Helen Samhan

Ms. Samhan was very interesting and great to listen to. I am not very knowledgeable in the field of Arab Americans, and I think that I feel more educated about the culture after listening to her speak. I learned alot about the history and the culture of the Arabs. They came over to America starting in the 1880s in large waves. Most were from the Ottoman Empire and spoke Arabic. Christians were the minority in the Arab world and most were Muslim, but 95% of the first immigrants came over because they were Christian and wanted to practice Christianity. Her mother was 1 of 5 girls, and her mom wanted her girls to go to school, which was unusual for Arab education practices. Arab women were normally peddlers, and they became business women by making product and selling it, and eventually started opening up shops. America put in an immigration law in the 1920s and only allowed 2% of each population to be admitted. Asians were banned from becoming citizens, they wanted Northern Europeans in America. In 1960, the immigration law changed again, America now let anyone in, and a new wave of Arabs began to immigrate in. They were mostly Muslim and Aab speaking. An Arab feminist movement formed in the 1980s and focused on cultural feminism issues. I learned a lot from the movie that we watched in class, I never realized how Arabs felt after 9/11 and how they are being exploited as terrorists. Ms. Samhan was definitely a different view on leadership than the previous speakers, and it was really a great opportunity to listen to her speak.

Helen Samhan~ Kayse

I also really enjoyed the speaker from last class. I enjoy when we hear about different cultures and ways of life and how it applies to what we are learning. I was so interested in what the speaker had to say. She seemed like such a fascinating woman that had a wealth of information. I liked the subject of her presentation. Middle-Eastern culture is so interesting to me and I feel a little close to it as one of my best friends that I grew up with is both Syrian and Egyptian. Hearing what the speaker had to say and seeing the women in the film made me think of my friend, her family, and house, and actually made me miss her so much as she is away at school right now. I feel that this type of presentation is so important because the Middle Eastern culture definitely has a presence in this area and needs to be understood and appreciated. Also, for people who may have a negative view of their culture, educational presentations such as this could do a lot to show others what their culture really is about. Aside from the content, I thought that our speaker was very well-prepared and could have gone on much longer if we had let her. Not to bash the other speakers, but I felt as if they came with very little material in order to use us for their presentations which made me feel awkward and put on the spot.

Guest Speaker: Helen Samhan

I really enjoyed having Helen come in and speak to us about Arabs in America. I liked how she started of by giving the history of Arab immigrants coming to U.S. The video she showed us was beneficial because we were able to her a live commentary on Arab women and how they felt after 9-11. At the end I think we had a great discussion and she answered all of our questions well. I was able to relate to what she was saying because I have been to that part of the world and know how women are there. I know that just as we think of women's status back in their home countries those women also have a curiousity about American women and their lifestyles. I thought she was informative and noticed her confidence and willingness to answer the questions we had.

Julie Womble- Parts IV and V

I really liked the parts in the book about knowing yourself, knowing others, how you both fit together, group conflict, and the relational leadership model. I think that this section of the book I am really interested in because I believe that leadership is all about people and the processes between them that create this relationship that we know as leadership. Dealing with change is another important aspect of leadership, because that is the one thing that we can always count on, change.
It is important to know yourself before you lead because you need to know who you are and how you are going to react to situations. You want to have your base of ethics and morals, and when you are pushed to your limits, your true self will come out. As a leader, you should have great self awareness so that you can see where you fit into the group, how you should react to different types of people, and how you should lead different groups. Knowing others and the group process is important for you as well, so that you know everyones strengths and weaknesses and know how to form the group and have it work effectively. Within all of this group mess, it is imporant to recognize the process and see how it works. The relational leadership model fits all of these components into a diagram which shows the process. There are 3 parts to the model- group, individual, and community values.
Within these values are:

individual:
consciousness of self-basically self awareness, who you are and how you fit into the group
congruence- you do and believe in what you say you do, integrity
commitment- being committed to yourself and to a cause

group:
collaboration- come together as a group, form ideas together and come to some sort of agreement
common purpose- be brought together by a shared goal or purpose
controversy with civility- most effective groups have controversy, which helps the group grow and learn. to be successful, you must be civil and not take opinions personal.

community:
citizenship- committed to who you are and taking care of others around you

One of my strengths in StrengthsQuest (actually my #1) is relator. I feel like all of these aspects combined fill parts of my philosophy of leadership because of the relationships and working together aspects. I really enjoyed these 2 parts of the book!

