John Maxwell-"Love the People First; Sell the Fish Second"

I read another one of John Maxwell's blogs about leadership. He said that he was in Seattle and had visited a fish market. He said that the thing that stuck out the most was when one of the fish guys said, "Love the people first; sell the fish second." I think this makes perfect sense because if the people you are trying to get to go along with you don't think you care, or love them, then they won't buy into your ideas no matter how much you know, which would make it impossible for you to "sell the fish." I think that this is very important for a leader to know because you have to have a good relationship with the people around you before you can expect them to follow and support you.

1) What was the most significant statement made? I think the most significant statement was how the most amazing ascents and descents in success have been a result of the biggest risks.

2) How does this impact ME right now? for the future? The bigger the risks I take now, the more impact it will have on my life in the future, whether it be good or bad.

3) What must I change NOW to start implementing this truth?  If I can take "big" risks now I will see the result more in the future, but I have to make sure these are calculated risks and not just a shot in the dark.

Heisman Trophy- RG3

I really like how RG3 added how he did this for the Baylor community. In one of his interviews he said that it wasn't just because of his play but also because of his teammates play. He said that you can only succeed with hardwork and his faith helped him keep working as hard as he did. He said that he wouldn't of been able to do it without all the people in his life. I am amazed by how humble he is and it is great to see someone so respectful and thankful for what he has. The reason I talked about this is because in order for someone to be a good leader, I think they have to be humble and giving credit to those around him. Congrats to RG3 on your Heisman Trophy and great season.

World History Trial

This past week we did the Napoleon Trial in World History. I was a prosecution lawyer and was trying to get Napoleon convicted of treason against France. The defense won and that really didn't bother me it was how they conducted themselves. They were just trying to make everyone laugh when we were told multiple times to take it serious. Anyways, through this trial we learned who would be a good leader because we can tell just by watching who takes charge and really gets the group going. In my group I'd say Kali was probably the person that stood out even though she skipped our group thing. A leader is supposed to be able to get up and get people moving in one direction and leading them to that one common goal without even thinking about it. That is just one trait I think a leader should have, the ability to "take the bull by the horns."

Daily Agenda

I read John Maxwell's blog titled "What does your daily agenda say about you?." It made me realize how important what we do on a daily basis really is. The main question in his blog was, " What are you preparing for? Are you grooming yourself for success or failure?." This shows how we need to think about what we do on daily basis and whether it is working for or against the major goal we want to reach. If we don't base our every decision on that main goal we can lose sight of what is really important to us. So next time you find yourself in a situation, think about how this will effect what you really want to achieve.

Mr. Ritchie

On Thursday Mr. Ritchie was our speaker. He made a lot of key points but there were three that really stuck out to me. The first one was to have a positive outlook, I think this is important because if you show people around you that you don't think something will work or that you don't want to be there, how can they look up to you and expect to get something done. Second was relationships, this is important because you may be able to get people to go along with you at first but if you don't keep those relationships strong you will lose the support of those who first followed you. Third was leading by example, if you tell someone to do something or if you discipline them and then go out and do exactly what you told them not to do, how will they be able to trust you or take you seriously. These were just my top 3 points he talked about but there are many more out there that you need to be a good leader.

Thanksgiving

In my life there are a lot of things that I am thankful for and here are just a few. First of all, I am very thankful for my friends and family for everything they do for me and how they are always there for me. I am also thankful for everyone I have met because in one way or another, whether it be bad or good, they have changed my life. Teachers are also people I am thankful for, yes this includes you Mr. Fritz, because they teach me and are trying to prepare me for the real world. I may not always show that I am thankful for everyone I mentioned in this and many more but I am truly blessed and very thankful for all of you.

How do you want people to remember you after you are gone? That is a strange thing to think about because you don't know when you will have your last breath and it is just strange to think about dying. I know that when I am gone I want people to say, "Oh, yeah I know Tanner Erwin, he was a great guy who would do anything for his friends or family." That is why it is important to act how you want people to remember you no matter what because only God knows when you will take your last breath. So think about it sometime, how will people remember me when I am no longer on God's green Earth?

