Leadership BLOG Comments

"Leaders are those who know what to do next, know why that is important,

and know what appropriate resources to bring to bear on the problem at

hand. Then, through effective communication they influence others to

follow." - Barry Bowater

To: Dr. Richard Feinberg, CEO

From: Megan Smith, Jill Murray’s Group Member

Re: Blog Feedback on Jill Murray’s Blog

Comments for Jill Murray

Hey Jill!! Great BLOGS!!

Thanks Meg!!

Leadership Tryouts—1-24-07

George Washington

I understand the importance of being prepared, and am sad to say (even though it was obvious) that I was not prepared. I think it would have been a lot easier had we known exactly what was expected of us. I know that some people did, just because they had spoken with other people who had taken the class previously, etc. Do you feel like if you hadn't know what to be prepared for, you would have still been

able to sell yourself enough to be chosen as a leader?

Don’t get me wrong. You are an awesome leader!! The above is more or less a question about how being

prepared affects ones effectiveness as a leader. I know that I would have come across a lot better had I

known what to say and wouldn't have gotten so nervous.

Leadership Song—1-31-07

Jefferson

That is a great choice of song. I never realized how many songs there actually were that had "hidden" leadership themes. There were so many to choose from. I guess

leadership really is all around us. I have really started to actually listen to the lyrics of songs and have begun to notice leadership in quite a few current songs. For example, John Mayer's "Waiting in the World to End". This is my favorite

song!!

Your choice of song was great as well. I just finished listening to it. Although I have heard the song many times before, I just

really “listened” to it for the first time.

Congrats on becoming a group leader. We are lucky to have you leading us! This goes to show that being prepared and

confident in your abilities pays off!!

Career Fair—2-5-07

Lincoln

I am glad that someone got something out of going to the

presentations and workshops that the CCO offers. I have gone to a resume blitz and an interviewing

workshop and really didn't feel like I really got much out of either of them.

The workshop on interviews was somewhat informative, but I didn't find it that relevant for me. I took a lot of notes, but wasn't able to really use anything in my recent interviews. Maybe I should try out the mock

interviews!! I am sure that would help. Congrats on getting the 2 interviews. Hopefully you hear something about

them soon!!

When I went to the resume critique, I waited for about 30 minutes and only talked with the lady for about 10. She really didn't tell me much that I didn't

already know. I don't think I even changed anything on my resume after leaving there and I know my resume

isn't perfect.

Quote from The Leadership Challenge—2-12-07

Winston Churchill

I have noticed that throughout your blog you posted quite a few quotes about leadership, which have either come from our readings or from Feinberg

himself. I enjoy re-reading those quotes that you felt were the most important. I might suggest that you continue posted those quotes, but also something about how it made you feel about it or how it might have changed or reinforced a view you had through

leadership. Being able to express your form of leadership is a great way to build your follower's

trust and your own credibility.

Feinberg Phrases—2-19-07

FDR

"Always find out how you are evaluated on the job. This way, you know how to be your best."

This phrase probably hit home the most for me. At my current job, I was never aware of how we were

evaluated on our performance until my first review. There had been some mention of credit goals and things

of that nature, but what was expected of us on a more personal level was never really expressed to us during

our training.

I come to find out after over time that we were evaluated based on our customer service, credit

goals, sales, mystery shops, and manager evaluations. Although I had done well in all of

these areas anyway, I am sure that I would have done better had I known what goals they

expected me to reach.

Being just a part time person, I never really felt that I was in a position that I

could go to my management to ask exactly what was expected of me. I see now that it would have been appropriate

to do so.

Bickering Leaders- BUT WHY???—2-21-07

Nelson Mandela

Did you express your concerns to these group leaders or try to intervene and help them work things out? I guess I view this class as all of us being part of a team. Of course we are all in a

group which is considered a team, but I am talking more about the whole class as a team,

the leaders as a team, and the CEO and President as a team. What everyone does

effects us all. We are all in this together, and if one part of our corporation is failing, we are all

failing in some way!!

Motivation—2-23-07

Pope John Paul II

When asked to send you a goal that we felt was important for our group, my idea of

becoming more confident in our leadership skills and ability to motivate others, came

directly from this quote. You really can't be a leader if you can't motivate people to take

action.

What we are doing wrong as leaders—2-27-07

Ronald Reagan

What are your goals as a leader? I know that each group have all established their own goals, but what are the goals for the

class?? Obviously it has to do with learning to be better leaders, but is there more too it

than that? If so, have those goals been expressed to the leaders so that you know

what you should be working toward?

Test Grading—2-27-07

Margaret Thatcher I can't help but wondered how directed the leaders were in grading the exams. It seems to me that

unless there was one right answer to each question, the opinions of the leader's ideas of leadership may have gotten in the way of how they graded another student's views of leadership. Just a though! How did you feel about this??? Did you see your own

ideas of what makes a good leader hindering you in being open to the ideas that others had of what they

look for in a leader?

Well I am glad that all of the group leaders felt like they learned a lot from grading the test.

The only thing I learned is how it feels to fail a test, which I have never in my life done before.

I guess that now that I think about it a little more, I learned what it feels like to really fail at something important and I am sure I can learn

from that experience.

Survey Results—3-5-07

Martin Luther King Jr.

I completely understand what you mean. I am someone who, not necessarily wants to control everything, but to have a big part in things such as group assignments. I

am very confident in my abilities to do well on an assignment and I guess I have trouble trusting others to do as well as I would. Now that we have been given the

assignment of creating the hierarchy for our group, I hope that this will help you to better delegate

responsibilities to some of the other group members. Being a leader really isn't doing everything on your own.

