Knowing When to Lead

From the day we’re born we generally fall into one of two categories; the leader or the follower.  As a baby you follow what your guardians, siblings and other little friends do and say; it’s all a part of learning and growing. Then, one day you’re in first grade and your teacher tells you that you’re the line leader for the day and all of a sudden you’re on top of the world. Not everyone is cut out to be the line leader of the real world, but if you are, you better hope you can positively reach out to the rest of the class following behind you. I think that is one of the hardest parts of becoming a leader; control. Taking whatever “power” you have and making it a positive influence on those you’re impressing upon. Power and money seem to have taken over our world, our minds. Everyone seems to be looking out for themselves, which, to some extent, is understandable. But as a leader you need to look at the bigger picture, too.

“It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.”

-Nelson Mandela

I love this quote. I think  Nelson Mandela was trying to impress that leading doesn’t always mean being first, being number one or being completely in charge. As a leader you should know when you need to take charge and when you need to let others try and learn on their own.

To close, don’t be afraid to take the lead on your own life. You’re your own person. Don’t let others dictate how you feel, how you think, how you dress, who you love, anything. Life is too short to go to bed at night thinking, what if? Take control of your own life, be responsible for yourself, and learn from the mistakes you make.

- Regina (GiGi) Wickline, Manhattanville College Leadership Conference Committee Member

Leaders Make an Impact

"The price of greatness is responsibility."

~ Winston Churchill

Hello everybody! My name is Daniella Valdes, this is my second year as RA here at Manhattanville College. I am also a member of the Leadership Conference Committee, which is in charge of planning the conference that will have impact on leaders. It can be on a daily basis, or a long term effect. Last year, the Leadership Conference had a day by day impact in my life. I hope that this year it can be a long term impact, because we will be discussing how our actions as leaders affect who we are.

The quote above connects, or makes these conferences complimentary. It is another way to say "If you talk the talk, you better walk the walk." If you decide to do something, knowing that what you are doing is wrong, you know that every actions has its reaction. To be great as a leader and make others overestimate you and follow you, you have to be responsible for your actions. As a role model, people are expecting the best from you to copy what you just did. Your followers act as a mirrors, they will reflect whatever you do. Everyone can make mistakes, however, you need to show others you are mature enough to take responsibility for your actions and accept you make mistakes. That makes you a great leader. Think about it and share your thoughts! 

- Daniella Valdes, Manhattanville College Leadership Conference Committee Member

Welcome Back to the Manhattanville College 8th Annual Leadership Conference Blog

Welcome, or for some of you, welcome back to the Manhattanville College Annual Leadership Conference blog page! This page was created to keep all of our followers up-to-date on conference happenings, hear candid insight from the members of the Leadership Conference committee and give readers the opportunity to share information with conference planners and other student leaders on the topic of leadership. This will be a go-to hub of information about all things leadership. And don't forget to save the date for this year's conference which will take place on the campus of Manhattanville College on Saturday, February 16, 2013 at 8:30AM in Reid Castle.

In the wake of one of the biggest elections in US history and some of the most significant social and political events in the Eastern World, it is only appropriate that this year we take a look at leadership through the lens of the public eye. Leaders can come in all forms, from the President of the United States to the Libyan rebels to the Occupy Wall Street protestors in Zuccotti Park. All of these groups can teach us a valuable lesson, either positive or negative, in leadership if we only take a moment to watch the things they say and do. So this year, our theme, “$H!T LEADERS SAY AND DO: A Learning Experience in Leadership Etiquette” will embrace those moments to help us all become more experienced in how leaders can be agents of change, solidarity and expression. From exploring how are actions can be perceived by others to what our Facebook pages say about us to having meaningful meetings and conversations, we hope to provide skills that will enable everyone to go out and be successful leaders in today’s global community.

This blog will be updated each week, featuring a special guest blogger from the Leadership Conference committee, who will update you on the current happenings of the committee, offer exciting updates for the conference and their own personal reflections on the “#H!T LEADERS SAY AND DO." We encourage everyone to feel free to leave feedback, ask questions and utilize this space to connect with other student leaders from all over the world. We hope that this blog will become a great platform to share ideas, answer questions and help every student become the best student leader that they can possibly be.

Keep an eye out for information regarding how to get involved in the Manhattanville Leadership Conference as well as information on how to register for the conference in the next few weeks. And as always, if you are interested in getting more involved by presenting on a topic related to our theme, "$h!t Leaders Say and Do: A Learning Experience in Leadership Etiquette," feel free to contact anyone on the committee or reach out to us at our email leadershipconference@mville.edu. We are looking to have everyone get involved!  I hope you will join us on Saturday, February 16, 2013!

-Kia Brown, Manhattanville College Leadership Conference Committee Co-Chair

Leadership Around the World

So the Leadership Conference is extremely close...tomorrow in fact! I’m sure many of us are excited, including several people from around the world. No, we don’t have people flying in specifically to come to the Leadership Conference, even if it would be interesting. But we do have several website blog hits from places like Russia and India.
Check out the statistics so far...

