Becoming a Resonant Leader

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Compose a reflection blog in the form of a letter to yourself. In the letter, briefly state your personal vision and list at least three learning goals, three milestones for each goal, actions steps for each milestone, and list key people who will support you to achieve the learning goals.

Marco,

I hope this note finds you doing well and healthy. The purpose for this letter is to revisit an important stage in your life when you had the courage to dream big and live outside of your comfort zone by pursuing your Masters in Leadership. You made the right decision for you and your family, even though at times the sacrifice seemed large.

You have always possessed tenacity when perusing your goals, and because I know you as well as I do, I am sure that this quality remains deep in the marrow of your bones. Another important quality you possess was evident in your personal vision of making a positive impact with youth and within public service. While you have done a great job up until now, I am glad you recognized that you had more to contribute even after your service to this great nation was complete.

Pursuing your Master in Leadership was one of your major learning goals. Through this process, you learned important aspects and concepts of leadership that enhanced your ability to lead others; but most importantly you learned so much more about yourself and areas you needed to improve to become a better leader. While you have reached the milestones of being accepted into the right leadership program and making it half way through the program, you are about to embark on the final important milestone of putting what you have learned together into your capstone project. It is equally important to draw inspiration from and collaborate with those who have the greatest impact on you as you go forward. Remember, their feedback is key and because you trust these loved ones and mentors with your best interests, listen to what they have to say.

I understand that you have experienced many ups and downs in your quest to become a better leader. In order to achieve your objective of positively impacting others, you need to continuously be mindful and refine your lens. Never stop learning and growing. You can accomplish this with milestones such as additional leadership training and education. Fortunately for you, you are quick to act in matters of self-development. You have reached the milestones of attending leadership training with the Dale Carnegie Training organization and with incorporating meditation into your daily life, which has brought on the benefits of mindfulness and peace. I implore you to further pursue your growth with other organizations such as the Center for Creative Leadership. You have had you eye on attending one or multiple programs with this organization, regardless of cost and time, make the investment to expand your leadership abilities. You have take the right steps in creating an action plan, I want to ensure you follow through with where your passion leads you.

One of the most important take-aways from your leadership program is the value and benefits of healthy relationships. I am aware of the apprehension you have about people and their need to fulfill their own self-interests; I was there with you remember. You inevitably came to the conclusion that helping others is a calling you have had throughout your life. Take it upon yourself to shed any fears and open yourself to others as they will need you to deliver on your commitment. You learned that leading with compassion was a new concept that really spoke to you. Learn more about this process, refine it, and employ it where you need it. This is one milestone worth the journey. Another milestone is to continue using the Intentional Change Theory that help you identify your ideal self and real self. The action steps you developed from this has been positive. Thus, I am sure that it will continue to help you at any stage you may be at. Another milestone would be to expand your circle of influence by creating new and meaningful relationships. There is obviously no set number in relationships, but focus on the meaningfulness and how they influence you. Reciprocate this influence and reach out to others with mindfulness and compassion. Just remember you would not be where you are now if someone didn’t do it with you.

Surrounding yourself with good people has always been one of your mantras. Continue to do so. Your family has redefined who you are and has become your center of gravity. Honor this and cherish it; give your family the attention it needs as they will provide the balance necessary while leading others. You have learned the consequences of living out of balance; the hardships that sacrifice syndrome and dissonance has on you and those around you. There is no amount of money or privileges worth traveling down that road again. You have worked hard to reestablish resonance within yourself, keep working on it. Take time for renewal and value the internal peace it provides. Most importantly, share this with your family. They deserve it.

My best wishes,

Marco

Personal Balance Sheet

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Create a reflection blog that discusses your personal balance sheet that summarizes your assets and liabilities. 

My distinctive strengths (Things I know I do well and strengths that others see in me).

One of the strengths I have consistently relied on in my personal and professional life is my work ethic. I enjoy working through complex issues to find suitable solutions. Within this context, I employ other areas of my strengths such as an analytical thought process, collaboration, and communication. Moreover, genuinely caring for others has help me to develop both working relationships and meaningful relationships.

My potential Strengths (things I could do better or more often if I focused, or things I do well in some situations and could begin to apply more broadly).

I believe that I could do better with maintaining a work/life balance. As I noted above, my work ethic has served as a “double edged sward” in the past. In other words, when I am committed to a task or a project, I have been known to go in at full speed. This has led to me entering the sacrifice syndrome and subsequently dissonance. Although I have established a work/life balance that supports my family obligations, there are times when I need to remind myself to take a step back and keep the big picture in focus. I have learned throughout this course that renewal is key to resonance and longevity. Resonant leaders, according to Boyatzis & McKee (2005), “They give of themselves in the service of the cause, but they also care for themselves, engaging in renewal to ensure they can sustain resonance over time” (p. 2). This has been one of the most important lessons and concepts I have taken away for this course. My aim is to ensure this remains central in my efforts to become a better person and leader.

My Enduring Dispositions that support me (traits, habits, behaviors that I do not want to change and that help me to be successful).

I believe that it is important to leverage traits, habits, and behaviors that have contributed to my growth and success. I also believe it is important to know which one or more (is needed in a given situation). In other words, leaders must have a deep tool bag that they can use in various situations. Thus, I am always on the look out to learn other or new methods, habits, or behaviors that can potentially impact a successful outcome. This curiousness and willingness to live outside of my comfort zone is an enduring disposition I will rely on as I seek to grow personally and professionally.

My weaknesses (things I know I don’t do well and I want to do better).

I enjoy working with others that love what they do and go out of their way to help others and the team. One weakness I have is dealing with those that are single minded and/or are only concerned with their own interests. As a leader, I find that my patience and desire to work with these types of individuals is limited. Furthermore, as a leader I understand that it is their duty to set the conditions for others to succeed, regardless of their personalities or attitudes. Helping them to shift their thinking and improve their performance is essential for all leaders. Thus, with self-awareness and compassion, I believe I could improve my effectiveness with my frame of mind working with all types of people.

Weaknesses I want to Change (things I know I don’t do well and want to change).

As noted above, working with reluctant and self-centered people can be daunting. Learning about the Intentional Change Theory (ICT) in this course has improved my feeling of doing so because it requires the user to work through the five discoveries. Furthermore, it goes beyond coaching for compliance and focuses on coaching with compassion. This process was new to me and I believe that this is the correct approach. Thus, I feel confident and more at ease with the thought of working with others only focused on their own needs/situation.

