Life was a destination I had in mind. My goal kept changing and I often felt aimless. Until I realized that life isn’t about the destination, instead it is about the journey. So here I am back at school! A figurative road trip I will go on and see where it takes me. I know I want to make a mark, an impact on life beyond my own. And while I take every opportunity to lean something new that may aid or enrich my spiritual and professional growth,
Blogging about Blogs
Week 3 lesson in creative leadership course is focused on leadership models found in nature and subsequent discovery of practical applications we as leaders can adapt in real life. Assignment 3.1 out of 3.3 (which coincidentally is comprised of 3 sections of our portfolio projects) is to reference and reflect on 3 leadership blogs we follow. As well as how they relate back to current lesson, forms of leadership in nature.
Nope, not 1995 Alanis Morissette song Ironic. But this 21 minute video called The Story of Stuff. It was created in 2007. Besides the date stamp and an iPod cameo as dead giveaway of time, this video could have been made to reflect on topics relevant today. Worth watching as it warrants serious consideration. I am curious if 10 years from now this video will be just as relevant and as alarming?
I am psyched out of my mind! At the beginning of October I will get to travel around the globe again. This time my business travel will focus on Copenhagen Denmark, London UK, with a long layover in Jakarta Indonesia. From there I will go on my way to Shanghai and Suzhou China before returning to Minneapolis. In early preparation for my adventures I researched some must see destinations in each city. I stumbled upon this post on WeWantRefill.com.
As the week progressed and unforeseen challenges arose (workload, schoolwork, parenthood, illness and other emergencies). I felt tested in new ways however I decided I am doing the best I can with what I have. Therefore I am adding 10 new standards to my metrics’ dashboard list
Authenticity
Being authentic and genuine even in spite of challenges
Staying true to yourself and your core values
Credibility
Present yourself in convincing and reasonable manner
Dependability
Trustworthy and loyal to those you’re in charge of
Effective communication skill
Able convey ideas that spark action
Skilled at facilitating dialog
Humility
Have a level of modesty and humbleness
Passion
Exuberate excitement and belief for ideas and people
Patience
Exercise tolerance and self-restraint in hard situations
Restrain from judgment
Realistic
Identify practical and sensible ideas and expectations
Resilient
Ability to withstand pressure and recover effectively from setbacks
Visionary
Have a dose of imagination and curiosity,
I don’t actually like long travels with missed flights, long layovers and cancellations, but this week was an emotional trip. As the old saying goes when it rains it pours. Without going into too much detail, my world felt like it was collapsing upon me. One of my kids missed first days of school due to illness, the other didn’t have a school to go to because she was still on a waiting lists for preschools of our choice.
To create my Creative Leadership Metrics Dashboard I relied on standards from personal experience. Because I had a plethora of bad bosses to draw from, I learned how not to be a bad leader. The list of standards I came up with reflects the qualities most of those poor leaders lacked. Little did I l know I would rate myself by same standards. Let’s see how I stack up:
Accountability 4
I exceed this standards ad nauseam.
Inspired by simplicity and clarity of standard based report cards for elementary education, I decided to create a visual representation of my leadership metrics dashboard. This standard based score card also uses 4 point grading system to help assess competencies a successful creative leader should exhibit at all times. Description of each score point is listed:
STANDARDS 4 3 2 1 Accountability Commitment Compassion/ Nurture Competence Courage Decision Making Emotional Intelligence Fairness Integrity Interpersonal Skills Transparency
4=Exceeding Standards
Demonstrates superior leadership and full understanding of her/ his role,
This week we learned about different models of leadership though historical and modern examples.
One of the historical leadership examples was the speech by Henry V, depicted in a movie clip called Band of Brothers. In this example Henry V exhibits heroic leadership as a figure who everyone looks up to for direction, motivation and leadership. Sadly in this case they were heading to war and most likely slaughter. However the speech Henry V made encouraged his soldiers to participate in a fight they were outnumbered in with pride and vigor.
Well, I decided it’s day one for me on this inter-web-galactic journey!
My name is Ajda Mesic (pronounced I-da Mesh-ich, or just Americanized Mess-ick) . This is week 2 of my masters degree in Sustainable Design at MCAD. I am a mom of 2 sweet curious girls, wife to 1 patient guy and 1 of many apparel designers working for a 500 Fortune retail company called Target. My goal is to enjoy this thing called life,