(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...?:)