Greetings!
While I really enjoy seeing all of your photos (they made me smile), I am quite camera shy. Always have been and a this point in my life (senior citizen), I have simply embraced this personality quirk (among others).
My name is Donna Currie. I live and work full-time on various projects as a technical writer in Germantown, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. I have three grown children and nine grandchildren — all of whom are absolutely adorable when they’re asleep.
My major is Organizational Leadership because of my natural tendency towards structured order at work, home, ministry, and in most other activities as well. I am particularly interested in this course because a great many of my colleagues and associates either hail from or are currently residing in offshore countries. Until this position, the largest team I managed was across six states; this global team is much more complex and requires more than just time-zone considerations. I’m looking forward to what this course offers for effectively working in a global environment.
As for leadership quotes, my favorite is:
“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
President John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address January 20, 1961
This quote, this approach, runs contrary to the mindset of the navel-watching “ME” [which I roughly define as Myself Exalted] generation. It is a reminder that everything cannot (and should not) be all about us as individuals. We belong to families, communities, nations, and the world-at-large. Therefore, as members of families and societies and as citizens of the world, we have duties and responsibilities and should rather seek to find ways for meaningful contributions.
So, in additional to learning about tools and strategies for getting along in culturally diverse organizations, I also hope to discovery ways to forge two-way bridges. It is my desire to develop meaningful relationships based on respect and understanding, and then together, do great good.
Hi Donna, it’s nice to get to know some of your background. I look forward to working with you this semester.
–Brian
Hi Donna, nice to meet you! I absolutely loved reading your post. I would love to have that much experience some day. I am also majoring in Organizational Leadership and have already found that the material I learned last semester can be applied in my day-to-day life. Do you make it to D.C. very often? I have only visited a few times and I always feel so much energy when I’m in the city. I wouldn’t mind living there for a year or two. John F. Kennedy was an incredible leader with great charisma. I am looking forward to working with you this semester! Good luck to you!
Donna, It was nice to hear your comment about being camera shy! When I started searching for a picture of me, I realized that I do not have one of me alone! They are always with somebody else or I am the person with the camera in my hand snapping pictures. I want to say that I think we might have taken OLEAD 100 together just over a year ago.
Michele