My enduring dispositions that sometimes get in my way (traits, habits, behaviors that I do not want to change and that sometimes cause me to be less effective).

Having extensively worked with those mainly concerned with their own interests has created a barrier to keep their negativity and destructiveness at bay. At some point, it has extended to others that I may not know very well. This barrier is one habit and behavior I know needs to change. It once served as a protective measure and now served little benefit moving out from a law enforcement field into a professional setting. Having become aware of this barrier and the feelings associated with it has allowed me to have better control behavior. With this awareness and shifting my frame of mind towards other approaches such as the ICT, I believe I can further limit its negative effects and utilize this approach for positive gains.

Reference

Boyatzis, R. & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant Leadership (5^th ed.). Harvard Business Press.

Appreciating Your “Real Self”

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After completing the exercises, compose a reflection blog on what you learned about your lifeline, social identities, strengths, and roles.

This week we have been reflecting and exploring our “Real Self.” After completing a series of exercises from our course text of Becoming a Resonant Leader by McKee, Boyatzis, & Johnston (2008), a unique and better overall picture of my real self was developed. Unique in the sense of combining major events throughout my life, personal and professional, with other important factors on a liner timeline that included: transition phases, highpoints, struggles, periods of achievements and regrets, career highlights and boredom, social identity and roles, strengths and areas I avoid. While I tend to naturally reflect on many of these life events for growth and development purposes, I have never combined these events and factors on one timeline; thus, producing a holistic picture. Needless to say, this experience was insightful and enlightening as I reflected deeper into real self. According to Scott Taylor (2006), “The definition of the real self takes into account the observations of self and others (p. 644). The reason this process is important is because it is an essential step (discovery) in the Intentional Change Theory (ICT) provided by Boyatzis (2006), which also includes: 1) the ideal self, 2) the real self, 3) learning agenda and plan, 4) experimentation and practice with new behaviors, thoughts and feelings, and 5) trusting or resonant relationships (p. 613). Indeed, “Effective change involves mindful awareness of who you currently are” (McKee, Boyatzis, Johnston, 2008, p. 111).

As I laid out the major events on my timeline as part of the “How did I get there?” a basic picture developed that included education, military experiences, and family. When I began including other important factors such as highpoints, struggles, accomplishments, regrets, and times I felt happy, lost, or confused, a different picture soon evolved. As I recalled many of these major events, I couldn’t help but reflect on these highs and lows (mental & emotional) and the valuable life lessons they provided. While I closely followed my dreams and asperations of coming out of high school, earning a degree on college, and commissioning into the U.S. Army, there were many bumps in the road but nothing that side tracked my direction. I believe this was due to my strong desire to leave home and create my own path in public service. Initially, I aimed to become a law enforcement officer, however, I found my place when I adjusted my sights towards military service as a military police officer. Throughout my military service, again, there were many events that provided high and low points. Yet, I was in an environment and profession I believed was important (meaningful) and suited my goals of becoming a servant leader.

Throughout my life I have experienced a handful of transitional periods. The first was graduation high school and moving on to a major university. While I was ill prepared academically, I struggled with the level of work required during my first year. Eventually, I had to work twice as hard to make up for my deficiencies at another college, but doing so provide a valuable opportunity for me to improve myself academically and to play college football. During this transitional period, I was able to elevate my academic abilities to the level of making the Dean’s List for six consecutive semesters. Furthermore, it provided the situation in which to mature and prepare to enter the Army ROTC.

A second transitional period occurred as I prepared to enter the Army as a commissioned officer. While I continued to mature and grow during my final years in college and Army ROTC, as a junior leader with no military experience, one is rarely prepared for the demands that awaited. Putting my noise against the grindstone and learning from my NCO’s, I began to feel my way through military life and responsibilities. This period was very important as it laid the foundation of my service and leadership aspirations.

A third transitional period occurred when I got married. By this time, I had established myself as a leader in the Army for ten years and I arrived at a point where I was finally prepared to embark on a long-term relationship. My wife, Erica, also a military leader, provided a balance that I avoid for so long. Up until this point, I was mainly concerned with my career duties and responsibilities. Erica introduced another side of life that I was not accustom to. In other words, I had to learn to be in a relationship other than my military career. This was a welcome transition and continues to fulfill my desire to be a better person; to include being a father and husband.

As I moved on to the “Rhythm of my Career” exercise, it clearly represented my desire for public service. In high school and throughout college, I did not work for any significant amount of time. Instead, I was determined to gain real world experience(s) in law enforcement, so I volunteered and interned with my local police department, sheriff’s office, and the U.S. Marshal’s service. Looking further down my career path/timeline, it showed the demands of military service as I moved from one position of leadership to the next every 2-3 years. During my time in service, I rarely found myself in a bored state as I enjoyed the constant activity of moving across the country, leadership challenges, professional growth/development, and combat deployments. This high tempo of living suited me as a single young man and it feed my desire for achievement. Since I have been retired from active duty and now have a family, I have immersed myself in my graduate program and family obligations. This situation brings upon two conflicting feelings. The first is the lack of meaningful career responsibilities. The second is the meaningful opportunity to enjoy family responsibilities and self-development (investment) through education. Nevertheless, there are times when it is necessary for me to take a step back and reflect on the importance of family and education that will inevitably pay off in the long term and not rush into a career that will force me to balance work and family priorities. Furthermore, I realize how fortunate I am to have such a dilemma.

During the “Social Identity and Roles,” I laid out many of the groups and roles I belong in and how they affect me. Of the listed identities and roles, being a father is at the top of the list. Second is being a husband, followed by being a veteran (military police). These identities and roles play a significant role in who I am and the values I exercise. Each of these, respectively, provide its own driving force and purpose in my journey of becoming a better person and leader. The other identities and roles listed involve me due to my situation, circumstances, or activities, however they are subordinate to my top priorities as noted above.

Another important aspect of this process was to identify “Strengths I see in Myself.” After reflecting on this and the many major events throughout my life (and timeline), I would say that being able to preserver through adversity has been a significant strength. While there have been instances where I reached my culminating point during turbulent events, I have always been able to focus on the way ahead through reflection and sometime will alone. Another strength I believe is noteworthy is my comfort with testing my limits and living outside of my comfort zone. I have always enjoyed challenging myself in many areas just to identify my own shortcomings. Moreover, I have been fortunate to have good people around me to provide their guidance and mentorship. I believe this is also a strength. By creating meaningful relationship with others I consider to be great examples of leaders, parents, teachers, and “good people” overall, I have been able to tap into their experiences and perspectives to better understand myself and my direction. This leads to some of the feedback that I have received from others as far as what strengths they have recognized in me. I have had many people (on many occasions) express their awe when they realize where I came from (humble beginnings) and the dysfunctional environment that I grew up in. Many have noted how my drive and focus has provided the fuel to preserve and overcome many challenges (social, economic, developmental). Career wise, superiors, peers, and subordinates have also noted through feedback that my consideration for the welfare of others was important to them. Also, the pragmatic approach I take towards working through issues; thus, fostering trust and accountability.