It is perfectly fine to ask for help from time to time. Now that we have gotten to know the members of our group a little

better, I know that there are some really great people that we have to work with and I see no problem in succeeding in

this class!!

Kirk’s presentation—3-8-07

Jack Welch

Jill, I would have to agree with you in some respects. I too felt that the presentation lasted a little too long. Kirk had a lot of great stories to tell, but some really didn't seem to be that relevant to the topic of leadership. One of my favorite parts was also the story about the Pin Lady. That is such a sweet sentiment and I thought it was great that he would go out of his way to give someone something that meant so much to them. What did you think about all the books and articles that he suggested reading?? Since you are also going into management, I am always interested in

finding new readings that may help me to lead my future employees and help them through major changes.

Chinese Finger Cuffs—3-19-07

Dwight David Eisenhower

I love how everything Feinberg does has such a strong message. A lot of my professors use

demonstrations to get there points across, for instance in my MGMT class the professor used eggs and

students to demonstrate the distribution channels, but none of those demonstrations really work out to prove

their point, like Feinberg's always does. I like how you related it to our group assignment, yet I really feel that since we had already established our group goals, we were all looking to go in the same

direction.

People were very willing to step up and take part. Although we don't know each other very well, we know each other

well enough to know what we are capable of doing. I think that you will be pleased with the results you give us at the

meeting. This assignment really helped to build our cohesiveness. Rather than having you telling us exactly

what we are supposed to be doing, we were able to interpret it all on our own and figure out the best route for

us. I think it is a good idea to give your followers a chance to be leaders.

Bad Leadership Example—3-20-07

Ulysses S. Grant

I can completely understand where you are coming from. I have had my fair share of difficult owners and managers. It sounds as though this

gentleman doesn't really have a very good idea of how businesses are run in the states.

I would think that he would have realized by now that he isn't doing something right. If 3 people in main positions are already leaving, something

tells me that this guy doesn't have a clue what he should be doing. Are you aware of his

background!?!

It seems to me that someone needs to suggest the book FISH! STICKS. He seems to be having a very hard time

including everyone in the vision for his business. "Supervisors who want the best out of people have to

lead, not push. It is harder to do, and it takes a lot more skill. But it is worth the effort."

Being a dictator is not going to earn him the respect that owners tend to deserve. It sounds to be that he has

already lost his credibility with his current employees. I just hope that when he starts over with new employees

he will re-evaluate the way he is leading them.

Meeting with my group—3-21-07I am so happy that you are so pleased with what our

group has chosen to create for our structure. I really feel that you demonstrated some of the 5 secrets to leading

others as outlined by Feinberg. From the assignment you sent us, we knew exactly what

you expected of us and it was very doable. We could have chosen to do only what was required of us, but I

really felt that we tried to exceed your expectations. We knew how important having an assistant group leader, a secretary, and a organizer/planner was, but we also felt that it was important to create a position that would help us better build our group cohesiveness, seeing as it is

one of our group goals.

Napoleon Bonaparte

By creating the team motivators, we felt that it would help keep all of us on track. As the semester progresses, it does

get harder to concentrate on completing tasks for our classes, but having motivators, we will periodically receive

quotes, etc that will remind us of the importance of leadership. I know that my hope is that by completing this assignment and having a better structure in place for our

group, we will be more efficient and effective in helping one another. I just wish that we could have created this structure

sooner.

Bring Prepared—3-21-07

Bill Gates

I was really surprised at how Feinberg handled the situation as well. No one was giving him a hard time about not being able to get them to

open, and he still took full responsibility without hesitation. Maybe that is part of him being a really good leader. Being willing to take full responsibility, even when it was obviously

something between the computer and the files not being compatible, is the sign of a true

leader.

Leadership Lesson of The Day!!—3-26-07

Herb Kelleher

All I can say is....At least you are learning a lot about how NOT to be a leader. I can't believe your luck. I

thought I had been having bad luck with my managers. You by far win!! Between your two jobs

and some of the professors you have told me about, you really have had your fair share of bad

experiences.

Has anyone approached the S.R. about the "new" system? Maybe if you all expressed your dislike in the new system and the problems that might arise from the change; he might come to realize that it would be a lot easier for him to

just learn how to use a computer. I also wonder why he had you all start doing it on an excel sheet in the first place. If he knew he didn't know how to the program, it sounds like he

made a bad decision.

Leadership Quote I found—3-25-07

Colin Powell

You are not alone. I have such a hard time allowing others to take over tasks as well. I have mentioned numerous times in my own blog, how hard it is for me to give up

control. A lot of the time I feel like I hate working in groups. It is never because of the people-the people from the groups I have been in since my freshman year have

become my friends here at Purdue. It is the idea of trusting someone else with my grade. A great example of this for me was in my MGMT class. We had to put ourselves in groups of 6. Not knowing one in the class to begin with, I ended up in a group with 5 other people who I had never even seen before that day. It turns out that they are some of the most

awesome people I have met so far at Purdue and we all get along really well.

I hate to say that I don't trust all of them, but when it comes to turning in one of our projects that I wasn't the one that wrote it, I

almost go crazy. I know all of them care and try really hard on the projects that we do, I guess I am just so used to leading everyone

else and having to do everything myself. It is hard to let go sometimes. Now that I have seen that others can produce the same things if not better than I can, I hopefully will be able to relax a little more when it comes to these situations. So I can

totally relate. I am glad you feel that you can put your trust and faith in our group. I really think the circumstances of this class

have really brought our group together!

Information on Slides

• Each slide includes a picture of someone who I feel was/is an influential leader.

• Each slide also includes a comment made on one of Jill Murray’s BLOGS