downstairs, so we just went somewhere else. However, there were a lot of happy people who took it and were thankful. I looked at it further and made it an analogy to Christ's ministry. He had was the way, the life, and the truth and He shared His light with others. In a way, that is what we were doing by passing out candy. I also thought about how it wasn't easy and that people rejected him and his ideas, but he kept going. I believe it is our duty to do just that - share our light with others through this Divine Centered Leadership. It really is the perfect way to lead - all according to God's will.

Also, this week I saw Divine Centered Leadership examples in many aspects of my life. First, my mom was in Utah until Wednesday so I was able to spend some time with her and helped her take care of my sister's kids. My one and a half year old niece was sick with a fever and my mom was so good about taking care of her - she held her all night and just tried to make her feel better. I see her leadership in our family all the time and admire the way she does things centered in Christ. Also, when she left, she made me a whole Valentine's decoration thing and left me a nice note in my room. It was really nice of her - she is always serving her family and others. I believe that because of her service to us, we try to follow her example which is making us in turn become better leaders.
Another leadership act that I saw was when it was my twin roommates' birthday on Wednesday. My other roommate was so considerate - she put up a Happy Birthday sign, "heart attacked their door," and made them a cake. It really showed me that it is just the little things that can make a difference. My roommates really appreciated what she did for them.

I believe if we start with what we can do and do our best at it, we will continue to progress in our leadership abilities, and through Jesus Christ's example and Heavenly Father's help we can become more and more like them.

Myers-Briggs Test

I enjoyed learning more about myself by taking the Myers Briggs personality test. I actually took the test last semester for my Career Exploration class so we looked at it from a career point of view. It was kind of cool to look at it from a leadership point of view this time.
My type indicator is ENFJ. I am an extrovert which means I prefer to focus my attention on the outer world. I think this is definitely true- I care a lot about other people and feel energized when I am helping others. This part of my personality reflects in my leadership role as a Special Olympics volunteer. Each week, when I go hang out with these special needs people, I leave feeling so awesome! I love seeing these people and letting them know that I am their friend. They are so cute and really love you unconditionally.
Also, for the way I take in information, it says I use intuition rather than sensing. I am only slightly on the intution side although I do see myself as someone who takes in "the big picture and focuses on future possibilities." I find myself always looking ahead a few weeks when it comes to school work and what I need to get done. I also feel like I am also always looking forward to something that is coming up and am sad when that event is over. I think at times I can be on the "sensing" side where I focus on the here and now, but I could probably become better at being spontaneous. Also, since I've taken the test, I've tried not to get as frustrated when my plans suddenly change or don't go as expected.
My biggest personality trait is in the way I make decisions - I do this according to feeling over thinking. I think this is pretty right on because when I make decisions I care more about the people side of the outcome - which isn't necessarily good. I always ask my family and close friends what I should do when making big decisions.
My last trait is the way I deal with the outer world - I judge more than perceive. I do enjoy having a plan and being organized in knowing what I am doing and what I need to do. Anyone could see by looking at my planner that I like to get things done. I always write down lots of things I need to do, not just my school work. When I am done with it, I make a big check mark and cross it off. I could be a little less OCD in having to stick to a plan and could be a little more laid back with what I do.
Overall this personality test was pretty accurate. I definitely agreed that I am a people person - I like to work with teams, interact with others, and help people. One of my passions is working with and facilitating a team, something I believe is pretty helpful in leadership. The job family that would be "most attractive" to an ENFJ like me is "Community and Social Services" something I've actually thought about doing. I think I would be good at social work and possibly a teacher which is in the third most attractive job family. In the challenges section, I learned some things that I can work on so I will be more versatile. I can be better at not basing my decisions solely on what I think will please others - I need to factor in what I truly think is the best. I also should not be discouraged if people aren't as excited or like to sacrifice as much as I do in a task.
I think realizing what kind of person you are and how you work with other people is a vital part of knowing how to be a good leader. You have to know your own strengths and weaknesses, and also know how to work with different personality types, just like we discussed with situational leadership. I think I will continue to learn more about myself and try to become my best self. I shouldn't try to be like everyone else, but should strive to be my best self.

Situational Leadership

This week's lecture was interesting. I don't usually think of leadership under the four quadrants Adrianne described. Usually I think about it as more of an inspirational and motivating thing, but now as I look at the four quadrants, I understand better what he means by applying these things in different places and for the different people we lead.

