KP and ND said...

Our class discussion focused primarily on three topics, marginalization, physical intelligence and leadership. When discussing marginalization, we talked about not only the way we feel when we are marginalized but also the way we feel when we marginalize others. Surprisingly enough, we feel the same way. So the big question is, why do we marginalize others when we know how bad it makes us feel, and how bad we feel when we are marginalized? Is it something we automatically do without thinking? Is it a part of human nature?

From the e-discussions and class discussion, we focused on physical intelligence. Everyone has their own areas to improve upon, but eating healthy and exercising seemed to be the most common. Stress management also seemed to be somewhat of a problem area for some students. By doing these things, we’d feel better physically and be better able to deal with life’s daily problems.

The third thing we discussed was leadership versus management. A quote by Albert Schweitzer was one of the main focuses of our discussion: “In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” We discussed the quote meaning that even though we have struggles in our lives, once we’ve overcome them with the help of others, it is then our turn to help someone else through one of their struggles so the chain of help continues. This is a lot of what a leader does: works to help people through their struggles so that those people can help others, causing a ripple effect. When discussing leadership, we looked at one way that Covey defined it as, “To communicate the worth and potential of others so clearly, so powerfully and so consistently that they really come to see it in themselves is to set in motion the process of seeing, doing and becoming.” (Pg. 98) This ties back with the first quote and how a leader is someone who does what they can to help others reach their maximum potential. Do you think people are born leaders or is it a skill that can be acquired?

Leadership and management are something that a lot of us feel we used interchangably before looking at the differences between the two. Most people agreed that leadership is more about being the architects – that is, doing the dreaming and motivating and seeing that everything will work, and that management is more about the building – playing the numbers game, making sure that everything runs smoothly. We also discussed that leadership entails making someone else feel empowered, helping a person feel positive about themselves, and helping a person in general. While leadership is glorified, management is more minimizing. The manager tends to be the glue that holds the people together and the authoritative figure who is often more concerned about success than how that success is achieved. The class also brought up the point that management seems less concerned about the patrons than a leader does. You need both managers and leaders to run a business, and the leaders tend to give employees their tasks, while managers simply make sure that everything is going well.