Kirk Weisler

We had a remarkable speaker come to a special class, 5 hour special :) Kirk Weisler is a leadership speaker that has spoken to 309 for many years. The following are some of my scattered thoughts of my notes from the evening.

Everything we do now leads up to where we want to be in future. Being a good student is preparing me for the future with the dedication and perservance that it requires. My life has been going on for 23 years but my journey to great leadership is just beginning.

Being a good leader does not mean being everyones friend. Being a good leader is directing people in the appropriate direction and guiding them to success. Best friend leaders will be forgotten, teacher will lose control of their class, and a parent will have screwed up kids. To be a good leader takes an inner strength and the ability to care but be firm. Leadership is hard - connecting with people is not easy, neither is being great.

Being remarkable is one of the most influenical things that we can be as a leader. The leaders that are remarkable are the ones that have the most lasting effect on the people that they encounter. If we think about the people that we remember the most and have the greatest impact on our lifes, they are the remarkable. Mediocrity falls by the wayside and is easily forgotten as it is to be.

Our lives are our language. What we see is what we get, and what we say is what we get. It is all about perception. We should learn a second language and communicate with peple more openly. Name calling has no place in the grown-up world. We are all addicted to being right and this causes us to act defensively to any contradictino of what we believe. Being able to take critism and accept it is one skill that isn't taught and is hard for people to learn. We all have opportunities to grow and learn, it is up to us to take these opportunites for all they are worth and become better people and leaders because of them.

From this I also have purchased several books that Kirk recommended: The Big Moo, Make it Stick, Love'em or Lose'em, QBQ!; also we have recieved a copy of Kirk's book, The Dog Poop Initiative. Two other books that I have purchased at the recommendation of Dr. Feinberg are The Purpose Driven Life and 7 Traits of Successful People. These are my summer reading list and look forward to the knowledge contained within the pages.

"A key - perhaps the key- to leadership is the effective communication of a story." - Howard Gardner

Later....