Take risk!

One of my biggest weakest, which I did not came to realize until recently, is that I just don't take enough risk-either physically or mentality. Why is taking risk particularly important for leaders you might ask. My short answer to that is risk taking requires courage and courage inspires others to act. Not to say, sometimes life's greatest moments are when we take risk- climbing the Chinchen Iza at Mexico , riding on the airchair at Capri, Italy, my first 10 meter swim, the satisfaction after organzing the first Asian gathering. Afterall, life will only give us as much as we ask for.

A great article on risk taking

http://www.take-risks.com/pages/FstP2TakeRisks.html

O week 4,5/5

I’ve gotten quite a lot of attention from introducing myself as “ I have never gotten drunk before but look forward to the experience when I get to know everyone better” . Luckily, I have also gained valuable tips on staying sober and happy in drinking events
1. Don’t mix your drinks. Not only it will prevent you from blackouts but a really bad hangover the following morning
2. Drink water between drinks/shots
3. Eat very oily food before drinking
4. Take the aspirin the night before, NOT the following morning to prevent bad headache
5. Stop drinking/take a rest when you begin to feel it kicking!

I have been drinking and hanging out in the bar three nights in a row. I have to say although it might not be the most healthy mean of meeting people, it sure makes it much easier to connect with others since we feel relaxed with alchol. Not to say many relationships actually begins from here….

O week 3/5

Me and Soo Jin in blue spirit

Despite the fact that the Olympics game was designed more for Americans than international students , I enjoyed hilarous skits by all coherts , learning what ultimate freesbie is and actually playing it, cheering for our team, and meeting with other wonderful people from/besides my cohert. Like all things in life: get involved, get excited and remember to have fun

I love the feeling of winning and the seemly endless energy. G O BLUUUUUUUE!

http://picasaweb.google.com/agreystoke/HaasOweekOlympics .

O week 2/5

I found three things which really exceed my expectation since I arrived Haas-

1. Highly inspiring leaders were Haas alums to speak with us

" Hire the best people to work for you and just let them do their job"- Bill Jasper, CEO of Dolby

"The last thing on leadership is to focus on the people. 50% of my time is spent on focusing people" - Shantanu Narayen, President and Chief Operating Officer of Adobe

" No one will take you seriously until you are 35 years old" - Bob Haas, the Chairman of Levi Strauss & Co

2. Friendly and interesting classmates
They push me think things from other perspective, make me laugh, offer suggestions on my future career, listen to what I have to say about the consulting industry, encourage me to take risk and make me feel engaged and welcomed.

3. The enjoyment of being surrounded with tech/digital media
I may never learn how adobe software works nor the actual value-added of each party along the broadcasting value chain, but I am fascinated by how crucial it is for these companies to stay creative and innovative. Most importantly, it's the people that really counts

Although there were some mediocre workshops, I know as long as I have these three things, the rest is not important anymore.

Four Rope Course

I had a good time during the four rope course today although I did not complete any of the high rope challenges. I am not sure when I will or ever will overcome my fear of hights, but I do know that I will never forget the encouragment that my rope team had so generously gaven me today

Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do

Go smoky bear!

more pictures on http://www.jordanandkaren.com/events/haas2007-08/ and http://picasaweb.google.com/agreystoke/HaasSaturdayRopesCourse

Strength finder

In almost every personal help book, you can find at least one chapter centered around " know your goal", " find your passion", " have a purpose in life" , " know what you want". But the truth is, although many people know they want to be successful one day, not many people know what they want in life, especially us MBAs.

Here is my thoughts on how we can find what we what in a three steps process: ( always three!)

• Realize you can never be perfect and it's okay to not be perfect ( so you can focus and prioritize)
  
• Free yourself from other people's expecations/view/comments ( so you can be truly honest with yourself)


• Know your own strengths and weakness ( so you can combine your talents with your desire to make it more powerful)
  

Tonight I finally got a chance to discover what my top 5 strengths are from an online test (www.strengthfinder.com) They came out to be:

Achiever: People who are especially talented in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and workhard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.

