Leadership

I listened this morning to the BYU Forum given on 11-13-12 by Alison Davis-Blake.  It was excellent!  I recommend reading the whole talk once it is available at BYU speeches. 

BYU forum: Building a positive business career

Alison Davis-Blake, dean of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, addressed BYU students and faculty Tuesday afternoon about the future of business.

Davis-Blake said that in a world full of business scandals, it is sometimes difficult for people to find a balance between doing business and doing good. Some students set goals to work for non-profit organizations once they graduate so they can do both, according to Davis-Blake.

However, she said this is not the only way students can be a positive business influence. By being a good leader, one can have a positive impact.

Alison Davis-Blake, dean of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, presents campus forum address Tuesday afternoon in the Marriott Center.

“Leadership is nothing more than the ability to influence others to achieve a set of goals,” Davis-Blake said. “Leaders must have a positive impact on others one by one. They create organizations where people are thriving and bring their best selves to work everyday, and they use the enormous and positive power of business to make a difference for good.”
Davis-Blake identified the four characteristics that define a true leader as empathy, courage, integrity and drive. Davis-Blake also went on to describe these four characteristics in greater detail.
She said empathy is at the very core of leadership. A leader has to learn that it’s not about them, but rather, they need to focus on the people that they lead.

“As a leader, you must see the good that people do and want to do, and let them know how good they are doing,” Davis-Blake said. “Remember, wherever you are, if you want to have a positive impact on others, it starts by seeing the good.”

Davis-Blake said leadership is often mundane actions that are not always recognized, but these mundane times are punctuated by moments when leaders see opportunities to make a real difference. Davis-Blake talked about how these moments take courage, the second characteristic of a leader.
According to Davis-Blake, insights that people gain from empathy and courage should enable leaders to act with the third characteristic of leadership–integrity.
The last characteristic discussed was drive, and how it can motivate leaders to be a positive influence. Davis-Blake said with drive, leaders learn to not only work harder, but to work in a more flexible and resilient manner.
Through these four characteristics and hard work, Davis-Blake said anyone can learn to be a positive influence in the world of business.
“You don’t have to choose between doing business and doing good, you can do both,” Davis-Blake said. “See the good in others. Count the cost of incivility and do not tolerate it. Choose the best. You can choose to be a leader that makes a positive difference in the world. Inspire others to do more, dream more and be more.”

Achieving!!!

We might want to consider putting these three quotes on our Esperanza walls---and hearts!

Using Aloneness to Create the Vision

Psychologist Nathaniel Branden has said: "Innovators and creators are persons who can do a higher degree than the average accept the condition of aloneness. They are more willing to follow their own vision even when it takes them far from the mainland of the human community. Unexplored spaces do not frighten them--or as much as they frighten those around them. This is one of the secrets of their power. That which we call "genius" has a great deal to do with courage and daring, a great deal to do with nerve. (From Bringing Out the Best in People by Alan Loy McGinnis--p. 162).

A number of words--aloneness, vision, unexplored places, power, genius-- in this quotation caught my attention because they are all necessary if Esperanza Elementary is to become the school we want it to be--a school that has never been in existence (an unexplored place).

Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty

Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty is an unsung hero in his native Ireland. During the German occupation of Rome from 1942 to 1944, he ran an escape organization for Allied POWs and civilians, including Jews. He placed thousands in safety and was known as `the Pimpernel of the Vatican.' When the Allies entered Rome he had saved over 6,000 lives. He did this in spite of the Vatican's desire to remain neutral. He posed a question to Pope Pius XII as they discussed the risks the Monsignor's actions posed to the Vatican's political neutrality: "But what is our duty when we come face to face with evil?"

We want our Esperanza scholars to have this kind of courage. Knowledge isn't sufficient. There have been numerous examples of people throughout history who have used their knowledge for evil purposes. Therefore, we need to continually expose our scholars to examples of those who used knowledge to benefit others and to stand for the right, even in spite of danger to oneself.

We Are Pioneers

Today we celebrate Pioneer Day in Utah. Therefore, it seemed to be an appropriate time to reflect upon what it means to be a pioneer and how it relates to Esperanza.

A "pioneer species" is the first organism formed on the lifeless ground. A pioneer community is a group of people that settle a previously "untamed territory" by tilling the land and beginning to grow their own sustenance.

We as Esperanza founders and stakeholders are settling an “untamed territory” in order to reap our own unique harvest. We are on a journey that no one has ever taken quite like us. Being a pioneer on this trek will not be easy. Therefore, while on this journey, it would behoove us to remember and apply some words from the LDS Hymn, “Come, Come Ye Saints.”

Come, come, ye Saints (Esperanza stakeholders), no toil nor labor fear;

But with joy wend your way.

Though hard to you this journey may appear,

Grace shall be as your day.'

Tis better far for us to strive

Our useless cares from us to drive;

Do this and joy your hearts will swell —

All is well! All is well!

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?'

Tis not so; all is right.

Why should we think to earn a great reward

If we now shun the fight?

Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.