Self-Improvement

These last couple weeks we have got into groups based on what we think needs the most change in our school. I chose attitude towards self-improvement in the offseason towards athletics and improving in the classroom. My group thinks this is important because we know how much it hurts to lose in a big game and how important a good education is for your future. If you don't try in class then you won't have good grades which is something colleges look at and if you don't improve yourself during the offseason you aren't only hurting yourself but your whole team. Yeah nowadays you don't neccessarily need a college degree to get a good job with all the varieties out there but having that college degree won't hurt you. You want to be a person that your teammates can look to when they need help and if you don't participate in offseason activities it will be hard for someone to take you seriously. Your attitude towards your school work and any extracurricular activities you are in is how people will view you and that is why they are important.

Aaron Thomas

Last week Aaron Thomas, the son of Ed Thomas, came and spoke to our school about knowing where you came from. He said that whenever he hears about Williamsburg he only hears good things and that we are a community with a lot of pride in our town, athletics, and our schools in general. He then asked us who thought they would live in Williamsburg their whole life and virtually no one put their hand up, then he asked who thought they would stay in Iowa this brought a few hands into the air, including mine, and then he asked who will move to a big city like New York or L.A. and this brought up the rest of the hands in the gym. He said no matter where we end up going we should make it a goal for us to take some of Williamsburg with us. This is all about remember where you are from no matter what and improving the other places we visit with that part of our community. This really made me think about how much this community means to me and how grateful I am to live in such a great place. So if I live in Williamsburg, somewhere else in Iowa, or move out of the state I am going to make it a goal of mine to take a piece of Williamsburg with me.

Vuk Vukovic

One of the foreign exchange students, who I have beat in pickle ball numerous times, did a presentation over his home country of Montenegro for our class the other day. He talked about how much different the lifestyle is over there compared to the lifestyle in the United States, he said that they pretty much everywhere and they don't have fast food. This is one of the problems the United States has in our population and how healthy we are. If we take a stand to become more healthy like other foreign countries we wouldn't be thought of as a obese society by other countries and it would just benefit everyone. Our government has been trying to address this problem but people don't buy into it so it is somewhat useless. We as the young people of our society need to work harder to make our country healthy.

Working Together

In order for a group of people to be able to work with each other, everyone involved must have their own role. If you are going to be effective, everyone must be involved in one way or another and then have one person to be a leader that will be able to start the group work. You have to stay open-minded so you can take in each other's opinions. If you don't stay open-minded then you won't listen to other people's ideas and what if that person has an idea that would perfect the project. If you are working in groups watch and see if everyone is involved and has their own job to contribute to the group.

Changing Your Life

People will sometimes say I am a changed person and then go and do that same thing whether they realize they are doing it or not. That person is obviously not changed. It takes 21 days to drop an old habit and 21 days to start a new habit. This may seem like a long time to get rid of a small thing that you do but it could be small to you but huge to someone else. All you have to do in order to be able to change is to know why you want to change and how you are going to do it. Sometimes it takes you hitting the very bottom in life to realize that you need to make that change. This alone should be one driving force to lose that habit. So when you think that you have no hope and want to run to someone to save you just think about how this can be positive in your life.

Yesterday we had a guest speaker and his big thing was implanting ideas in other people's heads. This can happen without us even thinking about it, like through product placement as Jeremiah said when they put stuff in movies people will buy it if they see people in movies using it. We also do it when we see our parents do stuff like I said the example that I don't really like would be smoking, there was that commercial awhile ago where the little girl and her mom are shopping and they both have a cart and everything the mom put in the cart the girl did, then when they were checking out the mom asked for a pack of cigarettes and so did the daughter. We also do stuff when it is more obvious like advertising on TV, if we see stuff and they say all this stuff to make it seem amazing we will go buy it. This is one problem some people in our society today have, they believe everything they see on TV or read on the internet. People wonder why they are in debt, it's because they buy stupid stuff that they don't need. We can't believe everything on the internet or TV, we have to use our brains. So next time you watch a movie or are thinking about buying something you see on TV think if it is really necessary.

