Post by Lorna Beaton on May 26, 2021 10:47:15 GMT
C. Post: Reflect on what you have learned to date. How did General Marshall, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King, Jr. draw upon their strengths to overcome adversity?
General Marshall could not stand to see himself as a failure and at key points in his career in the Army he put his head above the parapet to ensure successful missions. Early in his career challenging ‘Black Jack’ during WW1 about conditions on the front line using facts and demanding immediate attention to the matter. Later in his career he went onto challenge Roosevelt both privately and openly each time armed with the facts and voice that demanded to be listened too. Despite taking longer to rise through the ranks than he felt fair General Marshall eventually went onto become Chief of Staff in his mid-50s and prepared the largest military effort in history. Marshall was a direct speaker, known for his ability to strategize quickly, get and mobilise what was required, whilst having the American people behind him. Marshall did this by considering people, keeping a black book of good leaders to have on staff and being open to constructive criticism and no hesitation speaking up to leaders to ensure life preserved. Marshall cut through the noise of his superiors and pushed what he knew was required to get eh best possible result even if there could have been negative consequences for him.
Eleanor Roosevelt what not blessed with a happy start to life and was viewed as awkward, ugly and shy but despite this devoted her life to gaining rights for others no matter their race, colour, gender, social status or age. She fought for equal rights and did so when it was a very unpopular thing to do especially for a woman. She was often criticized for the active role she played but she was not discouraged. Eleanor endured a poor childhood during which she received very little love or attention and went on to love and fight for people less fortunate than herself culminating in helping to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As adversity was thrown in her way throughout her life she remained energetic, interested, seen challenge as an opportunity to learn and self-disciplined. Eleanor Roosevelt demonstrated unrelenting spirit to better the lives of others despite the unwillingness to change of the majority around her.
Martin Luther King Jr despite trying to take his own young life twice and having suffered a disciplined upbringing unlike Eleanor Roosevelt, MLK was very grateful for his start in life. MLK really valued his access to education and to the church. Despite facing discrimination and being the victim of violence MLK was wholly committed to non-violent protest. This strong vision gave him integrity during his powerful speeches and really helped him rally support internationally with a variety of religious leaders and their congregations. No doubt his influence, vision, and belief in the power of non-violent protest and ability to bring people together advanced the black movement. A particular strength that stood out to me was his view of never ‘selling out’ on what you believe in, not matter what. He never did ‘sell out’ and as a result become a visionary of his time and paved the way for real advancement of the black movement.
D. Prepare for in-class discussion (I have added my notes as I will not be at class this session).
• How might the learning from the Ted talk translate to improving the culture within your area of focus?
Firstly, very funny Ted talk! I will be using the wellness instead of sickness example Shawn Achor made. Sometimes as a business we definitely do focus on the ‘sickness’ rather than tackling sickness with ‘wellness’ provision. Useful to be reminded of that as that sickness can slip its way into our culture.
I think it is important to think about this Ted talk when recruiting given 90% happiness comes from internal thought. If you recruit a negative Nelly then it can be a struggle to change that mindset even if it only takes 21 days to re-wire the brain you still need people to want to change.
The fact that happiness has such a significant positive impact on productivity I will share this with my peers when they are perhaps going at a issue with a negative mindset. Obviously, I will keep this fact at the forefront of my mind when the going gets tough too.
• When did you have to overcome a challenge/ an obstacle? What was the obstacle and how did you overcome it? (What “strength” did you call on to overcome it?)
