PLA2013

Leader / PLA2013 — 3 Comments
08
Feb 15

A Path Appears

This weekend, I began the book “A Path Appears” by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl Wudann. I started it spontaneously and it was unexpectedly was exactly the “pick-me-up” I needed. It opens explaining,

“Hope is like a path in the countryside. Originally there is nothing–but as people walk this way again and again, a path appears.”

–Lu Xun, Chinese Essayist, 1921

This quote right from the beginning really stuck with me because it ignited in me the importance of paving a way. Sometimes when we are the first to create a path, the walk itself isn’t easy. Noone has done it before. There isn’t a lot of guidance but it is important, especially for the future. It is important to give yourself and others hope. This quote also made me gracious for all of the people who have walked the path before me and given hope. It made me reflect on what it takes to be a pioneer. I think you need passion, gumption and a mission. Sometimes you see a future that others can’t imagine. Sometimes you see a better world. However as this book details, good intentions and a dream is not enough. These beautiful thoughts and compassion need to be put to good use. Through United States history, we have provided finances to aids efforts that ended in a failure. Many people begin humanitarian ventures without a plan to be sustainable. An imperative part of fixing the world is having well thought out, evidence based plans on how to do so. This book provides the important perspective of turning charity into a science. It combines social issues, policy, economics and even neuroscience to analyze what is the best way to give. As “leaders”, I think it is imperative to question how we give. We need to put the amount of thought into how we give money as we do how we make money. What we give to will shape the future. It is a good first step you have the right intentions, but the next most important step is to determine how to make the largest impact.

I am still figuring this out. However what I have decided so far is that when I want to give to a charity, I will research them intensely before donating. I want to know that my money will be make the most impact for its worth. I want to that I am donating to a sustainable cause.

“We only have what we give.”

– Isabel Allende

Leader / Leadership / PLA / PLA2013 / Uncategorized — 1 Comment
11
Sep 14

Room for Vulnerability.

It seems often when we discuss leadership, we ask the question, “What kind of leader do I want to be?”

In many ways this question does not get you far. It may make you question a lot. You may have many thoughts when you ask this question, but you are not making strides in leadership.

Instead I think we should ask ourselves, “What type of leader should I be in this moment?”, “In these circumstances, what skills do I have to make a positive impact?”

While this may be common knowledge to some people, I think it is important to point out and remind ourselves that different people have different leadership styles and that different positions require different leadership styles. And further to be even for specific, different circumstances need different leadership styles. In this light, the “best” leader is adaptable and versatile having a tool box of skills to pick from when the event presents itself.

Previously, I have often questioned the role of vulnerability in leadership. In my head I would generalize and ask, “Should leaders be vulnerable?”. After watching Brene Brown’s TED talk, The Power of Vulnerability, and reading her book Daring Greatly, the conclusion I came to was Yes, leaders should be vulnerable. However, no my opinion is shifting and instead I think leaders should have the option to be vulnerable, and reveal vulnerability when it is most useful.

However it some roles it seems vulnerability is limited. For example in many ways the role of President of the United States leaves little circumstances to reveal vulnerability.

Vulnerability by a presidency in not taken well often.Time and time again President’s keep their perceived weaknesses hidden (e.g. FDR’s paralysis). Recently, Obama endured harsh criticisms, when he revealed he did not have a plan of attack for ISIS. Some may simply just see this as disorganization, but I see it as Obama mistakenly deciding to reveal vulnerability in a time when people needed strength.

Reasonably, no one has a perfect plan of attack for ISIS so admitting a lack of plan is understandable for most people– just not when you are the president of the United States. It is a complex problem and being overly confident in knowing how to solve the problem is disingenuine. Vulnerability is a medium of revealing our genuine humane nature but in cases on national security, vulnerability and weakness should be advised to be excluded. In Obama’s case, it seemed his options were admit struggle or announce further military action, and in many eyes he made the wrong choice.

As President of the Unites States, it is his job in many ways to have the answers, the plans, the solutions to the complex problems in the world. For example, Obama admitted, ““If you watch the nightly news, it feels like the world is falling apart.” and also said, “we don’t have a strategy yet” in combating the Islamic state (New York Times). While both of these statements are genuine and vulnerable, in neither of these statements is Obama fulfilling his desired leadership role as president. In this case, being vulnerable is not useful.

