SL1 Aren Jorgensen

• *Intro: Skip to the last page of the intro.  There are three questions.  The author suggests that if your answer is no to the questions, continuing is a waste of time.  If your answer is yes to each, please also explain WHY you are willing to go through this pain, because it will be painful if you want to truly be a better leader.

Simply put it is more painful and infinity more frustrating to be a bad leader.  The first reason being a bad leader stinks is cause as a peer leader you have very little power so no one listens unless they want to.  Two some will give you one chance to successfully lead and motivate and if you fail they will be donkeys to you for the rest of your life, and these people will probably join in two years.  Finally trying constantly push and pull people is no fun, the author says its hard but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  As put in scrum change or die.

• Chapter 2: In what places in your life have you earned authority?  How did you get it?

I have earned authority in my scout troop.  I gained this authority by being kind, respectful, and never pulling seniority.  In our troop we vote in a head leader (SPL) every 6 months.  I got the position because the ten younger scouts saw me as a person who wouldn't abuse power and was a decent leader.

Chapter 1: Hunter says that leadership is a skill, not something many are born with.  Do you actually believe this?  Have you always believed this?  What evidence have you seen in your life to back up your response.

I believe leadership is definitely a skill.  I don't remember what I thought several years ago or if I even had an opinion, but I do remember scouts is when I realized it was a skill.  Over just six months I've seen people's leadership skills infinitely expanded and improved just by doing what seems right and getting some constructive feed back.  Anyone who says leadership isn't a skill should just try for a few weeks and they will soon think differently.

• Chapter 1: The word "influence" comes up dozens of times in the first chapter.  Why does Hunter keep talking about it?

If you don't have influence you need to have followers who believe in a cause or use power, and power will soon scare away the best followers.  Then your left with the stubborn ones and can't get influence because you lost your one chance.

• Chapter 3: Hunter says that serving others is a choice.  Share a time where you made the choice to serve yourself as a leader and a time where you chose to serve others in your leadership role.  How did each work out?  How did each feel?

A time when I served my self was when I let a person slip away from a job and did nothing about it because I had just spend a ridiculous amount of time pressuring them to do it.  I avoided conflict and made it harder in the long run because I had to stand in front of them baby sitting to make sure they didn't leave.  A time I served was when I made the stubborn ones do thinks no matter how much they resisted I was more stubborn unfortunately they never stopped trying to avoid work.  Neither produced and visible results and both made me feel frustrated and bad.

In summary:  I learned the difference between power and authority.  I already knew how to get influence from people and that it was better to lead with it.  The main thing I still don't know is how to convince people who only follow you if you let them slack off.