Activator: People who are especially talented in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.

Learner:People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.

Retrorative:People who are especially talented in the Restorative theme are adept at dealing with problems. They are good at figuring out what is wrong and resolving it.

Communication: People who are especially talented in the Communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.

So is this me- a person who is not afraid of the hardwork that needs to be put in to work with people in solving problems and puting solutions into action as long as during the process I can contineously improve?

This is a bit too serious for me to accept..

What respect mean to you

In today’s communication’s class, we were asked to speak about respect- what it means to you, how you feel when people don’t respect you etc.

I was intrigued by the topic but had difficulties in articulating it. It’s such a big word that it can mean as little as simply listening to other people’s perspective to as grand as appreciating what others have done for you. As I spoke on the topic, I realized sometimes how I still don’t give people the respect they deserve:

I jump into conclusions too quickly
I cut people off
I cared more about the answers to my questions than what the other person want to say

I get impatient when people can’t process information as quickly as I do
I look down on people who are too naïve or idealist ( although I used to be one of them )
I don’t give them enough credibility for the things they do for me

Then there’s Yuska’s perspective on respect:

For me, respect is essential in three ways:
· To build any type of relationship, no matter it’s family, friends, colleagues relationships , you need to have respect to have that bonding
· Without respect, you cannot develop nor improve yourself. This is because we will continue to improve ourselves in order to become the person we respect.
· To be respected is one of the key needs of human- We all want to be respected by others

I thought it was very very well said

Networking

In US , especially true for US MBA programs, puts a lot of emphasis on networking. As the matter of fact, one of the top reason why people decided to come for business school is to expand their network. Even if you are a shy, not a big social person, it's still important to have the following categories of people in your network :

· Mentor- Usually someone more senior than you, may be in or outside of your workplace. This is win-win relationship with this person since he/she also recognize your future potential.
· Sponsor-They are usually way more senior than you are. They get you in meetings which you would never have the chance to get into and give you the exposure you need
· Cheerleader-Your biggest fan, always reminding you of your greatness.
· Coach- Always looking forward, they are usually more risk tolerant than you and they push or urge you to do things
· Peer/friends-A safe space where you know people will not judge you.

Who are you missing in your network? Go actively seek for them.

Innovation

Essay #3. At Haas, we value innovation and creativity. How have you demonstrated these qualities in your professional or personal life?



This was the hardest essay among all my mba essays. I am thinking maybe it's because through most of my life, I had hardly been rewarded or benefited from being innovative/creative. My three years at West Lafayette is probably when I was most innovative- I ran my first business of selling lemonade and candy to kids at playground; I started an girl-bunding club ; I did door to door selling of the girl scouts cookies; I had my first and perhaps the only birthday party; I made my first book summary collection. I was action-orientated, energetic and highly motivated sinceI was only ten.



So I wonder if I relax more ( who cares if the idea is not perfect, it's only a summer camp..) , constrain the rebellious child inside me ( How will this idea ever work?), innovation will not be so far away

1st day of class...sort of..

One thing I realized about going back to school after having worked for awhile is that you became so much more realistic and selective on what you wanna learn. You only take interesting, inspiring notes that help us see things in a way we never thought before ( But I still take boring notes just so I don't feel so guilty about searching housing on craiglist during class...)

Today in the math class, I kept thinking to myself-
1. What does market equilibrium have to do with increasing profits?
2. Is there any company care to analyze the revenue and cost curve of a product to determine the produced quanity?
3. MR=MC--> one of my favorite equation in economics but who would applied it to determine its production level?

On the other hand, I enjoyed the communication class quite a bit. Quite insipirational.
" Leadership is about who you are to inspire others to act"
" It's the first impression that last "---> I am a bit skiptical about this..it depends on the depth of the relationship. It's a negative slope function where the more you get to know a person, the less impactful the first impression

I find the small exercise fun and relaxing and that I am really good at judging people -It's a middle child thing!