A Culmination of Everything You Ever Thought You Knew

As the sun rose on our final day in this community of leadership, we, the students of the Duke TIP Leadership Institute were ready to present the product of all our sweat and toils these past two weeks - their Community Leadership Project. Each of us came to Duke TIP with an imagined dream for our project, and with the help of the counselors here we have been able to perfect that dream into a realistic reality that we will be able to bring home and implement in our community. From day one, the we worked one on one with assigned counselors to iron out all the kinks in our projects from fund-raising ideas to how to recruit volunteers and resources. Today we presented our Community Leadership Project in the form of a Powerpoint presentation to two counselors and a room of our peers. This presentation was the culmination of all that we have learned here in this program. We worked to clearly and concisely explain where our project is going and the steps it will take to bring it there - all within a ten minute time frame. The presentations went off without a hitch, and we were all pretty proud of all that we had accomplished.
With that under our belt, we bussed to West campus to fill up our stomachs. We headed back to the class room after lunch for our final discussion. We divided up into groups and created human statues and mimed to express how we felt we had grown as a group along with our most memorable experiences. The statues included motorcycles, chapels, trees, and pyramids - all various metaphors to our group growth here at TIP. After this brief activity, our groups circled up for one last group activity. Elaine would start off a sentence and we would each go around the circle and finish it. "The first thing I thought when I walked into this group was..." "One thing I did here at Duke TIP that I've never done before is..." As we each went around the circle, it was great to see how much we've grown, not only as leaders, but as a whole group. The past two weeks here at Duke TIP Leadership Institute have been a wonderful experience that has impacted every one of us here in ways that have helped us gain more self-awareness of our own leadership potential.
Good luck.

Diversity, Challenge, and Tricks, Oh My!

Today, after our discussion, we played a card game in which we were separated into different teams according to tables. Each table was given a set of directions and five minutes with which to read them. Once the five minutes were over, select members of the teams rotated to opposite tables depending upon who won and who loss. Little did we know that each table was given a different set a directions. As you would expect, this increased tension and frustration among members of the group. However, the anger was short-live and didn't result in broken relationships. I believe this game proved that talking about diversity is vital to successful leadership. If we don't discuss our differences, we may come to the presumption that someone is stupid just because he or she is playing by different rules.
After watching "White Man's Burden," we had a discussion on the topic of race and how it affects our daily lives-whether it be of major or minor influence. At some points of the discussion members became wary and hesitant to discuss racial issues. Race and discrimination can often be a very difficult subject to discuss because there is a lot of fear of hurting some one's feelings. Until this discussion, I was not aware of how much race plays a role in schools and society.
A tile blocks, blindfolds, and excited team members were all associated with the final event of the day. We looked at the carpet in what once was our neat and orderly classroom and gazed upon a makeshift tile course made from painters tape and wondered, "What could we be doing next?" As Dr. Elaine told us that we would have to get our entire team across the tile course, we tilted our head backs and laughed at such simplicity. Yet, the catch was that one person would have to be blindfolded and some of the tile blocks were off limits; if we stepped on one of these tiles, we would have to start over again. Despite the fact that the task put before us was challenging, we managed to get through it without too much frustration. From this experience, I feel it is safe to say that teamwork, compromise, and strategic planning are important leadership qualities.

Sharing and Caring

Today can only be defined as a roller coaster of emotions. We began with a moving presentation by Adam and Alyssa who modeled how we would do our cultural discussions. Soon after, we delved into our own conversations with small groups of 2 or 3. By the time these discussions were all over, we had gotten to know each other, and each others backgrounds just a little bit better.

What followed this activity was an experience which I find difficult to write about. The conversation that followed did nothing less but bond our entire group on the primal level. I was blown away by the trust we had in each other and how easily we bared our feelings in front of 35 some of our peers. We were asked to discuss pressures we felt from day to day, and the gravity and self-awareness of my friends that i had barely known for a week shocked me. Several of us broke down, while several more of us may or may not have felt the tears welling up. This was easily the most emotional part of our whole experience here at Duke and I am grateful that I was able to be a part of it.

After this emotionally draining part of the day, we were almost subdued during our risk taking activity. Most of the rest of the day was consumed by the 3 hour movie, Gandhi. After this movie was complete, we had a chance to discuss and reflect over the nature of the leadership reflected in the movie.

Emotionally and physically drained, we headed outside, heads down for the last activity of the night. Desperate for our beds, we were hoping for this impediment to our pillows to be over quickly, when suddenly, our RC's came charging out from behind the bench with water guns. Withing seconds, the tiredness vanished, and pandemonium ensued. After releasing our frustration upon the staff, the students took pity on the poor, drenched RC's/TA's and let them go to bed without soaking them much more. The staff was reduced to tears and before the hour was over, they were all on their hands and knees begging for the bath to stop.

