Last week our RSO ICDI has been invited to be interviewed by Daily Illini.
I feel so proud of what we've done and our enthusiasm for our mission. So I really want to share this article to everyone.
http://www.dailyillini.com/article/2015/11/integrating-illinois-6232
Friday, November 6, 2015
Sunday, November 1, 2015
The Emergency Time
This week my RSO has encountered a "surprise". We found out that our RSO status has been declined because we didn't re-registered for this semester successfully. When I heard of it, I told all exec board members at once and tried to think about solutions for that.
I reminded myself that it was important to transmit the bad news appropriately to all members. As the VP of Financial Affairs, I realized that it is really a big challenge for our financial status. First, we cannot have fundraising event anymore. Second, we cannot apply for funding resources such as SORF, PCC, SCPF since an RSO status is required. The only option we have been talking to sponsors to support our workshops and events. Then I sent an email to FA members to have a meeting during the weekend. The main purpose is to let them know the situation and brainstorm ideas about how we could get financial supports from outside.
When the emergency time comes, how could a leader help the group to keep calm and get over the difficulty together? How could the leader make sure the communication is smooth and no misunderstanding happening? There is no time to preparation, as the emergency happens and you have to react quickly.
The first thing the leader should do is giving out the bad news calmly. In this process, leader's tone and attitude would affect members' reactions a lot. If the leader gives out the information that he or she is panic and has no idea what to do, then the whole group or organization would collapse easily because of loss of confidence.
After that, planning strategies should be the priority. In our case, we decided to have an exec board meeting and discuss solutions for each committee separately. For instance, for Industrial Development Committee, how can we get a room for our events and meeting? For Public Relations Committee, how do we promote our events without any resources from RSO office? For Financial Affairs Committee, how can we have financial support without fundraising event and any funding resources? At the meanwhile, it is also important to talk to members and let them brainstorm some ideas. During brainstorm time, no idea is a bad idea. After the leader gets a lot of ideas, it is the time to categorize all ideas and let the group come to a consensus. Finally, it is the time to assign everyone to different tasks and set deadlines to make sure we are on the track.
The leader has to handle the pressure during the emergency time as his/her emotions and behaviors could make a great impact on the whole group. Besides, the leader should take the initiative to face the problem and take actions immediately, instead of planning without movement.
The leader has to handle the pressure during the emergency time as his/her emotions and behaviors could make a great impact on the whole group. Besides, the leader should take the initiative to face the problem and take actions immediately, instead of planning without movement. Currently, I am still in the process of learning how to solve emergency more efficiently. And I am waiting for my committee meeting to brainstorm new ideas. I hope I could have more reflections on this after we handle it right.
I reminded myself that it was important to transmit the bad news appropriately to all members. As the VP of Financial Affairs, I realized that it is really a big challenge for our financial status. First, we cannot have fundraising event anymore. Second, we cannot apply for funding resources such as SORF, PCC, SCPF since an RSO status is required. The only option we have been talking to sponsors to support our workshops and events. Then I sent an email to FA members to have a meeting during the weekend. The main purpose is to let them know the situation and brainstorm ideas about how we could get financial supports from outside.
When the emergency time comes, how could a leader help the group to keep calm and get over the difficulty together? How could the leader make sure the communication is smooth and no misunderstanding happening? There is no time to preparation, as the emergency happens and you have to react quickly.
The first thing the leader should do is giving out the bad news calmly. In this process, leader's tone and attitude would affect members' reactions a lot. If the leader gives out the information that he or she is panic and has no idea what to do, then the whole group or organization would collapse easily because of loss of confidence.
After that, planning strategies should be the priority. In our case, we decided to have an exec board meeting and discuss solutions for each committee separately. For instance, for Industrial Development Committee, how can we get a room for our events and meeting? For Public Relations Committee, how do we promote our events without any resources from RSO office? For Financial Affairs Committee, how can we have financial support without fundraising event and any funding resources? At the meanwhile, it is also important to talk to members and let them brainstorm some ideas. During brainstorm time, no idea is a bad idea. After the leader gets a lot of ideas, it is the time to categorize all ideas and let the group come to a consensus. Finally, it is the time to assign everyone to different tasks and set deadlines to make sure we are on the track.
The leader has to handle the pressure during the emergency time as his/her emotions and behaviors could make a great impact on the whole group. Besides, the leader should take the initiative to face the problem and take actions immediately, instead of planning without movement.
