(F) Presentation

Seeing everyone's presenting, I thought that they (including me) were using different styles of presentation.

Some people, such as Atsuko, Risako and Mari, used presentation slides which contain relatively many words (compared to others), and pictures to help understanding of the important points written in the slides. One of the advantages of this style is that people can "see" the important points of the presentation so it'll be easy for the audience to remember the content.

On the other hand, some people, such as Miku, Kengo and Yusuke, used pictures as the main and only a few words. A good point of these types of presentations is that the audience can pay attention to what the presenter's saying rather than the screen.

Also, I found an interesting article about different presentation styles↓Please have a look at if you are interested in:)

10 Different PowerPoint Styles – Tips and Clips on Using the Right Style for Your Presentation

http://www.24point0.com/top-PowerPoint/10-presentation-styles.php

Last term in the R&P class, the teacher of my section told us that we could use as many as slides we want but we should use words as less as possible. I know that it's one of the effective ways of presentation, but I do not think that's "the only" effective way. So, I personally do not want to decide which types of presentations are better than the others because different presentation styles have different advantages! (and probably disadvantages as well though...). Anyway, It was interesting to see different people presenting what they researched in many different ways:)

Regarding my presentation, I challenged to do what I've never done before, which is to do a presentation by using slides containing lots of pictures with no words (except the title of the presentation). When I was a high school student (in the English presentation class), I saw a video in which a man presenting in that way. I unfortunately forgot who was presenting about what, but definitely, it was really impressive for me. I remember that he was like spending only 3-5 seconds per slide. And I was curious to do the same thing.

However, my attempt this time ended up with a failure simply because I couldn't practice enough before actually presenting in the class. After the class, I really regretted that...I was busy enough doing other assignments as an excuse...orz

On the next day, (I did presentation in this class on Wednesday, so on Thursday,) I needed to do another presentation in different class. Because I regretted on the day before, this time I practiced many times at home (although it was in Japanese) in order to speak slowly, fluently and confidently. As a result, I didn't feel so nervous and I was able to do better presentation! This experience made me realise keenly how important practicing was...

(F) The Lecture from Hibiya Sensei

On last Monday, we had again a great lecture, this time from Ms. Hibiya, the president of ICU! It was really impressive for me, well, probably for all of my class mates. (Needless to say, the lecture from Mr. Kitashiro was also very interesting!) I'm really proud of myself in last November, who chose LITDY for my RW:))) And of course, thank you Ken for giving us a number of wonderful opportunities to learn from great leaders!

Just like many of my class mates already did in their blog, I'll also briefly write down some of the important points given in the lecture from Hibiya Sensei, in order not to forget about.

1.    Study another language

If you learn another language, you'll be able to communicate with more people, so you'll be able to know more various ways of thinking = It broadens your perspectives.

2.    Study abroad

Even though it is very hard to live in a different country, never give up, tough experiences make you develop. Don't be afraid to put yourself in a hard environment.

3.    Find your passion

You major at this university may not directly connect to your job in the future. Find and Do what you really want.

4.    Money is not such a big concern

Don't give up trying something because of lack of money. Money is always in somewhere, so seek it.

5.    Keep doing something regularly

in order to keep both your body and mind healthy.

Finally and most importantly...

6.  Anything is possible!（you can do it!）

"できる！"

Speaking of learning another language, I'm now wondering which world language class to take in next term, French or German... maybe I'm more interested in French "culture", but only for the "language" itself, I'm probably more interested in German.

However, I have two Swiss friends who speak several foreign languages (including French and German) and both of them says "German is definitely more difficult than French". In addition, when I was a high school student, I studied both French and German a bit in the lessons provided by the school during summer vacation, and I noticed that I'm better at pronouncing French than German......

The Course Sign up starts on 18 Feb but I can't decide!!!><

(R) LE10: Tenacious Creativity

"Strategy 10　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

  Never give up - there's always another move"

                                                                                              Leading at the Edge p139

In the negotiation activities (such as Snake Eggs and Two Oranges), we actually could compromise, but we needed to keep an attitude to never give up to find a way in which both sides can get maximum benefit without any loss. Also, in order to end up with win-win, we needed to find a different point of view from the usual way of thinking = new perspective to see all of the information given. I thought this could be connected to what is written in this chapter.

