Recently a few of my friends and I watched Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story. It was framed through the context of Moore’s critical eye on the government and its tendency to pander to large corporations; Moore has every reason to be critical. Corporations, once the site of unionized workers and varying degrees of economic [...]
Entries Tagged as 'a-ha! journal'
Conditioned for Competition
December 4th, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized
Tags:a-ha! journal·capitalism·incentive·servant leadership·socialization
Playing the Professional
December 4th, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized
“Do the right thing.” “Be professional.” “Lead by example.” I think about the folks who write articles about professionalism and wonder how well they abide by the suggestions they put forth. These are all noble attributes for which one should strive, but I think people not abiding by these is a result of human error [...]
Building Together
November 15th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
I am struck by Margaret Wheatley’s essay “Relationships: the Basic Building Blocks of Life.” It is not that Wheatley reveals anything necessarily novel; it is the calling attention to the importance of relationships that resounds. The United States values individualism as a core part of its founding. As a result, the tendency to operate in [...]
Leadership False Consciousness
November 8th, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized
As I think of what makes a good leader of an organization, I return to the importance of a leader standing by what s/he believes in. If that is absent, what is the leadership of the organization? Leaders must have a clear vision of one’s beliefs for the organization to be the visionary who sees [...]
Tags:a-ha! journal·defining leadership·institute·social justice
Environmental Change
October 31st, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized
I firmly believe environment is the greatest influence in how we experience life. I feel this exceptionally so in autumn. It is my favorite season, but one with significant emotional hills and valleys for me. On sunny days, when the leaves are aglow and electric, I feel invigorated and really alive. When the rain starts [...]
Organizational Change
October 24th, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized
At the core of every organization, hopefully there lies the desire to change something. Manufacturing, the service industry, education—each one of those, though seemingly different professions, each exist with the perspective to change something. Manufacturing looks to changing the market and products used to make processes better. Services exist to aid in those changes sought [...]
Lasting Environmental Legacies
October 18th, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized
The idea that we are products of our environment seems to be both a blessing and a curse. I think of the different environments in which I’ve worked, interacted, existed; I scoff at some and revere others. Each one has, however, shaped me in some capacity. In those environments at which I scoff, I learned [...]
“Typical” leadership
October 10th, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized
How does one help another realize one’s capabilities in leadership? The world of higher education aims to develop skills for students to take with them post-college life. Many foster these skills through extra-curricular involvement. What happens to those students who struggle academically and, therefore, limit their involvement? What happens to students who view leadership in [...]
I am my father’s daughter…
October 3rd, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized
I grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. My father is a funeral director there, a position of civic leadership about which many do not seem to know much. I liken being a small town funeral director’s child to being the child of a mayor. My mother, the daughter of a preacher, [...]