Directing: The example I thought of in my own life of directing was in my new job last semester. I worked for BYU catering and went in not knowing quite what to do. So, my first day I worked with a "Captain" who was trained in how to do everything. She had to tell me exactly what to do, where I could find things, and how to do the tasks right. She didn't really fulfill the supporting role for me because there was a task that needed to be done quickly so she couldn't quite cheer me on which was fine. Because I didn't know what I was doing she had to supervise me closely, but once I started getting the hang of things I was able to also help support some other new comers. The roles are always changing.
Coaching: One instance in which I saw coaching was in my English class last semester. My teacher was very helpful in making me a better writer. Because I wasn't all that great of a writer, she told me how to write and what things I needed to include. She let me come to her and we would revise my papers together, therefore creating two way communication, a big key in coaching. I was so thankful for her coaching because you don't usually get that with a professor.
Supporting: I saw supporting from my student government teacher when I was on the Executive Board last year. My teacher trusted us to make good decisions and helped us when we needed it. Overall, the control of what was to be done was in our hands. We just had to go to her for approval. She let us make important decisions and facilitated what we did. As the executive board, we also played a supporting leadership role to the other class members. We helped them with the activities they wanted to plan and let them do it, with our approval.
Delegating: I think one place we see delegating a lot is in group projects, especially when group members are busy and the group can't meet with everyone as often as needed. You have to assign people to what they can do best and have trust that they will follow through on their tasks.

I think we should all consider the people we are working with and the events we are working in to decide how we should approach each situation with an appropriate leadership role. Sometimes you will even change your roles multiple times within a block of time and depending on who you work with. In every situation, we should be considerate to everyones' needs.

Leadership Interview

For my leadership interview, I decided to interview my twenty four year old sister, Lindsey Glauser. She got back from her mission to Richmond, VA about a year ago and so I thought she could tell me about some leadership qualities she had to have as a missionary. However, when I started asking her questions, she didn't talk about the mission as much as I thought. She talked a lot about how she has transformed into a better leader since she's been on the mission.

I asked her to define "leadership" and "leader" and this is what she said: A leader is somebody who instinctively stands out of the crowd, is able to make decisions quickly, and is also confident and willing to serve. She also said that a leader has to be willing to serve and also willing to step back and follow when needed. Lindsey defined "leadership" as a condition that is obtained by building your own qualities and becoming who you want to be. I also asked her about what she thought was the most important quality and her answer was CHARITY. One of the qualities that I admire in her is her willingness to serve and go help people out. She told me that for her, the most useful quality in serving others was to have a sense of humor and be able to laugh and be happy. She said that when you are willing and happy about serving, all the little things that might bug you will go away.

Another thing I asked my sister was to tell me about an experience where she remembers showing leadership. With that question, she talked about the time when she was Laurel president and helped a less active member. She said that she called her every week to come to the activity, went and visited her once a month, and tried her best to make her feel included. She remembered the one time that the girl came to an activity that they had so she would come. Lindsey remembered feeling that she had made a difference in that girls' life even if it didn't seem like much.

I also asked her about a leader that she admired and she told me about her mission president. Lindsey said that although he was put into that position, he was a natural leader. He loved people and seeing them progress - he loved peoples' successes. He also sincerely constructively criticized people and helped them know how to improve.

I admire Lindsey as a leader because she works well with people and can recognize when people are feeling left out, she loves to serve, and she is a positive person. She influences others through leading by example and serving all that she can. Lindsey also went from having a somewhat negative attitude to being positive. She said that it was a process to become a more optimistic person and that she had to decide to do it. She said that my mom told her that she could either sit and sulk or get up and decide to be happy and have fun. I think a lot of her leadership comes from her contagious positive attitude.

I want to be more like her and follow her example of being positive, being ambitious, and serving others. I think I can be more charitable as a leader and know that by making a concious effort to choose to be better, I eventually will be.

Leadership Role

For my leadership role this semester, I will be volunteering with the BYU Special Olympics. I will help out by attending meetings, going to sports practices, and helping out the Special Olympics players. I've already started helping out by going to bowling practices on Thursdays. They also have a tournament in February that I will hopefully be able to attend with the athletes. I'm really excited about getting even more involved with Special Olympics!

What is Leadership?

I think there are so many different kinds of leadership, but the kind I most resonate with is leading by example. I believe that sometimes a leader doesn't have to be the one that is loud and speaks out first all the time. I think that some leaders are better by leading through example. When someone else in the group sees you doing the right thing, they will follow. I think a good definition of a leader is someone who leads a group, considering all other group members' ideas, in striving to complete a common goal. I also believe that the best leader should not be the one watching other people do the work or the service, but they should be participating with the group. This is what King Benjamin did: "And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I might serve you." (Mosiah 2:14) I believe one of the most important parts of leadership is to serve the people you work with and ultimately help them. I hope that as I go through this class, that I will be able to become a better leader myself.