"When a strategy fails, acknowledge it and find another one. When the obvious moves are exhausted, keep looking for new ones." (p.149)

Also, in Mr. Kitashiro's lecture, we learnt the similar thing.

"Never give up, but withdraw if necessary." after this, he also said "if you failed, just try something new."

In my opinion, this means that…

Never give up the goal, but when you thought your current strategy was not working well, withdraw it, and try new strategy to achieve the ultimate goal.

"Tenacious creativity [...] demands flexibility, and it requires recognizing what works and what doesn't." (p.149)

Furthermore, I noticed that many of the chapters we read by now could be connected to this chapter. In order to keep an attitude of Never Give Up, for example,  we need to be optimistic&realistic (chapter 3) to recognise "what works well and what doesn't", we need to have enough stamina (chapter 4) to practice many different strategies, and we need to take a risk (chapter 9) sometimes to try new one. 

(F) The Lecture from Mr. Kitashiro

A: 明るく = Cheerfully
T: 楽しく = Enjoyably
M: 前向きに = Positively

Last Monday, we had a great lecture from Mr. Kitashiro, who is now the executive advisor of IBM Japan.

During the lecture, I strongly felt the importance of trying difficult tasks (rather than easy ones) and being always positive (even if the situation was really hard).

in his word, "Difficult jobs develop people." = 修羅場が人を育てる

This means, when you deal with a difficult task, you learn a lot, so your skills will be improved. At the same time, however, a person needs to have positive thinking and positive attitude toward the task, in order to achieve it.

I was deeply impressed by the following words which he said as an answer to someone's question.

"Be positive, and talk to yourself. [...] If you tell yourself that you're fine, you'll be fine. So, just smile. Then, you'll be successful."

This is a screen shot of the search result I got when I put Mr.Kitashiro's name on the Google search engine. Please look at the photos on the right hand, (if it's too small, click the picture, then it'll be enlarged.) in almost every photo appeared here, he looks smiling!!:)

Moreover, it was also interesting for me that he said the following kind of thing when someone asked him a question about leadership models.

"We can learn a lot from other person, but don't just imitate them. Try to develop your own management style."

I think this is one of the most important thing when we learn something about leadership. Although we are now reading the Leading at the Edge for example, obviously we cannot be Shackleton. What we can do is to learn what&how he act, and we need to think how we can apply them into our real-life situation, and then practice them in our own way.

(R) LE9: Risk

"Strategy 9　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

  Be willing to take the Big Risk."

                                                                                              Leading at the Edge p125

A leader is sometimes required to make a bold decision i.e. take a big risk. At the same time, it is important to measure the risk properly and to consider whether it's really needed to take it.

"Understand the risks you face and evaluate them carefully. Then balance risk and return, and have the courage to step up to those calculated risks that are worth taking."(p.137)

I guess that making a decision to study abroad is a risk for many people.

In my case however, it was already decided in the course curriculum of my high school that every student in my course, International Course, experience studying abroad. (And we could graduate our school with 3 years just like the same as normal students who studied in Japan) Thus, I actually didn't wonder if I should go or not. Nevertheless, it was very hard for me to decide which college to go as my high school had ties with several different colleges in England.

I had two options:

A) go to a college in which roughly 20 students from my high school study every year, and take the vocational art class with many other foreign students there.

B) go to a college which only 3 students at maximum are sent from my high school, and take 3 AS classes with British students there.

At the moment, I was so much interested in the field of art. On the other hand, I wasn't sure whether I really wanted to be a professional artist. I actually didn't want to narrow the range of my job in the future by taking A, but taking B meant that I would miss a way to be an artist.
Also, I wanted to try to put myself in a harder environment, where only a small number of foreign students study together, and to test my potential.

Finally, I decided to study in the latter, which was described as B above, and took 3 AS classes including Sociology, Psychology and World Development.

