Week One

(Blog post due by Sunday, June 7th)

Trait:  Adaptability.

Sometimes the best laid plans don't work out the way intended.  Leaders will often be faced with this predicament and they must quickly adapt.  It helps if the leader has information at hand that will allow him/her to make those snap decisions wisely.  Knowledge about the people involved, the details of the event, details about the alternatives, etc. allows the leader to problem solve, and problem-solving is a very powerful skill for a leader.  Moreover, keeping a positive attitude through all of this can turn problems or mistakes into opportunities and learning experiences.  

It is the great leaders who can embrace change, be flexible, and balance opportunity and risk while keeping in mind the strengths and weaknesses of themselves and those depending on them.  

Activity this week: 
Monti- engage the students in conversation about what activity they would most like to do while they're here in the USA.  If they say something that you know is not a possibility here at AELP, recommend a comparable alternative and see how they respond.  If it takes more than one option, keep going until you find something that they would like to do.

Jackie- engage the students in conversation about situations they've had where they had to change plans suddenly, how they felt about it, and how they resolved the issue.

Hiro- engage the students in conversations about their favorite thing to do in their home countries when it's raining.  If they say video games or something electronic, ask them what they would do if that weren't a possibility.

Blog Post Exercise (2-3 paragraphs):
Imagine:  an outdoor activity that is planned here at AELP has all the kids really excited.  Suddenly, the skies open up and it's raining cats and dogs and we're forced to run indoors.  A lot of the kids are really upset about missing out on the planned activity and are asking "What do we do now?"

Using what you learned from your conversations with the kids this week (citing examples of responses you received from them), what alternative would you propose that takes into consideration the information they each shared with you but is also a feasible solution here on campus?  How would you express the idea to them?