Servant leadership

So I missed a blog a few weeks ago about Servant Leadership. The speaker emphasized the importance of doing things not for yourself serving others to be a good servant leader. Leadership shouldn't just be about making yourself look good or acquiring more skills and experience to put on a resume, but actually learning to love those you are leading.

I have a scriptural application that's kind of different for this. It made me think of in Matthew 6:16-18 when Jesus is teaching the Sermon on the Mount and says not to be like the hypocritices who "disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast... they have their reward." He said that we should fast secretly to our Father in Heaven. I thought this was like servant leadership because if we just do things to appear as a great leader or for our own benefit, we may as well not be doing them. But if we actually serve those around us and do them because we love them, than we can make a big difference in other peoples' lives, and that's really what matters.

Thanks for everything this semester, Tommy. The class was wonderful and I really did learn a lot about becoming a better leader and person. You were a fantastic TA :)

Last week!

Elise May was our speaker last week and a couple of her more simple points really stood out to me. The first thing she did was have us introduce ourselves and talk to the people around us, which at first I thought was a little cliche because we had been in the same class the whole semester, but then I realized I really didn't know most of the people the class. Though I've been trying since coming to college to be outgoing and talk to those I don't know, It hit me that I need to work harder to remember people's names and get to know those around me even if they're acquaintances.

The next thing Elise May did was have us write the different things we learned about leadership on the board. It kind of overwhelmed me to see how many aspects of being a good leader and person we should work on. It's relatively easy to take a week at a time and learn about and implement an aspect of leadership, but then when the next week comes, it's hard to keep building upon those skills instead of just moving on. I guess I'm just saying that you can work on leadership skills your whole life and never be the perfect leader, and there's always something you can improve. But that's good, because we become better people and better leaders.

Something fun

For my something fun this week I went to a songwriting showcase on Wednesday. I was in a songwriting class last semester and got in the showcase and it was so fun to perform and hear everybody else's amazing talent. I wanted to see the talent this semester and the different ways people create songs and perform so I decided to go. It was amazing! My favorite performer was this girl with the most unique voice I've heard, and it was honestly the best performance I've heard at BYU. The song was absolutely fantastic and well written as well. There were many amazing performers and songs, and I was amazed with the creativity of some of the lyrics and melodies. It just re-inspired me to step up my own music, and I was so glad I went.

This week we talked about leadership in the home, and I really enjoyed learning about this topic. I believe the blog post was on a tradition that our family has that we can learn from and use in our own families, and an example of shared leadership in our homes.

My favorite tradition that my family did is quite an odd one. We would always go out to this restaurant called Ross Park Drive In and get taco spaghetti and tater tots. After that, we would take whatever leftovers and little treats we had in our car and go feed the squirrels in the cemetery. From the time I was little and the squirrels would surround me so that my parents would have to come chase them off, through my teenage years, we would always make time to go feed the squirrels. I would like to have unique traditions like this in my own family.

My dad is a really good example of using shared leadership in my house. He is always fair and tries to look at my mom's point of view. He also tries to work things out reasonably with my mom and the family when one of us is unhappy. He is a good example of conflict resolution as well, which goes hand in hand with shared leadership. I hope to be able to use his example with my own spouse.

Ethical dilemmas...

One of the biggest ethical dilemmas in my life deals with something I love most: music. I guess I'm not what you would call a casual listener. I like to dig deep into the barrage of artists and explore different types of music. When I find something I like, it becomes the soundtrack to my life for a time. I use other artists' music to get new ideas and inspiration for my own music, which expands my thinking and creativity.

This is why it is such a huge temptation for me to download music illegally. I could have every unique artists' music at my fingertips, at no cost to me. This was my view in high school, and I downloaded music as I pleased. It's just taking money from the big corporations, right? It's free advertising for the bands who's music gets downloaded and they can make money from concerts. Well, maybe, but I believe at some point it's got to hurt the artists. Because I want to be an artist myself, I can't consider it ethical to steal money from artists now and expect to sell records myself later. So though it is a huge temptation for me, I try to steer clear of downloading music.