It was a fun end to a great day.

Good Day and Dark Knight

Today was the day we unveiled our posters. We split up the class into two groups of 18, and had sort of an art gallery type showing. The first half put their posters on the wall, and the others went around and asked them questions on their person. Then we had session with Katy on PR and Marketing for our projects. We learned how to get the word out for our CLP projects and to get the things we need to make it happen. The Elaine had us write our values on a sheet of paper and then we had some time to think and write our mission statement. It was fun to write down our mission statement and amazing to hear the ones that the students were willing to say.
After lunch we had a session with Adam on time management. He put a month calender on each table and then gave each table a set of things a student would have to do in a month. We had some required things to put in and then we had sports and extras we could put in. It was really stressful to put in the things that had to be put in and then to make choices as to what we kept and what we couldn't .

After dinner we got to go see the new batman movie The Dark Knight. It was so good, everyone was so excited, Adam and Zach even dressed up to go see it. :) It was the perfect end to a good day!! :)

Ronald McDonald House

Bleary eyed and short-tempered, our group walked into the Ronald McDonald House not knowing what to expect. Our fingers lingered on the doorhandles, our voices became muted at the thought of a sickly child asleep in his bed, and my vision blurred at the sight of the pictures of residents who had "earned their wings." Although the kitchen was chaotic and tense while we prepared brunch, I felt that, amidst the smell of pancake batter burning and sausage frying, I developed a keen sense of purpose and servant-ship. I hope everyone felt the way I did, but I know it was hard to realize the importance of our visit when everyone was rushing to get brunch on the table.

We tried to cook to the best of our abilities, which ranged from easy-mac experts to well-seasoned grilled cheese makers. Even though the hash browns may have become a tad bit too hashed, and the toast a little too toasted, I truly believe our hearts were in it.

Our donation was but a drop in the well of the charity these families had received, but they all thanked us profusely. One man took me aside to tell me "Yesterday is gone, and today and tomorrow are precious blessings."
We then took a tour of the house, and in the playroom, I compared my hand to a painted hand print on the wall, noting the birth and death date beneath the small, infant palm. I thought of the size those fingers could have been, long and healthy like mine. It really made me process what I had learned from the man. I thouught of the daily struggles of the families, and how they experience constant, nerve-wracking emotional ups and downs.
Even though our time at the Ronald McDonald House couldn't compare to the time the residents spend there, it was a very valuable experience, a life lesson that needed to be learned. I hope we all keep the families at RMDH in our heads and hearts, and inspire those in our communities to show the same compassion to similar organizations.

Unwinding Saturday

Today we had very interesting and different activities going on. Half of our group went to the Ronald MacDonald House to prepare brunch. The other half of us worked on our Community Leadership Projects and our Poster Project about a leader we admire.

After lunch we watched a movie, X Men 3, which added some fun to the day. Afterwards some had an exciting Ultimate Frisbee game while others took the time to socialize, watch TV, take a nap, or play the piano.

The most exciting part of the day came after dinner, when we went bowling with our TIP staff. It was a very good experience. Even if some of us only scored about nine points, the activity resulted as extremely fun and a great way to unwind from a rough week.

Many of us feel like we have done so much in so little. We felt that days were going by slowly, but when we look back, an entire week went by in a second. Hopefully our time here will continue to be as nourishing as it has been until this point. Esta es una experiencia fabulosa!

FRIDAY!!!!

What started up as a quiet Friday morning, quickly became a hectic discovery of leadership styles.
Initially, we started in on an exercise with the simple enough task of building the tallest, strongest, and most beautiful bridge possible in our respective groups. However, there was a catch. The designated leader of the group was taken aside before assembly began and assigned one of three styles of leadership; Democratic, Autocratic, or Laissez-Faire. As assembly started, the group members grew increasingly suspicious of their leaders, and apart from those in democratic groups, took matters into our own hands, teaching us a valuable lesson on the reactions of followers.

After an enjoyable afternoon of presentations on four distinct leadership theories, and select clips from 'Sister Act', our group went on an outing to get dessert on Ninth Street. Once everyone had gorged on gelato and cake, it was time for last minute printing, followed by evening session at nine.

