Leadership

Dan's post and a recent conversation in a course I teach inspired me to write a little somethin' somethin' about leadership. When recently conducting my Star Class, a first-year student leadership symposium, I asked the question, what is leadership? Interestingly, the students focused most of their descriptions on positional leadership. That is, the formal leader, the head of a group, the chief of a tribe. When asked if they were leaders now, many of them stated, "no, we're just freshmen" or, "I haven't been that involved in any organizations yet."

These responses frustrated me a bit. When will we begin to think of leadership as being internal rather than external. Instead of thinking about 'who is the leader' when will we begin to reframe our focus to be 'how am I leading?' I believe leadership is simply, conviction in action. It is understanding our deepest passions and connecting them to our communities greatest need. It is about the work that we do, not the title that we're granted….In response to Dan true leaders will hear the ring and pick up the phone….

-JK

Ring...Ring...Ring

It seems as though everywhere you turn these days people are anguishing over some market. (World markets, supermarkets, stock markets, flea markets, etc.) The economic crisis has led our country into uncharted territory, while government officials scramble for a road map. And although church populations increase, many have lost faith in the system. Enter stage left.. The President-elect, Barack Hussein Obama.

Barrack Obama understands that no stimulus package is large enough to save us from where we are headed in the next several years. Obama has recently issued statements about public service and hope, calling on citizens for more then contributions and knocking on doors. He continues in the tradition of former transformational presidents (see FDR, JFK) who wanted to impact more then policy making based on the difficult times. It seems as though the President-elect wants to create a movement where people are creating positive social change.

The President-elect has picked up the phone, and dialed the American citizen…….time will tell who answers.

It's not about doing it again; it's about doing it better.

The college football season doesn’t start when the lights are turned on and the t.v. stations show up with the fans, it starts long before anyone is watching. Some think the season starts in August when the team reports for camp and the freshman come to campus. Some think it starts in the spring when you get to practice again. But if you want to be a great football team you can’t just show up for the practices or for the season. The real season starts the day after the previous season ends and finishes when the final whistle blows in your last game. The football season is a 365 day long test of character and commitment. During the season most people only see the games and the record of their team. But for a football team to be successful there is much more involved than just playing the games. The season before the season is where championships are won or lost. It’s where teams go from good to great. The amount of effort and energy put in during this time is critical to the success of the team. It’s what teams do when no one is watching and the t.v. stations are not there and the fans are at home that makes the difference. It’s the character of the team that leads to championships.

In 2007 the Harvard Crimson football team beat every oponent in the Ivy League and posted a record of 8-2 and a “perfect” 7-0 in the conference. This set the bar very high for the 2008 team and presented the Crimson with one of the toughest challenges any team can face, defending the conference championship. Where does a team go after you win the championship? And the answer is very simple, you either get better or you get worst, you never stay the same. So Harvard had to take a different approach to the 2008 season. They knew if they just showed up with the same mentality as the 2007 team did than teams they played would be ready and could beat them. But they didn’t just want to show up and win the championship again; they wanted to do it better. It’s not about repeating as a conference champ, it’s about building off that momentum and getting better as a team. That was the 2008 Crimson attitude from the very first day of the 365 day season. They worked to get better as individuals to ultimately make the team better. And when it came time to play those games the Crimson were prepared winning back to back Ivy League Championships with a record on 9-1 on the season, a little better than last year.

-Joe V

Gen Y's/Millenials Believing Brain

This blog was created to provide a platform for MCPA (http://www.mymcpa.net/driveinconference) members and other higher ed professionals to brainstorm about new ways to help today's college students live up to their potential. I have given a talk at this year's conference entitled, "Generation Y's Believing Brains," hence the title of this blog.