The first 3 months were especially tough for me, but through the experiences, I could improve not only my English language skills but also my mental strength.

I've never regret that I made this decision. Well, I don't think taking B was "the right answer" and A was "incorrect", but if I took A at that time, I won't be here, at ICU today. I'm so glad that I could meet with all of my new friends at this university, and I thank for all people who supported me to be here:) ...I think that a person can take a risk only when he/she is sure that there are other people who support him/her.

(F) Smile

Some days ago (or a week ago? I don't really remember...),  in the class, we discussed and found various ways of stress coping i.e. how to reduce stress and to improve our performance.

Also, this discussion can be connected to what we can learn from the chapter 8 of Leading at the Edge: "Lighten Up".

And When I was doing net surfing, I found an interesting article which says only smiling (even though you were not feeling happy or having fun in fact) reduces stress.

口角を上げるだけで元気になれる！セロトニンを増やす7つの方法

http://rosamayumi.com/angle_of_mouth-2338.html

The article above is written in Japanese, so I also looked for a similar kind of article written in English and found it!

There's Magic In Your Smile

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201206/there-s-magic-in-your-smile

(Please look at them or one of them if you are interested in!)

The articles say that...

- Smiling secrete "Serotonin" which is an important neurotransmitter just like Noradrenaline and Dopamine.

- Serotonin helps reducing stress and making a well-balanced mind.

- Even though you were not feeling happy, just make a smiling face, then your brain will have an illusion that you're feeling happy, secrete Serotonin, and consequently you'll be happy in reality.

Therefore, things which we can laugh about are actually not always necessary, but just making a smile makes us feel happy!

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." ~Thich Nhat Hanh (qtd in "There's Magic In Your Smile")

Finally, I'll share a great song "Smile" by Nat King Cole

(R) LE6: Core Team Values

"Strategy 6　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

  Minimize status differences and insist on courtesy and mutual respect."

                                                                                              Leading at the Edge p.86

As the author says, this chapter is closely connected to the previous chapter, and the importance of that everyone equally gets sense of being respected by one another is written. When everyone can feel that they are respected equally and they can care and help each other, conflicts among the team is less likely to happen, so they can cooperate to achieve the goal without anxiety.

"...it is possible to create an environment in which taking care of others becomes a normative behavior and - over time- these caring behaviors help forge emotional bonds." (p.93)

Minimizing status differences is one of the key strategies to make it come true. By doing so, they can stop categorizing people into "we" (=in-group) and "they (others)" (=out-group), and they can feel that they are in the same team. Especially in the expedition, when the team unity was directly connected to life or death of the team members, I imagine it had very crucial role. 

On the other hand, in our ordinary lives (which are far from a matter of life or death), having a rigid stratification often makes team members perform better individually. It is because having hierarchy makes people compete with each other in order to step up to the higher levels, and consequently, it produces a better outcome.

The author argues that hierarchy itself is not problematic, but it is important that everyone gets "a basic sense of respect regardless of his or her role in the organization."(p.92) I agree with this opinion and I think it's an ideal form of an organization today. 

(F) Haggling and Tactics

In the last class, we learnt some tactics that are used when a person simply wants to win or to counter such a person.

1.    Exaggerated First Offer

2.    Speed Ups

3.    Delays

4.    Drawing Lines

5.    Creating Competition

6.    Concessions

7.    Investment

8.    Authority Limits

I was a little surprised that many of my class mates said that they've never haggled!:o I think it's quite popular in Kansai area, especially in Osaka.

Since I was a little child, I had seen my father haggling, often in a mass home electronics retailer. At the time, I saw both my father and a shop assistant using some of the tactics mentioned above.

For example...

When my father was planning to buy a new printer and talking with a salesman, my father said to him "Though my memory may be wrong, but I think...I remember that ●●(the name of a different rival shop) was selling this at lower price." =Creating Competition

After some conversations, my father suggested a certain price and then the salesman said "Ummm...I'm sorry, but I'll go to speak with my manager about this."=Authority Limits

Some minutes later, he came back, and suggested a new price saying "Sorry, this is our bottom line." =Drawing Lines. It was a bit higher than what my father suggested but lower than the original price.

