How did Star Power impact you?

I got the best of both worlds while playing Star Power. The first time I played, I was the lowest rung and the second time I play I was in the elite group. It was great to see both sides of the game and it was nice to know that I knew how the lower group felt while I was the elite. This probably taught me to help that group out when we had to make up rules because I knew how it felt. The game taught me to have more empathy for people who may be lower in socioeconomic status.

How do you put your values into practice?

The most effective ways of putting my values into practice is by good communication. It is extremely important for me to be open with my subordinates about our goals and everyone's values, but also important to be articulate in public speaking and to be a great listener. Through mediums of writing, oral, or public communication, I will be able to put my values into practice. My subordinates need to understand my values and I need to understand theirs for us to reach our goals.

"I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?" - Benjamin Disraeli

A leader obtains the overall vision for change, but is nothing without his followers. As previously mentioned time and time again in my blog, I feel the best quality a leader can have is the ability to be a follower as well. It is crucially important that a leader LISTEN to the ideas of his subordinates. Notice how I put listen in all caps. Sometimes you may think that you are truly listening to what people have to say, but you are only hearing. And a lot of the time you are focusing on your next point or the next thing to say and your attention is skewed away from truly understanding what they are saying. In this case, if the majority of your followers are motivated to change an operation, you must seriously take that into account, and come to a consensus about the best way to go about making change. Truth be told, if 80 out of 100 of your followers have a different viewpoint about something, then you have no choice but to compromise.

Why is cultural understanding important to leaders?

The last thing you want to do as a leader is to offend one of your subordinates by lack of knowledge of their culture. Cultural understanding makes you the ideal candidate for anyone in your group to come talk to about any problem. You definitely do not want ethnic cliques to form in your group, because it only leads to lack of listening and surplus of conflict.
Another fault of not being culturally understanding is the tension that arises. Different ethnic groups have tension between each other because they are not knowledgeable and feel safer talking to people who look like them and who they deem to be more culturally understanding.
This creates a lot of dissonance in your group. You may think that everything is going smoothly externally, but internally there is lack of communication.
I think the best way to become culturally understanding is to go to your subordinates and be completely open about race, ethnicity, religion, etc. Ask informed questions about their background and the comfort level will, in time, increase.

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams

Motivation
To me, the foundation of this quote is "motivation." To be a good leader, you have to MOTIVATE the people around you to help you get to your goal, the change you want to see happen. In my opinion, there has never been a leader who hasn't been able to motivate, whether it be by charisma or pure force. Of course, leaders who can motivate individuals without the use of force or bribes are by far the most motivating.

Lead by example
Here is a basic example:
Bill is the executive of a company who goes out into the community to build ramps for handicapped individuals. Bill is teaching students who are volunteering how to build a ramp. Bill hands the blueprints to one of the volunteers and points to all of the materials behind his truck.
Now, which of the below situations is going to motivate you to build this ramp

A. Bill drives off.
B. Bill delegates responsibilities to all of the volunteers and begins to saw pieces of wood.

Obviously the correct answer is B! Bill leads by example, Bill needs to work harder than anybody else so the volunteers are motivated and less likely to slack off.

How can I be a servant leader?

I believe that this is my greatest leadership strength: being able to attend to others, help others grow, and keeping an open mind to other people's ideas. Currently, I take the approach of scaffolding newer members of campus video. I motivate them to start working on a project, help them through the beginning stages, and slowly start backing off so they learn how to create videos independently. I know that in order for my student org to grow and prosper, I need to focus my attention on the new members to become more experienced and more reliable. Once me and the executive producer talked about how to get our newer members into the meetings and the "culture" of our student org, we were much more successful in growing their knowledge of the film field. I believe that a servant leader pays more attention to the people around him, then himself and attends to the development of others. I can continue to be a servant leader by making sure all of our members are happy with the way things are going and are enjoying their experience. Also, I have to keep an open mind to their ideas while also guiding them by teaching them the ropes and possible problems that go along with their project idea. Finally, I must maintain a good relationship with all members so they can feel comfortable in coming up to me to ask questions and/or voice their concerns.

What are my greatest leadership strengths? How can I apply those to my vision?

I believe my greatest leadership strengths include: holding a clear vision, listening to other people while maintaining the overall vision of the group, good communication skills, dedication to my vision, hard-working, and creative. Because of have a vivid picture of where to go, I will be able to define the steps I must take to reach my goal. I want to be a motivator and inspiration in my community. I think one of the most important qualities a leader can have is the ability to be open to other people's thoughts and suggestions. I admit that even though I have a clear vision, I might not know the best way to get there, or the best steps to take. I need to surround myself with people who can be useful, i.e. Blueprints family, my mentor, and community leaders. Good leaders are able to hold back their personal judgment while listening to others’ ideas and accept new ways of doing things. I believe that I dedicate all of my energy to whatever I am interested in. Right now I dedicate all of my energy to my friends, my schoolwork, and Campus Video; I literally do not have much time to myself. Even though I am the furthest from an artistic person, I have a very creative and active mind. When someone is bouncing ideas off of me, I can easily point out new and innovative ideas to help them with their project. This will help me think outside of the box, so to speak, and inhibit constraints.