United States                                                  514
Russia                                                               59
United Kingdom                                              48
India                                                                 38
Canada                                                             18
Latvia                                                               16
Philippines                                                       14
Pakistan                                                           10
Ukraine                                                            10
Malaysia                                                           7

It's interesting to see how important the topic of leadership is around the world, not just to those at Manhattanville. So for those who are attending the conference tomorrow, we hope that you will have the opportunity to learn a bit more about leadership and meet some incredible people in the process. And for those who are unable to attend, keep reading (and sharing). Hopefully you have learned something valuable as well.

-Anthony Otiniano, Manhattanville College Leadership Conference Committee Member

Focusing on the Internal Voice

As I think about our theme, “Be a Showstopper: Finding your Leadership Voice” and how having a voice in the classroom, residence halls, and beyond college can change an experience.  I also think about the times when we need to quiet the voice, not just to listen to others, but in particular, to quiet the “voice(s) in our head”.  And this will be my focus, the internal voice. 

While in a meeting, class, or out with friends/family, too often we are constantly thinking about the “next”.  What is the next meeting we need to go to? What’s next in the day? What or when will I eat next? When is my next class? What will the next program be? What assignment do I need to work on next? What is next on the agenda?  What is next on the to-do list?  And while some “next” questions listed above do not fit in my daily life, I still have my own list of questions and thoughts I run through – all looking at what is next.

Oddly enough I made this connection about “finding your leadership voice” and taking time to quiet the internal voice during my one of my yoga classes.  I’ve been practicing consistently for a year and a half and in each class the teacher asks us to forget about the day, forget about what is “next” and focus on the time now.  Now it is a little ironic that I was thinking about the conference and what I needed to do next while in a space/time that asks me to just focus on the now, my breath and my movement, but it brought me to this blog idea.

So as we head into the conference and you are “finding your leadership voice”, let that be the only thing you are focused on.  Quiet the internal voice and forget about the “next” at least for one day.  It will be a challenge and it has taken me a great deal of time to let go and attempt to quiet the internal voice, but with practice it is possible. 

Namaste

- Michelle Eichengreen, Manhattanville College Leadership Conference Committee Co-Chair

A Peek On My Checklist

So this is my third Leadership Conference at Manhattanville and like many others (I hope…I doubt I’m the only person making checklists out there) who will attend,  I have a few of things I want to learn or at least get some light shed upon.

Leader’s Smile

Yes, a smile. But by smile I mean the one defined as: a pleasant and agreeable appearance, look or aspect (thank you dictionary.com). Of course, we are all unique and our smiles will be unique. But I need to be schooled on the outer appearance qualities of a leader, because not everyone will get a chance to get to know a leader personally. So they will judge that book from its cover and I don’t want to be caught in a rugged old paper cover.

Cologne or Deodorant

Both cologne and deodorant are used to shield humanity from our constant body wastes. But they work slightly different at least in general. Cologne introduces a definite new scent to an individual while deodorants simply restore ones smell without the sweat. My point, well as a leader, do I strive to look for a certain definite and ideal atmosphere (cologne smell) and impose it on the ones I lead or should I work towards identifying and uprooting the weeds among the society I lead and ensure it remains like that, like deodorants do?

Pen or a pencil

By now I’m sure my subheadings interpretations are already predictable, well welcome to my world of checklists and to-do lists writing style. I digress. Any ways, this one is obviously a straight forward one. When you use a pen its more permanent (provided you are not a whiteout fanatic) and the opposite is true for pencils because it is easy erase its marks.  As a leader there are times you will have to make final cut decisions and stand by them no matter what and sometimes as a leader you can simply act as a moderator and not necessarily make final decisions just draw the plots suggested by those you lead. Hopefully this conference will enlighten me on when a leader ought to use ink and when to refer to a No.2.

I’m sure there are other appropriate titles for these three excuses for subheadings I used like etiquette, assertiveness, humility, fairness, openness etc. But that’s what you get for peeking.

PS: if you wanted a more serious talk on leadership strategy take a look at this TED talk http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

Cheers.

- Geoffrey Rugarabamu, Manahattanville Leadership Conference Committee Member (since 2009)

Finding the Leader In You

I wrote a poem to give you an idea of where I use to stand and where I am at now in terms of leadership in general.

Queen of the followers
was I back in the days
till it struck me one day.
I paused and asked myself "why not me?"
Did I lack the leadership trait?
Why am I not qualified to be in the driver's seat?
Discerned a leader is born and not created.
Little did I realize
it is a phase
a leader goes through.
One needs to learn to obey
before they can become a leader.
Achievable is a leader figure
I declare from experience
slowly but surely
the transformation I encountered
an elevation to the greater stage--a leader.
Make it your dream, your goal
a dream that will never be deferred
and dry up like a raisin in the sun.
Grasp on to it till you get it
for the future belongs to you
if you believe in the beauty of your dream.

      If you are in the same boat as I was, come attend the 7^th Annual Leadership Conference and be one step closer. I guarantee you that it will be a life changing experience.

- Edom Tsegaye, Manhattanville College Leadership Conference Committee Member