October 30th

  Throughout the past few classes a few guests have come in to our class to speak about  leadership, and it really has been wonderful lessons in the sense that it has made what we had been  learning very real. There was a lot to draw out of these huge figure`s talk about their personal life stories and the way they have taken on leadership. It has been really inspiring to hear about the strategies and attitudes they had taken that has contributed to their success, and  it has been really helpful in connecting what we have been studying in class.

  I was especially impressed by the speakers that came today, despite their background being something  less familiar to us compared to the  past few guests. Perhaps it was the way they talked, with the right kind of enthusiasm, and vigour-not too much that it was overpowering but not too little that could have made us bored. I thought the partnering between the two speakers were great too; they supplemented each other`s talk which made it very clear for us to understand the whole picture, and the balance of speech when they gave descriptions  made it easy for us to get a grasp of the story without having such a one-sided view. 

  The message Mr. Daisy sent to us was very valuable I thought. Suddenly being a president of a school with a  failing system in a country which you aren`t familiar at all was, though he retold in a comical way, was no doubt a daunting task. The way he approached it was by taking a step back to understand the environment, culture, people then addressing the problem WITH the people. Now, this is a wide spread teaching; to not blindly go in to an unknown land and suddenly try to take power over it, thinking that you know everything that needs to be done. However, it`s easier said then done, and to actually take that teaching to heart by implementing it-that`s a different story. To some people it may come naturally, but to some I think it takes enormous amount of self control and patience to do so. The way Mr. Daisy  tried to tackle the problem by involving the people, encouraging them to speak out and actually reflecting their opinions in restructuring, like he said creating"ownership" among them, was spectacular. To make reforms from the inside, meaning shifting the people`s paradigms was probably the key success to saving the school. Now with the environment where the faculty`s opinions actually mattered, even if there is to be a down turn in the success of the school in the future,  i`m confident that with the cooperation they will be able to overcome it.

 What I wished to ask, but was cut off due to the time constraint was, if there was some kind of impact or change in the students attitude since Mr. Daisy stepped in. Since Mr. Daisy was the present it is natural that  he mainly deals with the faculty board, but upon hearing about how he usually had lunch with the students, showed how much he cared and valued the students themselves. Perhaps his attitude toward the students, or individual communications  he had with them has contributed in motivating them in someway? Or  maybe the way he requested for  the faculty to be more open with ideas and to have more dialogue during the decision making process has generated to the students and encouraged them to do the same? Or perhaps the fact that the school was succeeding, the results of the school itself has been a factor to change the students attitude or feelings toward the school? Anyhow, I believe that there is some sort of story on the students side and I wished to hear more about. 

  I hope we will be able to, with the power of what we have learnt in class and through the lectures the past few guests have given, take to heart a few messages on good leadership and be able to apply them in our future. Thank you Ken for brining in all these guests, it has been a very valuable experience for all of us and i`m sure each of us has brought home a little something to ourselves that would be both useful and important to our lives from now on.