Videos on Sacrifice and Courage

Last Thursday in class, we watched three videos that were about people with disabilities that had courage enough to do what they had dreamed of, even though the odds were against them. One particular video that affected me was the video of the golfer, DJ Gregory, who had cerebral palsy and had difficulty walking. (This video is found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUSHN5EB0v8) He had made a goal for himself that he would walk every hole of every tournament in a year. I think that DJ has A LOT of courage, because he believed in himself when not many other people did. I am sure that knowing that there are people don't think you can do something is a very difficult thing to deal with, but he had the courage to disregard that and he knew that he could do it. Also, his parents had to have a lot of courage, because they had to see their child with the disability, and they had to help him along and encourage him, all while knowing that their son could have had a better life. DJ had to sacrifice a lot of things to achieve his goal, and this made him that much more courageous because in order to have courage and conquer a fear, you need to sacrifice. DJ was a very inspirational person to me, because he had the courage to accomplish his goal and conquer his fears, even though the odds were against him.

Courage and Sacrifice

Explain the following quote as it pertains to sacrifice and leadership: "the heart of good leadership is sacrifice".

This quote means that to be a good leader, you must be willing to sacrifice the things that are close to you. If you wish to have your team succeed, you are going to have to give up all the things that would stand in your way of that success. Sacrifice falls at the top of the list of important traits of leaders. Leadership always takes sacrifice, whether it is a big sacrifice or not. The small steps may even make a bigger difference most of the time. To be a good leader, you must understand the importance of sacrifice. Coach Krueger said that "There is no success without sacrifice...No leadership without sacrifice."

In what ways do you display courage to those whom you influence?

I try to display courage to those I influence in many different ways. Sometimes my attempts may not work, but one day they will pay off. One way I try to show courage is in the face of adversity, I always stay confident, even when the odds may seem against us. As long as I continue to do this, it will portray my confidence to them. Also, if our coach presents us with a challenge, I always do my best to get it done, even if it is a difficult task or is a step outside of our comfort zone. "Courage in a leader inspires commitment from followers". -Quality 6: Courage

What does courage have to do with leadership?

Courage has so much to do with leadership. As stated above, from one of our packets is the quote, "Courage in a leader inspires commitment from followers. Courage is contagious" When someone is showing courage and other people are able to see that, a lot of times they become encouraged themselves, and sometimes even inspired. Courage leads others to believe that they have what it takes to do anything. Without courage in leadership, how would you be able to lead your team anywhere? To lead effectively, you need to take risks, and you can't take a risk that will get you anywhere new without courage. It is what is needed to step our of that comfort zone again and act on it. Courage is essential if you want to be a good leader.

Coach Krueger

Coach Krueger came in to our classroom and spoke with us about courage and sacrifice, and what sacrifice really means. He went over many things that were very important and essential for leadership. He interacted with us and asked us to write down some things, including what trait that we have that we believe makes us good leaders. I said mine was trust, becuase I know I can rely on my team and I believe that they are honest to me. I know them well enough to trust that they will be this way. He also asked us that if we had a magic wand and could just instill one leadership trait into everyone on our team that would make us better, what would it be. I said desire, because sometimes my team gives up and just goes with the flow. Sometimes it seems like they don't really care. We need to want to play the game and play with 100% effort all the time. The thing that Coach said that stood out to me the most was him saying that sacrifice = selflessness. I believe in this. He gave us some pointers as to how to be more selfless, and he said to 1) promote someone other than yourself, 2) Take a subordinate role, and 3) Give secretly. That is really what hit me the most-giving secretly. This means giving something to someone else without them knowing. That is when you don't care about the credit, you just get to make other people happy or successful, which makes doing something good for others feel so much better to you. It is just a really good feeling. Coach Krueger also gave us quotes that I thought were right on target:

"Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the 'me' for the 'we'." -Phil Jackson

Influence and Inspiration

What is influence and how do we get it?

Influence is the power that someone has to effect someone so much with either their words or actions to get that person to follow your goals and to follow what you are trying to accomplish.

How critical is it to leadership and why?

Influence is extremely critical to leadership because without it, you wouldn't even be able to lead! We would not have the power to change anyone's mind and we couldn't get anyone to follow us if we did not have any influence over them. The level of influence that you have is very important. If you have no influence, no one will want to do what you are trying to get them to do, because they don't believe that what you are doing is best. If you want to show someone what is best, then you must have influence over them to explain your point to them and then get them to change their mind and agree with you.

What are three concrete ways you can earn influence every day with your peers or teammates?

The three concrete ways that I can earn influence every day with my peers and teammates include:

1. Letting them know that I trust them and that they can trust me.

To develop influence, you need to have a good relationship with your team and then they will trust you, and this trust will lead to them believing in you and what you are doing. This will give you influence because they trust that you are making the right decision for the team.

2. Leading by example 100% of the time.

If you can show your team that you are a great player and that you do the right thing everywhere and all the time, including in school and your personal life, then they will realize what a genuine person you are and that they can trust that you will always be doing the right thing, whether it is for the team or for yourself. Again, it comes back to trust.

3. Relate to them on a personal level.

Once a deep, special relationship has formed, then your teammates will be able to know and understand where you are coming from, and how your ideas are formulated. They can understand you on a deeper level that is essential for leadership, and this will help you gain influence because they know you better and understand why and how you are going to lead them to the goal.