Listening To Lead

I find amazing how a concept that we think is simple can be so broken down that you feel like everything in your life makes so much sense. In Women & Leadership we break everything down to it's most basic form. We even do this with what is considered as a basic idea or concept.

My day was not as busy as the previous ones. I am thankful for this because it has given me a chance to relax and be able catch up on my sleep since I'm still not used to the time difference. The Brown cohort, with the exception of Erin, walked to the dinning hall at 7:40 AM. We had the chance to eat our food without rushing and actually got to hang out near our classroom and start thinking about our lesson plan.

Once class started we discussed the reading and videos from last night. I found the videos very interesting. They showed a woman walk through the street for ten hours and getting cat called by random men. Some of them even followed her for a very long time. This sort of thing happens daily to women of all ages and backgrounds. The other video showed a discussion between Amanda Seales and Steve Santagati. Amanda begins talking about how catcalling is a serious issue and Steve interrupted her repeatedly telling he what women should think. He also mentioned that if women feel threatened they should just carry a knife. This makes me mad because women are conditioned to be prepared to defend themselves but men are not taught to be respectful and mindful of what other people are comfortable and uncomfortable with.

After a small discussion in the class, Mary Grace escorted us to a listening workshop by Kisa. She explained to us how it is important for a leader to be able to listen as well as talk. With a good combination these two skills help with communication of all sorts. We also did a activity that required us to use nonverbal signs that said we were not listening. What surprised me as the speaker was that it was extremely hard to actually maintain my train of thought while I was being ignored. At one point I even felt like stopping because deep down i felt offended even though it was just a small role play exercise. On the flip side we also did the talking with good nonverbal reaffirmation. This time around the conversation flowed better but wasn't quiet there. We Learned that nonverbal affirmation is good but it works best with verbal affirmation as well. 

after the wonderful listening work shop Esme, Wendy, Mahi, and I went to get some lunch and ate outside the dining hall then headed to the Main Green. There Esme and Wendy tried to get some work done and I tried to nap since I am pretty sleep deprived. I'm working on my time management skills. I now realized that time management is one of the most important skills to have when attending a university. 

Esme and Wendy analyzing the action plan instructions

When we went back to class and discussed the videos and readings further but following the same guideline. Not so long after, Mary Grace gave us time to start working on our action plan. I brainstormed some ideas but haven't come up with a solid concept. Tonight I hope to work on it and also get started on the homework due Thursday. At the end, we went to grab some burgers for dinner which were delicious. 

I hope tomorrow I have another awesome day filled with knowledge and good food.