College students of today, Generation Y, have extraordinary potential. They have been described as confident, visual, multitasking learners who are technologically savvy. Perhaps most importantly, GEN. Y demands balance between work and life, and pursues meaningful, fast-paced jobs that stand for social responsibility. While this provides an optimistic view of today's college student, the question remains, "How can colleges keep up with their students?" The ambitions of GEN. Y are progressive, but they get bored easily and look for customized experiences and instant gratification. Scientific studies of the brain might provide some insight into the changing minds of today's college student. What can we do to help them live up to their potential?

kb

The Words You Should Throw Away

I want to talk to you today about the words that we chose to use in our conversations. Whether a conversation starts casually and suddenly turns serious and somber or vice versa, the words we say in our conversations always, always sound better in our mind. The life of our words is almost perfectly analogous to being a step-parent of well-known juvenile delinquent: it sounds noble, makes people believe that every parental deed you do is actually born of your own generosity rather than obligation—because, after all, the little bastard isn’t your child, but part of you knows, even if you truly do love your step-child, that your obligated by your marriage, by some, perhaps ill-advised, duty to your spouse. But you always put your best face on in front of people, shruggingly accepting their compliments about your character, relishing their small gestures of sympathy that sustain you on your martyr’s quest. And, all the while, you tell yourself that your duplicity is ok, that it is in fact necessary to keep your life as copacetic as possible. What would happen if you actually ran away from the situation or gave up on the child once and for all like you’ve often fantasized about doing? Would things be easier, or would you feel guilty about it—forever reminded, in random flashes, that you abandoned someone?

Just like this poor, hypothetical step-parent, our words exist in a constant struggle, a constant division between what we our egos tell us we should say and our sense of obligation to other people’s feelings, situations, ect. But, unlike the step-parent, our words exist in a pandemonium that is too intellectual, and too private sometimes, for sympathy. We’ve all told someone a variation of the following explanation after a misunderstanding: “I just chose the wrong words; you know I didn’t mean what you think I mean. I just can’t say the right thing to you,” and of course, you got no sympathy in return. Why? As common as this predicament is, when you’re in it, you feel utterly alone, stuffed with words that are betrayed in the very act of articulation, words that have nothing to do but fester in your mind like disembodied voices of ghosts that want you to share your physical body with them. The answer is intellectually simple, but impossible for us to ever really share with someone else: Our words are inherently duplicitous, and they deceive you and me, their creators, who hear them first in whispers more than the world that hears them in our voices. And this seems especially true when our words are intended to help someone else. When we believe our words can change someone else, sway them to adapt our perspective as their own, we become victims of a savior complex that is destined to leave us in the same place of contemplation—alone, weary, and too exhausted to listen to ourselves.

What is the mystery of this savior mentality? Well, we all know the answer: the value and the danger of the savior mentality are identical; the savior believes that something has given he or she the power to say all the words that are floating around in their minds. And, even worse, this power misleads an imminent savior into believing that their imagined words will actually persuade someone toward one decision or another. That’s tragic…quietly so. Because the savior uses every word, knows no limits, and abandons discretion in favor of “being honest”—a noxious vapor, the only one that harms us without actually harming our atmosphere.

So how is this story related to belief and accomplishment? Simple really: as you work toward changing yourself or changing someone else for the better, there are always words you should say and words you shouldn’t say—no matter what you believe your position in a situation actually is, and no matter how convincing some of the wrong words seem. When you fully believe that a mere message spoken from your mouth will be enough to change someone, you are forgetting the only useful cliché that exists in this world: Only people can change themselves, even if they need your help to do it. Your words may be good, but they will change only you—no one else.

I’m not saying don’t try to help someone who needs it, but any words or phrases that give you that feeling, that conviction that you’ve finally found the key to persuading someone should be thrown away. I can’t tell you what words to use or what feeling to trust; that’s another mystery for another day, when I am younger in mind and older in body.

-EF

Corporate Social Responsibility – The New Cool Where Everybody Wins

Starbucks. Google. American Apparel. Ever hear of these companies? I’m sure you have. In fact, I’m willing to bet you’re probably sitting in a Starbucks right now, possibly wearing your American Apparel iB-LIEVE t-shirt, and that you probably got to this very Blog from your own Google home page.

But behind the products and services we enjoy from these companies, there is a much larger thing going on behind the scenes. For example, did you know that one of Starbucks’ guiding principles is Corporate Social Responsibility? Are you aware that the founders of Google have given billions of dollars in seed money with the objective to tackle poverty, disease, and global warming? And did you know that American Apparel is known for its progressive policies in promoting immigrant rights and labor policies that pioneered the “sweatshop free” movement is apparel manufacturers?

These companies, like many others, are tapping into new markets and expanding corporate philosophies. They are looking to do more “good” and show you how much of it they are doing. Companies are not just thinking in terms of profit anymore, they are striving to become more socially conscious and providing a positive impact on society.

But what is it exactly? According to some experts, “corporate social responsibility” is a concept where organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities, as well as the environment.

Thanks to you, me, and millions of other consumers like us, corporate social responsibility has now become a standard business practice. Conscious consumers like us continue to dig deeper into the products we purchase, paying more attention to a company’s behavior than the product itself. We establish emotional connections with the brands we identify with and we like to identify companies that care not just about us and what we like, but also what the world can benefit from and the positive impact they are making. It’s become a true demand from the population, and more and more corporations are realizing it helps their bottom line.

Do you believe in a company that’s socially responsible? Let us know what companies you buy from that are making a positive impact in the world.

-JL

-You never know how far you can go until you try-

Believers, everyday we are faced with new challenges some small and some large. Our lives are overflowing with unforeseen highs and lows whether they are mental, physical, or emotional. We can judge ourselves by how well we adapt to the plethora of circumstances that we find ourselves in on a daily basis; how well we adapt to positive circumstances, and how well we adapt to negative circumstances. My experiences have helped me to realize several facts about adapting to life’s uncertainties. One that I would like to focus on is this:

-Do not avoid seemingly negative circumstances because you believe you are unable to navigate through them effectively.

The negative judgment implies that we already know what the ultimate outcome will be and beginning any difficult endeavor with such an attitude is not a good place to start. It is true that we simply don’t know enough to be pessimistic. Additionally, I believe that the greater the obstacle the greater the triumph….. “Both virtue and art are always concerned with what is harder, for success is better when it is hard to achieve.” Heraclitus-

Within the field of counseling psychology the phrase systematic desensitization is used to describe how fears can be overcome if you progressively expose yourself to whatever it is that you fear. I would like to challenge you (believers) to put yourself out there and refuse to be paralyzed by your fears. Demand more of yourself for the sake of becoming a better YOU! Challenges can come in many different forms. What is challenging for one may not be challenging to another; but stepping outside of your comfort zone is GREAT for anyone. Many times I say to the athletes that I train that you should get comfortable with the uncomfortable. In training as in life, each day is an opportunity to become better; MAXIMIZE the OPPORTUNITY!

With love and Passion-

Pete Athans-27

Keep believing…

A Man's Search for Motivation

Every day billions of people rise with the sun and move. They go about daily routines without very much thought of the motivational energy that moves us. What motivates people to move? What motivates people to change there current mental state or physical circumstance?

In my search to understand motivation, I found that motivation is “something that energizes and directs behavior..” Motivation deals with the drive that causes us to act in a particular way, or change our way of acting to another more desirable way. We may be moved by both internal drives such as needs and curiosity (see early iB-LIEVE team summer travels, 2003) as well as external drives including rewards and pressures. But, how we are moved and what moves each of us is individualistic. While all of this helps me to understand motivation, my question remains, “What motivates people to change?”

I believe motivation for change can come from a plethora of places: personality traits, events, experiences, disequilibrium, relationships, values, emotions , etc. But what it boils down to is that we all need incentive to change. We need a reason to change. Where does this reason come from? The reason comes from the beliefs about ourselves and what we want right now and in our future. Changing these beliefs is the gateway to making changes in our motive to act. This is what motivates change, the belief that change is necessary and will bring about desirable outcomes in the future. It turns out that to change our lives requires us to first change our beliefs. Dare I say it…”I believe, therefore I am.” What I mean is that what I believe is often times what I become because what I believe gives reason to what I want in life, and this motivates my choices.

Finally, we must understand that change in beliefs is not a linear process.
As we develop and understand it’s progression it is important to be compassionate of ourselves and others. We must also be mentally and emotionally flexible through this process. (see iB-LIEVE way)

-Mac Attack Express (DM,EM) & KB

The iB-LIEVE team presents at American International College

This past week the iB-LIEVE Team went to Springfield, MA to work with the American International College Student Government Association. The 30 or so students were increibly engaged and eased our ability to explore concepts in leadership, team work, and getting the most out of the experience. We laughed our way through the Candy Store Skit, engaged in experiential activities, and thought critically about this year's goal(s) for the Student Government Association. We even received great feedback from Erin Underwood, AIC's Director of Student Activities. "iB-LIEVE really got our Student Government excited about leadership on campus. They came full of energy and excitement that the students picked up on right away. I would definitely recommend them for any group looking for a leadership model to implement!" Thanks Erin, Chirs Mercurio, and the AIC SGA. We had a blast!

-JK

The iB-LIEVE team visits Emerson College

The iB-LIEVE Team is on the move! We are building great momentum in the world of higher education with our original iB-Workshops. We have just presented at Emerson College and are preparing for an exciting opportunity at American International College. On top of that, we are helping to sponsor two higher education conferences in November and December.

The workshop at Emerson was incredibly fun, and educational - it was a success for us and Emerson students. We worked with the Resident Assistants for close to two hours by sharing our motto (positive thought + positive attitude + positive action = positive change), engaging in hands-on experiential activities, reflecting on personal RA goals, and sharing the iB-LIEVE WAY. Be on the lookout for some iB-LIEVE wristbands. The RAs have been empowered to distribute them to those whom are in need of a little belief…

jon & kevin

Three people the next President of the United States should BELIEVE in!

C. Otto Scharmer
The next president should believe in C. Otto Scharmer. Scharmer is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has recently created and written about a new leadership theory and practice. This new paradigm of leadership, known as Presence or Theory U, revolutionizes the way individuals and organizations work towards their goals, visions, and dreams. Scharmer interviewed 150 leaders from all over the world and from all sectors of society. He found that these successful individuals operate from a 'different' place. They are guided by a deep sense of conviction and a commitment to living their values. Scharmer complied their responses and created a leadership model in order to help others be as grounded and successful as those individuals.

In short, this leadership model, this way of thinking and acting begins by asking us to reflect upon our situation or the task at hand. We should suspend our judgements in order to see from a 360 degree perspective. We then move into a purposeful opportunity to pause. In this moment, we should leave our comfortable environment (physically if possible) by taking a walk, or meditating, etc. This retreat is where we allow ourselves to let go of our ideas and thoughts and let come that which is supposed to be. These two steps are often forgotten by most leaders. Instead, actions upon actions are taken without any critical thinking. Another remarkable part of this theory and practice is that it is based on us creating personal space to open our mind, open our heart, and open our will. The last thing I find so remarkable about this theory, is that it asks participants who utilize it to understand who is my Self, and what is my Work. More information can be found at www.ottoscharmer.com
-jk

Himself
As I thought to myself about all the exemplary people in society, whether they be scientists, educators or nobel laureates, I could only think of one answer. The next President must believe in himself. Our nation is currently in a dilemma. I am not only referring to the market slump, but the United States is currently fighting two wars. In addition, our economy has taken a very large hit in the housing and job market and there is currently an energy crisis that could shape our society for the next 100 years. The next President will be surrounded by many bright and talented advisors, but at the end of the day it will be his decision when and if to leave Iraq. It will be his decision whether or not to inject the economy with a second surplus package. And it will be his decision to drill in our domestic waters or invest resources into alternative energy.

I think that the next president, no matter who it may be, will not do what is in the best interest of his political party, but what is in the best interest of man kind. He will have to believe, like many great American Presidents before him, that his decisions will be the right ones; no matter whether they reflect poorly or positively on his administration. In a time when high school students are unsure whether they will be able to afford college or when small business owners are afraid that they will be unable to make payroll, I believe that the next President, no matter what age, race or gender, will put Americans first; and politics second.
-ejm

Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett may ironically be the least greedy billionare on the face of the earth. Buffet was born in 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of a stockbroker and Congressman, he has become probably the world's most successful investor. Although it didn't reflect his family background, he delivered newspapers as a child to make extra money and made enough money to file a $7 tax return, deducting his watch and bicycle as business expenses. He then used those proceeds to purchase a small farm at age 14. This was one of the many seeds planted for the future success of Buffet.

His entrepreneurial nature as a young man has led him to become the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, originally started as a textile company and now a giant conglomerate investment vehicle of wholly owned subsidiaries focusing on a core business of insurance and ranging from candy manufacturers to utility companies- all of which have a long term investment horizon.
Buffet has an interesting determination to not only master business investing in a conservative fashion but to lead a simple life as ironic as that may sound considering he's among the world's wealthiest individuals. Among the companies he owns, he communicates with his CEO's once a year and tells them he has two rules for them- 1) don't lose any of their shareholder's money and 2) don't forget rule 1.

He doesn't endeavor to take huge risk on behalf of his stockholders- "I don't look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over." What if all presidents thought like this? That mentality is mirrored in his personal life where he still lives in the same small 3 bedroom house in mid-town Omaha, that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence. He owns the world's largest private jet company, but never flies on a private jet. He doesn't even own a cell phone nor does he socialize with the "high society crowd." His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch television.

He is also a philanthropist and continually preaches out to the business world, as well as individuals never to use public opinion as a measure of truth. The next president must be coherent of this idea and not abuse it. He encourages society to invest in themselves , both intellectually and financially. Buffet is the quintessential icon of excellence and his model, if envied by the next president can only lead to things good. The sound behavior and calm demeanor by which he lives should be followed by all of us. The ideals he leads and lives by stem from an incredible work ethic, undying aptitude for learning, and a keen vision for success. He believes in himself and his example speaks to all of us that there is possibility in everything and everyone if recognized.
"You do things when the opportunities come along. I've had periods in my life when I've had a bundle of ideas come along, and I've had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I'll do something. If not, I won't do a damn thing"

www.goibelieve.com Launch Party

It's been about two weeks since the iB-LIEVE website launch party, and we would again like to thank everyone who came out to Lir to celebrate with us.  We crammed over 100 people in the hopes and desires to introduce the new website to our friends and family and to say thank you! We could not have made the progress we have made without the support of our family, friends and fellow believers.  You can believe there are going to be more parties to come...

-dm

Welcome to the iB-LIEVE Blog!

Welcome from Kevin,

It is too often that we overlook or doubt the power of our personal potential, and fill our real and virtual lives with meaningless information that distracts us from inspiration. Being inspired to believe in our own abilities to succeed motivates us to take action on what we want in life and persevere in the face of difficulties. When we believe in others, they too are empowered to take action on what they believe, and in turn they are better equipped to achieve what they want in life.

The internet contains a vast amount of both meaningful and meaningless information, and it is up to each one of us to decide what we want to bring into our lives by believing in it, or not. What we choose to believe in, we will infuse into our daily thinking, feeling, and acting.

We are what we believe. The iB-LIEVE BLOG provides you the opportunity to instill meaning into your life in an easy and innovative way. Blog with us - write what you think about the topics we post and share photos and movies of you living the iB-LIEVE way.

-kb