SL2 Aren

• Chapter 4: Describe the difference between love, the feelings, and love, the choice.

The feeling of love is liking someone, but the choice of love is striving to make someone the best person they can be whether you like them or not.

• Chapter 7: Elizabeth said "My older friends are like they were 30 years ago, only more so".  As a high school student, what implications does this have for you?  OR As a mentor, how have your past choices built good and bad habits in your life?

This means we should try our best to remove bad habits and replace them with good habits.  So in 30 years we will be even better people.

• Chapter 5: "Love without discipline is not love at all."  Provide some insight into that statement.

The book defines love as being willing "to be attentive to the legitimate needs, best interests, and welfare of another".  This means if you truly love someone and have their best interests at heart you want them to be their best.  So you use discipline to make sure they keep striving for perfection.

• Chapter 7: What is the difference between character and personality?  Why is it relevant to leadership?

Character is your core values and who you are.  Personality is how you show those qualities to others.  This is important to leadership because if you want to build influence you need to have good character and show it with the correct style(personality).  Even if your the nicest person ever if you have the wrong style you wont gain influence.

• Chapter 5: This chapter talks a lot about "empathetic listening".  Explain in your own words what the means and why it is so important.

I think when you practice empathetic listening you devote every ounce of your attention to what the person is saying and then to remembering it.  This is important because the people you lead always have extremely valuable information to share with you.  Also this shows you care about them and it makes them feel useful.

Summary:

I learned the traits of a great leader and how to build influence by listening.  Also you should separate behavior from people by instead of saying your lazy, say you need to help more.  They can fix needing to help more,

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.

Ben SL1

Chapter 1: Explain the differences between leaders and managers.  Would product owners and scrum masters be leaders, managers, both, or neither?
                    Leaders are people that inspire. They get people to believe in something and to work for it. Managers simply organize and handle the manner in which people work. Scrum masters and product owners would be both, since they have to get people excited about working, and they also have to oversee peoples' jobs.
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 do believe this to be true in most cases, but I also believe that someone can be born with the rough ability to lead, but needs help fine-tuning his leadership skills. A friend of mine had great focus and attention to detail, but he was always quiet. As he hung out with my rowdy and rambunctious group of friends and me, he started to become more vocal. I think this has developed him into a much better leader, though most of his leadership skills are simply innate.
 Chapter 1: The word "influence" comes up dozens of times in the first chapter.  Why does Hunter keep talking about it?
                    Influence is a key aspect of being a leader. To be an effective leader, you have to be able to influence your team even when they're low of spirit. You also want to have the right type of influence. People are much more willing to follow a friendly, guiding influence than an aggressive, punishment-based influence. 
Chapter 2: In what places in your life have you earned authority?  How did you get it?
                    Sadly, I can't think of any instances in which I was given an official title of authority, but when I'm babysitting my little cousins, it's understood that I have the authority. This is in part because their mother told them to heed my command, but also because, collectively, we recognized my superiority in the aspect of life experience and rational thought.
Chapter 2: What is a legitimate use of power by the leaders of a FRC team?  How often should this be used?
                    I believe in leaders should have the power to reassign people from task to task. Of course, this power shouldn't be used liberally, but when someone has been asked multiple times day after day to work on a task, to stay focused, they should be put on a different task since they are apparently incapable of doing that job. Again, this is a last resort. You would simply talk to them at first, reason with them and do all you can to help, but sometimes someone just isn't equipped to carry out a certain job, so assign the job to someone able to complete it. 
Summary
                    I learned about servant leadership and the difference between power and authority. Influence is pertinent, and leading and managing aren't the same thing.

Nate SL1

*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.
Yes, I am willing to work to improve myself to better the team.
Yes, I can take feedback.  I am willing to put aside any ego I have to better the team.
Yes, I am able to spend a lot of time with the team.

Chapter 1: Explain the differences between leaders and managers.  Would product owners and scrum masters be leaders, managers, both, or neither?
Leaders are meant to help peers improve themselves and work towards a common goal.  Managers direct people to get work done.  A product owner and scrum masters have to be a combination of both a leader and a manager.  They need to help improve people while directing them to get work done.

I think qualities of a leader can be natural and some aspects are a skill.  Some people are more charismatic and are good at helping people from birth.  Knowing how to lead takes practice which makes it partially a skill.

Chapter 2: In what places in your life have you earned authority?  How did you get it?
I have earned leadership on some of my soccer teams.  I was a captain a few years ago on one of my teams.  I earned this by playing well and helping my teammates.  I have also lead the defense of some of my teams.  I was given the authority because I knew what to do and was confident enough to speak up when needed.

Chapter 2: What is a legitimate use of power by the leaders of a FRC team?  How often should this be used?
Leaders of out team should use power in order to keep people focused on the task at hand. This should only be used when people are getting unfocused during crunch time.  Also, if breaks become overused a leader should get people back to work.

End with a summary of what you learned.
I learned about how to use leadership and reasons it is given to people.  With these skills I, along with everyone leading, can help improve our team.  These strategies will allow for us to implement the strategies of scrum and lean startup.

SL1 Bryan

• Chapter 1: Explain the differences between leaders and managers.  Would product owners and scrum masters be leaders, managers, both, or neither?

Leaders are people that can make others work willingly. Managers are people who can manage the team and organize things. Scrum masters would be like leaders because they are leading the team and product owners would be managers.