Also, he said, "Although we can't go any lower than this, we will give you a set of copy papers and photo papers." =Concessions

Finally, my father bought the printer at the price that the salesman suggested, with making use of a discount coupon which can only be used at the shop (further discount!!).

And I did a very similar conversation with a shop assistant when I bought my new printer in Tokyo. At that time however, I didn't know that it's very rare to haggle here, so I'm a bit ashamed if people around me thought I was a strange girl...X(

(R) LE5: The Team Message

"Strategy 5　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

  Reinforce the team message constantly: "We are one - we live or die together""

                                                                                              Leading at the Edge p.70

According to this chapter, there are some main key elements to create, maintain, and reinforce a group's unity (= teamwork):

1.To "Establish a Shared Identity"

A good leader tries to create a shared value which gives common identity and unity to the team. When all team members hold shared identity with each other including the leader, they can put their energy for the shared goal.

2. To "Maintain the Bonds of Communication"

Having frequent communication makes the team members feel the sense of connectedness and team unity. At this time, the communication among the team doesn't always have to be face-to-face. It could be done through the internet or other electronic technologies.

3. To "Keep Everyone Informed, Involved, and Thinking About Solutions"

When vital information to achieve tasks are shared with the team members, they feel that they are involved in the project. When they feel that they are involved, they feel responsibility. When they feel their own responsibility, they do the best they can to achieve tasks allocated to them.

4. To "Leverage Everyone's Talents – And Deal with Performance Problems Constructively"

A good leader is a person who can understand each team member's ability and their strong points. Shackleton was very sensitive to these, and he was also good at "match those qualities with the needs of the expedition." When each member gets a task which they are good at to do, they can contribute to the team as best they could. = making full use of diverse talents of diverse individuals in diverse ways.

Also, a good leader deals with a poor performer without isolating the individual but give him/her an opportunity to recover.

*

Now, having a great teamwork is obviously one of the keys to success. However, through this reading, I noticed one important thing: creating/maintaining a good harmony itself should NOT be an "aim". Every team member needs to keep it mind that it's a "means" to achieve tasks with their full energy in order to reach the goal. This sounds like very natural (=Atarimae thing) but it is sometimes forgotten. Especially in Japan, people sometimes do not say what they really think in order not to break the harmony among the team. It leads the person to take a conciliatory attitude toward the challenges that the team faces = putting the cart before the horse.

Thus, in my opinion, it is not very good to emphasis the team message too much. The important thing is to make sure that the members understand their "goal" through sharing values/identity, frequent communication etc. (things mentioned above). These processes gives the sense of unity to the team, and as a result, the team message is reinforced.

(F) My Research Paper Proposal

Some people are naturally very/not very good at leading others. These days, lectures about improving one's leadership skills are getting popular, but Shackleton for example did lead others in an effective way without learning how to do it from such lecturers. In addition, there are some beliefs related to one's leadership, for instance, the first-born child is better at leading others than the youngest child. Although these beliefs are debatable, these suggest the possibility that a certain characteristics made in childhood experience or environment could affect leadership potential in adulthood. This paper will explore the effect of early childhood experience on one's leadership skills. (←purpose of the paper) It appears that some characteristics which have important roles in demonstrating leadership are raised before becoming an adult. (←thesis) Rodd(1994) examined "the personal and professional characteristics of leaders in general and in early childhood in particular, discussing the skills associated with effective leadership in practice" in his book "Leadership in Early Childhood: The Pathway to Professionalism" according to its abstract. Also, Nivala and Hujala (2002) published an article named "Leadership in Early Childhood Education: Cross Cultural Perspective". These sources seem to support the thesis of my research paper.

