Presentations :)

   This morning, I thought I was okay because I prepared well the night before my presentation...but I got pretty nervous when Moe stood up in the front and started giving her presentation. She sounded so bold and confident (in a good way of course). I thought "Ah she really knows her stuff!" When it was my turn to talk I kept telling myself I need to avoid repeating "LIKE!" Actually, I think I only mentioned twice during my presentation...maybe I'm exaggerating but I remember Ken's body twitch the first time I said the word "Like." I remember thinking "Oops!" after that. But I think I did better in this presentation than the one I did with Rab. Also, I have been trying to avoid saying "Like" in my daily life ever since I heard people pointing out how often I say that word. So I'm trying Ken!!! Haha
I found Shiho's presentation very interesting and not because I'm really close to her but her topic was especially different from everyone else's. However, I just wondered if the reason behind "Wonder Woman" being the only popular woman hero is because there aren't that many woman heroes in the first place.
     By the way, I thought it would be better if I posted my presentation slides on my blog in case people want to take a look at it! The original one was enormous! It went off page :)

My Weekend :)

     I decided to post a blog on what I did over the weekend. On Saturday, I mainly stayed home except for the time I visited Burger King to grab some lunch. The next day, I went to the ICU festival with Haru and we ate TOO MUCH! We tried to use all of our advance tickets. Most of the streams were selling something and I kind of wish we did something as a Stream 1 as well. After the ICU festival we headed to Sophia. Sophia was very different from ICU. It's hard to explain but I guess I was overwhelmed by the urban atmosphere. There was throng of students and you really couldn't walk without bumping into someone. All the girls in Sophia had dyed hair with makeup and heels. Boys, on the other hand, were lean, tall with spiky hair. They all seemed to be enjoying their college life! Well, we watched the performance of cheerleaders and dancers. I met some friends from high school and it made me sad how we all went to a different college :( Haru and I went home before dinner. We were too exhausted...visiting two college at once. Again, I stayed home all day today...mostly working on my TPP essay from Economy and Economics class and writing my RW essay. It's funny how ICU students are busy before the final with reports, presentations and essays but not so much during the final. I do like ICU and my close friends but I wonder what it would have been like if I went to a different college...say Sophia! My friends and I often talk about how ICU students are under pressure from their work. I hope to visit Waseda and SFC next year! Oh, I'm getting bad skin. I think I'm going to get some sleep. Good night!

A Man in Suit!

     My first impression of Mr. Kitashiro was someone who is well dressed and his hair neatly combed to the side. I thought he was serious at first but he had a nice sense of humor just like Hibiya-sensei. Mr. Kitashiro said we can speak English if we study the language for 6 months...Then he added the word "INTENSIVELY," which made everyone in our class laugh. He also like the approach of "ATM," which I thought was cute. I hope he won't be mad at me for calling him "cute." He only takes his anger out on someone three times a year right? Wink. Wink ;) I thought Mr. Kitashiro and Hibiya-sensei is similar in that they both promote diversity and support women's activity.
     As I said before, I work at a fast food restaurant. I personally felt that a lot of the tips Mr. Kitashiro gave us applied to my own part time job. I truly enjoy my part time job and when I wonder why...It was all what Mr. Kitashiro had said. First, I do my best at my current position, which is the register. Also, my manager let me challenge myself once in a while by trying out the new position like making burgers instead of serving customers at the register. Furthermore, I completely agree with the statement that "Doing things right even when people are not watching is important." Again, take fast food restaurant as an example of this! An employee notice the coffee machine flashing "Brew new coffee!" If no one is looking, the employee could serve customers old cups of coffee but that would lead to customer complaint. In addition, it might lead other employees to behave the same. Of course, this is also not fair to the customers because they pay for their coffee.
     Here are other tips I have learned from Mr. Kitashiro. There is a lot so I guess I'll just list them down below!

1. It's best if you read books while you are students. He recommends old books on Japanese history, Chinese history, ancient Greece or Rome because old books have what they call "unique value."

2. "Do not reprimand your manager in front of his or her people as much as possible"...because that would hurt one's pride.

3. Learn your own country's history first...before learning about other countries. This comes in handy once you start interacting with foreign people in a company(during coffee breaks or something).

I would like to thank Mr. Kitashiro very much for taking his time to talk to us :)

Hilarious Healthy Hibiya-sensei!

