Steven A. Rodriguez

Untangling Knots

I went to the College of Staten Island to partake in a leadership exercise about communication. As leaders, working well in teams is crucial to accomplishing your specific goals. The key takeaway from The Human Knot exercise was, “listen.” Essentially, everyone in a group has their own idea on how to get the job done. Two or more heads are definitely better than one, but what happens when twenty five heads start buzzing all at the same time?

Listen.

Two groups were asked to form knots with their hands in a pre-defined way. We were expected to untangle ourselves without letting go of each others’ hands. What did we do as soon as we were told to start figuring out the puzzle? We each vociferated our own opinions together creating a buzz louder than a vuvuzela. No one was listening to anyone else, each trying our own ideas alone and we were stuck in the same spot that we started for a good five minutes. Then someone started to comment on how we were going nowhere. They were right. Soon after we stopped to listen to a few ideas and proceeded to test out each one. The result was that our group untangled ourselves first.

The solution was simple and within a more minutes even the second group untangled themselves as well. Watching their group work out the process helped me see how disoriented all their chattering made them. What worked for them? They reached a point where they also started to listen to each other and tried out each idea together. The end result was that we witnessed how a fundamental leadership tool plays a vital role in moving forward. Next time the vuvuzela starts playing, what will you do to help move the group forward?

“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” -Ernest Miller Hemingway

Photo credit http://engagingfaith.blogspot.com/

KCC Optimal Resume

I have friends who are flustered with their job search. It’s clearly not working out. I ask “well what did you do to improve?” I get the blank barney stare. What can they do? If you’re a CUNY Kingsborough student you have special access to Optimal Resume & Career Builder, a new on-line resource. Best of all, it’s FREE! Here’s a KCC Optimal Setup Guide for signing in to Optimal Resume and Career Builder.

You also have access to the Career Development Center located in C-102. They help you out with mock interviews, revising resumes, constructing cover letters, have internship opportunities and so much more! Take advantage of all these resources and improve your chances in the job market.

Now what if you don’t go to CUNY Kingsborough? I believe every school has their own career center to help out its student community. In fact, most CUNY Colleges have access to Optimal Resume for their students. I strongly recommend you check out Careerealism for awesome insights on getting hired. Hey, It wouldn’t hurt to know a little more, now would it?

What other resources would you recommend to help students get the job?

Embracing Organizations

You just can’t run from organizations. I used to be a solo act, doing things on my own, cherishing the freedom. I learned that it just does not make any money. It also made things harder than they should have been. Organizations exist for a reason. Whether it’s social, cultural or governmental, they are very much a part of reality and they have the potential to help. The point is to join them and find a way to make it work for you.

Over at CUNY Kingsborough Prof. McManus is teaching us the foundations of business. People come together to create something amazing that an individual alone may not be capable of doing. I certainly couldn’t develop the R2C Project on my own. I helped develop it along with other great minds. Organizations are a beautiful thing. Sure, they’ll find a way to make you work for them but you can also make it work for you and get the reward you want. What exactly is the reward? Well, that’s up to you to figure out.

Sure, some organizations have been used for some pretty heinous crimes. Consider what Hitler was able to do because of this. As with anything else in life, organizations can also be abused. Some people only care about one thing: dough rei me. I believe money is only a means to an end but not the end itself. Try to incorporate delivering value into your habits. I believe that is the best road to success. “I’ve found that the people that have made the most money over the long haul have been honest,” McManus says. Think carefully before trying to cheat the system. Uncle Sam is watching…

Are you also in favor of organizations? Should we be afraid?

CUNY Student? Join the CUNY Institute for Virtual Enterprise to start learning about organizations and how to develop your own project.