Part IV Saher

This was an interesting topic to read about in leadership. Something a bit different then what we have been discussing in class as part of being a good leader. Being adaptable to change is very important. I think change is very hard on people as it moves you out of your comfort zone. However, the book suggests that a critical leadership task is to understand this tension and transform it into “creative tension”. Change is something that isn’t easy to do, but certainly can be provide people with benefit. I liked the message the book presented about leaders when they facilitate change is to help others come out from their weaknesses and not fear anything and be confident. Creating opportunities for people to think broadly and take chances and flow with change rather then ponder it is a great way to get people involved. I think it is really good to have a support system along with you when you are the one going through a change. Having people assure you that what your doing is great definitely helps on the path to changing whatever it might be. I agree with the book that change is easier said then done. The eight stage process of creating change was interesting. I know in my life I have had to change things and it hasn’t always easy for me. As Sarah mentioned moving away was a difficult choice, but at the end she felt as if she made the right decision. I remember changing school several times. It was hard, I resisted, I didn’t like it and most importantly I wasn’t ready for it. As I allowed myself and began to have a good support with me that encouraged me to take the step in changing schools, I felt better. Throughout life we will need to change ourselves or something we do because of “new changes” that will make us change our old ways. Recognizing it has something good rather then a problematic step can help one overcome it.

Parts IV & V~ Kayse

I found these two sections to be very interesting, though the first was a little upsetting for me, especially at present. The first section dealt with the subject of change. To me, sometimes, change is a dirty word. Many people may think of it as refreshing renewal, but I rarely associate such an experience with it. I almost always think of negative outcomes. It seems that in my life, just as I am getting the hang of things, or getting comfortable with a group of people, something comes about that gums up the works. I just don't understand why some things can't stay constant. Or, I have the opposite experience, I wish for change, but then regret it. I just can't seem to find a balance. The section, however, approached the subject of change as a necessary process that may not be able to be controlled, but it can be managed. I felt that this information alone was a little encouraging, and I didn't feel so upset.

The other section was about identity as a leader. The first thing that was mentioned was the fact that social identity is often established before leader identity. I didn't like how social identity was described, however. It seemed only to relate identity to the organizations or activities one participates in; I think it goes much deeper than that. Regardless of that opinion of mine, I feel that this section was very helpful and played on the strengths of the individual in order to determine how one would succeed as a leader. It definitely put some things in perspective for me and was a good note to end on.

Part IV Fatema

Well I find this part of the book as interesting as I found part II. What I love about these two parts of the book II and IV was that a person can really relate to it, For example in part IV is about understanding change and the fact that we fear change because we are unaware of it's outcome. whether it is a change in the workforce, school, and or family we are all afraid at the begining because we don't know whether it is for the best or worst. For example using this blog, at the begining I hated using this blog becasue I did not know how to use it, since I had never been introduced to it, I feared it and ended up to hating it. But after I got the hang of it and became comforable with using I . That was when I ended up not missing out on any blog. Although my example of change was not as great some of the other's that I read but the point is that all of us will eventually run into change some day and what I have learned is that you should not be afraid of it, and rather give it a chance because the outcome can suprisnigly be great. The reason that I fear change is because number 1) I am so used to doing whatever is it and when change comes along, it just throws me off my comfort zone. 2) I don't know what are going to be the affects of the change, 3) will be able to adapt to it or not. But if you eliment all these things and go ahead with the change and put your 100 percent then you will do good in whatever section it is, and on top of that you won't have any regerets. Change is good but as long as we are able to make the risk and give it a chance.

Part IV and V Sarah I

A good leader works
Together with others to make a positive change
Make meaning of what happens
Observing, effective, and improving ourselves
Wants to shape the future
wants to make a difference in the society, community or the world
Effective leaders approach change process slowly
Change to people can be scary at times and also exciting.
Change occurs at a specific time and has a beginning and an end.
I remember a time when I reached the age where i had enough where i was living and made a good change. I was excited to leave my house and move in with my finance at the time.I didn't know if I made the best decision but in the end I did.
I was scared and excited to move out of the house and I excepted the change. I prepared and when i made the decision I went with it with out regret.
Why people are scared of change the satisfaction, fear, self-interest,and lack of confidence.
To help people slowly understand change, prepare them for the change and explain the situation to them. Don't rush to make the decision with out talking to your partners.
Civic engagement to the society and the community. As a leader in a society or community you need to show people you are their for needs and make a difference in the community. Show the community they can trust you as a friend and a good leader. Tell them your plans and insure them it is going to be a good change for everyone. You have the best interest of the people in the community at heart. Tell them we will all work together for this change. Get them involved and explain to them the changes you want to make. Service learning is a positive effect on everyone but also yourself. The positive feeling will keep you going back for more. It is a feeling that you have and it symbolizes that you have made a good positive change and keeps you going back for more.
Finding our identity in oursleves and in the society will help you to understand yourself and the values and beliefs you believe in.
Gender race and ethnicity
To become a good leader you need to believe in yourself and build your self confidence. Find your what is important to you and use your passion to fight for it. A leader can also balance time for themselves their personal time that does not involve any work. It can be reading a nice book or listening to music. You have to have a balanced life to make an effective leader. The heath of the leader is very important because he or she is the main person that tells people what to do. If the leader is not their then their is going to be carious. They are the leaders to are not stress easily and can balance their work and personal time. The leader is also the some who helps others and puts his or her personal feelings aside.As a leader you need to know: What is your purpose? Who are you? and What do you stand for? Understanding yourself, and beginning aware or your inner core, being aware of the signals your body gives out, and paying attention to what your body and soul or telling you. If your body is tried listen to it and find a place to relax and get some sleep. If your body is feeling sick go home and get better. A sick leader is as bad as not having a leader. The leader needs to be healthy and ready for anything.