Now as a retired veteran and graduate student with a young family, I find myself in a position of being more selective with the people and activities that require my time and effort. In other words, I limit my exposure or outright avoid unproductive and superficial activities and relationships that are not in-line with my immediate priorities of family, school, and future career goals. By becoming more aware of ideal self and real self, I feel that I am better able to accurately evaluate the conditions that separate meaningful relationships and activities with those that are not. This process is constant and continuously improving as it mirrors the same highly active process of learning more about myself and others.

References

Boyatzis, R. E. (2006). An overview of intentional change from a complexity perspective. The Journal of Management Development, 25(7), 607-623. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/10.1108/02621710610678445

McKee, A., Boyatzis, R., & Johnston, F. (2008). Becoming a Resonant Leader (8^th ed.). Harvard Business Press.

Taylor, S. N. (2006). Why the real self is fundamental to intentional change. The Journal of Management Development, 25(7), 643-656. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/10.1108/02621710610678463

ICT at the Team Level

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Using the concepts within ICT focused on the team level, reflect on why the Olympic US Women’s Soccer team won so often and the US Dream Team basketball men’s team did so poorly in 2000 and 2004?

The United States (US) is known to field stellar teams for the Olympics in both women’s soccer and men’s basketball. Much of this can be attributed to the quality of talent and excellent coaching each sport possesses. So how has the US women’s soccer team achieved the success they have had on recent years while the US men’s basketball team have struggled to live up to standard established by the infamous “Dream Team” of the 1990’s? This topic will be explored as it relates to the Intentional Change Theory (ICT) at the team level.

Group development for any team is crucial. Team dynamics and the way it establishes its identity is in large part how it leaders shape the learning/training environment. Moreover, through the course of a team’s life, many experiences and events reveal the certain team patterns; this is especially true as it relates to the ICT. According to Akrivou and Boyatzis (2006), “Although each iteration is characterized by a similar cycle of discovery, over time, there is a shift to distinct patterns in a way which makes group development appear unique for each group” (p. 697). The five discoveries involved include: 

1. Emergence of shared ideal, vision, or dream
2. Exploration of norms, paradoxes, challenges, and gaps
3. The group’s learning agenda
4. Group experimentation and practice
5. Resonant Relationships (Akrivou & Boyatzis, 2006, p. 699-701)

When viewed through this context, the US women’s national soccer team has enjoyed global success by winning four gold medals and one silver in recent Olympic games and set records for winning streaks and goals scored (Ussoccer.com, 2016). While the popularity of US women’s soccer team has grown significantly over the past decades, many of the players do not demand the same main-stream attention as other sports. This factor may contribute to the US women’s soccer team’s unity and shared vision for success. For example, many players were developed and nurtured through soccer programs and leagues that feed into the US soccer national team, which has led to its premier status (Litterer, 2011). This process has provided the conditions for players and coaches to develop and experience the five discoveries as noted above.

While the men’s basketball Dream Team of 2000 and 2004 may have been filled with talent, factors of individualism and lack of developmental time may have prevented it from living up to expectations. The US men’s national/Olympic mainly consist of superstars in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Thus, they typically are the center of their team’s attention and have numerous sponsorships. As such, many of these superstars expect to carry their teams on their back and learn to value individual performance. The 2004 Olympic team, According to Brad Raun (2012), “This team had talent, but it was severely lacking in guard play.  Iverson (2.5 assists per game) and Marbury (3.4 apg) were score-first point guards that did little to get teammates involved” (par. 5). Furthermore, the assembled for the 2004 games had less than a month to prepare and work with each other. According to Carmelo Anthony "In '04, we had two weeks to put that team together, go to Greece and play and try to win a gold medal," he continues, "We had a weird group of guys on that team, guys that didn't know each other, guys that were young and coming into the league, and it didn't work" (as cited in Bontemps, 2016, par. 5). It becomes clear that even with a team full of talent, without the group development through ICT, any team may fail to achieve its goal.

Reference

Akrivou, K., Boyatzis, B., & McLeod, P. (2006) "The evolving group: towards a prescriptive theory of intentional group development", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 25 Issue: 7, pp.689-706, https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710610678490

Bontemps, T. (2016, July 21). Born from the fires of 2004 failures, Team USA Basketball now built to last. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.chicagotribune.com/

Litterer, D. (2011, August 17). Women’s Soccer History in the USA: An Overview. Retrieved from http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/womensoverview.html

Raun, B. (2012, June 24). From Dream Team to Nightmare: Ranking the USA Basketball Teams. Bleacher Report. Retrieved from http://bleacherreport.com/

Women’s National Team. (2016, August 05). A History of the U.S. WNT at the Olympic Games. Retrieved from http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2016/08/05/19/54/160805-wnt-a-history-of-the-usa-at-the-olympic-games

Tipping Points of Emotional Intelligence

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In your reflection blog, share instances where you have experienced a tipping point at work. When you experienced the tipping point, describe how positive or negative emotional attractors played a role in it.

• What was the situation?
• What did you do?
• What was the result?
• What would you do differently?

Tipping points are important factors that affect the intentional change process as it relates to Positive Emotional Attractors (PEA) and Negative Emotional Attractors (NEA) for desired and sustained change or development. Both PEA and NEA play an important role in what Boyatzis, Rochford, and Taylor (2015) identify as distinguishing and pursuing “self” within the change process. According to Boyatzis et al (2015, p.3), “The ideal self is comprised of three main components: (1) an image of a desired future that is (2) emotionally fuelled by hope, and (3) reflects a person’s core identity.” Conversely, “the ought self is someone else’s desire or interpretation of what a person’s ideal self should be (Boyatzis and Akrivou, 2006) (as cited by Boyatzis et al, 2015, p. 3).

Within this context, one distinct situation where I experienced a tipping point occurred while I was deployed and serving as an aide to a senior leader. Nearing the end of our sixteen-month deployment, my boss (senior leader) pulled me into his office and he began discussing options for my required career level professional military education (PME); in this case he was referring to the Military Police Captains Career Course (MPCCC).

