John Maxwell Blog Post Assignment

I found the John Maxwell videos very interesting as I could make connections between the Leadership traits that I saw in the videos and the traits that I experience during T.A.L.O.N.S. trip planning and other events. 

“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time.” -M. Scott Peck, Page 18 

I chose this quote because in T.A.L.O.N.S. we often have lots of different projects that we have to work on at the same time. To me this quote describes that unless you value yourself, you won’t value the time that you have. I find it quite relevant to myself because sometimes I don’t do my work until the day before it is due. I do not understand the value in myself because I don’t value the time that I am given to work on projects. It will help me further my leadership skills because it helps me to make better use of my time so that I can get more work done in the same amount of time. This will be extremely relevant to the rest of my time in the T.A.L.O.N.S. program, especially after winter break, because of all the event planning we will be doing. If I am not taking the time to value myself and my own time, the time that I have to work on the projects will be wasted on other things. Therefore, I am going to embody this quote and not faff around until the day before the project is due, I will get started as soon as I get the project. I think that it will not only help me get my work done, but I will also have time to support my classmates in their work if they need help. 

“The Vision Challenge” -Page 14 

I found the vision challenge very interesting because during trip planning someone often comes up with a vision but sometimes, I find it hard to work with or accept the vision they came up with. That is why this is one challenge that I am going to refer to often because before I would experience it, but I didn’t know what it was and didn’t know how to work with it. One way I can learn to work with the vision is by placing the group’s needs first. This means that even if I think about doing something else, I should instead ask why we chose that option and learn to be understanding and accepting so I can be more involved with the group. Another way I can work with the vision is by understanding the role that I have to play. That means that if I am supposed to be making the route plan, I shouldn’t be trying find the best campsite; instead, I should focus on the role that I have to play and collaborate with the people who are planning the campsites so that the route is close to the campsites. I think that the vision challenge will be very useful when the trip planning starts because of all the different tasks that will have to be done for the trip planning to go ahead. 

“You do not lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership” -Dwight Eisenhower, Page 27 

I find this quote funny and useful at the same time because it says that if you are hitting people over the head (or telling them what to do) it’s not leadership. You are just forcing them to do what you want them to do. I find that this can be applied to T.A.L.O.N.S because if I am planning a trip and someone isn’t doing something right, and I go and tell them what they have to do, that is not leadership. Leadership is helping the person understand what they have to do in a positive way. You don’t get people doing what you would like them to do by forcing them to do it or telling them everything they are doing wrong and how they have to fix it. It will further advance my leadership skills because it reminds me that to get people to do something I would like them to do, I can’t force them to do it. It also tells me that leadership isn’t telling them what to do every minute they are doing a task, leadership is helping people to achieve their potential and assisting them when they get stuck on a task. I think that this idea is of the most relevancy to myself because I will have to do a lot of leadership work when the trip planning starts. 

 

To sum up my considerations of these three quotes, I think that a person who wants to display good leadership qualities has to have all of the above skills in order to be an effective leader in any situation. 

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