Dr. Ben Wilson (2/6)

1. Recently I have been reflecting on my experience and I am amazed at how far we all have come since interviewing last March. When I came in I had no idea what this year would hold, but I am so glad that I have had this opportunity. My involvement has helped me develop in several ways. One of the biggest is learning how to delegate. In the past I would try and do too much by myself. This position has given me the opportunity to learn to identify the strengths of each individual and use those strengths to the advantage of the group. There is too much to be done for just one person to do it, and I have also realized that by trying to do it all myself I am robbing those around me of opportunities to grow. By delegating and having my role be more of a mentor than the "do-er" everyone involved has benefitted. Another way in which my involvement has helped my development as a leader was by participating in the 360 survey. This gave me the change to identify my strengths as well as those things that I could improve upon. I would not have been able to attain that information without this course and the survey.

2. I think that it takes courage to make improvements sometimes. It is not always easy to make changes in long-existing programs. One of my struggles last semester was helping one of my program directors to see the need to make changes in a program. I think that sometimes we get so stuck in tradition that we don't realize that things need to change. We need to have the courage to make those hard decisions about keeping programs and we also need the courage to be honest with ourselves. It will not be easy, but those decisions need to be made. I have always been struck by the idea of "sacred funds" and I think that it is our responsibility to make sure these funds are being spent in the best way possible.

Dean Cox (1/30)

One of the tips that I liked was "don't fear those in power." I don't necessarily fear people in power, but I do feel intimidated sometimes. The more I think about it, the more silly I realize it is. We are all just volunteers doing our best in our different capacities. In my current role I have learned that it is much more efficient to learn all I can from those in power rather than be intimidated.

Another thing I have learned is that often we don't give ourselves enough credit. I have had program directors thank me for things I have done that I didn't think twice about. And people have done that for me. We need to give ourselves more credit! It's easy to look at other people and get discouraged, but we need to get out of that cycle.

A second tip that I enjoyed was his advice to "sprout deep roots." If we pretend that we are going to be in our current position for a long time then we become more invested. We need to be careful that we aren't always looking to the future so far that we miss the great things that are happening now. Sometimes I struggle with thinking that "I'll be happy when..." and when that event comes I think forward to the next event and then the next one and soon a lot of time has gone by. I was talking to my grandpa and he asked when my school work and other responsibilities would slow down. I found myself thinking ahead all the way to the end of the  semester! I told him that I have accepted the fact that school and different responsibilities will be crazy, but that I am just going to embrace the craziness and enjoy. There is no other way to do it without going insane. In my life right now, I have found that there is great value in reflecting. I have been keeping a much more consistent journal lately and I am surprised how much of a difference it has made to write about blessings. It has made me more appreciative of the small things that are going on in my life.

I think that this lesson will carry throughout my life. If we always act like we are going to be where we are for a long time we are more likely to build relationships that will last.

Class (1/23)

1. Since we are surrounded by so many leadership-driven and goal-oriented people, it is easy for me to think that everyone is the same way. This year I have learned to appreciated more types of people and I have learned that everyone has something that they bring to the table. I can learn something from each person that I come in contact with. Sometimes, these people fall into the category of "the least of these." We all need to try and help those people, while also being receptive to what they can teach us. Service Squad definitely attracts a different crowd than most volunteer opportunities, and that has been great for me. If I go to Service Squad and I am receptive to the Spirit I am better able to help those around me. In my future service, I think one way to apply this counsel is to look for the good in each person and to be nonjudgmental. 

2. I think that the best way to learn from someone who may come from a different educational background is to have an open heart. This can only happen with a conscious effort. I try to pray and ask Heavenly Father to help me to learn from the speaker. The scriptures teach us that if we ask, seek, and knock the Lord will open our minds and help us. [Please note the lack of the Oxford comma in the preceding sentence.]  I have felt that occur when I served at the MTC last year. Some of the missionaries came in and it was evident by his speech that we had more education. My roommate who was volunteering with me and I had said a prayer that we would be receptive to the missionaries' message and that prayer came to be. It was one of the most powerful lessons that I heard during that semester and I was grateful to the Lord for the Spirit that was present in the room so we all could be uplifted together.

Leading Change

Question One

My mom used to be the Young Women's president in our ward. She was put in the calling when there was change in the ward. There was a huge number of girls in the ward due to the change, and each of them had their own needs. There was a huge learning curve for her as she found out what her calling included, but she learned everything quickly. There were few things that helped her lead the change successfully. One of these things was prayer. Heavenly Father knew the needs of her girls and through Him, she could find that out. She also learned that she couldn't do it alone. She received help from Heavenly Father and also from her counselors. Another big thing that contributed to her success was learning patience, especially with herself. It is important to realize that we aren't going to do everything perfectly, and to be patient with ourselves. I think both these things, along with others, were important for her success.

Question Two

Discovery Statement 1: Switching the hand I wrote with slowed me down, but I slowly started to adapt (kinda). It made me appreciative that I don't have to do it more often.

Discovery Statement 2: Over the weekend I went to the optometrist. On the wall was written a quote by Helen Keller that said, "The most pathetic thing in the world is a man who has sight, but no vision."

Discovery Statement 3: It was hard not to run into things and I was scared that I was going to fall down the stairs.

I think these activities taught important lessons. The first activity made me think about how we need to be adaptable in order to successfully lead change. Things are rarely going to go according to plan, and so we need to be able to adjust accordingly. The second activity taught me about how we need vision. We can't ever reach goals that we don't set! We need to have a vision in order to successfully do what we are responsible for. The third activity made me think about how we need to be willing to take risks sometime to get things done. I was really scared that I was going to fall down the stairs, and so I had to take a risk to accomplish the task.

Teamwork and Collaboration

1. One experience I had with successful teamwork was when my high school NHS Council worked to put on our first event. It was the Induction Ceremony for about two hundred new members, and to us as new officers, it was a daunting task. We had to plan the program, schedule a speaker, find entertainment, get food, send out invitations, and figure out all the details. On the scale of events that BYUSA does, this would have been very simple, but this was a huge task to me at the time. We had many meetings beforehand to plan, and then tasks were delegated. We all filled our responsibilities and the program was able to move forward successfully.

I think there were several keys that made us successful. The first application I can draw is that we made a plan. We have a established action plan template for our events and programs in BYUSA and if we can use it effectively we will be better off. Planning is essential to everything we do. Another thing that I think is important to mention is that we divided up the tasks. It is impossible for one person to do everything, and there is no reason that anyone should! Planning goes a lot more smoothly when there are many minds working on it. The last thing that I want to address is that in NHS, we capitalized on each others’ strengths. A few of the girls are very creative, so they were in charge of decorations. Another boy knew a good public speaker, so he was in charge of asking that man to speak at the program. A few other officers were very articulate, so they conducted the program. We were able to put on a better event because we were all doing what we were good at.

2. In Communications this year we have talked about how all of us girls are very competitive with each other. The analogy of “crabs in a bucket” has been used. This is a little bit easier said than done, but we just need to cut it out. My responsibilities and relationships with people are very different than Olivia’s or Karen’s or Sarah’s and so it is silly to compare. I think we can start to fix this program by being aware of each others’ strengths. This is so we aren’t comparing our weaknesses to someone else’s strengths. I think it is also important to celebrate each other’s victories. If we can rejoice in a job well done by another member of our team, we become closer as a team and can lift each other up. All of us have so much potential, and I think that potential is untapped for as long as we continue competing with each other. I also think it is important for all of us to be working on this, because together we can do much more than any of us can do alone. If not everyone is on board, nothing is going to change.