Part 2 Saher

I think this part of the book was really beneficial. It stated key things that I found important. The book talked about how there is always room for learn even in the things we are excellent in there is still more to grow on. It is extremely important to know yourself more then anything and recognize your weaknesses as something to challenge upon rather then just ponder about. These chapters were inspiring to me and as I was reading them it brought me into attention of myself and how I can improve. I’am responsible, respectful, honest, but there is still a lot more one has to learn in becoming an effective leader. This reminded me of a quote I have come across that says “A leader not only sees possibilities, but seizes them as well.” You must be open to changes and take action as possibilities for you arise regardless where they might occurs.

Julie Womble-Part II

I am so happy that we are going to learn and discuss the sections on reflection and understanding yourself. I know that it is important to reflect on what has happened in the past, and look forward to what lies ahead in the future, and how you can integrate the two. "Leadership means self-discovery, getting a better yield out of your attributes" pg 121.

Everybody brings a different mix of strengths and weaknesses to each situation. Some of your strengths can become some of your weaknesses, and vice versa, depending on the opinions or the needs of others, the group, and the task at hand. Each person may view your skills sets completely different. It is important to:
1. Listen to yourself when you have done something well, even if no one noticed.
2. Identify the satisfaction that you feel when you know something you did was terrific, and gives you a great feeling.
3. Know what things are easy for you and what you learn quickly.
4. Study your successes for clues of excellence, and where your strengths are.
5. Think about the patterns of excellence, like when you can remember everything you need to know, when you feel the most comfortable, where you are the most successful.

I like that this focuses on your strengths, because I think that it is important that you build on your strengths but recognize your challenges. The book says that everyones talents are enduring and unique, and that each person has the greatest room for growth where their greatest strength is. However, it is important how you handle and deal with your weaknesses, or I like to say challenges.

-How you think and feel about yourself is your energy that fuels your motivation.
-What makes you who you are today you can not change. It is important that you accept it and move forward and not dwell on the things that you can not change.
-It is important that you recognize that factors that shape who you are. They will be unique for each person.

Integrity in relationships is central to the value systems needed among people working together toward change. A person of character:
-is trustworthy
-treats others with respect
-is responsible
-is fair
-is caring
-is a good citizen

-It is also important to see how you are different from others around you. You must accept cultural diversity and multicultural appreciation to be a successful leader in today's world.
-Listening is when you use your ears, eyes, and heart.
-It is important to understand how you come off to others may not be what you meant to say, or how the other person percieved it. It is a skill to master your communication skills.

~Part II~ Kayse

I found this section to be rather interesting. First off, I would like to say that I really enjoyed the way the chapters began with the dialogue of what one might be thinking in a specified situation.
I thought that this aspect of the text really helped me to connect personally to it.

Here are some interesting tidbits I picked up from chapter 4:

The four lessons from which to develop self-knowledge:

-You are your own best teacher
-Accept responsibility. Blame no one.
-You can learn anything you want to learn.
-True understanding comes from reflection on your experience. (p. 121)

~I especially appreciated the 2nd step, as I often tell my students something similar :)

The two assumptions that can guide you in your leadership:

-Each person's talents are enduring and unique.
-Each person's greatest room for growth is in the areas of his or her greatest strength. (p.124)

~I find these assumptions to be very uplifting as I find myself questioning how good of a leader I am at times.

I also liked the section about a person of character:

-Is trustworthy
-Treats people with respect
-Is responsible
-Is fair
-Is caring
-Is a good citizen (p.135)

I also really liked chapter 5 as it was all about diversity, a topic that I'm passionate about.

I really liked the 3 central questions you should ask yourself in any setting:

-How am I like no one else here?
-How am I like some others here?
-How am I like everyone here? (p. 150)

I was also very impressed with the section about leadership and communication. The Chinese symbol for listening was discussed and how it is actually comprised of the symbols for eyes, ear and heart. I found this to be so beautiful and meaningful. :) (p. 171)

Fatema Hashemi Part II

In the Understanding Yourself" section, it was interesting to know how similar our thoughts and anxieties are as students regarding our assignments, teachers, lectures, etc. Knowing how we all perceive our surroundings and how we are perceived helps us better understand ourselves.

