Ireland - June 26

Well, the cold that the other 3 girls on my team had finally made its way to me.  I woke up this morning feeling wiped out with a sore throat/glands and a stuffy nose.  Blech.  We are also pretty sure that the last occupants of our room ignored the “no smoking” sign, and left behind significant evidence in the air – which probably didn’t help with the stuffed-up part.  But despite being gray there was no rain as we headed off for our last day at Wavebob, so I took in a couple of extra breaths of fresh air!  We finished up the last additions to our Chile presentation, researched the 3 items requested for Japan, and just barely started outlining information for our leader study.  We’re not really sure when we’re going to get that beast done, but at least we have all the information gathering done now that the interviews are finished. 

We were tired today, and it showed.  I personally am not nearly as productive when I’m exhausted, so I feel like I didn’t accomplish as much as I normally do.  Which is understandable, considering the circumstances.  I’m not feeling well and just want to go to bed so I probably won’t write much today, but I was reflecting a little bit on some things while combing through all the raw interview data we have for our leader study.  Being a leader is hard.  Most people want to be the leader because they want to be in charge and because it can seem glamorous.  But there are an awful lot of unglamorous aspects of leadership that unfortunately, many people seem to ignore or skip over.  Surrounding yourself with people who are not like you – who are strong where you aren’t – isn’t always fun because they will push back.  Fostering healthy debate and taking the time to listen to people respectfully isn’t always natural.  Taking risks can lead to failure. Leading change (a constant requirement of leaders) among those who don’t want it can be exhausting.  Picking up the pieces that drop, or rather, making sure none do, and supporting growth among staff can be, well, tedious. 

BUT good leaders are desperately needed, and when found, can drastically change a company for the better.  The attitude and actions of one person in a position of leadership really can make all the difference in the world.  And a “position of leadership” isn’t necessarily defined by job title.  A leader is simply someone who inspires others toward action – or, as I’ve heard before, someone who has followers.  A hamburger flipper at McDonald’s could be more of a leader than the CEO of a company.  It really is more a matter of attitude.  Let me never forget that as long as there is one other person around, I am in a potential position of leadership and have the opportunity to inspire someone toward something better.  What will I do with those opportunities?  Hopefully use them a little more wisely now. 

Am I a good leader?  Will I ever be?  I don’t know.  But I want to be, and I feel like I’m more aware of what that entails – so maybe that’s half the battle.  Or at least part of it. 

It can be hard.  But it can be done, and from what I’ve seen and experienced, it is so very worth it.

Ireland - June 25

We fell back into our “Maynooth schedule” this morning – up at 6:15 to get ready, have breakfast, and cab it to the office.  Someone gets a pitcher of water and glasses and someone reviews our whiteboard assignments and tasks for the day while the laptops and iPads boot up, then off we go to conquer the Wavebob/Chile challenge : )  It’s been enjoyable – I like Andrew and the folks at Wavebob, the project is interesting, and working with our team has been a good experience.  There can be a lot of value in bouncing ideas off of and seeking input from a small group of people. 

I can definitely see how a good leader needs good people around him/her.  It is possible to thrive amidst challenging people, but much easier to do so among good ones.  And by “good ones” I don’t mean “yes men,” but rather, intelligent people who can push back, share ideas, and then walk away in unwavering support of what was decided, committed to making it work to the best of their ability.  The gentlemen we interviewed for our leader study today said “You know you have a quality business relationship when you’re comfortable making each other uncomfortable.”  His point being that there needs to be enough emotional intelligence to know that you’re not attacking each other personally, but openly debating the best idea.  The trick is in both doing it appropriately and interpreting it that way from others.  Also, people who share knowledge, want to learn, and help others succeed in every way possible.  People who are motivated and passionate about what they’re doing, but aware that they don’t know what they don’t know and that are willing and able to listen and draw ideas out of others.