I'm writing this blog right after hearing Hibiya-sensei's lecture. I thought the President would be VERY VERY serious but she was actually petite, charming, broad minded, friendly, sweet and cheerful. She has those big, round eyes. I wonder how she manages to make everything sound so interesting. In the beginning, Hibiya-sensei introduced Germanic languages and Indo-European languages. I don't know if it was intentional but she gave us a word of advice. She made a statement that it is better for us to acquire one of the Indo-European languages because English is Germanic. I was planning on learning Spanish so this was a good news for me! Towards the end of her lecture Hibiya-sensei referred to herself as "Exercise freak." I was convinced how important it is to keep your stamina and constantly take care of yourself. It is true that you need to be able to look after yourself first in order to become a leader and bring people together. I also enjoyed her talk on American food..."Junko in her fattest years" or "This is the last elastic pants I'm gonna buy." I can tell from her gestures and facial expressions that she must of really savored her time in the cafeteria. 

Most of all, Hibiya-sensei mentioned how her experience at PENN taught her how important it is to take into account the ethnic diversity. Then, she turned to us and added by saying she valued us for our diverse cultural backgrounds. The moment I heard her say this...I truly thought I came to the right university. Just like what Shiho said, "We don't need to feel anonymous at ICU."

Hibiya-sensei's lecture reminded me of this picture! Women's Liberation Movement.

Chapter 8 Lighten Up!

     I can make a statement that this chapter is probably the most important chapter for me. I seriously need to learn how to "Lighten up!" People who don't know me well describe me as a cheerful person and smiling all the time. However, I truly don't know how "to be the first to find humor in stressful situations" (139). For example, I don't like to procrastinate when it comes to assignments. Then, I try to do everything at once and I fall into stressful situations. Apart from school work I have part time job and after school activity (Of course, there are others out there who are going through a tougher time). Outwardly there seems to be no trouble...Like I'm balancing everything perfectly, yet it's often too late when I realize I'm experiencing mental exhaustion. Suddenly it occurs to me that I'm finishing books on my way to school (on trains)... I stay up till three in the morning to study and wake up at seven again to go to school... I'm spending my afternoon working at part time job or doing after school activity instead of staying with my friends... I use up my morning and lunch time studying in the library.... I have a quarrel with my parents because I come home late when I come back from my after school activity... My house is not located near ICU and I'm not at home most of the time...We have arguments about how I don't have time to clean up my messy room... My parents tell me to inform them whether I'll have dinner or not and I forget to do so... With that I realize I am leading a somewhat irregular private life and how much trouble I am causing my parents. Sometimes, I feel like just giving everything up or go easy on myself but I can't. I think too much and this is a flaw in my character. I appreciate my friends for telling me to be positive but it will take me some time because of who I am.
    Though,  I recently found out that horror movies help to relieve my stress :) Like yesterday I watched this movie called "Gothika." Today, I watched this video called "HELL NO: The Sensible Horror Film" on YouTube and I enjoyed it very much! The video goes against the usual horror movies and it's funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olEbwhWDYwM&feature=share&list=TLwkNCx_OCrEJo6XW9aDQTEjmez2kYUgkc

Personal Mission Statement

I feel I lived my life to the full when...

I use my Time Wisely (Study)

I am Physically Active

I am Surrounded by Those Who Give Me "Total Freedom to be Myself" (Morrison)

Some days...Maybe life throws you a curve ball

I have to Keep Moving Forward

Life may be tough

I don't wish to Take It Out on My Family

Instead, I hope to be Devoted to Them

I hope to...

Leave enough time for Personal Interests

Just hop outside and take a walk

Engross myself in a good book

Shop till I drop

Put Myself in Someone's Shoes

Give Others a Reason to Smile

Make Full Use of My Talent

Meet Different People 
a
n
d 
Broaden 
     My 
                          Perspective :)

Chapter 7 Conflict

As we are all aware of...Shackleton is a leader with an extremely sharp mind. One thing that surprised me was when he was choosing his crew for the trip to South Georgia Island. It said in the book how Shackleton chose Vincent and Crean on purpose because they were both known as troublemakers. He was planning to leave Frank Wild a lot less trouble. It's always important for leaders to think about his team members.

