For more information on Brene Brown’s research, books and guides, visit http://www.brenebrown.com.
-
Recent Posts
Twitter
Tweets by VT_RLCFacebook
Blog Stats
- 9,120 hits
fostering the discovery, scholarship, and practice of leadership at Virginia Tech
exploring citizen leadership 
Feedback is a function of respect.
Out of all the phrases on that poster, that one definitely jumped out at me because it’s so true. So many times have I seen people give non-constructive feedback because they are afraid of hurting someone’s feelings. Without that criticism though, how can they grow? You think you are being their friend by withholding their flaws, but really you are indirectly stunting their true potential.
I completely agree with you Daniel. When reading this poster, the phrase that stuck with me was “Feedback is a function of respect; when you don’t have honest conversations with us about our strengths and our opportunities for growth, we question our contributions and your commitment.” This stood out to me because I believe the same thing. In order for me to improve or for people to improve in general, we have to have conversations about it. As Daniel said in order to grow people need to hear constructive criticism; I completely agree with it. I would not be where I am today with regard to anything in my life without constructive criticism. Nobody is perfect, therefore constructive feedback/criticism is necessary.
During our orientation for Ivanhoe, we watched one of Brene Brown’s lectures. She is absolutely fantastic, and quite inspiring. This post is interesting as a student to see. As a leadership student, I hear so many positive things and learn so much about leadership in and around my class. From other aspects, I hear people questioning how or why I chose to study leadership, or how one even studies leadership. I’ve yet to come up with an answer to knock those people off their feet, but this post has greatly encouraged me about the amazing people and studying opportunities that wait for me here in the RLC.
Other students here do question us RLC kids about the purpose of studying leadership and ask us what there really is to study. Although studying leadership is hard to define for others, I have gotten a lot out of my leadership class. Brene Brown makes a comment about “when learning and working are dehumanized…we disengage and turn away from the very things that the world needs from us: our talents, our ideas, and our passions.” Some classes we take in college are rigid and not personal, exemplifying Brown’s point. However, leadership is one class that allows us to grow and express our beliefs, values, and ideas, the very things that the world needs from us.
I strongly agree with Brene Brown, especially when she said ” show up beside us and learn from us”. To me this means that you need to get involved. It also means that once you get involved you can learn from others in your community. Theres no better way to learn something than to be hands on. I think that this relates back to Virginia Tech’s motto “Ut Prosim” because to become a better and more effective leader you must serve your community and take on different leadership roles that will highlight your strengths.
I would have to say that this post is both inspiring and encouraging. Without other peoples motivation and inputs, it would make things a whole lot harder to improve on and build on what you have or have not accomplished. “We want to take risks” really stands out to me and I believe that one must take risks in order to succeed and accomplish their goals. One might not always succeed by taking risks, but it allows one to learn from their mistake and drive them to work/improve on what could have been done better.
I agree with everyone who has posted on here so far. Like Morgan said, the video we watched for the Ivanhoe Orientation was very inspiring. It made all of us think, or at least me. This post shows us that we have to take risks to accomplish what we want in live. It encourages us to do so. I believe this post is encouraging, and reminds me of things I want to achieve in life. I want to inspire others and always have honest conversations. This post shows us things we need to work toward to be a better person and leader along with being successful.
Reading this really inspired me. It ignited my excitement to be apart of the RLC all over again. The part that spoke to me was when the author said “We crave purpose, and we have a deep desire to create and contribute”. By applying to the RLC before we came to Virginia Tech, were we not all craving a bigger purpose for our college experience? And by attending leadership classes twice a week, aren’t we all desiring to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to create and contribute to society? I love this post.
Taylor! I completely relate to you reaction and thoughts about this poster. I think that Brene Brown’s depiction of Leadership has been well articulated in an eye capturing and simplistic matter that emphasizes the important values of collaboration and a transforming relationship between everyone. I think it’s so great that as college students, we are eager to learn how to be a great leader and are willing to “create and contribute” to our Virginia Tech society. It’s so encouraging because college students are sometimes underestimated but here we are striving to be an effective leader in the same manner as a doctor, teacher, and even CEOs!
I think this could be read as “Life Manifesto.” I think all of these are things that people can do and should aim for in life in general. It doesn’t have to be necessarily about being a leader. Engaging, learning, taking risks, and inspiring are all general motivators for life. Everyone should do these things! I think this is kind of a Theory Y approach as well and shows my Theory Y personality. I think people generally like to do these things and that people like to be productive and active. Sure maybe not all people enjoying taking risks but who doesn’t like to be inspired or inspire others? Who doesn’t desire to create, contribute, and have a purpose? I think leadership can be a synonym for productivity, in the sense that people want to get things done and they don’t sit around and watch others do it. Besides, even if someone doesn’t do something they still have an opinion or a desire for something to get done or for certain things to happen.