Most effective leaders are those who make others around feel empowered with a heightened sense of self-esteem, as the story of Star Wars illustrates this point so vivdly. An effective leader also recongnizes his or or own strengths and weaknesses. Ironically, knowing ones weakness is considered a strength, for it helps establish boundries as to how far one can go without having gone too far. The common observation of many leaders, according to Bennis (1989) is that no one can teach you except you. Our friends, family members, counselors and peers may help us in the process, but ultimately awareness requires you to study yourself.

Part 2 Sarah I

understanding your self:
In order to be a good leader you need to understand your self. Your weakness and your straights. You are the teacher of your self. Accept you responsibility and don't blame others for your actions. reflect on your own experiences. Being a human being is a talent and and know what you are good at and expand on those talents. Each person's talents are unique and have room to grow. Your self-esteem will grow and you will succeed in what ever you put your mind to. How you feel about your self fuels your motivation. A good leader and a good person is trustworthy, treats others with respect, is responsible, fair, caring, and is a good citizen. Leadership is accomplishing something or changing something.

Understanding others:
Men and women tend to hold different attributes for their success and failures. Women- external factors like luck and being at the right place at the right time. They blame their failures on their skills and not being prepared. In order to respect and understand others you need to understand their diversity and culture. So you can act appropriately and not offend them on the way you act. You will understand them as a person and become more aware of their beliefs and customs. Get to know them as a person and undestand them as a unique individual. Communicate with others who you work with or just see walking down the street. Communicate is the tool to success in all aspects of life. In order to understand people you have to be a good communicator. Work together as a team and not individuals in a group.

leading with Integrity and Moral purpose:
Accomplisher will be awarded for their success and non accomplishers will not be rewarded. To be a good leader you can't not be the beast and tell people what to do but ask people to help you. Don't show your ego no matter how big it gets. Make the decision that what you are doing is the good of the people and not to benefit yourself. Hold yourself accountable for your actions and behave you self when you are in front of others. when you are with others keep a positive environment and show others that you can be a good role model and a leader. It takes courage to do the right thing. It is your body and mind and values that makes a person a good leader. Ethics is the heart of leadership and value driven. Without your values and beliefs you can't be a good leader. You have to understand and be able to communicate with others. Keep positive about what you are saying and doing. Remember your actions are your fault and no others.
I really understand what part 2 was saying and I couldn't put the book down until I was finished. It made a lot of sense on how to be a good leader and remember how to act as a good leader.

Julie Womble-On Jerri Bird

I enjoyed our speaker last week, she had many interesting things to say. She was definitely a different dynamic than the speakers that we have had already, but thats not a bad thing. She was very sweet and had a lot of experience and many valuable things that she could share with us. She caught my attention because she was a music major in college, and thats what I am. I can relate with her because its nice to know that there are other musicians out in the world that are doing things besides music, and she is an amazing leader and had time for all of her accomplishments! I like that she spoke about specific women and events, she did not just generalize all the time about women. She recognizes that there are many different women and types of leadership, and she was very inspiring.

Thank you for the opportunity!

Jerri Bird....a very interesting woman :)

I also really liked our speaker last week, in fact, she is probably my favorite so far, with the exception of Jean Cunningham, because she is passionate about adoption, as am I. :) I think the reason I enjoyed Jerri so much was because she actually talked about a specific group of women. The other speakers seemed to talk about women in general, which is to obscure for me to grasp. It is much easier and more interesting to listen to someone speaking about a specific group, however that group is classified, than such a broad overview of all women. Here are some key things that I enjoyed from her talk, in no particular order...

1) The fact that wives in the foreign service were not allowed to work
-I don't necessarily view this as a bad thing, as long as the women were being taken care of financially, but it was strange to hear as I have grown up in a time where most women have to work and don't really have the luxury of not working.

2) She started educating her children at home, as no schools taught in English, and ended up teaching every one's children
-This amazed me. It made me wonder what kind of training she had to handle this position and what was being taught. I think this really struck me in the talk as I am a future educator and I know how much work goes into teaching.

3) She said something about women not having control over money. The men in their lives were responsible for their financial well-being, and the women never had to spend a penny of their own money unless they wanted to.
-I thought that in a perfect world, this sounds awesome. I mean, who would want to have to take care of themselves? However, since this world is not so perfect, this is actually not an ideal situation, and independence trumps dependence.

4) The women's banks
- I thought these organizations sounded so cute! Sitting around in a parlor, drinking tea while doing business...I wish we had them here!

5) Lastly, she said something that really hit me: "Women are the first to suffer in conflict."
-I had honestly never thought of this before, and it really scares me.