Most of all, I look up to Shackleton and his way of handling antagonistic people. Instead of pushing away these antagonistic people, he tries to “maintain close relations” with them (122). I am the complete opposite. Let's say...90% of the time I could tell whether I like that person from their first impressions and I can be quite frank about the whole thing. It's either I like that person or not. To make matters worse, I show it in my attitude. I wouldn't ignore them but I would say “Hi!” and there is nothing more. The conversation stops right there. Moreover, once I start seeing what I don't like, I can only focus on their bad sides or faults. However, this is a wrong reaction because once you act all uncomfortable in front of that particular person he or she will sense that awkward silence. As it is mentioned in the book, this is “detrimental to the organization” or at times when you are working as a whole.

Yesterday!!

     In yesterday's class, we mainly focused on question number 3 ("Which is your most common conflict strategy...?"). People in my group had Confronting, Compromising and Forcing. I had Smoothing...The word "Smoothing" sounds pleasing but I feel like I'm a kind of person who evade the conflict. I'm from ICU high school and ICU is famous for being international with more than half the students being returnees from other countries. Since students at ICU tend to be what we call "Americanized," I was able to assert my own opinions. However, I was much different in the past. When I went to an elementary school in Japan, I often restrained myself from feeling annoyed. Whenever I had a fight with someone I would always apologize first in order to avoid any conflict. On one side, I may seem like a tolerant person but...This is not an effective way to handle a problem because I keep things to myself and I can't say things to their face. The worst thing you can do is to talk behind someone's back. Moreover, this IS stressful! In the end, I guess I still have that side of me in which I tend to "Smooth things over."

Chapter 6 Core Team Values

     Strategy 6 points out how significant it can be to forget about status differences and treat everyone the same. I was teaching my friend the other day because she was struggling with one of the passages from her ELA Reader. It was on "McDaniel" and the reading mainly focused on "the importance of effective intercultural encounters"(8-1). It gave Japan as an example to demonstrate how nonverbal communication practices and cultural themes coexist. For instance, Japan value hierarchy... "the junior is socially compelled to assume a passive role"(8-2) and "the junior person bows first, lowest, and longest"(8-4). What I wanted to say was...Shackleton's strategies may successfully be applied in foreign countries but maybe it is more difficult in a country like Japan.
     In addition, I was looking through the "Expedition Log" and number 5 "When was the last time you made a personal sacrifice for the benefit of the team? Have you ever done the equivalent of serving tea and milk?"(109) caught my attention. This was a difficult question for me. I have been in different sports team, volunteer activities and orchestra band. However, it took me a while for me to go over whether I made any personal sacrifice in my life. Then I did remember about the time when I had the school festival. We had to practice some dance moves as the cheering group. Even though my college entrance exam was on the next day, I decided to stay after school and practice with younger students. One reason was because I was one of the sub-leaders but it was also because so many other sub-leaders were absent (because of exams) that I thought people needed me to teach them the dance. So I guess I made a personal sacrifice because I had a choice of spending my time preparing for my exam.

Chapter 5 The Team Message

      

      Chapter 5 focused on teamwork. On page 84, there was a story about a plane crash that occurred on January 25th, 1990. There were 73 victims in total... Many were separated from their loved ones and it was such a disaster. It said on page 85, "People would pass each other, reach and take a hand for a moment. Or they would look at each other, make a brief comment, and then move on. Sometimes they would embrace or nod, then continue applying bandages or moving bodies to the makeshift morgue. People needed that brief, but meaningful, contact to continue working with determination. It rejuvenated us." This scene reminded me of Aurora shooting in 2012. This incident was tragic but to a lesser extent in terms of the number of casualties. After the tragedy, President Barack Obama offered the nation's sympathy to survivors of the shooting. In his speech, he insisted that a brighter day would come. Obama sent out a message to his people that America could make a fresh start by working together.
     By the way, let me share one of my favorite quotes in this chapter. "A handshake is, after all, a time-honored way of connecting with other humans" (87).

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/us/shooting-at-colorado-theater-showing-batman-movie.html?pagewanted=all

Chapter 4 Stamina

     Today we went over Chapter 4 of Shackleton and discussed how Shackleton was poor at taking rest, although he was a great leader. Whenever I tried to take a nap, my dad used to say "It's not much use if you only sleep for like 30 minutes!" So I was surprised to find out that some people can really refresh themselves by just sleeping till the spoon hits the bowl. This story reminded me of some information I learned from the book called Brain Rules by John Medina. Here's an interesting statistics! "On the flip side, one NASA study showed that a 26 minute nap improved a pilot's performance by more than 34 percent. Another study showed that 45 minute nap produced a similar boost in cognitive performance, lasting more than six hours. Still other researchers demonstrated that a 30 minute nap taken prior to staying up all night can prevent a significant loss of performance during that night" (160). As you can see, what my dad said to me was wrong. Oh don't get me wrong! I don't mean to diss my parent! It's just that after I learned about this truth, I made sure to take a nap whenever I have a part time job at night :)

Yesterday's Class!