In the military, leaders are expected to attend PME that is commensurate to their time (in service) and grade (rank). For me, the next logical step would be to attend the six-month long MPCCC where I would be exposed to MP topics, concepts, and strategies. Having served in a joint environment (during this deployment) and observed my potential for greater responsibility, my boss recommended that I consider attending the Marine Corps Expeditionary Warfare School (EWS) in lieu of the MPCCC. EWS was the Marine Corps’ version of the required PME, which was nine months long and consisted of combined arms doctrine. “Combined Arms are the appropriate combinations of infantry, mobile protected firepower, offensive and defensive fires, engineers, Army aviation, and joint capabilities” (Maneuver Self Study Program, 2014, par. 3). In essence, I would forego a six-month program on topics I was comfortable and well versed on for a more rigorous nine-month program on topics I had little exposure with.

My boss, again having a firm grasp of my work ethic and desire for continued growth, highlighted the importance this course of action would have on my ideal self; thus, PEA. Furthermore, he noted that this experience would be essential as I ascended to higher ranks and responsibilities. That learning my branch (MP) specific competencies was important, attending EWS would provide a greater understanding of military operations (ground, naval, & air) and leadership competencies that would have a greater impact on me holistically. Thus, I began reflecting more on this opportunity and my concept of “self” as it related to ideal self and ought self as noted above. According to Boyatzis et al. (2015, p. 3):

First, while a prevention focus (ought self) might spur a person to action to achieve short-term outcomes, any behavioral change approached from a loss/non-loss situation is unlikely to be maintained in the long term. Ironically, change actually requires a willingness to ‘lose’ a current state in order to move to a new, desired state (ideal self).

After much consideration, I decided to act on my boss’ recommendation and attend EWS with the frame of mind of achieving a greater perspective on the profession of arms and avoiding the comfort of “ought self.” This decision paid off greatly as I was exposed to a higher level of military operations and leadership challenges that I would not have acquired attending the MPCCC. Furthermore, this experience widened my perspective of how MP assets (among other assets) could better leverage operations, thus, setting me apart from many of my peers. This tipping point was a key event in the change process that closed the gap between “real self” and “ideal self.”

References

Boyatzis, R. E., Rochford, K., & Taylor, S. N. (2015). The role of the positive emotional attractor in vision and shared vision: toward effective leadership, relationships, and engagement. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 670. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00670

Maneuver Self Study Program. (2014). United States Army. Retrieved from http://www.benning.army.mil/MSSP/Combined%20Arms%20Operations/

Working with EI: Getting Results!

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Watch the two videos on emotional intelligence by Daniel Goleman.  Goleman describes the four dimensions of EI: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social skill.  Develop a reflection blog that focuses on the four EI dimensions.  Discuss how each of these applies to you, your strengths, areas that you need to develop, and how the dimensions have helped or hindered you in your performance and/or career.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is generally accepted as a key indicator of success for leaders, oppose to IQ. EI consists of four domains, which includes: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness (empathy), and social skill (Goleman, 2012). While many leaders may naturally possess and use one or multiple domains as part of their leadership style, developing and exercising all domains typically increases ones’ overall effectiveness and success. According to Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis (2017), “In order to excel, leaders need to develop a balance of strengths across the suite of EI competencies. When they do that, excellent business results follow” (par. 6).

Of the four domains of EI, I believe that self-awareness and self-management are areas that I have enjoyed the most success with. On the other hand, social awareness (empathy) and social skill are the two areas I have identified as present, but needing additional development. As I highlight each domain below, I will include how these domains have been strengths or a part of my weaknesses.

Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is the area that allows us to know what we are feeling and why we are feeling it (Goleman, 2012). This is extremely important when we experience negative emotions that have the potential of impacting our behaviors, decision making, and those around us. By knowing and understanding the source of negative feelings (or emotions), we are better able to limit its consequences. For example, some time ago, I was chosen to lead a new initiative for my organization that involved input from key leaders at various levels. Over the course of eight months, the key leaders and I met regularly to discuss planning, resources, logistics, and manpower. Countless hours had been invested by the time we approached the designated start date. Prior to initiating the program, a handful of new folks joined the committee and had to play catch up on our progress. I distinctively recall during one meeting, one of the new individuals to the committee began discussing shortages of essential equipment that had already been identified and a plan was in place to fill the shortages. As I was sitting there listening to this person discuss their observation, I immediately felt irritated because they were talking about “step three” while we were on “step thirty.” I became aware of my displeasure and realized that they were just trying to contribute. By knowing and understanding where my feeling of irritation was stemming from, I was able to limit the effects of my irritation and focus instead on moving forward with our progress.

Self-Management

Self-management is having the ability to effectively deal with negative or distressing emotions and finding ways to become optimistic (Goleman, 2012). For example, during my time in the military, leaders were expected to attend military balls. Personally, I never really enjoyed the atmosphere of large social/professional gatherings. I understood that these functions celebrated traditions and promoted esprit de corps, what always crossed my mind was either how much productive work I could be getting done or how much time I could have spent with my family outside of the work environment. Nevertheless, knowing that those I led would be required to attend as I was, I had to make a conscience effort to not let my negative feeling about attending affect others. In fact, I would always make it a point to go around and ensure that my folks (subordinates) were having a good time. In essence, instead of feeling negative about the situation (self-management), I chose to use the situation as a leader to ensure their well-being and to make their time fun.

Social Awareness (Empathy)

Social awareness or empathy is having the ability to know what someone else if feeling (Goleman, 2012). As I noted above, this one area I feel could use more development. While this domain is present, being an achievement/task oriented person, this aspect tends to require focus and effort on my part. For example, I have a stepson that has been diagnosed with ADHD and needs more redirection and reminders than the typical eight-year-old. “ADHD is a biological condition that makes it hard for many children to sit still and concentrate” (Morin, n.d., par. 3). There are many occasions when either my wife or I ask our son to do simple tasks (put something away, clean up after himself, pay attention) and he shows difficulty completing them. As with any parent, sometimes our initial reaction is to correct him instead of using known ADHD recommended approaches. Needless to say, this constant reaction to correct can potentially cause misunderstandings and disconnection. Thus, after much reflection and trying to see the situation from his point of view (empathy), I began to research ADHD and employ different recommended strategies that align with our son’s attention and impulsiveness. Because I was able to take a step back and empathize with our son’s situation, I believe we as a family have able to accomplish effective communication and understanding, which has further led to harmony.

