"...and that's why we are against globalization...and yeah!"
Those two minutes seemed to go by a lot slower once I was in front of the class representing the anti-globalization side. I sort of faced this challenge as, "Just do it." Speak and the rest will follow. We have our notes, I have my teammates with me. We can do this! Only to find myself repeating the same concept in an effort to leave my teammates some key points to "hit" the pro-globalization side. Yes, I was nervous. (Could you tell? ;)
In addition to re-examining the points for and against globalization (and wanting to play a trumpet sound after Nitin's closing arguments) I found myself enjoying the team collaboration and laughs we shared. Our entire anti-globalization team was learning as we brainstormed. We were all so supportive of each other. For those of us in front -we all knew what we wanted to say, but we stretched ourselves trying to rebut the pro side. It's one thing to write points on paper - it's another thing to debate them! I had comfort knowing my comrades were sitting right next to me. They also knew what I was experiencing!
Honestly, the most I took away from yesterday's class was basically that we each had the opportunity to lead and had fun doing it. The environment wasn't intimidating at all. It was laid back, broad, and inviting. The actual exercise of figuring things out (i.e. what to say, how to say it, what will be the most effective) was hard - but it was us leading! From listing what we wanted to learn to trying to get specifics on the innovation project - leadership is vague and in Mendenhall's words, "Complex, paradoxical, intriguing and problematic." Scholars are still trying to understand leadership and how we develop it. I think that's why we were given simple guidelines with challenging tasks. I'm excited about the project assignment that pretty much said, "Innovate!" And that's why I'm OK with being tongue-tied.
Folks - I truly enjoyed getting to know you last night. As we discover leadership together I know one thing's for sure: it will be a lot of fun.
One quality of effective leader is the ability to think on the fly. Class debate was the perfect set-up to practice the skills of quick thinking.
ReplyDeleteDianne, every speaker has an element of nervousness. The degree of nervousness varies from person to person. In fact, one of my colleague who is extremely effective at public speaking told me that if you are not nervous, you may not give your best performance i.e. get over confident. So don't worry about the nervousness, practice is the only solution which our MBA program offers a lot.
I agree with Nitin, everyone gets nervous..but your nervousness was not at all visible. All of the debaters did a very good job, given that you guys had hardly 4 min to prepare:)
ReplyDeleteI really had a different notion about leadership before I came to USA, most certainly before entering the MBA program. Now I am even more confused. But I think it's better to be confused rather than stuck with a outdated idea about something. So I would really like to be a part of the process of understanding effective Leadership in this Global world.
ReplyDeleteAnd Dianne you were great up there and did a great job. Kudos to you and both of the teams.
-Arifa
Hi Dianne,
ReplyDeleteYou had the courage to take the initiative to debate on a topic that you really didn't want to support . That is some quality which really needs appreciation. Not everyone is comfortable with public speaking. Each of us possesses different talents and I am sure this is all about experience. Once we are exposed to such environment, we would all be better speakers and would be masters in convincing others :).
Hi Dianne,
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job opening the argument. If it were me, not only I would get tongue tied, I would probably faint. :-)
As far as the debate went, I think both team brought very interesting points. I found myself thinking about it on the way home and still couldn’t make up my mind on which side I stand,