This is a truly inspirational post. I agree with all of the above comments. The statement that stuck out most to me was, “What we ask is that you engage with us, show up beside us, and learn from us.” I believe that engaging in every activity is essential for success. If a person is disengaged, he or she will not reach their full potential or help contribute to the full potential of a group. We as members of the RLC are already showing a high level of engagement in the Virginia Tech community and can only improve from here.
I agree with the other post that this is truly inspirational. It makes me want to go out and serve. I think it raises an important point that people need to have feed back about how they are doing, “feed back is a function of respect”. Everyone wants to be recognized for their contributions and know that others are listening. We can not grow if we don’t know what we are doing wrong, or what we are doing correctly.
What an inspirational combination of phrases. Every sentence or phrase contains something that everyone should strive for in their everyday life. “We want to take risks, embrace our vulnerabilities, and be courageous” grabbed my attention. If people don’t take risks, they may never find what exactly they are missing out on in life. There are both pro’s and con’s to risk taking, but normally if something is considered a risk, the reward is so great that it is worth rolling the dice on. I think people should take risks more often, be courageous, and regardless of the outcome, they will come out a better individual. Whether they were successful or not, risk takers will grow. At the end of the day, if rolling the dice fails, it’s not the end of the world, they can learn from the experience and there will be other opportunities for the individual, and they will be more prepared to tackle new challenges that arise.
This post, along with all of the ideas and comments that came from it, is truly inspirational. The phrase that stuck out the most to me was “We crave purpose.” Simply thinking it is important to have purpose is not enough. Craving something means that you feel as though you need to do something…you MUST do something. Craving purpose shows that you have to have a purpose in everything you do in order for that thing to feel like it is an accomplishment.
On this post, I loved the lines where it says “engage with us, show up beside us”. Right away this made me think about the Ivanhoe service project. I see Maxine as a strong leader there and she has a passion for the youth that come to engage and interact with the people in her town. I think the group I worked with lived up to the engaging and showing up written about in these lines. We got to meet so many people and listen to their stories. Sometimes people just need someone to listen to them and be a friend. Being a leader can be as simple as that sometimes. Our group worked with a man named Virgil. By the end of the day, we cleaned out an extremely messy trailer and most importantly, made new ties with such a sweet man.
I thought this was a very bold and creative but simple presentation of the elements of leadership. The phrase that stood out to me the most was “we want to take risks, embrace our vulnerabilities, and be courageous”. I believe that you have to be brave and unafraid and accepting of change. The aim of every leadership experience is change, so leaders have the task of believing in the desired change and inspiring their followers to also believe in it. They have to express their vision of the future in a way that is appealing to their followers, and they have faith in themselves to achieve the change.
I feel as though this post contains a lot of what we have learned about leadership. It has ideas from Follett about leaders and followers learning from each other and how leaders should connect more to their followers and have more of a theory y approach. However, above all this post creates a vision of what leadership should be like, and reading it, I felt emboldened to take risks, look at the world through the eyes of a child, discover curiosity for life all over again, and find passion for everything I do to make a vision a reality.
When it comes to leadership, one must always dare to take risks for the better of their community. If someone doesn’t take risks, then nothing would be accomplished because when it comes to getting something done for a community, Nothing comes easy, it always takes work to get something done. And if a leader doesn’t take the risks to help the community, then they are not a true leader. A true leader would do anything to help his peers, even go way out of his comfort zone. They would always be there for the community, and they would do anything to make the community better.
One of the most important aspects of leadership this document mentions is the willingness to take risks. Everyone to ever change the world took a risk in some way, whether it be large or small. Risks are important because they indicate one’s passion for change. If you want things to change, you have to be willing to take a risk, but if you’re not then things won’t change. History remembers risk takers.
I really like how it ends with “be courageous” and “dare greatly”. This really means a lot to me because it sounds really encouraging and easy. Some tasks or situations may be hard, but this is saying take a risk and be courageous. Nothing is going to get accomplished if everyone just sits around and waits for someone else to take a risk. It is implying that if you are courageous then things will get done. Dare is a strong word in itself because it just sounds like a challenge. Dare to take a risk. Dare to do something different. Dare to be courageous.