Social Skill

Social skill (or relationship management) how we interact and bring all the domains together when working with others (Goleman, 2012). Relationships and our interactions account for a lot when in a leadership role. Moreover, over time and leadership levels, I have gained more appreciation for developing and nurturing meaningful relationships as my influence has widened. As an introvert, I typically insert myself when and where needed. However, sometime as a leader, it is just important to be visible and vocal on matters that those we lead deem important. Thus, in order to become a more effective and influential leader, I have learned to make time to interact with other beyond business of the day. This, I have found, creates better lines of communication and team work.

References

Goleman, D. (2012). Daniel Goleman Introduces Emotional Intelligence. Big Think. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7m9eNoB3NU

Goleman, D. and Boyatzis, R. (2017, February 6). Emotional Intelligence Has 12 Elements. Which do you need to work on? Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/

Morin, A. (n.d.) Re: Understanding ADHD. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/add-adhd/understanding-adhd

Am I a Resonant Leader

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After completing the exercise, you will now have likely discovered that many people operate on poor assumptions on what great leadership is.  You now realize that emotions do matter. From your work assignment, you have a greater self-awareness of your status as a resonant leader.   Resonant leaders need to be highly self-aware, manage themselves in stressful and complex environments, empathize with others, and lead others to get the job done.

Based on the workbook exercise, post to your blog describing what surprises you discovered about yourself when completing the exercise. Cite examples where you feel you fell short.

Do I create an overall positive emotional tone that is characterized by hope? How?

Creating a positive tone characterized by hope is important to me and something that I have devoted much time and energy to improve. This area of leadership was not always foremost in my mind as a young man. For example, as a young leader, I was very achievement orientated. My drive to excel far outweighed my desire to develop positive and meaningful relationships. However, as I gained valuable experience and risen to an organizational leadership level, developing positive relationships and influencing was the key factor in success.

My first step to improve connecting with others and developing a positive tone was to expand my point of view about relationships, what success meant to me, and how I could best increase my influence. In other words, I began by becoming more mindful. According to McKee, Boyatzis, & Frances (2008), “Mindfulness means learning to live in a state of reflection and openness, in which we are tuned in to self, others, and our environment. Not only has being more mindful benefited my ability to develop positive relationships, it has also adjusted my aim for achievement to include connecting with others.

Am I in touch with others? Do I really know what is in others’ hearts and on their minds? How do I show this?

As noted above, connecting with others beyond the typical casual conversation is a work in progress. Being in touch with others is the surest way to make meaningful connections and provide the best feedback or guidance (if needed). One key element in knowing what’s in other’s hearts and minds is to observe and listen. For example, we send off many key signals when we communicate. One of my strengths is having to ability to identify (listen & observe) what is being communicated and how it is being communicated to better interpret someone’s message. When we genuinely care about being in touch with others, we are better suited to picking up on these elements.

Do I regularly experience and demonstrate compassion? How?

Demonstrating compassion is another area that I have worked diligently to improve. There was a time, as a young man, I thought being emotional and showing compassion were linked; and I was hardly the emotional type. I have identified the folly in my understanding between being emotional and showing compassion. Demonstrating compassion has proven to be essential when working with others, especially when leading others. Demonstrating compassion plays a significant role in the humane dynamics. According to McKee et al. (2008), “Compassion is empathy in action. Like hope, it sparks positive physiological changes that counter the negative effects of stress” (p. 39). One of the most effective ways I have learned to demonstrate compassion is to play an active role in those around me. In other words, I seek to learn more about them, what they value, share experiences, and shoulder a burden if necessary. Those that are truly grateful tend to perform much more effectively.

Am I authentic and in tune with myself, others, and the environment? How can people see this in me?

I believe myself to be self-aware and sure in my values, which contributes to my authenticity. I have always been willing to seek experiences that are challenging and keep me out of my comfort zone. I have found that doing so helps to reveal my strengths and weaknesses. For example, not being particular found of heights, I took flying lessons; not being a fan of enclosed spaces, I went out and earned a scuba certification; not know about a topic, I read a book about it. In other words, I had identified many of my own limitations and decided to meet them head-on. Through these wonderful and challenging experiences, I learned how to positively “self-talk” and remain focused; learning so much more about myself. Mckee et al. (2008) notes that, “Good leaders know their strengths, limitations, values, and principles. They believe in their own capability and convey self-assurance and efficacy” (p. 26). This strategy has helped shape my leadership style in a way that relates to other’s challenges and apprehension. Yet, at the same time, being able to promote and reinforce their strengths to overcome their weakness. Furthermore, for some, having an example of meeting challenges head-on provides the necessary “push” for them to take action. In fact, I have had many people share their thoughts on how some of my examples has inspired them to seek out their own strengths and limitations. Something about it resonated with them enough to learn more about themselves.

Reference

McKee, A., Boyatzis, R. & Frances, J. (2008). Becoming a Resonant Leader (8^th ed.). Harvard Business Press. 

What is Great Leadership

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View "What is Great Leadership" by Dr. Richard Boyatzis. Dr. Boyatzis explains the impact most effective leaders can have on you. Stop the video when he asks you to complete his exercise. Complete the exercise and then watch the rest of the video. Finally, write up your results as a reflection blog. 

Leadership can be associated with making crucial decisions and driving others to achieve a desired end-state. In other words, they serve as the main source of knowledge, expertise, and decision making. While this may be the case in specific situations or environments that are non-complex, this is not necessarily the case in today’s global and dynamic environment. Indeed, yesterday’s perception of leadership has significantly evolved as social, cultural, and business environments have increased in complexity and rely on key relationships. According to Dr. Richard Boyatzis (2012), “Leadership is a relationship. By definition, you can’t be a leader unless there are followers” (0:18). Reflecting on this important point and determining what is great leadership, I have identified two leaders; one that brought out the best in me and one that had the opposite effect.

