After clicking around the VitalSmarts website, I found a "What Would You Do" assessment in the Crucial Accountability (formerly Crucial Confrontations) section. Since it's finals week and I should be studying, I obviously decided to take the quiz. It was interesting, however, to see a personalized breakdown of how my behavior aligns with the core of CC: recognizing the difference between motivation and ability.

According to my results, I am better at seeing motivation as a contributor to someone's lack of performance than I am at understanding how lack of ability may be a cause of behavior. Some of the assessment questions included scenarios like, "The IT department still hasn't delivered the new computer you were expecting... last week. You: (call the IT department and let them know that if the computer doesn't get to you by the end of the week, you will need to call the IT manager to let her know about your concern) OR (call the IT department and ask what you can do to help them get you the computer you need).

In choosing which option I was most likely to do, my answer was the former, which explains why I scored lower in ability. Reviewing my answers allowed me to see that in this case especially, I could be telling myself the story that the IT department was withholding the computer from me because they didn't deem my request important, because they were incompetent, etc. Instead, I need to shift my thought process to an understanding that reasonable, rational, decent people (I assume most people possess these traits) would not do any of those things in this case. It was more likely, instead, that there was something blocking the completion of my request that was more related to ability than motivation.

I would have been able to work through this hypothetical situation more effectively if I understood that the best way to get my desired outcome is to assist all those involved in its creation. Working with the IT team would allow me to help with any ability problems that they may face, like lack of permission from managers, misunderstanding of the process, or inexperience with the checkout system. By threatening to turn them into their manager, all I'm doing is making a bad name for myself and causing further stress for the IT professional.

Some of these concepts also align with the age-old adage, "kill them with kindness". Even if I'm dealing with a motivation issue, a kind approach to working through problems will allow my interaction with a disgruntled employee to be the exception, not the rule. I look forward to keeping this lesson in mind in my final semester at TCU and my upcoming position at Deloitte.

Although my past two posts have been written about struggles I've had with friends (which have also been consuming much of my thought), I do have several true friends who have been by my side in the past several weeks as I've gone through this. In addition, they've done things to brighten my days, push me to work harder, encourage me to acknowledge my own weaknesses or even to give myself a break. These girls were some of the people who the friend written about in "A Challenge" had deemed "shallow" and not long-term friendships, so I'm glad that I've been able to prove her wrong by nurturing truly meaningful relationships with them.

Today, one of the girls called me in tears, telling me that she felt defeated and that she felt that the whole semester had been a complete letdown to her. She said that she hadn't made the grades she wanted, but she didn't even have good memories to show for it-- she had just been distracted by internal struggles and her fear of what her future held. My friend mentioned that she thought her professors didn't take her seriously and that she looked back on college and felt that she had done nothing of value for the community. She mentioned all of the regrets that she had and how undervalued she felt within our own Next Gen cohort.

Obviously worried about her in the moment, as everyone has days where the culmination of the past few months becomes a crushing pressure, I was also incredibly broken-hearted that my dear friend would think so little of herself. Of all of the meaningful relationships that I have had in my lifetime, I felt like this friend was one who I not only listened to, but respected and admired for her ability to lead people in a social environment. Where she saw a group of people who hadn't received anything of value from her, I saw a cohort of individuals who seriously respected the quiet individual who was able to make a statement that made others reconsider.

Listening to her talk about how she felt her semester was ending was hard-- not only because it's never easy to see someone go through a breakdown like that, but also because I didn't know how to put into words how much I value her and how much I know others value her. Everything I said didn't seem to sum up how well I thought she handles herself in group settings, or how much I admire her discipline in school. She mentioned how she felt like she had stopped doing the things that she loved, how she stopped taking care of herself, and how she didn't even like what she was doing in school. I understood her pain, as approaching the end of college causes everyone to look at their education retrospectively, but I didn't want her to feel like she was stuck. I tried to explain how many opportunities she had set up for herself and after a while, she was able to calm down and turn her thoughts back to preparing for finals.

Seeing a close friend have a breakdown similar to some that I have is difficult, because I know exactly how she felt and I wouldn't wish that feeling on my worst enemy. But reflecting on this situation, I see that it's a good learning experience for my own leadership development. Although I see this girl as a peer, I believe that I could have helped prevent feelings like this by helping her see her own self worth on a weekly, even daily, basis. As a leader in the workforce, I know that I'll come across my own roadblocks, but I also know I'll be involved in the healing of others. If I hope to become someone that my coworkers or team members respect, I feel that I should also be a source of encouragement throughout all of our shortcomings.

I often think positive things about people; I'll notice that someone has done an impressive job on a presentation, or I'll overhear them networking well with a visiting company, but I rarely make a point to mention that to them. I admire so many of my peers, but rarely do we make a point to share those admirations. Although I know this friend has gone through much in her personal life that I could never heal myself, I know that by making my respect for her more known to her, I will help her become more confident and gain a higher self-worth. Practicing this-- giving compliments out loud rather than in my head-- will be helpful in my friendships, but will also allow me to become a supportive and encouraging leader who has the capability to raise others up. In a work environment, where often small failures run more rampant than big successes, I believe this will be an invaluable asset and help me to become a valued and respected leader.

When I wrote the post "A Challenge", I mentioned that there were two friends who had become difficult relationships for me recently. The second friend initiated our crucial conversation over text with one sweeping text message that included some of the most hurtful statements I've ever heard. Of course, she had been a close friend for a while and knew exactly what to say to hurt me, but it was nevertheless shocking.

The core of her issue with me was that she believed that I wasn't being empathetic to her in regards to the job offer that I received but she didn't. In my perspective, I hadn't really talked to her about it at all, knowing that she's a very sensitive person who can turn on you quickly when she feels insecure. Instead, I focused on celebrating my (hard worked) achievement privately, with friends and family who I knew were truly happy for me. However, I seemed to have done something to upset her in regards to this recent hire and she wasn't pleased.

The message was received while I was at a new hire event for the company and took me completely by surprise. We hadn't been around each other much lately and she had been cold to me in the previous times that we had hung out. However, I didn't think that there had been anything wrong with us, I just thought she was being moody.

Apparently I read the situation wrong and that resulted in a message that proclaimed that I had become "a different person" and my "head has gotten too big for [my] body". She went on to say that she hoped that I had friends more forgiving than her, since I was going to need them if I ever wanted to have friends again. The message was long, and also made some catty jabs at my personality, etc. Although it was clear that the message was sent out of an emotional state, it doesn't change the fact that it was sent, and I had to read all of that.

Brought down to a very low point, emotionally, I walked around with a pit in my stomach for a few days. I kept thinking, has my head gotten too big? Have I really alienated that many people? What have I been doing lately that could have offended someone that much? I spent time asking some close friends if they felt that I had changed and if they thought that I was someone who could make others feel like this. My friends didn't seem to see any behavior that would indicate that, which was reassuring. I didn't want to make other people feel that way because I certainly didn't want to lose all of my friends, as the text suggested. However, I knew that I had obviously made someone feel that way and I didn't understand how.

That confrontation (or I guess lack thereof) has sparked a lot of self-reflection and consideration. Friendship is one of my most cherished values and, like I said in my last post, they have always been a challenge for me. This reflection lately has led me to seek out advice from two people who I have a lot of respect for and I finally had a conversation that I feel broke through the issue.

Dr. Shipp seemed to understand exactly what I was struggling with, internally, when going through these confrontations with friends. I used to be incredibly self-destructive when friendships were challenged, and often fed my stubborn nature by cutting people off completely after I felt that I had been "wronged". I hated that I did that, and recognized the symptoms, so I worked hard to change that in college. I tried to have meaningful conversations, but if those didn't work out as planned, I reverted to the "flight" mechanism and ended up acting like the situation (and therefore the person) didn't exist at all.

Unfortunately, that's what I've been doing with these two friends. Dealing with the situation has been difficult since I see them almost every day in class. During a recent class period, I actually heard them whispering behind me after every comment I would make or suggestion I would voice. Another friend confirmed that she had been privy to some of the "trash talking" that they now do about me when I'm not around. It's incredibly hurtful to hear, but sadly not surprising.

When talking to Dr. Shipp, my main concern was to understand how I can work through this situation while maintaining the most maturity and grace possible. She gave me some much needed advice on how to act around people who I've changed my relationships with, starting with the fact that I shouldn't act like they don't exist. Although I knew this probably wasn't the best solution, I didn't really know how to behave. Dr. Shipp told me to extend to them the same courtesy that i would extend a stranger on the street. Exchange pleasantries but nothing over the top. Be cordial, but not overly-friendly. Doing this will prevent me from appearing to these girls and to others that I am still in the middle of a catty fight and instead trying to move on and be the bigger person.

As I know that they're attempting to spread ill-taste about me, it's hard to imagine greeting one of them and talking about the weather, but I know that it will help me work through this not only externally, but internally as well. And it's important to me that I am able to understand how to handle these situations in the future, because they have caused me the most stress in my life so far. I am always thinking of friendships that I miss or people who I want to reconnect with, but I hope with some of the advice that I received from Dr. Shipp, I'll have fewer of these regrets in the future.

One of the biggest changes that I hope to make in my life is the way I carry on friendships. I feel like I have had many cycles of seriously close friendships that result in a falling out that ends the friendship. I saw it happen twice in high school and twice in college and I recognize it happening every time. In high school, I was quick to embrace my stubborn nature and terminate friendships completely when I felt like I had been wronged in some way, but that began to take its toll as I began to miss the friendships that I had lost.

In college, I planned to rethink my approach to maintaining those relationships and worked hard to swallow my pride in situations that would have previously made me walk away. I was trying my own techniques to work through problems, but it wasn't until joining the Next Gen program that I began to gain an understanding of how these conversations should be held. Crucial Conversations training is probably one of the most valuable things that I have learned in college and I have worked hard to refine those skills in my own conversations.

Recently I have (unfortunately) had more opportunities to practice because of some riffs in my friendships. In one relationship, I knew the conversation was coming and I thought through the steps that I would need to take in order to keep the conversation. I tried to remain level-headed during the conversation, avoiding my tendency to become overly emotional and say things that I regret. Although my friend did nothing but accuse my of things I either was or wasn't responsible for, I tried to maintain calm and considerate of her feelings. I used my Crucial Conversations training in my responses and hoped that we would be able to work through our problem.

We did, but only briefly before she began her accusations again. It seemed like we couldn't get past our original issue and she was bringing it up so frequently that I felt targeted. I finally decided to step away from the cool-headed approach and instead made a firm statement that I wouldn't put up with these continued accusations and that I was willing to move on only if she was. Apparently she wasn't, because she didn't contact me after that. Our relationship has become awkward as she refuses to make eye contact with me, but as much as I'd like to blame her for the awkwardness, I know I'm not going out of my way to speak to her. It's an uncomfortable situation and we are both stubborn people who have a hard time dealing with hurt pride.

I miss our friendship often, but know that I did the best I could to repair the friendship. When she told me that the new friends I was making were shallow and wouldn't stick by me in the long run, I felt like she was bringing people into a situation where they didn't belong. She was my closest friend, but I honestly feel that if she can't accept that I will spend time with other friends, just like she's been spending time with her boyfriend, I can't continue to remain close to her.

I don't feel like we're completely done and hope that we'll be able to repair our friendship one day, but in the meantime I feel like I've discovered some really unhealthy aspects about our friendship and have learned that this girl has made many of my friends feel outcast and uncomfortable. I hate to think that I was completely unaware of that, but I hope I can learn how to recognize those situations in relationships in the future.

When sitting down to give feedback regarding this semester’s work towards our legacy project, Kylie and I came to a mutual understanding that we were to be straight forward and honest with each other. Being friends in addition to teammates and colleagues, we know that the discussion being held does not reflect personal feelings, but a determination to work effectively and productively as a team. Neither Kylie nor I “sugar coated” the severity of any issues we were facing and for the purposes and structure of our group, we created safety by being straightforward. We removed our emotions from the feedback conversation and were honest about the issues we were feeling with our project.

Moving into the feedback portion of our reflection, we began by discussing strengths which we each saw in our partnership during our legacy project, thus far. I began by confirming that we are communicating well with each other before making any significant project decisions. We hold each other accountable for staying on top of our resources and we have similar goals and realistic expectations of our time. Kylie followed up by saying that we are disciplined and committed to arrange team meetings, honest with each other about our expectations and desires for the project, and we are both passionate about the problem that we are trying to address in our project. The strengths we listed are crucial for the success of any working team and Kylie and I are proud to have exhibited them in our partnership. However, with every strength comes a weakness and we knew that addressing those weaknesses would create a more successful outcome for our project.

In discussing weaknesses in our partnership, Kylie and I kept to our pact to remain candid with each other and again took turns explaining our thoughts. Kylie began by voicing a concern for our inability to make quick, yet thorough, decisions and our difficulty finding enough time to commit to the project. I echoed these concerns by discussing our inability to find time for major planning and our difficulty solidifying partnerships with outside parties/vendors. All of the weaknesses and concerns discussed are major components of any project and must be remedied if we hope to find success for our legacy project. Next, we moved towards discussing action plans to address these issues.

The action plans created were brainstormed between the two of us and correspond with each of the issues voiced. In regards to time, Kylie and I agreed to set up weekly meetings (same time and place every week) to discuss project updates, enhancements, and obstacles. Next, in terms of solidifying partnerships, we will arrange in-person meetings with the representatives from theNet and Rescue Her instead of relying on emails. Finally, in order to streamline our decision making process, Kylie and I plan to create a decision making model that will guide all future decisions.

Looking forward to the spring semester, we have a better understanding of how to allocate time to the project, so we will have a better approach to our project planning. We will have started creating relationships with outside parties who will be stronger resources throughout the development of the project. Recognizing that Alyssa has stronger organizational and planning skills than Kylie, whereas Kylie has stronger discipline and resource/time management skills to make sure that we meet and get the job done, each partner understands the need to commit to focusing on our strengths. Doing so next semester will allow our time to be spent more efficiently and our project to be completed more quickly and at a higher caliber.

We hope to see all of these plans come to fruition, but we must also understand the obstacles that will be faced in the spring. Kylie has a much heavier work load next semester, so finding the time to meet and keeping her focused and level-headed may be a challenge we face. We have to continue to communicate our team expectations of each other so that this issue does not overwhelm/overpower our team or limit our productivity. Alyssa has a very light load next semester, so she will have a more difficult time staying motivated and sticking to the schedule for project completion. Again, we must set clear expectations and be in constant communication with one another so that these issues do not destroy our project and the incredible work we could accomplish together.

Understanding our team’s strengths and weaknesses have allowed us to gain a clear understanding of what must be done to stay on track next semester. We look forward to the opportunity to enact some of the action plans that we created and to keeping each other on track. As two high-achieving, ambitious individuals, we know that when we put in the right amount of effort, our legacy project can become something truly impactful.

According the results gathered from Dyer et. al.’s assessment (pages 77-81), our team has an appropriate level of competence. Although this is good, we always aim for improvement and will pinpoint a few areas for which this is possible. Looking through the results, we see a trend in lower scores for questions concerning team metrics. From this, we can conclude that our team is in need of developing stronger evaluation procedures so that we’re able to effectively monitor our team’s progress in both quantitative and qualitative manners. To do so, the team leaders would start by discussing what goals have been set and the nature of each goal. Can a certain goal be measured quantitatively or would it be better measured qualitatively? Then, goals would be aligned with certain measures to be performed periodically (timeline to be determined on a goal-by-goal basis). Another point for further improvement is the development of our procedures. Our meetings tend to be informal and decision making processes vary, but we can see how it would be beneficial to the productivity of our team to regulate those procedures for the future. To do this, we’d look at the existing procedures that have worked for us and generalize them so that it’s possible to use them in different situations. Once creating a procedure for conducting team meetings, we’ll create a procedure for formal decision making, etc. Having a go-to procedure for various situations will streamline our team and allow for more productive work. By working on these two weaknesses, we can turn them into strengths for our team and add them to existing strengths of team communication, participation, and collaboration. With these strengths backing us, our team will have magnified opportunities for success.

This post isn't directly centered on leadership, but it's content aligns with how I've been directing my life lately, which I feel will affect my ability to lead in the coming weeks and years.

I've never been very athletic and in fact, sports tend to bore me. I'm competitive, don't get me wrong, and when the team I've arbitrarily decided to root for in a particular game loses, I'm upset. However, I don't spend much of my time or energy thinking about sports, watching games, or participating in athletic activities. In fact, in high school, my parents requested that I join a sport and I chose swimming, only to be demoted (or promoted?) to team manager. I continued to swim on the side, only motivated by the little "rewards" my parents would give me to keep me in the pool.

About a year and a half ago I began to experience medical complications with my heart and after months of trying different medications and diets, my cardiologist recommended that I meet with an electrophysiologist to discuss surgery. Last February, I underwent a five-hour procedure to fix the electrical malfunctions causing my heart to palpitate up to 250 bpm and was deemed "healed". My doctor told me that I shouldn't be experiencing any more of these attacks and that I was free to live a healthy life.

However, for me, my daily activities weren't necessarily healthy. I rarely (okay, never) exercised and ate what I want. Fortunately, I'm not enough of a junk food addict that I was content eating poorly for all of my meals and my regular habits included most of my food groups, but still... pizza twice a week isn't good for anyone.

Another health complication came up around April when my doctors and I realized that I had contracted strep throat every month since the new year. That pattern continued through July, so I scheduled a tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy to prevent this illness from showing up again. In August, I had the surgery and spent a miserable two weeks in bed recovering. At my post-op, my doctor told me I was healing well and again, free to live a healthy lifestyle.

At this point I realized that maybe I needed to redefine "healthy lifestyle". Although the causes for my two surgeries this year weren't necessarily caused by my lifestyle, I knew that going forward it would be easier for my immune system and respiratory system to handle sickness if I was taking care of my body. So, I began working out on a daily basis (fueled by my newfound obsession with an exercise class called Pure Barre) and tracking my eating habits so that I'd be more inclined to reduce my sweets indulgence to one per day.

I've dropped a few pounds and although that's always fun to see, it's not really the purpose of the development of this new lifestyle. I put in this effort mainly to improve my health, sharpen my mind, improve my focus, and lessen my exhaustion. I've already been feeling stronger (thanks to those daily pushups we do in Barre!) and can get a lot more done in a day than before.

So, why did I write about this in my leadership blog? Because the healthier I am as an individual, the more effective I'll be as a leader. A leader needs all of the things that I just mentioned: health, a sharp mind, focus, and energy. We can list those all of and resolve to improve ourselves in a professional environment, but I realized that in order for me to achieve those characteristics, I needed to make a personal change. My healthy living has led to an improvement of my entire being-- personally and professionally. I'm making higher grades than I have in all of college (just aced a Global Supply Chain midterm!) and wake up each morning ready to conquer the day. Who knew that this would all be possible with a little athleticism?

Okay, I'm still no athlete and I'm just barely able to grasp the rules of football, but baby steps, right?

This past week I was given the opportunity to travel to Houston for an interview with a consulting firm. The experience was great and allowed me further insight into the culture of a company that I could possibly be working for next year. During the office visit, I was obliged to participate in two 45-minute interviews with senior-level managers from the company, a daunting addition to the day's schedule, to say the least.

In my second interview (the first had gone well, thank goodness), I was asked rapid-fire questions such as "What's your greatest fear?", "List five words to describe you", and "Tell me one thing you don't want me to know about you". After exhausting the list of questions likely given to him by the recruiter, my interviewer asked me, "What motivates you?".

That led to a candid discussion where he shared with me his own definition of motivation, a definition that struck me as simply spot-on. My interviewer said that he thought of motivation as an equation: motivation = need x faith. He went on to explain that if you have high need, but you have no faith, your motivation is zero. Likewise, if you have much faith but no need, your motivation is also zero. He believed that you must have need and faith to be motivated, but the higher the need and the higher the faith, the more motivated you will be.

My interviewer was native to Saudi Arabia and his English was broken, so it's likely that there are better words to describe what he means by "need", but I believe his inclusion of the word "faith" is perfect. Who is motivated when they have no faith to believe that they will reach their goal? Faith, typically considered a religious or spiritual term, is a motivating factor behind anyone, the non-believing included. It is simply an expression of hope, drive, and willpower that embodies that intangible essence surrounding someone's self confidence and self efficacy.

Now whenever I think of what I need to do to motivate myself, I wonder: do I need to "up" my faith or my need? I believe that this little equation will be a great tool to help enhance my own motivation, and whoever I share this story with's too.

About a month ago, at the beginning of the semester, I had the opportunity to attend the NGLP junior class "boot camp". It was nostalgic to look at them and know that they were just starting on this incredible journey, whereas I have less than a year left. However, since I've been in the organization for a year, gone on both of the trips that the program has to offer, have taken two of the courses, and have already been paired with my business coach, I felt that I had a lot to offer this group of 31, information that I feel could help them make the most of their experience.

As my fellow officers, Emily and Jim, and I took turns sharing our experiences and handing out little bits of our own wisdom, I said something to the junior class that I wanted them to take more seriously than all else. Our program manager had just taken the time to bring up the possibility of being asked to leave the program if behavior wasn't up to standard and a couple of the students were asking (what seemed to me) an awful lot of specific questions about the specific actions that would result in that.

After Kirsten finished answering a series of questions, I raised my hand to speak. I turned to the cohort and said that they needed to understand that it isn't just the faculty asking for this behavior of them. These expectations are something that the seniors demand as well, as we have become, to a degree, protective of Next Gen and will not tolerate someone taking the program's name for granted by acting unprofessionally or inappropriately in any situation. I described to them the recognition that they will begin to get as Next Gen students, just as my cohort has gotten when we all congregate together in the business school lobby before class, or when we end up out at restaurants or house parties together.

I wanted them to understand that this organization, as a professional program, will serve us well in the job hunt, in applications for scholarships and for graduate school, but since we are all now representatives of the program, they are all responsible for upholding and maintaining it's reputation.

In my own life, I've realized the responsibility of leadership. It was a huge issue in my sorority when chapter leaders were dismissed from their positions for illegal or inappropriate weekend behavior, and the entire chapter lost respect for them when they were unable to fulfill an elected position because they got too drunk on a Friday night to remember that boys aren't allowed upstairs in the sorority house.

I aspire to be a leader in the corporate world one day and know that there's a possibility that I'll run into my employees at happy hour or a late-night event. What would it look like if they saw their boss drunk and sloppy? Not good, and they'd undoubtedly lose respect for me in the short term, if not in the long term as well. Not only that, but I would run the risk of getting fired as a result of inappropriate behavior that could reflect poorly on the company.

Some may say, "does that mean I can't ever let loose and have a good time?" Obviously, that's not the case, but I do believe that if you set high goals for yourself professionally, you need to conduct your personal life in accordance. Do you really want to sacrifice a prestigious promotion at work for a wild night? I wouldn't.

So, as I emphasized the importance of respecting the program to the juniors, I also subconsciously emphasized it to myself. I want to make sure that when these underclassmen see me off campus that I'm acting in accordance with my own rules, and by holding myself to that standard, I hope other people will see me as a better leader. That's tough to do in a college environment, but I say it's all part of the plan. I'm not going to let one wild night get in the way of my future as a CEO.

Yesterday marked the conclusion of legacy project pitches in our Team Leadership course. After 3 days, 32 pitches, and even more questions, suggestions, and concerns, I feel inspired. Although many of the legacy project pitches are admirable, not all of them piqued my interest-- and I didn't expect them to. However, the ones that did left me thinking "oh- I want to do that! Or that... or maybe that one."

As I mentioned in my first post, I tend to over-commit. With the understanding that this habit can make or break me, I knew I needed to hone in on one legacy project to which I could commit to fully. I have come to the realization that I will probably not pursue my original idea because there were so many others that I'd like to be a part of. However, does that mean that I've abandoned my initial idea?

No, I've realized that this just means this isn't going to be this year's legacy. It could very well be a project that I spend my lifetime fulfilling and as of yesterday, I've set that as a goal for myself. When Daniel presented his idea and mentioned that he worked consistently with a non-profit to not only build a network of support, but also to gain experience working in a non-profit environment, I thought, why am I not doing that? I am so incredibly passionate about animal rights and truly enjoy spending my time working for the fair treatment of animals, that I believe working more closely with that cause would bring me great joy.

Although my senior year in college, while I'm in the midst of this legacy project, the job hunt, an internship, and countless other supply chain-related projects is not the ideal time for me to begin a long-term legacy, I got almost giddy yesterday thinking about the possibility of working my way to the board of the DFW SPCA. Think of the impact I could have in a position like that!

So, although I'm looking forward to working on my legacy project through Next Gen this year, I have challenged myself to begin moving towards what I refer to as my "lifetime legacy". Right now, I want to research volunteer opportunities that work with my schedule so that I can begin to get more experience with rescue organizations on my resume. Then, after graduation when I become settled in whatever city I move to, I want to find an organization that I can see myself growing within. It could be the process of starting up a volunteer team that stems from my company or it could be the development of an existing organization in the city.

Whatever it is, I want to take on the challenge of finding myself a role within a non-profit to fulfill not only its needs but my own developmental needs. To grow as an individual, I believe I need to incorporate more service in my life. I'm not typically a service-oriented individual, but realizing my passion is the first step towards "rounding" myself out. Animals have always been my passion (take a look at my arms, if those cat scratch scars aren't love I don't know what is!), but now it's my responsibility to use that interest for an impact and to create a legacy.

Get back to me in 10 years, maybe I'll be the youngest member of the board of directors for DFW SPCA!

Today was the first day of project pitches in our Team Leadership class. To be honest, I was looking forward to the 80-minute reprieve from active thinking, but this wasn't at all what I experienced.

Instead, I found myself leaning forward in my seat, watching each of my friends walk up to the front of the room and pitch a proposal for something that they found passion in. For many of them, their expressions changed, their voices grew earnest, and their obvious interest in the topic at hand was inspiring. Many of them spoke of purposes that I had an interest in: girls' empowerment, depression and anxiety counseling, cancer patient support, and the opportunity to bring our valuable business school knowledge to the entire student body.

Although I already knew my friends were great-- after all, we'd spent a year together in class and I knew how driven and intelligent we all were-- it was incredible to see that each of them had a passion beyond their personal success. For some of us, this passion is outward. Jim, for instance, makes it clear (on a daily basis, if not hourly) that he devotes much of his life to countless efforts to improve the lifestyle of people in the Fort Worth community.

However, for many of us, we take time to talk about our dreams for ourselves and our careers, our recent accomplishments, and the accomplishments of our peers. My mom tends to blame that on my generation for being "selfish", but sometimes I just think we've entered a "dog-eat-dog" world and it's up to us to make ourselves valuable enough to survive the academic and professional rat race.

Therefore, when I saw my peers stand before us to explain how they wanted to spend the next year, I was in awe of their individual passions and have complete faith in all of them to fulfill their goals. Like I said, I already know that they're smart, driven, and success-oriented. So I had no doubt in my mind that, for instance, Michael will impact the lives of nearly 30 non-business majors with his leadership program proposal.

I'm passionate about my idea, because for someone who isn't particularly community service-oriented, animal rights has always gotten me fired up. I'd love to see more of my friends and the Fort Worth community adopt animals rather than buying them from breeders, because it pains me to know how many worthy dogs and cats must be put down simply because there's no more room or resources for them. That being said, there were a few other ideas out there today that I could see myself becoming passionate about as well.

Walking away from our classroom today, I had more respect for my classmates than ever before. I'm fairly attached to this group of people, but knowing what I do now-- that they are not only inwardly successful but also outwardly aware-- makes me even more proud to call them my cohort and friends. I look forward to seeing the progression of all of our legacy projects, because I know that by the end of this year, I'll be even more "obsessed" with them than I already am.

Recently, our class was given the opportunity to "interrogate" our professor as a means to get to know him better and to build a foundation for how our class dynamic would develop. One of the questions, and often a go-to for people getting to know each other, was "What is your favorite quote?". For a while, my favorite quote was the cliched shoot for the moon, if you fall, you'll land among the stars. Although I was aware of the immense overuse of this phrase, it stood for the future scenarios I would create for myself, setting incredible goals and hoping for profound opportunities. Although many of my dreams were unlikely (I was convinced until late elementary school that I was going to marry a prince), the aim alone was enough to get me some pretty great opportunities.

Although this still holds true for me, I've recently seen myself thinking about another quote on a weekly basis. The movie, "We Bought a Zoo" is incredible, and if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend renting it or finding it on TV. Throughout the movie, Matt Damon's character, Benjamin Mee, often refers to bursts of courage that direct many of his decisions. Specifically, the quote goes like this:

All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage and I promise you something great will come out of it.

                                                                                                       -Benjamin Mee, We Bought a Zoo

I tend to be an extroverted individual (no surprise there, right?), yet I often face hold-ups when I can't seem to push myself over that proverbial edge to do something out of the ordinary. However, when I think of this quote, I think to myself, "what would happen if I was courageous for just 20 seconds? I don't have to make these decisions for the rest of my day, just for 20 seconds." Incredibly, this little pep talk has allowed for some great things to happen for me.

Networking is a subject preached to business students on a weekly basis, but for most it's difficult to approach a professional and carry on a conversation. I'm generally more comfortable doing that than my peers, but I still have my hold-ups. So, specifically, this "20 second" mentality helps me approach people that I want to make connections with and allows me to create relationships.

One example of this took place over the summer while at a Women's Business Council meeting in Addison, which I was given the opportunity to attend with my boss. Our speaker, Marny Lifshen, was attention-grabbing and funny, and she spoke about the important differences in communication between men and women. She spoke to how these differences affect the way that men and women interact in the workplace, and how we can adapt to those differences to create more effective conversations. I was fascinated by her insight and interested in her experience as a personal coach and brander.

After the formal portion of the meeting was over, I spent time speaking to my coworkers and boss, before decided to take the opportunity to approach Mrs. Lifshen. This burst of courage paid off and we spoke for a while before being interrupted by another member of the council. Mrs. Lifshen insisted that I email her to set up a time to meet for coffee and we've been in email correspondence ever since. As I walked away, she said to me, "I would love to be of help when you start to look for jobs, please let me know what I can do!"

Marny has proven to be a great resource and she has offered to help me develop myself professionally. In addition, I've read her book, Some Assembly Required: A Networking Guide for Women and have realized how knowledgeable she really is. That 20 second burst of courage has allowed me access to a great mentor and I look forward to working with her in the future. In addition, I also look forward to what else my courage will grant me access to!

To begin a semester's worth of chronicles about my leadership journey, I want to spend my first post talking about how I chose to follow the career path I have today. As a senior in college, I've had my fair share of second-guesses, doubts and concerns about my career direction. I remember sitting in my academic advisor's office at the end of my sophomore year, discussing a self-proclaimed "mid-college crisis". I had recently become interested in supply chain management, after accepting my admission to the Neeley School as a marketing major. Because I had entered college with so many credits from the IB program in high school, it was possible for me to double-major in marketing and supply chain, but I'd have to commit to more than one semester of 18 hours.

Then, I considered double-majoring in supply chain and BIS, since they were more compatible and would result in fewer required hours. My advisor told me to take the summer to think about it, considering I had already accepted a marketing internship. When the summer ended, I chose to pursue BIS/supply chain, only then discovering that because BIS had a lock-step curriculum, I was already behind. Realizing that my best bet was to simply major in supply chain management, I had one primary concern-- would that be enough?

After spending so much time considering double-majors, I had convinced myself that declaring a single major would be "underachieving". I spoke to several people in the business school about my decision, when one finally said, "A single major in the Neeley School is challenging and by overcommitting yourself, you'll be unable to focus as much as that major deserves. If you know you'll be working during the school year, taking on leadership roles, and participating in the Next Gen program, it could be incredibly stressful for you to take on another major. What you have on your plate is already high-achieving."

Thinking about it, I realized she was right. I was working two jobs (one internship at a law firm and one as a nanny for an infant) and had been elected into two leadership positions. And I was convinced that by 'simply' choosing to major in supply chain management, I would be taking the easy way out. It's crazy to think that this was my thought process, yet I know that many of my fellow students think the same way.

There have been countless articles and studies written about the over-commitment and competition among students in my generation. But what happens when I choose to step back a bit? I've been so wrapped up in resume building that I haven't been able to consider the benefits of emptying my schedule (just a bit). What would this do to my relationships, my schoolwork, my leadership positions, my work? I have slowly but surely began to say 'no' to job offers, requests to take on projects, other unnecessary activities. I began to consider my options more closely so that I could agree to things that would make me happy, that I could truly commit to, and that could become stepping stones to career goals.

Now, I've seen even these little changes greatly affect my productivity. This weekend, for instance, I was able to complete all of my homework and reading multiple days in advance, as well as catch up on sleep, run errands, and make important phone calls. All because I said 'no' to a few commitments that I realized I just didn't have time for.

At the end of all of this? I know that managing my schedule is a crucial part of leadership, because I have been able to focus more of my attention on the positions I'm currently in, rather than spread myself too thinly over even more "resume builders". I will be a better leader for knowing how to spend my time wisely, and for someone who had to be sat down by teachers in high school and told that I simply couldn't  run for student body president, yearbook editor, swim team captain, and member of the prestigious mentoring program on campus, this understanding is a huge accomplishment.