     In yesterday's class, I didn't really get a chance to discuss my examples of leadership so here is one! In ICU high school, I used to do dance. Our leader was a girl I was very close to. She started out as a beginner but she worked harder than anyone else and worked her way up. Every time she sees one of her friends, she breaks into a broad smile and her face lights up. I love how she is generous and friendly to anyone. Furthermore, she treats everyone the same.
     Okay...Moving back to how I found this girl a good leader. In high school, we usually had morning practice before the school festival or dance competition. Even though my friend lived 2 or 3 hours away from school, she was always on time for the morning practice. Moreover, she always came to school with earphone stuck in her ears because she was constantly working on image training on her way to school- imagining yourself dancing to the music. She did not neglect even the slightest effort. I was impressed.
     I noticed that my friend set a personal example with visible behaviors as well...One of the strategies brought up in Shackleton. A lot of the time senpai from ICU college came to teach us different genres of dance. Then, my friend always hurried to the front where she could closely observe our senpai's moves. Even before the music starts, she has her long sleek hair pulled back in a ponytail, facing the mirror and ready to dance. I thought this scene was inspiring because it just shows how highly motivated dancer she is and also encourage others to do the same. Most of all, my friend would switch places with the younger students once in a while so that they can see the dancer better which I think is very thoughtful of her.

"All that Glitters is Not Gold!" (Chapter 2)

     What do you imagine when you hear the sentence "Set a personal example with visible, memorable symbols and behaviors" (xxiii)? When I first saw this sentence... My honest reaction was "What!?" or more like "Huh?" with a puzzled look on my face. I took this as kind of like serving as a role model by setting yourself a goal or leaving indelible impression on others by staying bold and confident. It took me a while to get "Symbolism and Personal Example" right. I thought "Set a personal example with visible, memorable symbols and behaviors" meant setting personal examples for yourself. However, it actually meant conveying message for others. In the book there were times when Shackleton intended to convey a message to his men. 

First..."When First Officer Lionel Greenstreet fouled the propeller while attempting to maneuver Endurance" (p.39).

Shackleton helped First Officer Lionel Greenstreet fix the damage and never mentioned about the incident again.

Second..."When Endurance was crushed by the ice..." (p.39).

Shackleton knew it was crucial to get rid of every unnecessary item in order to accomplish a successful sledge march to the ocean. So he threw away this

this

and this!

     I realized that there is more than just telling people what to do. Some people do not like to be told what to do and they may prefer a different approach - through dramatizing "the challenge with visible, memorable symbols and behaviors" (p.40)!

Chapter 1 Vision and Quick Victories

     First of all, I just noticed some things and I wanted to make few comments about the layout of the book. The book follows a similar pattern. It goes on to explain what makes a good leader followed by examples from real life (Tylenol, Intel and etc.). I felt that was very effective in gaining a better understanding about what exactly defines a successful leader.
     

www.alyb.org 

   September 2013  
     
     The whole James Burke and the Tylenol story reminded me of how McDonald faced a similar difficult decision. A woman in Singapore bought a Sausage McMuffin from McDonald. As she bit into it, she thought she saw a baby lizard's tail dangling from her patty. The woman also asked her mom and her mom confirmed that it was a "newborn lizard." Of course, the woman was pretty disgusted and she posted about it on McDonald's Singapore's  Facebook page along with a photo. This incident gathered some attention from other Facebook users. There were 110 comments made on this Facebook post. After seeing the photo, an administrator from McDonald's Facebook page politely replied, "We would like to assure you that food quality and safety is of utmost importance to us and we will be investigating this matter." That said, a McDonald’s employee immediately collected the burger from the woman to be sent for a laboratory test. On September 6th,  McDonald's Singapore posted the laboratory test results showing that the supposed lizard's tail in one of its patty was in fact a chicken blood vein. As you can see, McDonald handled this difficult situation very well. They were polite toward their customer and they were quick to handle the problem. After receiving a clear explanation, the woman actually thanked McDonald for their attention and taking the burger for testing. The two factions came to terms. McDonald is still in business. If we think about this, McDonald and Tylenol are similar in that they both survived their rough times based on their good judgment. 