The first leader is someone I hold in high esteem because of their ability to inspire and motivate me, personally and professionally. In fact, prior to working for this senior military leader, I spoke with others that have worked with or for this leader and all expressed personal accounts of how this leader directly influenced and empowered them at one point. This leader had a very good reputation in my field and having been selected to work directly for this person was considered an honor. This sentiment held true having had the pleasure of working for this leader for over a year. This leader had an uncanny ability to relate with others and show genuine concern for everyone he engaged. His messages were further enhanced by his positivity and focus. Through my daily interaction and having witnessed first-hand on many occasions, I noted how effortlessly he was able to evaluate a situation, those around him, and build rapport by delivering the appropriate communication approach. According to Boyatzis & McKee (2005), “Great leaders are awake, aware, and attuned to themselves, to others, and to the world around them” (p. 3). As a young leader, this was very inspiring. Not only did he make me feel like I was a part of something meaningful by personally mentoring and developing me, but he made others feel empowered through compassion and belonging. Moreover, one of the most effective leadership quality I learned was how he held everyone, including me, accountable for their actions. Being a senior military leader, there are many tools he had available to address deficiencies. Instead of taking the role of “superior and subordinate” as his primary method of correction, his approach was more of mentorship and development. Thus, this forced those whom fell short, including me, to quickly address any shortcomings and work harder to put their best foot forward. In fact, this leader showed me that not all situations require a “0-60 mph” corrective approach with people. Indeed, I still feel this is true.

The second leader is someone I believe is in clear contrast to the first leader. This senior military leader had quite the opposite relationship approach and results; thus, causing polarization. Although I did not have the same daily interaction with this leader, as a senior leader within my rating chain, there was a consistent level of interactions. Through these interactions, I perceived this leader to gain compliance through positional power alone. In fact, while conversing with this leader, I found her attempts to be involved or show concern to be disingenuous and shallow due to the lack of sincerity. Furthermore, much of the feedback or comments from this leader seemed to focus on petty things that had little to do with mission effectiveness or leadership. I took from these interactions that we as subordinates were required to “feel out and adjust” to the situation as she perceived it. This resulted, in my view, the widening of the gap between reality and her perception; thus, being out of touch with her subordinate leaders. In the military, this is not uncommon. In fact, one learns how to deal with this by carefully shaping communication with the out of touch leader to feed their appetite and then move on to what really matters. According to Boyatzis and McKee (2005), “Many organizations overvalue certain kinds of destructive behavior and tolerate discord and mediocre leadership for a very long time, especially if a person appears to produce results” (p. 5). In this situation, this leader created the organizational value of blind compliance from other leaders and emphasized how likeable you were to her. This point is highlighted by Boyatzis and McKee (2005) as they note that “dissonant leaders wreak havoc. They are at the mercy of volatile emotions and reactivity. They drive people too hard, for the wrong reasons, and in the wrong directions” (p. 6). Needless to say, I found myself going out of my way to avoid interacting with this leader. This was a challenge, again she was in my rating chain, but I always did my best to display the proper customs and courtesies during these interactions and tried to move on as soon as I could. I am sure this was obvious at some point, as she was used to others going out of their way to acquiesce to her every word. Trying to look at this situation on a positive note, I use this leader’s examples of “what not to do.”

Reference

Boyatzis, R. (2012). Resonant Leadership. UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/

Boyatzis, R. & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant Leadership (5^th ed.). Harvard Business Press.

A Reflection of Our Learning

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Reflect on the three key lessons you take away from the course. Reflect on your perceived value of this course.

Going into the Leadership Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility course I felt I have a good understanding of what ethics and morality entailed. Throughout the course however, I learned that I fell into the “blind spot” category as the text author reveals. LaFollette (2007) states that, “We all have restricted moral vision; many of us have vast moral blind spots. Most of us are ignorant of historical, political, economic, sociological, and psychological logical insights that can inform moral action” (p. 93). While I had some awareness of many of these factors, I came to the realizations that I was only scratching the surface in my understanding.

There were many interesting and enlightening discussions on ethical and moral concepts. The three take-aways that I valued most was 1) consequentialism & deontology 2) generational factors, and 3) everyday morality.

Consequentialism & Deontology

I found consequentialism and deontology to be a very interesting topic as both significantly impact the way people reason and make decisions. As a leader, I am fully aware that people do not always share the same frame of mind and/or perspective. In fact, as people evaluate and analyze situational factors to solve basic and complex issues, understanding how these two ethical theories shape our decision making is vital. Whereas consequentialism states that we are morally obligated to act in a manner that results the overall best consequences, deontology holds that we should act in accordance with moral rules or rights that are partially independent of consequences (LaFollette, 2007).

Why this is important is because it allows us to have a better understanding of someone’s (even ourselves) reasoning of ethical or moral issues. Thus, if someone else arrives at a decision that differs from our own, this does not necessary mean that they are wrong and you are right (and vice versa). Instead, this conclusion should spark a discussion of the situation and factors in order to shed light on the differences in reasoning. According to LaFollette (2007), “Knowing someone's theoretical commitments does not tell us which actions she thinks are right or wrong. It tells us only how she reasons about moral issues although, as we shall see, that tells us a lot” (p. 362).

Generational Factors

Friction among generations is hardly a new revelation. In fact, generations sharing the same society and workplace is as common as difference cars sharing the same road. Yet this topic is important because each generation hold different values and behavior patterns that are associated with that generations experiences; the key for leaders is to understand the wants and needs of these generations in order to create a cohesive workforce culture (Deyoe and Fox, 2012).

For leaders (or anyone for that matter), it would be easy to overlook or dismiss an older person’s thoughts or ideas as being outdated or irrelevant. Likewise, to conclude that a millennial’s behavior as irresponsible or to casual.  Thus, the challenge for leaders is to be able to negotiate their way through these generational gaps and unite the qualities each one brings to the workplace and create productive and cohesive work culture. One can only do this is they are aware of these challenges and are willing to look beyond the surface of the potential friction.

Everyday Morality

Thinking, behaving, and living morally should be an important aspect for everyone. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. What is important about everyday morality is that we have a large controlling investment in the end result we actively work at it to improve the benefits of our lives and those around us. LaFollette (2007) provides five factors that strengthen moral behavior:

• knowledge of the morally relevant facts;

• knowledge of the effects of our actions;

• having a vivid moral imagination;

• caring about others;

• interpreting others' behavior (p. 3082).

It is easy to see how these factors contribute to greater self-awareness and potentially greater understanding of others. As leaders, it is more likely than not that we deal with and collaborate with others daily; many times, in different and dynamic situations. It is essential that leaders understand how their behaviors affect others and most importantly, how and when to adjust their leadership style to get the most out of their people. Leaders must be flexible, insightful, and be accountable. Keeping the above five factors in mind is a great start.

References

Deyoe, R. H., & Fox, T. L. (2012). Identifying strategies to minimize workplace conflict due to generational differences. Journal of Behavioral Studies, 5, 1-17.

LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. [Kindle edition]. Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell.

Gun Control: What is the Answer?