Many people turn to the United States and particularly to the President of the United States for protection. As of yesterday, it seems Obama has changed his leadership style in dealing with ISIS and is now being an unwavering pillar of strength with rhetoric explaining he will “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Whether this is ultimately going to make the best impact is up to the future to decide. Ideally both sides would admit vulnerability and military action would not need to take place. Instead this world is designed to fight with strength and power and in order to remain on top the Obama administration is choosing to “degrade and ultimately destroy”. There is no solution in this case, for now Obama will and the U.S. will get criticized for being militarily involved, yet if we chose to do nothing we would be perceived as weak.

 

Class / Leadership / PLA / PLA2013 — 1 Comment
29
Aug 14

Confusion and Conflict

It is important to take time to know about the world. It is unfortunately very easy to get trapped in the “Penn State bubble” or my own “personal bubble”.

How can we remind ourselves to step outside ourselves? How can we remind ourselves to educate ourselves outside our primary interests? For me, one motivation is knowing that if I want to make an impact on the world I must know about the world. Another attempt at motivation is that I try to surround myself by people who are also interested in knowing in the world so that there is a social pressure to be up to date on events. And finally, I try to take opporturtunities like these blog posts and make them a time for me to read and critically question world events.

This week I am taking the time to better educate myself and understand the current events in Syria and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. I am very confused on the details of the conflict and hope taking this time will help me to better understand the complexity of the war.  Much of this post will be facts about the current state of the world, but this post is an exercise of leadership for me; I am stepping outside with primary interests and challenging myself to be an educated citizen. If you are specialized in the subject or just disagree with anything I write below, please talk to me about it.

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What is the ISIS?

ISIS stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. It is the Sunni Jihadist group in the Middle East, and in 2013, it “emerged from remnants of Al Queda and began to operate in Syria” (New York Times).

The Syrian Civil War seems to have provided ISIS with an opportunity to gain power.

” In 2013, Hezbollah entered the war in support of the Syrian army.[67][68] In the east, theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), a jihadist militant group which was initially linked to Al-Qaeda in Iraq, made rapid military gains in both Syria and Iraq, eventuallyconflicting with the other rebels. In July 2014, ISIS controlled a third of Syria’s territory and most of its oil and gas production, thus establishing itself as the major opposition force.[69]“--Syrian Civil War Wikipedia

 

Syrian Civil War

Screen Shot 2014-08-29 at 10.48.42 AM

The Syrian government has military support from Russia and Iran while the rebels have recieved weapons from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States.

 

Where is the line between the Rebel group and ISIS?

I am not entirely sure. I am trying to dissect this out. From my understanding the ISIS is a sub-set of the rebels, and in a way the ISIS group has taken advantage of the conflict to spread the power.

According to the New York Times, in recent months ISIS has gained large expanses of territory and “ISIS has become more attractive to would-be militants because, unlike Al Qaeda, it has seized territory that it rules by strict Islamic law.”

What is ISIS doing? Why are they dangerous?

The Obama Administration says the ISIS militant group “poses the greates threat to the United States since Al Qaeda before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.” (New York Times)

The ISIS is incredibly brutal and is gaining attraction through its reputation. They have tortured and mutilated citizens under the islamic creed.

“The United Nations reported that in the 17 days from 5 to 22 June, ISIS killed more than 1,000 Iraqi civilians and injured more than 1,000.”-ISIS Wikipedia

“On 29 May, a village in Syria was raided by ISIS and at least 15 civilians were killed, including, according to Human Rights Watch, at least six children.[332] A hospital in the area confirmed that it had received 15 bodies on the same day.[333] The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that on 1 June, a 102-year-old man was killed along with his whole family in a village in Hama.”- ISIS Wikipedia

Current State?

As of August 22, the United States is considering military air strikes on the ISIS in Syria. President Obama is attempting to create a long-term plan to fight of the Islamic State in Syria, but there is reasonable hesitance to put US military forces directly into the Syrian war (Wall Street Journal)

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I definitely know more about the Syrian conflict than I did this morning. Here’s to continuing to better understanding the world around us and striving  for peace.

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