The multi- hat challenge: knowing when to put on a different hat depending on who you are around or who you are trying to lead. I really felt like I understood this one because of how much I’ve used it in real life. It works off the basic concept of regulating what you say based on the people your around. A good example of this would be how you might talk to your friends in comparison to how you may talk to your colleagues or parents; depending on who you are around at the moment your tone and word use would change. This is really helpful in TALONS because depending on what information you need to get across and to whom the information is going, you need to regulate yourself. When talking to a sponsor of some sort your language may be more in-depth and possibly use bigger words to get your point across. On the other hand, for example, when talking to other peers around the school you may use more sang in your back and forth. Knowing how to do use this skill can come in handy when attempting to further your leadership skills because it can make you seem more put together and presentable (not in a look’s way) while leading a team of people. Being able to “switch hats” is also really helpful when you need to make things easier for your group members and using this skill you can help the workspace flow better and get better work done.
The all-or-nothing myth: “If I can’t get to the top, then I won’t lead.” This is a big challenge for leaders as they start out because of how hard it is to start as a leader. I chose this specific concept because sometimes as a follower it is easier to follow the easy path through life than to challenge yourself and lead no matter how high on the “food chain” you are. A great example of this was touched on called leading from the middle. Just because you’re not at the very top you still need to be able to lead the people below you and sometimes above you when needed. Relating this back to TALONS is working in groups. What I mean by this is, when working in a group the older kids tend to lead better because of their experiences. This doesn’t mean you would help lead your peers in some of your strong suits. A good example from TALONS would be during trip planning. The grade tens tend to lead them because of what they know/ have done in the past and help lead us (the grade nines) through the bigger ideas while still letting us problem solve and lead smaller groups. Knowing and having this ability can improve the group’s work ethic and overall happiness to work on the project. This can also help improve your confidence as a leader before you are on the top.
See everyone as a “10”: this entails holding people to a high and engaging standard for your co-workers and peers. In other words, if you’re able to hold people to a standard and treat them well they will work better. I chose this one because it’s something I try to do as a leader; to see people and what they can help you accomplish. When working alongside your leader most will find it better to collaborate with a leader who understands, listens, and works well with the group. A quote Dr. John Maxwell said in his book was, “Who wants the best for me? The leader who believes I’m a ten or the leader who believes I’m a two?”. He also states,”3600 leaders will get more out of their people because they think more of their people.”. These two quotes are perfect to show the dynamic between leaders and the group members by stating how a follower may feel when a leader believes in them. The second part of that quote is him explaining in short why seeing everyone as a 10 is important. This is a perfect skill to have in TALONS because of how much you need it. To keep everyone on task while working on a project in a group of any sort is always challenging, but when they believe that you believe in them the work can get done with the right amount of motivation. Using this also helps you improve your work as a leader, when a group full of people are on task this frees up time for you to help on part of the assignment or task at hand that may be more challenging to do on your own.