Last Survey!

So, the program is on it's last day and we have one last survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=TNa9SbQN1Y9fItQNHPp8Qg_3d_3d

Thank you again for your help with these. It's been really helpful and we're really excited to integrate your suggestions into the program next year.

Blog Question for Week 8

Choose one activity (from any session) to reflect on. What did you learn from this activity? Did it change how you thought about yourself and others? How does it relate to leadership?

Also, don't forget to work on your final projects. And be sure to look at the post on the Utopia activity and work on that as well. If you are feeling overwhelmed by all these assignments (keep in mind, we have next Sunday off as well so none of this is due until the 26th) your final projects should be your first priority.

For the final projects, you should have an action plan with specific deadlines laid out of how you will accomplish your project. This includes things like what supplies you will need, what people you need to contact, any publicity you will need for your project....as well as deadlines set for yourself to accomplish these tasks by.

For example, if I were doing A Day with No Lights at MIT my action plan would look like this:

Event: A day where our school uses no lights to raise awareness about energy conservation. Event will be held on May 11th, 2009.

Action Items:

- Meet with school principal by April 15th.
- Research glow-in-the-dark wristbands by April 18th...find out price of wristbands, when I need to order by, and when they will arrive. Write this in budget.
- Order glow-in-the-dark wristbands that say "I heart energy" by April 25th.
- Write up information sheet for teachers by April 27th.
- Send out information to teachers by April 28th.
- Publicize event --> Make posters by May 3rd.
- Post around campus in lobby and dormitories on May 4th. Re-post on May 7th. Bring stapler/tape.
- Make announcements (school newspaper, email) on May 8th explaining reason behind event.
- Event on May 11th! Woohoo!
- Thank you notes to teachers by May 14th.

Note that every step has a date attached to it. I also include supplies (bring stapler) and locations (posters placed in lobby and dormitories).

Alright, everyone...good luck! If you have any questions...shoot me an email.

- Chris

Utopia Student Project

Hi guys!

At the end of last session, I announced that you all would have a project to work on for homework since we have two weeks in a row without session. It's called the "Utopia Project."

A Utopia is a perfect community where educational, health, political, military, economic and religious or philosophical systems work together to create an ideal society. Many people believe that this cannot be achieved, that this ideal can only be realized in theory, but never in practice.

First, consider the question: Do you agree with those who think that there can never truly be a Utopia? If so, why? Is it due to certain qualities of people that stop them from cooperating in this way? Do they need a kind of leader or leaders that humans can never be?

You all will become experts in one area of society (see the categories listed above). First, research some of the existing systems that the world has today or has had in the past. For example, if you choose to become an expert in political systems, you might start by looking at the political environment in communities you are a part of. Think about the way your school is organized, your town, the United States as a whole. Brainstorm ideas about what works well in your experiences and what could be better. Then, you might do some brief research on political systems you have never seen firsthand: Communism, Socialism, Anarchism, and Monarchism. Look at some countries or communities that employed these different systems and determine their levels of success. If they failed, think about why this occurred. What it the system itself or the leaders in charge that caused the failure?

After some background research, decide what the best kind of system is and be prepared to defend why it is the best. Let’s say you researched various kinds of military systems. Use your own experience, along with the research you uncovered to decide whether your Utopia should have a system where people must serve a mandatory number of years in the military or voluntary service. You should decide if systems where people are promoted based on merit in contrast to those who were already considered important society members get higher positions are best. Contrast systems where every man has the same weight in making military decisions with those where only one man decides all the strategies. What would your policies be on when to use military power? Will you have a standing army only in wartime or in peace as well? What rights do the members of the military have over ordinary citizens if any? Looking at all the evidence, you might decide that bribing people with high salaries is the way to get them into the military, you will not allow a draft, letting an impartial political figure make all decisions and absolving any sort of army in peacetime would be the perfect military system. Or, you could argue that in the perfect society, there should be no formal military system, but every person should be trained to shoot a gun at age 18 for their own defense. The point is, it doesn’t matter what you choose as long as you are prepared to defend your argument for why it is the ideal system.

Now that you’ve decided on a system, you need to decide what kind of leader (or leaders) you want in charge of your system in the society. If you choose the educational system, for example, you might have decided in the last step that everyone should get a perfectly uniform education so that no one has a disadvantage (among other details of how the system works – i.e. Will it be free to everyone? Will students who are talented in certain areas be required to pursue those to fulfill their talents? How will academic success be measured? How will you train teachers? What is the structure of schools like – 8am-3pm straight like ours or offering classes 24 hours a day or only teaching on Wednesdays or having it all done by independent study at the student’s will?). Anyway, in this case, you might choose a leader that is transactional, someone with a driving social styles type to ensure that all educators are staying on track and with a competing style of dealing with conflict so they don’t give in to teachers who want to deviate from the system. If you decide, rather, that every teacher should teach whatever they are most inspired to pass on to young people in the last step, then perhaps you want a more inspirational leader who can motivate the teachers by giving great speeches about the difference they are making in the lives of students, one who is collaborative or even accommodating to allow for teachers’ input and one who is more emotionally-focused as a social style to ensure that the teachers are happy with what they’re teaching, since that’s when they teach best. You can just as easily decide that all teachers and students should share equal leadership in the educational system. In this case, you might decide that these leaders need to be cooperative, mature and selfless to ensure the best possible case.

At the next session (April 26^th), all of the students must agree upon how all of the systems listed above will function in their Utopia. You should be prepared to present some of your conclusions (you won’t have time to present all of it; but you should be prepared for questions) to the rest of the group, especially in your area of expertise. Many of the survey results have said that you’d like to do more with practicing speaking and convincing others to have confidence in your ideas. This will be a good chance to practice these skills. Your goal is to get your ideas approved by the other founders of the Utopia (the other students) so that, by the end of 30 minutes (you’ll have to communicate with each other clearly and concisely and practice fast conflict-resolving to get it done in this period of time), you have a Utopia you can all agree on. Then, the expert in each field will present for about 3 minutes to the potential joiners of the Utopia (mentors) why the system you all agreed upon would function better than all other systems and indeed, create for them a perfect society. The mentors will be ready with questions, not necessarily addressed to only the expert, so everyone needs to have an understanding of the ideas of each system.

Surveys Weeks 7-8

Hey Everyone!

Surveys for weeks 7-8 can be found at:

For students: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=uLNylTw_2fSlXh3vP1QC47_2bg_3d_3d

For mentors: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=BCYpDhaGR8MB6yFmB1ZmmQ_3d_3d

The surveys you all have been filling out have been really helpful in shaping the program and helping it run more smoothly. And, your comments will be implemented when we're developing next year's curriculum for Boston students as well as those for students in China and Mexico. So, thank you so much for your support on these. You all are awesome!

Blog Question for Week Seven

What makes servant leaders distinct from other leadership types? Does this make them better or worse leaders?

Surveys Weeks 4-6

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to post these links for surveys for weeks 4-6. I really appreciated your helpful comments and rankings last time, so definitely keep it up!

For students:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=DRlfGn_2f4w6WSRPEjcO9lkg_3d_3d

For mentors:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=DAxCnGwQJsowoNGNXBWnTw_3d_3d

Thanks again guys and I look forward to seeing you all Sunday!

Blog Question for Week Six

Now that we are half way through the course, what are your impressions of the program? What has been your favorite and least favorite part? How do you think you’ve grown and what do you want to practice more?