I agree with Cat that risks have to be taken in order for progress or change to occur. if you did not have to take risk in order for something to change then odds are if would have already happened. People do not like the world of the unknown so that is why change is so rare, but when a leader is bold enough to take the risk of risk taking then something new and beneficial could potentially happen. A leader must be courageous and a risk taker to change what they believe in.
I love that it addressed leaders of all levels: “CEOs to teachers, to the principals and mangers, to the politicians, community-leaders, and decision-makers”. Leaders of all sorts were addressed because EVERYONE wants to make a change. Everyone wants to leave their mark on the world and take a risk. Everyone has it in them to lead a change.
I agree with what Rachel E said about feedback. No one person has ever developed something revolutionary without critic and motivation from others. This is called feedback and it is important to emphasize the nature of humans in which we better each other. Sure there are some geniuses who need less feedback but nonetheless they need it, most likely from those more knowledgeable than them. Feedback is a way of learning and it is necessary for development.
I really like the statement, “We want to take risks, embrace our vulnerabilities, and be courageous.” I think that this displays our leadership class throughout the semester, because everyone in the classroom is enthusiastic about engaging themselves in leadership. By applying to the RLC, we have shown an interest in wanting to make a change. In order to make these changes, we must branch out and test the best ways to be great leaders. This involves taking risks to get to the next level, and being courageous in our skills for making a change. Ultimately, change is the overall goal of the social change model, something that I would not have learned if I had not embraced the opportunity of the RLC.
The part, “feedback is a function of respect” really stuck out to me. Having a job know the importance and value of feedback. People want to know what other people think of them. It is important to evaluate others and give them a honest response. Without being honest with them they cannot truly correct their failures and improve their weaknesses. Giving others honest feedback shows respect to them.
I agree with David. I think that the more respect you have for an authority figure, the more feedback you are willing to give them.
This post is so great! I really enjoyed the connection between themes in leadership and this should be the way we apply those themes, connected. I liked the part where it talks about feedback. Honestly before college, and the RLC experience I didn’t really care a lot about feedback, I just assumed I would see positive or negative results at the end of whatever I was working with. Nevertheless, living the RLC experience and living along – with friends, actually – makes me realize that the opinion other people, specially other leaders, have can positively influence us and our actions, and so feedback is part of my actions and also part of what expect to see on other leaders too.
This blog post is truly inspirational. I agree with the quote that “feedback is a function of respect”. Many people instead associate feedback as negative criticism. It is important for the person receiving the feedback to accept and value it in order to change for the better. Also, the quote “we want to take risks” stood out to me. Without taking risks or challenging yourself, you will never discover your hidden potential!
I agree with Brene Brown when she said “show up beside us and learn from us.” To me this means that as leaders, we need to get involved and that we can learn from others in our community. There aren’t many better ways to learn something than from hands-on experience. This relates back to our motto, Ut Prosim, because to become a better and more effective leader it is essential serve your community and take on different leadership opportunities that bring out your strengths.
I was really impressed by this post. Connection and communication are key! I live by this motto and this post backed that up. I used to calculate results of feedback on instuctionals taught by City-Wide SCA. sometimes they were good and sometimes they were bad but they were important because they showed us what to teach more and how good we were teaching. I like this post because it shows what I was doing was right.
I believe often leadership is dehumanized! It becomes all about the process, the end result. However, we need leaders who are passionate, who care, and who engage. I believe that component is what sets management apart from leadership. This competent of passion is especially important in a social change leader because when making a change in society passion is essential, if not the heart of the operation.
In the earlier post, i saw someone pointing out the “Feedback is function of respect.” This phase is what drew most of my attention. By giving a feedback, the speaker knows that the listener. paid attention to speaker. Such process ensures speaker that they have not wasted their time pointlessly. This poster makes me to think that i should ask or comment in the class more frequently to show the respect to the professor.
Taking risks is a huge part of leadership for social change. I personally, when around people who I am not close to, am very hesitant to speak my opinions. There are always those fears in the back of my mind that someone will hate me for this or that what I say wont be “politically correct”. This quietness will never bring about change. We have to be loud so that others can hear us and our concerns, but this takes risks. We need to be brave and confident with ourselves.
I find this poster very interesting because it displays concepts that we are not always familiar with in leadership. It is a greater calling for us to be more daring and motivated in our daily lives and search for a higher calling. It is great for someone like Daniel to profess his beliefs on here and provide us with a superb example for us.