The leader has to handle the pressure during the emergency time as his/her emotions and behaviors could make a great impact on the whole group. Besides, the leader should take the initiative to face the problem and take actions immediately, instead of planning without movement. Currently, I am still in the process of learning how to solve emergency more efficiently. And I am waiting for my committee meeting to brainstorm new ideas. I hope I could have more reflections on this after we handle it right.
Saturday, October 24, 2015
First Fundraising Event this Semester
photo: credit to Andrew Huang
Saturday, October 3, 2015
How does good leadership save money
In 2015, summer, I was working as a research assistant for a meta-research about organizational psychology. It was heavily dependent on data, and I did a lot of work in literature search as well. Even though there were a lot of repetitive work, I learned a lot from a numerous literature that I've read.
A lot of literature I focused on were about counterproductive behaviors and possible effects that would bring to the organization. For example, employee theft actually can cause large company loss. This could happen when employees think they are underpaid. That is, their output to the organization and their benefit earned from it have a huge discrepancy. Therefore, they try to gain some compensation from theft behaviors. I remember in one experiment, researchers go to three plants of one company. The organization was facing financial difficulty and tried to have a salary cut for all employees.
When employee received the announcement from the President, different leadership styles have very distinctive effects on employee theft later on. In the announcement, if the president only explains the financial difficulty and announce the salary cut, employee tended to feel not being respected. While, if the leader showed empathy and gave a very detailed explanation, that would make a big difference. Later on, the employee theft was way much lower in the situation where the president showed empathy and sincerity. In this case, a good leadership saves millions of money for this organization.
Now I am in the position as a leader in the organization. This research always reminds me of being considerate of people's feelings. A good leadership is more than just being nice. It is more about mutual respect and mutual goal. People in the same organization should have similar goals so that they could work together towards it. However, when people feel that their efforts are not being respected, negative emotions would hurt organization efficiency a lot. People will stop putting efforts, stop caring about the goal, then possibly drop out. So for a good leadership, people will be willing to make even extra efforts just because they think it worths the respect, or personal development they gain. How to tell if an organization has a good leadership? Ask members whether they are willing to work extra hours.
A lot of literature I focused on were about counterproductive behaviors and possible effects that would bring to the organization. For example, employee theft actually can cause large company loss. This could happen when employees think they are underpaid. That is, their output to the organization and their benefit earned from it have a huge discrepancy. Therefore, they try to gain some compensation from theft behaviors. I remember in one experiment, researchers go to three plants of one company. The organization was facing financial difficulty and tried to have a salary cut for all employees.
When employee received the announcement from the President, different leadership styles have very distinctive effects on employee theft later on. In the announcement, if the president only explains the financial difficulty and announce the salary cut, employee tended to feel not being respected. While, if the leader showed empathy and gave a very detailed explanation, that would make a big difference. Later on, the employee theft was way much lower in the situation where the president showed empathy and sincerity. In this case, a good leadership saves millions of money for this organization.
Now I am in the position as a leader in the organization. This research always reminds me of being considerate of people's feelings. A good leadership is more than just being nice. It is more about mutual respect and mutual goal. People in the same organization should have similar goals so that they could work together towards it. However, when people feel that their efforts are not being respected, negative emotions would hurt organization efficiency a lot. People will stop putting efforts, stop caring about the goal, then possibly drop out. So for a good leadership, people will be willing to make even extra efforts just because they think it worths the respect, or personal development they gain. How to tell if an organization has a good leadership? Ask members whether they are willing to work extra hours.
Sunday, September 20, 2015
The start of Inquiry
I want to thank my leadership certificate coach Diana to suggest me to start a blog for myself. I found the idea really exciting because I could have a place to write about my personal development. Also, the blog can be a reference for me to take retrospective from time to time. So here it is. Later on I would write about my personal experience about leadership practices and things that I've learned from this process.
Also, I want to thank Professor Arvan, who used blogger in Econ class and encouraged students to write. He gave me a lot of interesting perspectives and helped me to think creatively.
Now I'm starting my third year in college. I found myself now have more responsibilities in leadership positions, gradually learn things from research experience, and consistently challenge myself. I hope I could use the best rest college life. And this blog can help me to record my development all along.
Also, I want to thank Professor Arvan, who used blogger in Econ class and encouraged students to write. He gave me a lot of interesting perspectives and helped me to think creatively.
Now I'm starting my third year in college. I found myself now have more responsibilities in leadership positions, gradually learn things from research experience, and consistently challenge myself. I hope I could use the best rest college life. And this blog can help me to record my development all along.
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