Prior to The Fedcap Group arriving in the UK 2 years ago the contracts we run now were being delivered by an organisation called, Working Links. I was employed by working Links with around another 90 or so other employees. Sadly, Working links went into administration or as you in the US may term, bankrupt and shut down over night. For 7-8 weeks employees were technically not employed and unsure if they were going to be paid for the work they continued to do. I led my team with the view that if someone wanted to buy the contracts, we were delivering they would want to see some of our best work so, lets show them!! I also reminded them of what a fantastic job they were doing and had done prior to the bankruptcy. I reminded them lots of companies would be interested in buying the contract up as we were very successful at what we were doing. I am very optimistic and my ‘go to’ strength is to find a positive solution. In addition to this I had to empathise with the team and what they were personally feeling whilst remaining loyal to the overall objective of keeping the contract on track. In fact, some of our best performance was delivered during this time👍
General Marshall could not stand to see himself as a failure and at key points in his career in the Army he put his head above the parapet to ensure successful missions. Early in his career challenging ‘Black Jack’ during WW1 about conditions on the front line using facts and demanding immediate attention to the matter. Later in his career he went onto challenge Roosevelt both privately and openly each time armed with the facts and voice that demanded to be listened too. Despite taking longer to rise through the ranks than he felt fair General Marshall eventually went onto become Chief of Staff in his mid-50s and prepared the largest military effort in history. Marshall was a direct speaker, known for his ability to strategize quickly, get and mobilise what was required, whilst having the American people behind him. Marshall did this by considering people, keeping a black book of good leaders to have on staff and being open to constructive criticism and no hesitation speaking up to leaders to ensure life preserved. Marshall cut through the noise of his superiors and pushed what he knew was required to get eh best possible result even if there could have been negative consequences for him.
Eleanor Roosevelt what not blessed with a happy start to life and was viewed as awkward, ugly and shy but despite this devoted her life to gaining rights for others no matter their race, colour, gender, social status or age. She fought for equal rights and did so when it was a very unpopular thing to do especially for a woman. She was often criticized for the active role she played but she was not discouraged. Eleanor endured a poor childhood during which she received very little love or attention and went on to love and fight for people less fortunate than herself culminating in helping to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As adversity was thrown in her way throughout her life she remained energetic, interested, seen challenge as an opportunity to learn and self-disciplined. Eleanor Roosevelt demonstrated unrelenting spirit to better the lives of others despite the unwillingness to change of the majority around her.
Martin Luther King Jr despite trying to take his own young life twice and having suffered a disciplined upbringing unlike Eleanor Roosevelt, MLK was very grateful for his start in life. MLK really valued his access to education and to the church. Despite facing discrimination and being the victim of violence MLK was wholly committed to non-violent protest. This strong vision gave him integrity during his powerful speeches and really helped him rally support internationally with a variety of religious leaders and their congregations. No doubt his influence, vision, and belief in the power of non-violent protest and ability to bring people together advanced the black movement. A particular strength that stood out to me was his view of never ‘selling out’ on what you believe in, not matter what. He never did ‘sell out’ and as a result become a visionary of his time and paved the way for real advancement of the black movement.
D. Prepare for in-class discussion (I have added my notes as I will not be at class this session).
• How might the learning from the Ted talk translate to improving the culture within your area of focus?
Firstly, very funny Ted talk! I will be using the wellness instead of sickness example Shawn Achor made. Sometimes as a business we definitely do focus on the ‘sickness’ rather than tackling sickness with ‘wellness’ provision. Useful to be reminded of that as that sickness can slip its way into our culture.
I think it is important to think about this Ted talk when recruiting given 90% happiness comes from internal thought. If you recruit a negative Nelly then it can be a struggle to change that mindset even if it only takes 21 days to re-wire the brain you still need people to want to change.
The fact that happiness has such a significant positive impact on productivity I will share this with my peers when they are perhaps going at a issue with a negative mindset. Obviously, I will keep this fact at the forefront of my mind when the going gets tough too.
• When did you have to overcome a challenge/ an obstacle? What was the obstacle and how did you overcome it? (What “strength” did you call on to overcome it?)
Prior to The Fedcap Group arriving in the UK 2 years ago the contracts we run now were being delivered by an organisation called, Working Links. I was employed by working Links with around another 90 or so other employees. Sadly, Working links went into administration or as you in the US may term, bankrupt and shut down over night. For 7-8 weeks employees were technically not employed and unsure if they were going to be paid for the work they continued to do. I led my team with the view that if someone wanted to buy the contracts, we were delivering they would want to see some of our best work so, lets show them!! I also reminded them of what a fantastic job they were doing and had done prior to the bankruptcy. I reminded them lots of companies would be interested in buying the contract up as we were very successful at what we were doing. I am very optimistic and my ‘go to’ strength is to find a positive solution. In addition to this I had to empathise with the team and what they were personally feeling whilst remaining loyal to the overall objective of keeping the contract on track. In fact, some of our best performance was delivered during this time👍