This night's evening session can only be described as frenzied. Split into four groups, the entire institute was instructed to form an efficient decorations factory. The sales group began by designing several Independence Day toys, which after receiving approval, were passed onto the Production team who created prototypes for each one. The prototypes were relayed to the Executive group via a few very busy Human Resources representatives, where they were either approved or rejected. Eventually, a prototype was chosen, and manufacturing on fifty began, leading to utter chaos in the production room. The production team reached frustration with the impossibly difficult assembly, and fairly soon, a strike was declared. This led to Executive attempts to quell the dissent, with gimmicks like free marshmallows and the incredible dancing skills of David M. Still, the production team remained unsatisfied and remained on strike without finishing the job.

All things considered, Friday was a hectic, but exhilarating day. (Liz B.)

Theories, SWOT, and Emotional Intelligence

Today was another busy day at the leadership institute, beginning with our first look into the newest theories and research about the practice of leadership. Among these theories is the "strength finding" approach as we all discovered in our pre-work reading Now, Discover Your Strengths. We started our day with a nice pop quiz about the main concepts of the book, and as the morning passed we continued to discover our strengths, gaining more insight into ourselves and the themes that best describe us. We had a chance to work in groups to learn more about our talents, tendencies, and other people who posses similar themes.

Lunch was welcomed with open arms, and after everyone was well fed, we were all ready to apply our strengths and weaknesses to our CLP (Community Leadership Plan) projects, using the acronym SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. We learned about the internal and external factors that could help us or harm us in achieving an objective, and partnered up to specifically map out each of the SWOT factors in relation to our individual projects. This gave us the chance to get feedback on our projects, as well as consider how to run our projects effectively (using our strengths/opportunities and planning around any weaknesses/threats).

Our last lesson of the day was my personal favorite, relating to emotional intelligence. We discussed intelligence in it's many forms - how we define it, how we test it, and most importantly, how it affects the people we work with in a group. We played the "HAHA" game, learning that our emotions can be contagious, and as a leader, it is our duty to set the "mood" for our group or team. Furthermore, we discussed the sections of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.

In the evening, we had some time to get some fresh air, eat dinner, and grow our leadership community. Then we split up, half of us working on a leadership project to analyze and learn from the styles, strengths, and weaknesses of a historical leader, and half of us working to plan our Ronald McDonald Community Service project to be conducted this weekend. Well, TTFN, ta ta for now.

trust

Trust
Its what most groups strive for and its what we walked away with from Bond Park. It's the inter-twining thread that makes a group stop being a group and start becoming a family.


Today at Bond Park ropes course we did several activities (ex. the low ropes course, have you ever?, Zebras and Lions and other field games) that challenged our strength both physical and mental, perseverance, self-discipline, communication, and implementing the leadership methods we have just learned, just to name a few. However, most influential of all, was The Wall. We were challenged with the monumental task of hoisting all 36 of us over a 12 1/2 foot- wooden wall. Yep, we know what your thinking right now, your child, being hoisted up over a 12 foot wall? I hope you had a medical staff on hand. Well, don't worry, we went through emergency procedures and there was a mosh pit of the other 35 of us at the bottom. But when you happened to look down and there were 72 hands and 36 voices yelling words of support and encouragement, it was one of the most profound experiences of trust i had ever seen.
We also had an personal challenge to psychologically leave our fears and worries at the wall. In conclusion I think I speak for all of us when I say we left our worries at the wall but brought home self-confidence, pride, and trust.

Monday, July 14th, 2008

Today was another full day at the Leadership Institute! Despite the night's heat, it was overcast and considerably cooler in the morning (considered "fabulous" by some campers). After breakfast, we were off to class.

In our morning session, our first item on the agenda was the Kiersey Temperament Sorter-- a test similar to the MyersBriggs that would determine our personalities based on a series of 70 questions about how we handle issues, our tendencies in interactions with others, and information about our knee-jerk reactions in hypothetical situations. The results of the test would measure how we handled the outside world, ourselves, how we handle issues, and other qualities. Anne Powers, a former TIPster herself, came to speak to us and gave us a PowerPoint presentation on our results and included us in various engaging activities that showed how our similar traits made us different in how we handled the same issues.

After a break for lunch, Katy (our Junior Instructor) gave another presentation and involved us in an engaging, almost Socratic-like discussion on conflict management and resolution options. We split up into groups of six and, using traits of constructive and destructive criticism, made skits that identified and personified each and how each can be good or bad, respectively.

After dinner and a few pick-up games of Ultimate Frisbee, Football, "tip" and lounging on the benches, we were ready for an active Evening Session with reflective journaling based on what we learned that day about our personalities and an outdoor activity tying in teamwork and conflict resolution between leaders. While the activity was challenging yet fun to work through, it was exhausting and we were ready for bed. (MS)

Some Photos to Start!