Discipline, Discipline, Discipline...

"Sustained great results depend upon building a culture full of self-disciplined people who take disciplined action, fanatically consistent with the three circles", this is from "Good To Great" by Jim Collins. I feel that since this is my last blog on matters such as this, I should give credit to the book that has granted be great insight into what i feel a leader should be most concerned with. Being a Leadership and Social Changer minor here at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University I feel that we are all leaders in one way or another. In being involved with the Residential Leadership Program here at the University all of our classes consist of good leaders, it is the great leaders that stand out.

In reference to the quote from the beginning of the blog Nucor's three circles make sense of the Hedgehog concept. These are the three main factors that attribute to the great success of a company or an idea; it can even be related to personal goals. "Passion, Could become the best in the world, and Economic denominator" are the three circles to which all company/organizational goals can be related. Collins states that "Passion is for eliminating class distinctions and creating an egalitarian meritocracy that aligns management, labor, and financial interests". "Could become the best in the world is to harness culture and technology to produce low-cost products". The last circle is the "Economic denominator which the profit made off of the product". It is my belief that the economic denominator can be changed to the denominator in general, say if the situation or goal desired is personal or for a non-profit organization.

The underlying premise of all of this Hedgehog talk is that it takes a highly disciplined group/organization/ team to succeed! According to Jim Collins in "Good To Great" "Being right means getting the Hedgehog Concept; highly undiversified means investigating fully in those things that fit squarely within the three circles and getting rid of everything else". What he is saying is that in order for a team to succeed it is their job to have the right people working in the right areas. They are not afraid to expel those who do not fit; the success of the team and the project is the ultimate goal. A great team has to be willing to take risks and in order for the main goal to be obtained it is the team's/ team leader's job to make sure the project is not put in jeopardy in any way.

As our final project in the leadership class I am taking this semester it is my groups' job to analyze the operations of an organization here on campus. We have chosen the American Medical Students Association (AMSA). While their membership is up this year, they have had problems with their communication and attendance at meetings. We have taken it upon ourselves to survey the members and interview the leadership for AMSA. From there we are going to give them recommendations as to what they can do to improve their organization. Thus far we have gotten a great response; so it is evident that the members are indeed dedicated and willing to make changes to improve their club. We are going to apply their situation to the Hedgehog concept to allow them the long lasting tools to help them in the long run. This will help the new leadership next year carry on with the changes that need to be made to allow AMSA change from a good organization to a great organization. I have faith that with the enthusiasm of the club and its members they will be able to get things done and allow for the ultimate betterment of the organization.

Check these websites out:

www.rlc.idst.vt.edu/

http://totalleader.wordpress.com/2006/07/13/three-dimensional-leadership-the-discipline-phase

Organizations all over

Organizations exist all over the place; each of them have goals and missions they are trying to obtain. I am enrolled in a Leadership class here at Virginia Tech, and we are doing a project having to do with analyzing the culture and relations of an Organization. The organization my team chose to analyze the American Medical Student Association of Virginia Tech. There are approximately 190 local members. Currently they are having many cultural problems; there have been communication issues among the leadership, low attendance, and low confidence levels among the organization as a whole.

"Organizational Behavior" by Stephen Robbins and Timothy Judge states that organizational culture "refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations". As part of our analysis we have constructed a sound survey allowing member and leaders alike to voice their opinions about AMSA. The conclusion from these surveys will give our team a greater understanding of the organizational culture and how we can potentially propose to improve the dynamics of this particular organization. "Organizational Behavior" claims that "research on organizational culture has sought to measure how employees see their organization: does it encourage teamwork? does it reward innovations? does is stifle initiative? The term organizational culture is descriptive, whereas job satisfaction is evaluative". I feel that our survey will allow us to further analyze how the culture is by answering many and most of these questions.

A culture of an organization allows it to have a certain distinction from other organizations; it's what makes that organization unique and stand apart from the rest. Culture allows the member of that particular organization to feel unique as well. If every organization were the same, then there would be no point in having organizations in the first place. When members feel important and feel needed for the organization to operate or function properly it is great because that allows for a sense of loyalty to come about, and members will remain true to the organization for long periods of time. This will hopefully allow for the organization to have continued success in the future; from leaders training other leaders because they feel the need to help out the organization and make sure that it does succeed in the future. Once again, "Organizational Behavior" states that "culture serves as a sense-making and control mechanism that guides and shapes the attitudes and behavior of employees". Culture is the key factor that allows an organization for work smoothly and maintain positive relations with its members. When an organization has achieved a good culture, then they will attract new members because people strive to be involved with great organizations with great cultures.

Check out AMSA of Virginia Tech's website for further information:

http://www.vtamsa.org.vt.edu/Enter_Page/Enter.html

We are all different... emotions play a huge factor in this!

First of all i would like to say I am sorry, I posted this on a different website. I was able to get this back on this website! So sorry for the delay :)

Everyone is different... we each think in our own ways, we have different perspectives, morals and values. There are many things that set us apart from one another physically, but it is probably the things on the inside that make the most apparent difference in us. Emotions and moods are the first thing that pop into my head. In the book "Organizational Behavior" by Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge defines emotions as "intense feelings that are directed at someone or something" . They define mood as " feelings that tend to be less intense than emotiona dn that often lack a contextual stimulus". These two factors are key players in how individuals decide to act or react to certain situations. I am a firm believer that our emotions can make us irrational or bias in certain circumstances.

Most anyone has been involved in a situation where they have become so overwhelmed with emotion that they behaved in such a way that was irrational and may have not been necessary. This proves that emotion and rationality conflict in multiple ways. There are chemicals in our brains that are released when we feel different emotions such as happiness, fear, and saddness. There are so many things that affect our emotions and moods to make us act in certain ways. And, as individuals it is our job to maintain essential elements to keep ourselves rational and maintain a healthy mentallity. According to "Organizational Behavior" some aspects that help to maintain a healthy mentality are social activities, sleep, exercise, and age.

In regards to social activites, people are more likely to be happy when they are out with their friends in a social setting such as a restaraunt or a gathering at a friends house. "Organizational Behavior" claims that "research suggests that physical (skiing or hiking with friends), informal (going to a party), or ericurean (eating with others) activities are more strongly associated with increases in positive mood than formal (attending a meeting) or sedentary (watching TV with friends) events". Sleep does allow for a person's mood to remain positive; with adequate amounts of sleep the person is able to maintain quality focus throughout the day. Therefore allows for quality tasks to be completed. Exercise plays a huge role in positive moods and emotions. Exercise releases endorphines, which is a chemical in the brain that makes you feel happier. Another factor that plays a vital role in your mood remaining positive is your age. This may seem funny to you, or maybe out of the ordinary. You may think that being young would give you vitality and the ability to be positive and more up beat, but the truth is the older you are the more positive you tend to stay. "Organizational Behavior" found "one study of people aged 18 to 94 years revealed that negative emotions seem to occur less as people get older". So, if you are wanting to gain a more positive mood, and emotions it is evident that you should work on the factors I just discussed in hopes that you will begin to feel happy!