Random

Alright since this is a free topic blog I'm just going to write about what I'm learning in my book.

I'm reading How to Win Friends and Influence people. It's so interesting to me how many things you can learn about how to better your interactions with people. I thought it was basically common sense in learning how to deal with others, but there's so much to learn. The book has talked about learning not to criticize others, because it won't ever make the situation better. I've also learned that when you are in a leadership position and you want people to do things, you should help them want to do it. This means putting it into terms that relate to the person and making it important to them. I've learned a lot of techniques for bettering my relationships with others that will be helpful throughout my life.

teamwork

In applying the principle of stand close together and lift where you stand, I really looked to my roommates. It has been a new set of challenges and blessings this year living in such close quarters with people. We entered as strangers and ended up with tight knit friendships. We have our struggles, though, and this principle seems to really describe the successful way to deal with challenges and help each other. When one roommate has troubles, it's easy for us all to lend support and a listening ear and lift from where we stand. It's when we all are struggling at the same time that we really learn and grow. In these times which have only happened recently, we are continuing to learn that we really need to stand close together. If some of us are pulling a huge weight load and nobody notices, it can make things very difficult for the individuals. Butif we all lift an equal amount, we can lift and take care of each other and become a more Zion-like group.

If Then Mosiah 4:27

In Mosiah 4:27,

If you take the time to order things in your life and prioritize, then you won't have to run faster than you have strength for.

This especially applies in my life to schoolwork. To avoid living in extremes and pulling all nighters and cramming, I can spread my work out and it will be better quality, as well as me being in better physical condition. I will be able to do all the things that are required of me.

D&C 60:13 "... Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent that it may not be known."

To me this means that if you don't waste your time, you can be building skills and talents and they won't be taken from you. I need to use my unstructured, free time to work on the talents I enjoy like songwriting and singing, so that I can be more constructive.

I also watched an hour of Olympics. While watching Evan Lysacek in his gold medal winning performance, I noticed that he seemed to make his jumps and spins look effortless in their landings. He would bend his knees just enough to absorb the shock and smoothly transition out of the move without any faltering. He was perfectly in tune with his body and himself, and knew how to adapt each trick to perform it without mistake. He was comfortable and confident enough to be bold and impress the audience and judges. This can be applied to being a good leader in knowing your self well enough to have confidence and direct others. If you are comfortable with yourself and know how to adapt in different situations of leadership, you will better be able to inspire and lead others

service challenge

This week was very rewarding doing the service challenge and trying to be more aware of others. I did my service in a lot of little ways that really seemed to add up.

First, I saw a family friend that I never really see or talk to on facebook posted that she was having the worst day of her life. I felt like I should do something about it even though we never really talk, so I texted her about it. A lot of things were going wrong in her life so I told her I loved her and then made her some brownies and took them over. She seemed really grateful that someone cared about her.

Then, I was talking to an acquaintance I had met the other night, and I knew it was his birthday. He was supposed to go out to dinner with his friends, but it ended up that they all went to Salt Lake and he was by himself. I told my roommates, and we made him a cake and took it over and played cards with him on his birthday. He told me after that I had made it special and he was really glad.

I also made an effort to make friends with or smile at people I didn't know on campus, and I started up conversation with I guy as we walked home. I was amazed how easy it was to make a new friend, and I know I always feel better when someone does that for me. I would really like to continue in this pattern of friendliness and awareness on campus.

Meyers Briggs

From the Meyers Briggs test and presentation, I mostly learned that people of different personality types depend on eachother. It's hard to accomplish anything without the strengths of each personality type.

Although I could learn a lot about myself from the test, I don't think it is necessarily an accurate relfection of my personality. I took this test about a year and a half ago and got completely different results, so it just seems like it depends on my stage and situation in life. It was good to learn all the different personality types, though, to apply the things that I think don't change in my personality.

