Blog#9-Reflection on class

As the semester went on, I learned many new types of leadership styles and how to utilize them in todays society. I thought being a leader meant standing out for yourself and try to impact the way others do specific things, for example vote towards a specific political party, everyone is going to have different views but you're going to think your own views are shaped to be the best and influence others to sway your way, in which this type of leadership style is what I reflected leadership as a whole. Although, I learned many different other ways to be a leader like Enabling Others To Act by creating conversations between others that lead to different ideas for a specific subject; like if you're working on a group project, everyone's input should be included because everyone has different ideas that can shape a great project. With those great ideas, that carries into Encouraging the Heart which is another type of leadership that is used in many different influences around the world. There is always one person that sticks out in doing this and every team needs this. When a team faces adversity, they need that person to step up and say "We can do this, keep up the hard work." Because just those few words can go a long way and influence people in a positive way.

As Encouraging the Heart plays a huge affect in a leadership quality, it also leads to impact of Modeling the Way, which is probably one of the most important leadership qualities I learned in the whole class. Every leader has a goal in mind, a man on a mission as some people call it and they're so set on achieving this goal that the ambition of achieving this goal reflects the way others work towards it. When analyzing a team, one person stands out over others and speaks out on their beliefs and how things should be done, like the organizer or manager of the team. They make sure everything is on track and being done properly to achieve the goal. I believe this is the most important quality to have in a leadership style because without the one person that just has the drive to achieve something, it makes feel impossible to achieve anything. Everyone wants that one person that will tell it how it is, the way things need to be done in order to create something of themselves.

Overall I learned a lot of new things about leadership that I didn't know and how to use them in the future. I believe all the qualities I mentioned will make a great leader, sometimes it's hard to find a leader with every quality that constitutes a great leader. I hope later on down the road I can use these qualities at my future job and interviews to help shape me as a better person. I think learning these new qualities will really help how I overview myself as a person and help me be a better person. Having an impact on someone else's life in a positive way will change your perspective on life and as a person. Although, it's sometimes tough to answer certain questions in class, I do believe I have many things to say that will help reflect who I truly am as a leader, it's just tough wording everything you have to say at once and hard to speak on certain topics.  

Peck's Theory

A community that I was once apart of that explains Peck's theory well is the assisted living place I volunteered at called Emeritus. I volunteered there my senior year of high school, in which I had to interact with elderly people and teach them new things before their last days come to an end. My goal as a volunteer was to bring the people together and make sure that they're enjoying what time they have left. This relates to the first part of Peck's Theory which I see as forming groups and reviewing the certain dynamics they proceed. Being able to create this community and bring more elderly people together and make friendships is the main concept behind the theory. Helping older people can be difficult at times because of all the different medical conditions they have gone or are going through. My teacher encouraged me to take on the challenge and form a relationship amongst the people. I ended up creating a huge project that made the people of Emeritus interact more and gave the folks enjoyment that they don't get to see everyday.

The form of enjoyment that I provided them with was a fashion show, in which many different students from my high school came to Emeritus and dressed up in nice Dresses and Tux's. This provided entertainment for the older people and created more friendships throughout the whole place. I specifically remember seeing the main guy I normally visited weekly named Warren laughing with one of his neighbors which created a sense of joy for me on the inside because I knew he was happy.

These people did have times where they were really stressed in certain situations and didn't know how to handle it properly. This describes the second part of Peck's Theory because when these people act out, they can't control their actions and it causes many issues. In the sense that arguing over little things causes certain corruption but depending on the person or the environment you're surrounded by indicates your actions. When the elderly people would play trivia, we would always have to keep track of points so the people could get prizes. When the question is asked you had a little buzzer to click, which causes a large amount of drama. Certain people would think they got the answer first and argue about it for hours, in order to keep the peace we gave them both points. This destroys the forming part of Peck's Theory because our goal was to bring joy to the people and hopefully help them meet new people. The prices really kept the people calm but there were times where elderly people left the room very un-happy.

In my final days at Emeritus, I went around the whole place and asked all the people what they're favorite memories have been here and most of them have replied with "moments with you." This made me feel great because I was able to provide these people with a sense of care and let them know that their last moments are ones to cherish. I also helped create more relationships around the place and brought more people together. The advisor of the place said I did a great job at volunteering and she said when my friend and I would come the place would light up. She also stated that we did a lot of good for these people in their last moments and gave them something to hope for. This part is all about the third part of Peck's Theory in bring these people together and creating relationships. The third part is all about the group dynamics and how well you can form a community into one strong one. Being able to utilize Peck's Theory in many situations can be helpful, I believe the memories I made at Emeritus showed the theory well, especially in the sense of bringing people together and showing connections you can have with others.

Blog#7

The main target identities that really bring a lot to mind when looking at the outside world is race and gender. Gender in our society is something that can be a big deal to many people. Obviously many people who are feminists are pushing for more rights for Women and trying to make equality equal amongst men and women. Many different types of people have problems with women making certain types of income they make. Typically, the average salary for a guy is more than the average salary for women. I don’t believe the values that represent our society are necessarily fair in this case. If you go to college and work hard to get a degree, then gender shouldn’t matter in disputing for a job, but sometimes certain jobs are more fit for men and the same way with women. Although, the main issue is women trying to find jobs compared to men. On the average, you’re more likely to get a job because you’re male if you fit the qualities. This issue has taken off in our society, but I believe equality has been fair since back in the old days. There are plenty of women that are making great money and ranked in some of the highest political positions in the world, which is some of the most important jobs you can have. Although, switching the subject over to race, I believe this is still the main issue in our society. I've witnessed people get kicked out of restaurants because of their skin color. Now I am not the one to judge but I thought racial problems were in the past? I don’t think someone should be neglected because of their skin color; they’re people just like us and happen to shape our society just like whites. Although, it’s our responsibility as people to be respectful and not make a fool out of us when sensitive subjects are brought up. It depends on what type of person you are, what you believe in and that’s what will judge with your position on racial terms but don’t let someone influence what you think because of the way someone else appears.

A non target identity that fits with these two target identities are police officers. Police officers affect what people do in their everyday life because they’re the law enforcement. They provide safety for the people and control the way the law that is inflicted on people. When certain activities like riots about race or riots about gender in-equality are taking place, they control the situation but also control the way certain people act. Normally if there is a riot about race, African Americans tend to act out against the police and this is because these people are just trying to get a message across and the police enforce violence on pleasant social movements. These kinds of things are why race in-equality still exists in our world. Also, when social movements for feminists are taking place violence isn’t used as much and this right here shows how in-equality is taking place between both target identities.