10 Questions

1. Who has made a significant impact on your life? What qualitites would you like to mimic? First off would be my parents because they are always there for me and my siblings no matter what. Second would be Michael Jordan because he never gave up after he was told he wasn't good enough and didn't make his high school basketball team.
3. What or who would you be willing to lose your greatest possession for? My family would be the first thing I would trade anything for. I couldn't live without them, they are very important to my life.
Those are just two of the questions I answered but they show a lot about me. Those pretty much sum up what I am about, which is my friends and family.

Prioritites

The last couple days we have been doing a packet about our priorities. We learned about 20/80, which is working on your first 20% and they will eventually accomplish the other 80%. I think that this can be a good thing if you have to get something done fast so just fix what people can see and work on the rest later. I think this is bad because not everyone has the same prioritites, so what if you don't agree with each other. Just because something is important to you doesn't mean it is of equal importance to everyone else. Find out your prioritities but be careful when working on them so you don't offend people.

This week we worked in groups on various activities. Through these activities I learned that I speak what I am thinking. This can be a good and bad thing. It can be good if I use it in appropriate situations and for the benefit of my group. This can be bad though because I might use it in a time when it is not necessary and when I should keep my thoughts to myself. What did you find out about yourself and how can you use this for good?

My Core Values

Like I said in my other blog, we have been talking about core values and how to identify our core values. Here are my Top 5 Core Values. My number one core value is my family because they are always there for me and I want to make them happy. My second core value is my faith because it helps me make the right decisions and leads to a path that will be the best for me and those around me. My third core value is my friends because they are there for me and help me make decisions by knowing who I am and what is best for me. Fourth would be getting and keeping respect because you can't go through life having no respect for yourself or others having respect for you. My fifth core value would be trust because you won't make it very far in life no matter how good you are at what you do if you aren't honest and are trusted.

Core Values

This week we have been talking about core values and how they are important in who we are and the decisions we make. There was a quote on the VoiceThread and this is what it said, "When one bases his life on principle, 99% of his decisions are already made." This is very true because if you do base everything you do on a principle you will never have to make your own decisions on anything because that principle will state what you should do in all situations and make the decisions for you. Make a list of your core values and live by those and not on something that someone says.

Pursuit of Happyness

         This week we watched the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness". I guess when I watched it before I didn't really think about why it is spelled with a "y" instead of an "i", this time when I watched it I looked for reasons why this would be how they spelled it. Watching the movie a little bit closer made me realize that there is a lot of symbols in the movie that if not looking for them wouldn't of stuck out to me as important.
         The first thing that stuck out to me was the rubiks cube that Chris solves in the taxi. Him solving the rubiks cube after the man he was riding with told him he wouldn't be able to do it but Chris insisted that he could. He did end up solving the puzzle and this shows that he doesn't give up and is very determined to achieve and overcome anything that gets in his way.
         The second symbol that I saw was how they spelled happyness with a "y" instead of with an "i" at the daycare. This is important because it gets you to think about your own happ"I"ness and instead about why you want to get that happ"Y"ness. If you think about what is important to you and why and work to get there you will be more determined to do it because you know why you want it. The thing that was important to Chris was his son having a good life and their happiness and that drove him to get a job even though he seemed like nothing was going to get better. He could of given up and that would have been easier, but instead he decided he wasn't going to give up and got that job.

Position

I was reading John Maxwell's blog about the 5 levels of leadership. The first level is position, your position is the foundation for your leadership. If you are in a position of leadership you probably got noticed by someone above you as a person with good leadership skills. Position: It's a Great Place to Visit, But You wouldn't Want to Live There. Use your position to your advantage and get people to follow your cause before you overstay your welcome.

I know that this is something we talked about a while ago but I am going to say something about the importance of goals. Today I was reading my passbook in study hall(I was very bored) and I came across a quote by Dr. J, he said, "Goals determine what you're going to be." This is very true because if you don't have goals to acomplish something then you will have no determination to make yourself do it. Read your passbook if you are bored, there are good quotes and interesting facts, right Bryson?

Where Leadership Starts

Some people will be told that they have great leadership skills or that they can be a good leader but others will find these qualitites within themselves. Other people won't be able to see it but you can. You might find yourself always doing things that might be considered being a good leader but others just think it is just how you are. Everyone has some leadership skills whether others can tell or not, the key is being able to find them yourself and using them.