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Do citizens have a right to bear arms? Answer the question in your reflection blog. State your opinion and follow up your position with supporting documentation. Next, present the opposing side to your stance. Use external sources to enhance your claims.

The question of whether U.S. citizens have the right to bear arms is easy to answer. For this, I point to the United States Constitution, Bill of Right, Amendment II, which states, “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” What is not so ease to answer are the conditions and/or limitations of this right.

Gun control has long been a polarizing topic. In fact, organizations such as the National Rifle Association (NRA) which exists to preserve gun owner rights and pro-gun control organizations like The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence which seeks great gun control, continuously jockey to influence voters and law makers alike. For many Americans, because of the high emotional impact of violent events such as Columbine high school shooting, the Sandy Hook elementary shooting, or even the shooting of politician Gabrielle Gifford in Tucson, AZ; they feel compelled to support some form of gun control. Indeed, LaFollette (2007) notes that there are alternative to this topic that include three scales of gun control: 1) the degree (if at all) to which guns should be abolished 2) the restrictions (if any) on those guns available to private citizens and/or 3) the combination of the first two (p. 2766).

Some believe that significant gun control is not only needed, but vital to public safety by limiting the instruments that are used to carry out violent and mass killings. In fact, according to ProCon.org (2016), “Firearms were the 12th leading cause of all deaths, representing 1.3% of total deaths topping liver disease, hypertension, and Parkinson’s disease, as well as deaths from fires, drowning, and machinery accidents” (par. 5). So, if guns are taken out of the equation, the belief is that there will be less deaths as a result of guns.

Another popular pro-gun control position is that there is no law-abiding need for high-capacity magazines for any gun. Especially since mass shootings between 1982 and 2012 involving guns indicated that, 50% of these violent events involved a high-capacity magazine gun and that when such magazines are used, the death rate rose 63% and the injury rate went up 156% (ProCon.org, 2016).

The right for a citizen to bear arms is provided and guaranteed. Having to ability to possess a gun (hand gun/long gun) for self-defense, hunting, or overall protection is deeply rooted in American history. This is one of the reasons why the creators of the US Constitution made it a point to 1) establish this right and 2) prevent the government from infringing on this right. It goes without saying that the conditions that existed when this right was created have long since evolved.

In the wake of high profile mass shooting as noted above, Americans have been forced to re-examine the right to bear arms and how much (if any) limitations should be imposed. Because of instant access to violent acts involving guns, the general conception is that guns are the main cause of such carnage. In fact, often many news outlets constantly publish figures that involve gun violence that can be somewhat misleading. According to Jacob Davidson (2015):

People should also be aware that most gun-related deaths are suicides, not murders. There are twice as many suicides in the U.S. by guns as there are homicides and I think most people find that very surprising. Over and over again one reads that 30,000 people have been killed with guns, but what’s not said is that 20,000 of them took their own lives (para. 4).

While the loss of any life as a result of violence (to include suicide) is unfortunate and unacceptable, I believe the focus needs to be directed at the factors of the crime/violence as much (or even more) than just the tools that were used to carry out the crime. By and large, the majority of gun owners are law-abiding citizens. Yet, those with criminal backgrounds or mentally unstable have been known to acquire guns legally and illegally. Thus, in order to address this issue, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System was created in 1998 to identify those unfit to purchase guns from a federally licensed firearms dealer (FFL). Headed by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), this system checks a person’s background such as: criminal history, mental issues, dishonorable discharge from the military, immigration status, any type of warrants, and know drug use (Kohrman and Mascia, 2015). This background check, however, is not required for private gun sales.

I believe that some form of gun control is necessary to identify and prevent those with criminal histories, mental defects, and those under investigations or indictment. While owning a gun is a right, so is the right to public safety. Thus, if a person has shown or is showing that they are not fit to possess a tool such as a gun, then they should have their right to own a gun either temporary or permanently revoked by a judge and not necessarily a politician. Furthermore, I do believe that in order to extend this identification and prevent, background checks should be extended to private gun sales. A system should be established for private citizens to run a timely background check for anyone wishing to purchase their guns. I would be important to not be used in a manner that creates a registry, tracks who is selling or buying what guns, affordable, and easily accessible. If the point is to ensure the suitability of a gun owners status, then a simple background system should assist in keeping guns out of certain people’s hands.

Another important aspect of gun control is the enforcement of existing laws. While introducing new gun control laws to prevent certain grades of guns from entering the civilian population may be warranted and requires greater discussion. However, laws should promote great vetting oppose to outright stopping interested gun owners. In other word, swimming with the current oppose to against it may be more affective. Another angle to approach better gun safety and handling is improving or increasing gun safety courses. Training and education is an important ingredient to responsible gun ownership.

There is no doubt that guns have played a part in violent events, yet they have also prevented events from become more severe. The true issues from my point of view involves the humane being on the other end of the gun. The gun is the tool, people with the intent to hurt or kill others will accomplish their plan whether with single gun or a bomb. Take for example the Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995. This event orchestrated by Timothy McVeigh killed 168 men, women, and children without the use of one gun.

Many times, people will fly under the radar of law enforcement (such a McVeigh), but infringing on Constitutional rights because of a possibility is inconsistent with American values. More effort and resources should be available to enforce existing gun laws, improve gun training and education, and create background system available to private citizens wishing to sell their guns to other law-abiding citizens.

Resources

 Davidson, J. (2015, December). A Criminologist’s Case Against Gun Control. Time. Retrieved from http://time.com/4100408/a-criminologists-case-against-gun-control/

Kohrman, M. and Mascia, J. (2017, March 14). Everything You Need to Know About Federal Background Checks. The Trace. Retrieved from https://www.thetrace.org/2015/07/background-checks-nics-guns-dylann-roof-charleston-church-shooting/

LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. [Kindle edition]. Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell.

ProCon.org. (2016). Should More Gun Control Laws Be Enacted? Retrieved from http://gun-control.procon.org/

United States Constitution, Bill of Rights, Amendment II.

Ethics and Behaviors

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Watch the two videos from business ethics speakers and discuss how your organization portrays its values. Share any examples where behaviors were portrayed positively by your leaders or an instance where someone was unethical in your work environment.

Organizational values are an important element to establishing desired behaviors and expectations. Values are traits or qualities that are considered worthwhile; they represent priorities and held driving forces for behavior(s) (Heathfield, 2016). These behaviors ultimately contribute to the organization’s culture and brand. Thus, it is no wonder that many organizational leaders apply significant time and energy towards identifying and promoting their organizational values.