Anyway, we finished up our deck this morning, then presented to Andrew what we’d found.  We ended up with 105 slides…most of our time was spent on the content so the slides weren’t that pretty or super-well worded in some cases, but given our timeframe we felt that was the most appropriate use of our resources.  The happy news is that Andrew seemed really happy with what we’d found.  Not in the sense that it delivered the “right” news – we actually concluded that a very slow approach is best right now – but in the sense that we provided something of value that will help him with the strategic direction of Wavebob.  That felt good!  How neat that our class project will actually add value somewhere instead of just going in the “made up scenario” file.  Andrew gave us a few follow-up items he’d like us to research for Chile yet, then asked us to do a “quick down and dirty overview of Japan” tomorrow.  

So we took a quick celebratory walk to get some lunch fixins, chatted with some Wavebob staff during lunch in the breakroom, and worked a couple more hours finishing up Chile before we had a call for the last interview of our leader study.  I’ve really enjoyed speaking with the folks for our leader study…so much wisdom and learned-the-hard-way experiences that they’ve so willingly shared with us.  I hope I can apply some of it based on the second-hand learning, vs. having to go through it all myself.  I think I’ll start taking some of the key principles and trying to consciously apply them in my everyday life until they become more of a habit.  Like the take-away  I mentioned the other day about how Paul tries to not respond emotionally to news he doesn’t like, but rather, waits to respond until he’s processed it. 

We wrapped up the work day with a check-in call to Jan, then…wait for it…worked out in the hotel gym!  It felt so good to get the blood moving, and maybe it will knock us out tonight.  Dinner, catch-up on email and journals, and we just might get to bed before midnight!  It was a good day.  Productive, successful, rewarding.  Both because our stakeholder was pleased, and because we came together as a team to do it.

I'm tired...

Ireland - June 24

This morning I slept to a blissful 8am.  That does, however, include multiple late night/early morning awakenings from graduates celebrating in the courtyard outside our rooms.  The Book of Kells was our morning activity, which ended up being interesting but not earth-shattering.  I enjoyed learning about how the book was written/illustrated, and it really was amazing to see the intricate illustrations of such an old document!  Equally impressive was the old Trinity library the Book is in.  I LOVE the double-high bookshelves lining the walls with ladders in each cubby to retrieve top-shelf books.  Those books obviously aren’t for check-out anymore, but I imagine I could entertain myself for many hours in there if they were.  Sometime I’ll make more time in my life for reading…oh the elementary days of checking out 10 books from the library one day, and taking ‘em back for more the next.

Dublin was a bit rainy again this morning, but when we arrived in Maynooth the sun was shining!  I hurried out for a quick walk to soak up some vitamin D, and as a bonus, got to see the lovely old buildings of St. Patrick’s College.  I do love the architecture of old stone buildings – high steeples, big windows, stained glass…

Then it was time to get back to work.  Andrew, our CEO, is heading to Spain tomorrow so we’re presenting in the morning instead of Tuesday night.  It’ll work out well though, because that way he can give us feedback on what to spend the rest of our time working on.  It did mean another late night as we worked on gathering final information and putting together our 105-slide presentation!  We did take a break to grab dinner in a pub, and joined the locals cheering on England in the EuroCup quarter finals.  Unfortunately Italy won…but that was long after we left to stare at our computers again.

We ran into a leadership/group challenge today.  One of our teammates that doesn’t have a strong background in business was struggling to provide relevant information for the sections they volunteered for, and it was starting to impact our deliverable and the rest of our schedules/assignments somewhat significantly.  I wasn’t quite sure how to handle it.  For our teamwork alignment document, we all agreed that we would be upfront with each other and proactively address issues as they came up.  But telling someone you’re frustrated because you didn’t get to share your opinion is a bit of a different beast than telling someone the quality of their work needs to be improved – especially since it’s a peer-to-peer situation, not a boss-employee situation.  The three of us most aware of and impacted by the situation discussed how to handle it.  We decided that the person was probably trying so we could just ignore it and keep covering/re-doing work, but that wouldn’t have benefitted anyone involved – including the individual.  It’s not our responsibility to change anyone or make them fit into a cookie-cutter work style (quite the contrary – a team should bring out and use people’s unique abilities), but I think part of this experience is to learn from each other and help each other as we can.  And we are responsible for producing a graduate-level deliverable.  