It did help to learn about the way different people make decisions and view the world. It can benefit me as well as the people around me to understand and work well with them. By understanding your own personality, you can be confident in your own strengths and ablities. By understanding other's personalities, you can relate better, build relationships more easily, and utilize eachothers strengths. As a leader, if you know the personality types of those you are leading, you can better direct them and know which type of leadership to use.

My book choice is How to Influence People and Win Friends.

4 situations-

1- As a roommate, there are many situations where leadership would be useful. The supporting category would be especially helfpul if one of my roommates was struggling with a problem or challenge and just needed someone to be there to help them.

2- In my calling in church as music appreciation person, leadership is also necessary. If I were to ask a person or group of people to perform a musical number, I would delegate that number to them and just check back to make sure it was ok before it was performed.

3- Since I have been involved in music my whole life, when friends have asked me how to sing or play the piano, I have used the coaching method to teach them the principles and how to implement them.

4- As I volunteer at an elementary school this semester, it is necessary to provide instruction and direction to the kids. This requires the directing method of leadership.

Interview

Interviewing my dad, Lance Buttars, I learned many valuable points about leadership. My dad is the owner of a historic jewelry store that has been operating for more than a hunred years, and he is active in leadership organizations within the community. Watching him as I've grown up, I've noticed his leadership skills as a father, a boss at work, church callings, and other groups.

I first asked what he thought the qualities of a good leader were. He said never being afraid to do anything you ask of anyone else, having integrity, leading by example, recognizing people's abilities, and giving them opportunities to flourish.

He noted that the best leaders in history seem to have surrounded themselves with people that are better at things than they are, rather than just try to make themselves look good.

He also talked about the importance of building a reputation of honesty and fairness. When a customer was accusing an employee of cheating him in prices or lying to him, which happens due to the nature of the jewelry business, she replied that she knew for a fact that my dad had integrity and was fair in his business deals. She was not asked to say anything like this, but just by watching and knowing who he was, she respected him knew his honesty.

Another important mark of a leader my dad discussed, is how they react in difficult situations. If a person handles challenges well under pressure and always remains true to their values, that person will be a more skilled and respected leader.

Leaders should also be good role models. My dad asked me to think of a role model and the reasons I looked up to them. These should be the same kind of qualities leaders strive to posess. A statement that my dad likes to live by is that people may forget what you say or forget what you do, but they will never forget the way you make them feel.

It is also much easier to become a leader with these type of qualities if youhave this kind of role model and try to adopt some of their strengths. Just like if someone does something good against popular sentiment, it's easier for the next person to have courage, it's easier to be a leader if you have an example. That's why it's good to know my dad's views on leadership and what he's done.

I can also apply this concept to myself as a performer. I spend a lot of time listening to and watching other performers. I get a lot of ideas from the wide variety of styles and energy people use, and this helps me be able to see how I want to be. I can learn a lot from performers present and past, just like with leadership.

My dad's other leadership points can also easily be applied to my own situation, as it is always important to have integrity, recognize other people, and being a good example. These things will be very useful now and throughout my life.

leadership post

Defining my leadership role is a difficult thing for me to do. I don't often put myself in positions to be a leader, but I suppose leadership can be defined in various ways. I write music and perform a lot, and that's what I'm majoring in and want to do as a career, so i suppose that is a type of leader I could be.

In class on Wednesday, I was Barack Obama for our forum. I think there is much controversy regarding his leadership skills, but something that is hard to ignore is his powerful speaking. He is very effective at communicating his ideas and connecting with people. He obviously convinced enough of the nation to vote for him to get in office, and this kind of charisma is a very powerful tool in leadership. I would like to improve my own communication skills and apply my observation of his charisma and effectiveness to my own leadership. This is especially important in music, because people have to know that I believe in what I'm singing about, or any credibility will be lost. Believing what you teach is important in any kind of leadership, but you have to have the skills to communicate it.

Well, I just added this student leadership class, so I don't really know what it's about or the specifics of this assignment. Leadership in and out of actual positions is important to me though, and I know that people are always looking for leaders. This leadership can be formal or informal, but it often makes a bigger impact than the leader realizes. That's why I think good leadership is an important skill to learn in the BYU environment.