• 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 that it can be a skill or can be something you are born with. I think this way because I have seen leaders since I was a child and I have seen people become leaders through work and effort so that they can become the best leader that they can be.

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

Hunter keeps talking about influence because it is critical to have to become a leader. I you can't influence how can you do your job as a leader?  If you can't influence people how can you get people to work?

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

I have earned authority only a few times in my life, but I got it due to respect and trust. Now, I may not be the most respectable person or trustworthy, but when I need to be authoritative I will take charge.

• Chapter 3: Hunter lists a number of history's greatest servant leaders: Jesus, Ghandi, MLK, and many more.  Name one person who has earned authority over you because of their service in your life.  Give a few concrete examples of what they do that earns them authority over you.

My mother has earned authority over me because she brought me into this world. That is really only the only real reason, but it is a pretty good reason.

Summary:

Leaders are people who need to be able to make others work. They need to be responsible and able to work, themselves. Leaders can be born and can be trained.

Jacob SL1

• Chapter 1: Explain the differences between leaders and managers.  Would product owners and scrum masters be leaders, managers, both, or neither?

A leader is someone who can influence followers to work fully towards a mutual goal or gain while a manager is someone who is tasked with making things happen on time in a certain way.  A manager doesn't always have authority but they are given power over the people they are managing so they can get a task done.  Scrum masters and product owners would have to be both manager and leader since although a leader can get people to follow them, they need at least some managerial skills to handle things like deadlines and problem causers.

• 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 am sure that leadership is a skill that can be learned and I have always been pretty sure of it.  There is probably a set of genes which, if someone grows up in the right environment, will allow people to be great leaders, but Leadership definitely isn't just genetic as evidenced by the thousands of inheritors who squandered their parents authority, power, or money.  I've also seen people become better leaders simply through practice in groups at school.

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

Hunter keeps talking about influence because it is central to being a leader.  People in charge can have different kinds of influence over others; there's the "I'll get fired if I do this wrong" influence, the "that guy helped me out last week so i'd love to reciprocate" influence, and many others.  The kind of influence you have with your workforce shows what kind of a leader you are.

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

I have earned a not so small amount of authority in school based concepts.  This is especially true for math since I have consistently done well in the subject and helped other people to do the same.  I also have a significant amount of authority with my brother since I have on more than one occasion covered for or helped him in situations which he didn't necessarily know how to deal with.

• Chapter 2: What is a legitimate use of power by the leaders of a FRC team?  How often should this be used?

Using power to make others accomplish a task is actually somewhat difficult on FRC teams since there is little to threaten a dissenter with.  Obviously somebody could be kicked off of the team or removed from a project, but since the entire FRC experience is on a voluntary basis and we really need the people we have, both of those are unlikely.  Thus, we should only use power sparingly.  If someone is preventing a deadline from being reached or causing arguments, power could be used, but just as equally someone could simply tell them what is going on and try to work it out.

• Summary

In these chapters I learned a little bit about the difference between managers and leaders, the difference between power and authority, and how your influence with your employees depicts your leadership or management style.

Braxton SL2

Chapter 4: Describe the difference between love, the feelings, and love, the choice.

The difference between the feeling of love and the behavior of love is a big one. While love the feeling is all bout 'romance, flowers, and candy', the act of love is for more than just your close friends and family. It is about caring for your employees, colleagues, and clients. It is helping them and serving their collective needs, even before your own. It is a useful skill for good bosses and managers to possess.

Chapter 4: Four communication styles are aggressive, passive, passive-aggressive, and assertive.  What is the ideal form that we should use?  What have we primarily used in the past?

On our team, the ideal form of communication that we would use is assertive. It is honest and to the point, without causing difficulty long the way. In the past, however, we have used ll of the other forms, in different ways and with different people. There have been petty plots and feuds that fall into passive-aggressive category, moments of passivity towards people not working or taking an indefinite break, and moments of aggression towards one another. No one single type was used the majority of the time. The rare moments of assertiveness were our most productive as well. 

Chapter 5: If you had to create a survey that collected final thoughts from graduating FRC seniors, what do we need to hear from them?  How could we make them feel comfortable about being open and honest without holding things back?

Some of the things that would be helpful to hear from graduating seniors would be insight such as what improvements they would make, best moments, worst moments, how they felt about how often we met, whether they felt they got value out of being in FRC, etc. Some ways we could ensure they are comfortable with open honesty would be anonymity, a disclaimer about how these answers would be used to improve the team, etc. I'm not a professional survey-maker, so I'm not sure what more we could do on this front.

Chapter 5: "Love without discipline is not love at all."  Provide some insight into that statement.

In this case, the quote means that if you truly love your employees (verb-wise), and want to serve them, you must discipline them when they do wrong and hold them accountable. Otherwise, you hurt the other employees and yourself in the process. Therefore, you must either discipline, keeping in mind that discipline in this case is a helpful, not hurtful, process, or remove them from your organization.

Chapter 7: Change is usually initiated by friction / discomfort / pain / suffering.  If you want to change your habits, where will the discomfort come from that motivates your change?

One discomfort that could motivate change is a time inconvenience. For example, a simple task that should only take a day ends up taking a week, and this ends up happening a lot over the next few months. My productivity has tanked, and I'm suffering losses due to that. This would motivate a change.

End with a summary of what you learned.

In this section of the reading, I learned about people's characters and personalities, just what is love, different types of communication, personality, and character, and much more. This can all apply to myself and how I lead.