There have been many high-profile companies that have demonstrated that establishing organizational values is one thing and living up to them is an entirely different thing. Take Enron for example or even the recent Volkswagen emission scandal. According to Patrick Lencioni (2016), “If you’re not willing to accept the pain real values incur, don’t bother going to the trouble of formulating a values statement. You’ll be better off without one” (para, 6). Indeed, it almost seems pointless to create a measuring stick and through it out the window as soon as the work begins.

A values based organization I had the honor and pleasure to a part of was the U.S. Army. The military culture is hierarchal in nature and places a premium on initiative and leadership. In fact, the 7 Army values include: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage (Army.mil, n.d.). These values served as an expectation for all, regardless of position or rank. Furthermore, as service members, we were expected to live by these values on and off duty.

In the profession of arms, leaders were highly encouraged to seek personal and professional development opportunity beyond unit level leadership professional development events. In fact, I have had supervisors that actively supported me in such cases. For example, as a military police officer, I took every opportunity to advance my knowledge and skills by attending civilian law enforcement training and certification courses. In the majority of these cases, I came out of my own pocket because the military has its own training and certification courses. Nevertheless, I had two very influential supervisors that supported my personal and professional development by authorizing me to either take leave from work or do so in a permissive TDY (temporary duty) status, which had to do mainly with administrative and accountability purposes.

These two supervisors backed the organizational values with action by allowing me to take time off work to participate in law enforcement related training. While this training and certification had little direct benefit to the organization, they were highly encouraged to support the initiative to grow. Instead of seeing this a way to take time off, which some may consider unethical. These two supervisors viewed the specialized training as a way to support the organization’s and Army’s vision of having better trained and well-round leaders throughout the ranks.

This had a major impact on me in that, I too, went out of my way as a supervisor to promote designated and uninterrupted time for schooling or external training for those seeking their own personal and professional development. I even went so far as to identify certain weeks that were less hectic according to our training calendar or known scheduled events. This sent a strong signal that continued growth was a priority and that organizational leaders would go out of their way to supply the action necessary to live up to the organizational values.

Indeed, recognizing others desires to improve and grow is an ethical quality not many others value. It is important for organizational leaders to only see the short-term benefit of having an employee at work than view the long-term benefit of supporting growth and demonstrating compassion for the employee’s efforts and provide actionable support. Doing so has the potential to make for a more capable, better trained, and happier workforce.

References

Army.mil (n.d.). Army Values. Retrieved from https://www.army.mil/values/

Heathfield, S. (2016, November 07). Build an Organization Based on Values. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/build-an-organization-based-on-values-1919185

Lencioni, P. (2002, July). Make Your Values Mean Something. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2002/07/make-your-values-mean-something

What are Virtues?

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Select three of Franklin's virtues and reflect upon them in your blog. Ask yourself, how can I include them in my daily life?

Virtues play an important role in our personal and professional environments as they demonstrate our moral standards through behaviors, interactions, and decision making. LaFollette (2007) notes Aristotle’s position of a virtuous person as: (1) do the appropriate action; (2) do so habitually (regularly, and in a variety of circumstances); (3) enjoy acting virtuously; ously; (4) know that it is virtuous; and (5) know why it is virtuous (p. 3209).

An important figure synonymous with virtues and their commitment to self-improvement to be more virtuous is Benjamin Franklin. In fact, Ben Franklin established 13 virtues that he actively set to improve. Ben’s 13 Virtues included (PBS.org, 2002):

1. Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
6. Industry. Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. Moderation. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
11. Tranquility. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
13. Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Of Ben Franklin’s 13 Virtues, the three that I believe have the most impact in my situation and can always be improved are: Temperance, Resolution, Tranquility. Before going into each virtue, it is important to note that I am an Aries. Although I am not fully committed to the astrological frame of mind and practices, I do feel that there are important traits and characteristics that closely represent zodiac signs and individuals. Understanding this, I do acknowledge certain traits that closely represented some of my own traits.

In identifying the traits that could potentially be negative (in and of themselves), I have committed significant effort to use these traits to produce positive results and sustainable habits. It just so happens that the traits that I work on continuously for my own self-improvement, directly affect my temperance, resolution, and tranquility. For example, Aries are known to have the following traits (astrology-zodiac-signs.com, 2017):

Strengths: Courageous, determined, confident, enthusiastic, optimistic, honest, passionate

Weaknesses: Impatient, moody, short-tempered, impulsive, aggressive

Aries likes: Comfortable clothes, taking on leadership roles, physical challenges, individual sports

Aries dislikes: Inactivity, delays, work that does not use one's talents

As one may imagine, keeping some of these traits in check is necessary to positively grow and become more virtuous. Indeed, these efforts require constant monitoring and foresight.

Temperance: Self-control is an important trait for anyone dealing with others, especially leaders. Thus, I am conscious that I sometimes have the natural urge to respond or react according to the situation. I have learned over the course of many years of experience and leadership positions that there are: 1) more than one version (perspective) of the situation 2) factors emerge constantly in fluid environments 3) the human factor can amplify the situation. I have gained an appreciation of the what was known in the military environment as “tactical patience.” By allowing certain situations to develop, one can gain a better understanding of the core issue and the contributing factors. Resisting the natural urge to respond or react without fully understanding the situation can be costly in that improper actions could follow or not enough resources were devoted to address an issue. While many situations are straight forward and require less critical thinking, in a dynamic environment, issues tend to be the result of factors either known or unknown.

Resolution: There are many occasions where my initiative far outweighs my commitment to see a project through completions. In fact, I enjoy the beginning hustle and planning of a new adventure. However, when arriving at a constant or maintenance process, I tend to lose interest. Understanding this about myself, I ensure that during certain portions of a project, I have very capable people to help support or take over as I like to move on to other challenges. This situation allows me to work with other in coaching, developing, and putting others in a position of increased responsibility.

Tranquility: Being driven and competitive can be a positive trait when this energy is focused in the proper direction. There have been many instances when I have allowed small set-backs to affect my overall progress. I have learned that small set-backs/failures are opportunities to try from a different angle or see the situation from a different perspective. Most importantly, my sense of proportion has improved greatly as a result of both of experiences involving victories and defeats. Known this allows me to focus on the factors that I have control of.

References

Astrology-Zodiac-Signs.com. (2017). Aries Traits. Retrieved from http://www.astrology-zodiac-signs.com/zodiac-signs/aries/

PBS.org. (2002). Wit and Wisdom. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/l3_wit_self.html

LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. [Kindle edition] Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell.