The Merge

In the past few weeks I have learned the value of teamwork. I have learned that teamwork is combining our strengths, talents, views, and ideas, into one better way of approaching our goals. I want to briefly show how I've learned this valuable lesson by exposing the goal I started with, what my plans were initially to meet this goal, and how I was able to become part of a bigger team to accomplish this goal.

The Goal

There has been quite an excitement lately among some BYU Staff members and a few Church leaders in South America regarding the education and professional development of Latin students in Utah. I was asked to start the BYU Andean Student Association to assist students from Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela throughout their career and professional development during college. The goal quickly expanded to assist all Latin students progress in these areas.

The Plans

The original plans to achieve these goals began with starting a peer mentoring program, holding training events on career development, inviting guest speakers from Latin countries, and providing the opportunity to network with professionals from Latin countries to seek for internships in their own countries if desired.

The Team

In order to follow through with these plans, the BYU Andean Student Association (BYU ASA) partnered with the BYU Management Society Hispanic Chapter. They became our main source of finding networking and internship opportunities. We also started working with the Career Services Office to provide the training and mentoring needed. Shortly after, we started working with the BYU Latino club. We all began working together because we realized we had similar goals, but we were working through different paths to meet these goals. This is when the merge occurred.

The Merge

We transitioned from working on our own and asking for help when needed from these other organizations, to really started working as a team. We learned that the best way for these organizations to work together was to produce ideas together and become one solid team.

The Outcome

So far it has been working very well. Or plans have expanded from the original ones, our resources have multiplied, and our goals have become so much more realistic and attainable. The BYU ASA had a great event a few weeks ago which involved only BYU Students. But because of the merge, we now have access to a much larger community and we will be holding an event in a few days that involves students from BYU, UVU, Weber, other schools in Utah, and other college age kids who aren't going to any specific school yet.

Plans for next semester are now moving forward and I'm pretty excited to see all we can accomplish as we continue to work together as a team.

So I can make a difference?

I've been wondering lately how much of a difference one person can make. It helps to put things into perspective first. I also think its beneficial to understand our personal goals. Then, maybe then, we might be able to figure out whether we can truly make a difference or not.

Putting things into perspective

One of my favorite hobbies is star gazing. I love staring at the stars and admiring the grandeur of the universe. Then, I try to think about my place in this world. Where do I fit in this infinitely large world? Why am I here? And how important is my existence to others? Can I really make a difference in this world?

My Personal Goals

I think its important to figure out why we go to school. We learn all this information and acquire all this skills, for what? To understand the world? To make a good salary? To gain a higher position in the corporate food chain?

I've come to the conclusion that smiles drive me to work hard. Receiving a smile, giving out a smile, but mainly, creating a smile. It fulfills life for me.

So how does this all fit together?

So here's my thought process. Yes, I might feel insignificant in this vast universe, but if I can make a smile, I can make a difference. You see, I believe one smile can be larger than a galaxy or two. 

So here's my purpose for working in school. It is to make a difference, however small I may feel in the grandeur of space. I believe I can make a difference in this world, one smile at a time.

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Here's a fun video that helps put things into some perspective. But to get a feel of a full perspective in my life, I should probably get out of my apartment and make a few smiles.

Learning Leadership

I used to think leadership was an innate attribute certain people had. I thought you were either born with it or not. My opinion on this idea has drastically changed in the last couple of weeks based on my personal experience learning leadership skills while creating a club and by listening to a professional leader at Marriott International. Now, I believe leadership is a learned skill.

Personal Experience

The last few months I've been in charge of starting a club at BYU to aid Latin American students throughout their career development in school. We're also responsible to help them progress professionally and help them learn the ropes of the competitive American culture in the corporate world. When I was offered the position of be in charge of the club, I thought to myself, "I got this, no big deal." But its been quite the learning experience.

The following are a few of the skills I've learned through this experience:

• True leaders motivate & inspire
• Delegation is key
• Hard work ethic
• Charismatic
• Able to execute

Professional Leader at Marriott International

The climax point in this learning experience on what leadership truly is, was a lecture given by Craig Smith, President of the Caribbean and Latin American Region at Marriott International, for one of my classes. He asked us to determine which one attribute, out of a set of two attributes, was the most important one for a leader to have. These were a few of the examples he gave.

• Introvert or Extrovert?
• Fun or serious?
• Listener or reader?
• Easy going or controlling?

Or class seemed to be constantly biased toward one side or the other. Craig Smith then mentioned that neither side, in each of these set of attributes, was necessarily better than the other. All skills different, and can be great skills if used correctly. 

What I learned

In the past few weeks I learned that there are a variety of skills a leader can have. And there is not such thing as the ideal set of skills for a leader. Leaders can be different, and have different attributes. Finally, I learned that having these attributes is all about being effective at leading. And, according to Craig, effectiveness is a discipline, it can be learned, and must be earned.

Now that my perspective has changed and my mind has been opened to the concept of learning leadership, I will focus on developing the skills I need to become a better leader. I will follow Craig Smith's counsel and find out what skills I need through self-evaluation, and understanding how others perceive what I do. I believe learning leadership is worth putting forth the effort to learn and earn this discipline.

Balancing my Life

Two thing I enjoy in life are:

1. Doing a lot of things
2. Doing them well

But because I have been getting involved in way too many activities, my schedule has been packed the last couple of weeks. As a consequence, I've noticed that having too much to do can affect the quality of performance in each individual activity.

So I've learned my lesson. I need to find a balance between doing a lot of things and doing them well. You just can't have both of them without figuring out a good balance.

I've implemented an idea to finding balance in my life. Now, I try to evaluate an activity, in terms of a desired goal, before I engaged in it. 

My thought process:

• For instance, lets say that my goal during college is to become a self sufficient professional who is well rounded in his academic, social and spiritual life. 
• With this goal in mind, I evaluate a potential activity, and ask myself, "Will engaging in this activity help me achieve this goal during my time in college?
• If the answer is yes, I engage in the activity. If the answer is no, then I'll sadly move on without pursuing it.

So far its been helping me not overwhelm myself with unnecessary responsibilities and stress. I will continue to do this and I will probably have to reevaluate some of the activities I'm already involved in, including academic clubs, and social and service clubs. It feels good to have a well balanced life.