We had a speaker on Thursday and he told us that in order to be successful you can't be afraid to fail. The so called "failures" only make us stronger. The biggest failure is when you don't go after something because you are afraid to fail. Don't take the easy way out or shortcut to something, just like how you don't build the foundation of a house in two hours, if you don't take your time it will eventually catch back up to you.

Walk the Talk

When a leader tells people one thing and does another thing they are very hard to be taken seriously. If you are going to be a good leader you not only need to say the right things but also do the right things. When you say one thing and do another you are fighting against your own cause. So if you are going to be a good leader you need to practice what you preach.

Relationships

Mr. Jepson was our special guest speaker today. I had him for math in 6th grade so I knew already that he was going to be a good speaker. He told us one thing today that really stuck with me and that is creating relationships is one of the most important things a great leader needs to do. Creating relationships will lead to trust from others and that trust will eventually lead to people believing in what you say and do and we say that getting others to follow you and be influenced by you is important so you need trust from people in order for them to follow you. People will also go to a leader who they know has produced results in other goals they were trying to achieve. Producing results will show people that you know what you are doing and that you are good at it also.

Half-Full or Half-Empty?

The way I see things is usually directly connected to what is going on around me or in my life. This can be a good thing or bad thing. If I feel that stuff isn't going my way I will probably think nothing is going to go my way no matter what but if I feel that I am getting a lot of good bounces my way I will think everything will be beneficial to me. I would like to change this because if you look at the "misfortunes" of your life as just a road block it will eventually make you stronger and help you succeed. I have heard that bad things come in three's, so next time you are feeling like you are getting the short end of the stick just say to yourself it could be a lot worse and look at the bad stuff as a character-builder.

This week Mr. Hoffman was a special guest speaker. He told us he read the quote, "Live the Values and Deliver the Results." Good leaders have special traits and I said that I thought the most important traits were to be confident, influential, inspirational, and hard-working. He also told us that in order to become a good leader you need to use your resources. Identify the traits that you think are the most important.

Conformity

Conformity is when we see something over and over again until we find ourself doing it. This can be a good or bad thing. If we are around someone who is only negative we will probably being negative also but if we are around someone who is always positive it will probably rub off on us. Unfortunately, the bad stuff usually shows up in us more often. Who do you find yourself turning into? Be careful not to get to used to seeing those bad things and pay more attention to the good stuff. It will rub off on you even if you don't realize it.

Watching college football on Saturday made me think about how in order for a team to work it needs a leader. Some teams will fall apart under pressure and that is because they don't have a strong leader. A great leader will bring a group of people together to work like a well-oiled machine. Leaders are people who will lead a group of people to believe in the same goal and do anything it takes to accomplish that goal. Identify the most accomplished leader you can think of and work to be like that person.

What is your vision?

This week we have been talking about having a vision for ourselves and how we will know what that vision is. The vision someone has is that goal that they will want to reach and do whatever it takes to reach that goal. The vision someone decides is most important to them will eventually be what will help them change not only their lives but will also change the lives of everyone who meets them. What is your vision?

Leadership in All of Us

People tend to think that you have to be born with leadership in you. This is sometimes true but you can learn how to be a great leader. We may think that in order to be a leader you have to own a business, be the President, or be the CEO of a company but really everyone is a leadership in their own way. Think about times when you could have been considered a leader. Now that you are thinking about it you should come up with new ways to be a good leader and how to work on improving your leadership skills. There is no perfect mold of a leader or a certain way you have to do it. Leaders can be complete opposites and still be great at what they do. So just think about your leadership skills and you will see there is LEADERSHIP IN ALL OF US!

The power of Red

This week I learned that my personality color is red. The color red represents power and the need to be  right. When I read that, I agreed with it 100%. I am that person who likes to be the leader and doesn't like to hear it when people tell me what to do or that I need to change how I am. If I am wrong(which I am quite a bit) I don't like to admit it or even change the subject to get away from the fact that I was wrong. This can be a good leadership skill if you know how to use it.