In fact, I firstly thought that I would research whether the leadership skills are learned or innate, but I soon noticed that there were (at least) 2 different types of "learning": conscious learning and unconscious (or semi-unconscious) learning. Although people sometimes say like "she is reticent by nature", such a characteristic is often learnt unconsciously/semi-unconsciously when she was very little, and it's not gained by complete nature in many cases. At this point, I found that it's very difficult for me to divide "nature" and "nurture" in a clear way, especially when I talk about one's characteristics.

Thus, I decided to write a research paper about the relationship between unconscious or semi-unconscious learning in early childhood experience/environment and leadership skills demonstrated in adulthood! But, as this proposal is working, I may change my thesis a bit (maybe I need to narrow the thesis more...?)

(R) LE 2: Symbolism and Personal Example

"Strategy 2　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

  Set a personal example with visible, memorable symbols and behaviors."

                                                                                              Leading at the Edge p.29

In the last lesson, we discussed the "visibility" of the leaders and its effectiveness.

When what the leader's doing is clear to the team members, they can trust their leader. When the leader does the same thing as the team members, the leaders can show that he/she is "one of them", and the members can be proud of what they are doing. 

Consequently, these actions bring unity to the team as a whole. When the team has unity, the members are likely to keep their motivation and to put their full energy.

"Be Visible: Let People See You Leading"(p.35)
When I read this, I remembered an interesting picture I saw on twitter some weeks ago.

briefly showing the difference between "Boss" and "Leader".

There are many things to learn from the Shackleton's story, but now, I wonder why Shackleton knew so many tips for being a great leader. Was he talented? Today, many people, especially in the business field, say like "we need to learn leadership skills to win the global competition!" and there are many popular books and articles about leadership. However, even without learning/training, some people are better at leading others compared to some other people. Is a person's leadership skill natured or nurtured? And, to what extent the leadership skills are developed in childhood? ←could this be my research question, maybe...?

(F) information, information and information!

In the class, we learnt that three of the most important elements for good negotiation is information, information and information.

(Of course, we also learnt that there are some other essential elements, such as value creations, summarising (to show understanding) etc.)

The 3 negotiation activities we did in the class, "The Two Oranges", "Louisiana Pine Snake Eggs" and "The last one" all made us realise the importance of information.

In "The Two Oranges" activity, if the person A/B knew the information that flavor comes from the peel, we could easily notice that we can actually share the oranges = win-win.

In the "Louisiana Pine Snake Eggs", if they buyer A and B told each other that they only need yolk and egg white respectively, we could find a way to win-win solution easily.

"The last one" was a little more complicated, but I thought that some invisible clues (for win-win) were hided…

***

Person A

needs a new bike for his/her daughter. She (=the person A's daughter) is the defending champion in the girls division in the bicycle race which is going to be held tomorrow at noon.

Person B

needs a new bike for his/her daughter. He/She wants to give the bike for his/her daughter's birthday in her birthday party at noon tomorrow.

***

Also, B told the shop assistant his/her credit card number on the phone before actually he/she came to this store. = "The last one" was nearly reserved for B.

So some of the possibilities for win-win solution are the following:

1.    B buys "the last one", and helps A with shopping OR takes A to some stores which B visited before coming to this store. (in the negotiation with Sumire, we ended up with this)

B wants the bike because it has the exact colour and size which his/her daughter expects. On the other hand, A wants a bike which is suitable for tomorrow's race. It is preferable if the new bike is exactly the same as the bike stolen some days ago, but it's ok if the colour was different. A have visited 2 stores before coming to this store, but B visited "several", so B might have found a bike which is the same model as "the last one" but not desirable colour for B. (though we cannot know whether B really found such a bike from the paper)

2.    B buys "the last one", and gives the older bike to A.

If the older bike which B's daughter are using/had been using is in good condition and enough for using in the race, B can give A the older bike of his/her daughter.

3.    B buys "the last one", and ask his/her daughter whether it's ok to let A's daughter borrow the bike for the race at noon tomorrow.

A's daughter and B's daughter both go to the same school, and A and B know each other. This means, their daughter may be friends. In which case, B's daughter probably knows the A's daughter's all kinds of situation, and also she probably wants to help A's daughter if it's possible.

There may be other win-win solutions...?:)