So we decided to partner up on sections vs. working individually, so as to demonstrate in a non-threatening way how we were finding good material and drawing conclusions from it in a way that directly answered the questions Andrew posed to us.  This seemed to help somewhat, but I’m wondering if there would have been a better way to approach it.  We were trying to keep in mind that we were under a very tight deadline, and needed to address the situation in a way that kept the flow of work moving…anyway, it was a good learning experience.  I can tend to just pick up slack and take more work on myself rather than “hurt someone’s feelings” or cause a big disruption when it’s a peer-to-peer situation, but by talking it through with my teammates, we were able to come up with something that we hope ended up being more productive (and learning) for everyone involved. 

Ireland - June 23

Today was again gray and rainy, but Lia, Jill, and I grabbed the minimal included breakfast and set off for the tourism office to take a bus tour.  There were multiple different places we thought we might go explore on our own, but we were a bit tired and didn’t want to have to think too much.  And, despite Jill and I being super planners, neither of us had taken the time to do so.  So we took the easy way out and paid someone else to herd us around for the day.  We wanted to do the Rock of Cashel and Waterford tour, but it turns out we had to book that one the night before.  Boo.  So we adjusted and took the Collins Day Tour to Glendalough and Kilkenny.  It was nice from the aspect of not having to think much, but I got a little tired on the bus.  Glendalough was pretty.  It’s the ruins of a 6^th century monastic settlement, including an old cemetery.  There’s something about old European cemeteries that intrigues me.  The headstones are usually much more interesting, and there’s a sense of peace that may be weird, but I like. 

There is also a lovely lake there, and we took a walk around part of it and through the woods.  It was FREEZING and very windy up at the lake – our tour guide, Jerry, said “it was fresh –a level below cold.”  Very lovely though, and it didn’t rain while we were there.  We then continued driving through the Wicklow Gap, which was pretty.  It was nice to get out in the countryside a bit and see what Ireland is like beyond  Dublin.  This tour definitely provided some of that.  Lots of green, some sheep, some cows.  Quite relaxing.  Jerry provided commentary part of the time (some amusing, although his rants against the Irish government got old after a while, reinforcing the comment I’ve heard that what you say about others is reflected back on yourself…people tend to associate what you say with you.)  Anyway, the rest of the time Jerry played various cds of traditional Irish music, which was kind of fun (and actually relaxing). 

We got into Kilkenny in time for a late lunch, then we skipped out on the guided town tour and explored on our own.  I wanted to go in the castle and St. Canice’s Cathedral, but was outvoted.  So instead we walked around the outside of the castle, popped into St. Mary’s Cathedral, walked the little downtown area, and did a bit of tourist shopping.  It rained on and off while we were there, but no torrential downpours.  It was a nice day – not the way I typically travel, but considering everything it worked out well.  

Back in Dublin, we went to The Bank where the girls partook in happy hour.  It’s (shockingly) an old bank-turned-classy-bar, and really pretty inside (and out).  Then we went for dinner, and then tried to find an internet connection.  Our rooms in Goldsmith don’t have any, and apparently places close early on the weekend in Dublin.  We finally got a signal in a covered walkway on campus, so Lia let us borrow her iPad (the wireless card in my laptop seems to have gone out) to make quick Skype calls home.  It was good to talk to Bryan for a few minutes! Then we trudged back across campus to our rooms, devised a plan for the next day, and once again went to bed late.  Seems to be a trend here…doesn’t help that it’s light so dang late. 

I think Ireland is most like the States of any foreign place I’ve been.  The weather is significantly different than Colorado, but other than accents the language is the same – which is probably the biggest factor.  I’m not sure what else it is…there are obviously neat old buildings and differences such as driving on the left (and lack of constant internet access), but I feel comfortable here – not as much like I’m thousands of miles away from home.  Could also be that we’re mostly working/studying vs. sight-seeing, which has tuned me in to the work ethic and intelligence this country possesses.  So glad I get to experience it in person!