Wear a SMILE :)

    Gutman made a remark about Barry Obama saying, "I thought his super power came from his super collar!" There is a lot to say about Gutman's presentation on smiling. I think Gutman captured his audience's attention successfully by using his sense of humor. I also admire his cheerful manner. There were so many techniques I have noticed in his presentation. Instead of boring his audience to death, Gutman got his audience involved by asking the question "Who smiles more than 20 times a day?"Furthermore, he provided a surprising fact such as children smiling 400 times a day. Of course, there are always some people we have hard time convincing...but Gutman stated "One smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation of up to 2000 bars of chocolate." This example is effective in that people will get the idea of how powerful smiling can be. In terms of his presentation itself (slideshow), it was easy to comprehend with few words and clear graphs. In addition, I thought he summed up his presentation very well. Most of all, Gutman knows his stuff. He could tell where he got all his information from and how reliable they are. He has self-confidence and he incorporates personal example about super heroes. You know... I think he would really make a great leader refering back to Shackleton's ten strategies to leadership!

 

From the way I evaluate Gutman, I may sound as if I know everything about making presentations. However, that is not true. I'm in no position to assess him. I actually suck at talking in front of a large group of people... so I hope I can become a good speaker like Gutman :)
     As much as I loved Gutman's presentation, I was not convinced about one thing. Charles Darwin believed the act of smiling itself actually makes us feel good. This raised the important question of what happens to people who is smiling on the outside but really dying in the inside? There are those who live with personal problems (Divorce, Disease and etc.) and they feel uncomfortable confiding in others. They often wear a smile in order to hide their true feelings or avoid causing troubles. They are smiling on the outside but are they really feeling good like Darwin says? It must be stressful keeping things to themselves and not being able to talk to anyone...

Moreover, I still cannot believe smiling contributes to longevity. It seems like a coincidence to me!

     By the way, I really enjoyed the whole negotiation skills and the role playing. Thanks for the orange! I am exceedingly fond of food! I decided to be a little creative here :) haha

Interpersonal Communication!

     For me... it was the reading on social intelligence and the biology of leadership that got me thinking about related topics as well as my personal experience. In the reading, Janice praised Cavallo highly. She mentioned that Cavallo was different from the other bosses in that he would rather critique himself than manage around a problem employee. I have a part time job at a fast food restaurant. Even though I do not face much problem concerning my boss, many employees around me complain how my boss treats employees differently depending on whether they are male or female. Others complain that my boss is not trustworthy and that she cannot keep things confidential. You cannot deny the fact that so many employees actually decided to leave because they were not satisfied with my boss. These could all be just a rumor... but if so many employees are not happy with the way my boss treats them... I thought my boss should maybe consider reflecting back on her own performance just like what Janice did. Furthermore, my boss should set an optimistic mood because she tends to change her attitude depending on her mood and leaders should ideally be spirited. This is what came to my mind when I read the part "Many bosses would rather manage around a problem employee than help her get better" (6).
     What took me by surprise was that I read about mirror neurons also in my summer reading. The moment I saw the word mirror neurons in Harvard Business Review, my brain went PING! I remembered reading about it in the summer reading book called brain rules by John Medina. In the book, mirror neurons are described as "neurons scattered across the brain, and a subset is involved in action recognition" (270). The author says this is the explanation as to why a baby stick its tongue back out at you. I was very pleased because I felt like I was a know it all! To be honest, I had a hard time enjoying this book so it even made me happier to discover that it was worth reading the book.

www.eduguide.org

http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Rules-Principles-Surviving-Thriving/dp/0979777747/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378998404&sr=8-1&keywords=brain+rules

Hi!!!

     Today we talked about first impressions, handshake and eye contact. Many of us might think “Handshakes! I can do that!” However, what seems like the most simple thing can actually be quite difficult. It was interesting how some people placed their hands on top to show their power over the others!

     I thought of briefly introducing myself in this first blog post! I currently belong to ICURFC. There are also some players in Stream 1 :) I lived in NY for six years and I'm hoping I can go back there soon! I also have a younger sister that goes to high school. I hope to find new interests in this class!