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Hi everyone! I’m sorry to make 2 posts in such a short time frame, but this particular post needs to be posted now. =P

Today I quickly scanned the headlines from the news feed on the side bar from this site, and wow! Bank of Canada says the recession is over! [Link] My first reaction? PLEASE don’t let this be just another random and inaccurate report…

Yes, with all the constant fluctuations in the news headlines, I didn’t really know if I can believe something like this. Then as I was driving to Waterloo for my Student Life 101 volunteer training, I heard it on the radio again! And when I came back from Waterloo, I saw more news about it! They don’t seem to be kidding around this time. Now I have my own doubts and skepticism, but the optimist in me couldn’t help but wonder, if it’s true, what does that mean?

I’m just going to share with you some interesting thoughts that came with this news, maybe you thought of the same things, or maybe it’s something you might want to consider as well! As always, I want to keep it less focused on wrong or right, but more personal, and growth related.

1. Being the first real recession since the early 90’s, it was actually very short! It lasted only 3 quarters! I myself thought it was just simply too soon for it end, and I’m sure many people felt the same. Does that mean that we’re still unstable and will crash in the future? Or rather, thinking more positively, it might be a sign that we’re heading in the right direction! And that the government is actually learning from past mistakes for once and has improved procedures to handle recessions? I know that most people’s natural instinct is to criticize the government as much as they can, but you have to take yourself away from popular thinking, and wonder if we’re actually improving as a society and gaining experience points. (Which I hope we are!)
2. As a student about to face co-op for the first time, I was concerned about the recession and its affects on the hiring rate. However, I saw another article “The recession is over, but not the pain“, and it seems like unemployment is still rising, and it’s going to take a while for the economy to fully heal. However, the news of a recovery is always better than news of us getting into a deeper recession.
3. For those of you going into 2A, I’m sure you all thought this before “aw man, why is the recession NOW? Right before my first co-op term?!”. Well I’m no exception! But perception is key, and when I finally got wind that the recession is finally officially over (sort of), I looked back, and realized that this recession might not be my bad luck after all.

   I don’t know about the rest of you, but I found finding a summer job rather hard this summer. Many times, I got really frustrated with everything, including the economy. But life is more fair than you think, every hardship is rewarded somehow. Because I realized that I needed to become better, to adapt to my new situation, I grew and developed more this summer than I would normally in a year!

   For example, I have been wanting to make a site for years, but never thought I’ll make it a blog. But not only did I actually acted on my plans for the site, but I made it better than I ever dreamed possible! Also, I have decided that I will go through with taking up martial arts lessons, which I have always wanted to take, but never actually got to it. I changed my perspective positively on many different things, including who I am and what I really wanted out of my life. I’m very happy about the personal growth, development, and initiatives I took this summer. This would’ve likely never happened if I wasn’t faced with hardships and challenges!

We all need to have to do some “high-level thinking” from time to time, and this is the perfect time! Look back on the recession now, look at the big picture, and try to answer these questions:

The recession must’ve affected you, made changes to your life, physically or emotionally. How did you adapt? What can you learn from all of this? Now, assuming it’s really over, what does it mean for you? How did you growing during the last 3 quarters, and what direction do you want to go from here?

I think this recession has given us a better picture of Canada and the world, I’m sort of glad to be able to see this before my career starts. Also, keep in mind that there is value is every little thing, and even things that seems extremely bad.

I hope you got some insight from this post, I know it’s a bit unusual and may feel a bit scattered, but I’m really just trying to share with you some thoughts on the recession, not write a report on any particular topic =)

Please comment!

Hi everyone, this is part 2 of John C. Rich’s 10 principles to leadership! Which is 10 principles that an effective leader should follow! I attended a lesson about leadership by John during one of the officer trainings at Toastmasters, and John was kind enough to give me permission to share this information with all of you! For more information on John C. Rich, and the first 5 principles of leadership, refer Part 1 of this series!

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Maximize the skills, experience, and knowledge of each team member. Make sure that each member is appreciated and recognized for what they bring to the team, and acknowledge their importance and expertise by assigning them tasks that they love to do and is good at.

Train and cross-train members so that there will always be someone that is able to do the job if one person in the team couldn’t make it.

Supply resources and offer support for your team members after the delegation, follow up and confirm that they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing. However, don’t drop in unexpectedly like an inspection, make sure you tell them when you’re going to follow up so they know when to expect you. You don’t want to make them feel uncomfortable.

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Yes you heard it before. Firm, fair, and friendly. In that order! Before anything else, you have to make sure the job gets done first. At the same time, you should treat everyone fairly and equally, in order to develop trust and avoid conflicts. Lastly, it’s important to make everyone feel good about what they’re doing. Make sure you know their needs! This could be done by simply just asking, they will probably just appreciate that you asked! After you know their needs, provide as much support as it’s reasonable. Remember, the risk and responsibility is shared. Communicate with them constantly while the work is being done so they never feel alone.

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Know what is going on around you, be aware of everything that goes on. This is very important for leaders, because it’s almost a part of their job description! A good leader should also be able to identify opportunities and challenges and come up with appropirate plans for them. In other words, you need to be constantly scanning the playing field and spot things before they become an issue or before it’s too late to take advantage of that opportunity. If it helps, try sitting down once per week to do some research or just simply writing ideas down!

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Identify and maximize both human and physical resources, this may require you to be creative at times! Talk to your team about this, they might have great ideas too!

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Situations will change and challenges will always appear. Make sure you are able to adapt to different situations, this sometimes means you have to be creative. John mentioned that there are 3 types of creativity:

• Spontaneous creativity – idea comes spontaneously
• Planned creativity – you sit down and think about it
• Forced creativity – you come up with a solution now, or else…

As a leader, many times you will be forced to be creative, and being good at that will be of an advantage to you.

While being flexible, it’s always very important to maintain sight of the ultimate goal no matter what.

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So there you have it! 10 principles of leadership! I found them very useful to review from time to time, and I hope that it will help you too!

Here are some other tips and advice John left with us:

• When making constructive critisim, try not to use the word “but”, in the structure “(positive statement), but…” because it doesn’t really matter what you say after, it’s already interpreted as negative the moment you say but. Try to use “and” instead “(positive statement), and it would be great if you could also improve on…”. Also avoid the words “should”, or “could”.
• When you’re giving constructive criticism, try to follow the following format: “When you.. I feel…. because…., it would help me to understand if…..” then listen and respond. Always try to move towards a win-win situation.
• When you first delegate duties, try to delegate the unimportant stuff first. This includes the non-important and urgent, as well as the non-important and not urgent. Delegate small things first and then work your way up, this kind of stuff needs practice too!
• Read the book: The 7 habits of highly effective people (I just recently bought this book, once I finish it, I will definitely make an review on it!)

I would like to thank John C. Rich once again for this information. If you want to know more about John, and N’Riched Programs, visit www.nrichedprograms.com. I hope that everyone got a lot of these 10 principles and will apply them to become an effective leader in the future!

Please comment!

Hi everyone! Today I’m going to talk about Leadership, the big word that everyone’s talking about! Being a leader is very rewarding and exciting, but it’s one of the hardest thing to do right. Leaders have to work with the most complex and unpredictable systems on earth, people.

Last month I attended a Toastmasters officer training even though I just joined Toastmasters and haven’t even done my first speech yet! But boy am I glad I did! In addition to everything else I’ve learned, I attended a leadership lesson by John C. Rich. John is an extremely accomplished individual who has accomplishments in business, sports, and military! He is a professional speaker, presenter, and trainer. He owns N’Riched Programs, and was the author of the book “Beyond Relationships Selling“. I found his presentation extremely useful and enjoyable and gave me a clear picture of what I have to do in order to become a better leader.

Naturally, I took a lot of notes, and John was kind enough to grant me permission to post it here and share it with everyone! John talked about 10 principles of Leadership, and gave us some very good advice. Due to the length of this post, I will separate this topic into 2 parts. I will share with you 5 principles in this post and 5 more in part 2!

Keep in mind that the following information is based on John’s presentation, but some of my opinions might be mixed in!

So let’s get to the point, how can you be a good leader?

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This seems like common sense, but it’s actually one of the most important points to constantly remind yourself of! If you remember nothing else, remember this! I personally have probably lost so much potential opportunities what were very possible, but I just didn’t try for it!

Look for leadership opportunities, and accept the responsibilities for your own actions. Never pass the blame to someone else!

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Develop and communicate a clear picture to your team. It’s very important to have a clear idea of what the end result or the goal will look like, imagine it! The vision is shared when the team members are actively included in the process, you have to make sure that the team takes ownership of the vision as well as you.

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Problem solving is also a big word, we all want to be good problem solvers, but how? First of all, it’s very important to take responsibility for your decisions and never pass a fault to someone else. When making decisions, try using the “problem solving appreciation” when time permits. This involves identifying the:

• Aim – what exactly are you trying to achieve? Believe it or not, this is a very useful question that can get you back on track faster than anything else, it also gives you the motivation to do what you need to to.
• Factors – what kind of things are involved in obtaining the aim? This could range from situations, to resources, to people.
• Course - this is the critical step, now you know where you want to go, and what you need to get there. How will you use your factors to get your aim? The next actions principle in my getting things done post a while back should apply pretty well here.
• Plan - make a plan, write it down, and involve everyone! Make sure everyone follows not only the plan but the whole process as well, this means that they need to understand the aim, factors, and the course to really understand the plan.

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Yes you’ve heard this one many times, why? Because it works and should be fundamental! If you’re a leader, it means you’re taking on some sort of responsibility. No one should care as much as you do about the project, so if you don’t care, others will sense that and won’t either. You can exercise influence by:

• Directing
• Motivating/Inspiring
• Sharing risks and hardships (very important)

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Make sure your team can always perform at its best and it feels like a team. Plan activities, training, and games that will reinforce mutual support and dependence within the team. Develop routine info sessions (daily or weekly, in our case probably weekly) so that the team is always on top of things and no one will feel left out of the team.

Communication is very important, you have to make sure that that there is a prompt passage of information to avoid frustration and the “disorganized and dead” feeling. Make sure information gets to people when it’s promised.

Finally be candid and get to the point, if you want honesty and directness from your team, you will have to give them the same thing. No one really likes trying to figure out what you really mean, your team should be very clear on what’s needed to be done at all times.

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These are the first 5 points in John’s 10 Principles of Leadership. Part 2 of this series will include the other 5 points as well as some pointers from John.

I want to thank John very much for this information, it has surely helped me a lot with my growth and development this summer! You can view John’s website www.nrichedprograms.com to find out more about him and his services!

Thank you for reading, please leave a comment!