Ireland - June 22

Last night was fun!  Andrew took us on the Literary Pub Crawl in Dublin.  As the name suggests, we visited several pubs in Dublin that are linked to famous Irish writers, but the twist is that it was led by two actors who recited pieces or acted out parts of plays along the way.  I’m not much of a drinker, but it was quite interesting and fun to learn a bit more about Dublin and some of its famous inhabitants!  Andrew is such a gracious host, and has gone out of his way to make sure we have a good time here on top of the work we’re doing.  Jan’s son Kevin came along with us, which was fun too.  I’ve really enjoyed meeting people and hearing their stories this trip.  As Andrew said last night, life is a bunch of stories strung together – what will your chapters be?   We all had a great time and enjoyed ourselves, despite the rain.  By the time we finally got something to eat and cabbed it back to Maynooth, we didn’t get to bed until around 1:30am.  Which made the 6:30 alarm clock particularly unappealing…

We had a short day at Wavebob because we had to leave around 11:00 to get back to Dublin for our afternoon interview.  We started compiling all the info we’ve found into a powerpoint, and dug a little deeper on a few topics.  After a train ride to Dublin, we dumped our bags at Trinity and took a cab to Paul Byrne’s office – the CEO of Trintech that we’re doing our leader study on.  Talk about a fascinating person to talk to for a couple of hours!  I really like Paul – he is passionate about what he’s doing, has solid values that appear to be more than words on paper, and is leading a disparate team toward some really big hairy goals…and he believes they can get there!  There are so many things he talked about that I want to write here, but I need to noodle on them a bit first.  The two that stand out at the moment are his take on his role and his response “under fire.”  

Paul said his three (most important) tasks as a CEO are to lay out where he wants to go (the vision), set/communicate/model the values that create the culture and drive decisions/actions, and get the right people in the right seats on the bus.  What I find interesting (and quite frankly, challenging) about this is that many people want to be the CEO.  They want to be part of the big picture strategy and setting the lofty goals and such.  But they can’t let go of the details – the day-to-day decisions about exactly how to get where they’re going.  Paul actually seemed to have a good handle on it, realizing that that is the job of his four direct reports.  They are the ones who figure out how to do what Paul wants done, and Paul needs to make sure they’re equipped with what they need and then step back and let them do it.  I’ve found that it’s easy to claim you want to turn in the management role for a “big picture CEO” role, but the control freak takes over and makes it difficult to stay out of the weeds. 

The second thing is Paul’s approach to bad news/stress/something he doesn’t want to deal with.  First, he involves himself in things outside of work so he has outlets for his stress.  But the part I found most admirable is that he said he has learned how to not react emotionally to things he doesn’t like.  Instead, he says “ok,” and thinks about it before responding.  The adage says to “go with your gut,” but Paul says going with your gut during a time like that always ends up in disaster because if you act out of emotion, you are likely to lose your integrity by responding poorly.  Two things happen when you do – people lose their respect for you and they stop coming to you with bad news.  Both of which are poor outcomes.  To me, this goes back to being self-aware enough to realize what is causing the rush of emotions and addressing that internally first, then moving forward to address the external situation with a clear, healthy perspective.  More on Paul later, cause there's a lot more to tell.

After getting a photo with Paul, we got ourselves back to Dublin central and returned to KC Peaches for dinner, then trudged ourselves back to our rooms in Trinity’s Goldsmith Hall.  The wireless card on my laptop stopped working – ugg – so I pow-wowed with Jill to figure out some tentative plans for tomorrow, caught up on a few things, and am now about to crash…looking forward to more than 5 hours of sleep…fingers crossed…

Despite being tired, I’m SO glad to be here doing this!!  Woot!

Ireland - June 21

“Are we supposed to be impressed?” a young Irish guy asked after Lia counted to three in French as she took a picture of us on the bus to Dublin.  It was rather hilarious, b/c she’d made a big deal about it.  We all had a good laugh…

Interesting day here – it rained somewhat significantly on-and-off all day, so we got our first real taste of Irish weather.  Yesterday I felt like we really dug in and made some progress on our Wavebob project.  Which, I must admit, feels good.  Today felt more like dead ends.  Which, I must admit, doesn’t feel as good.  It was still important to do enough research to get to that decision point of “no, there’s nothing here,” but it didn’t feel like a lot of tangible progress was made.  I was researching off-shore oil and gas rigs in Chile’s Pacific waters, and concluded the lack of them means there isn’t a good opportunity to link decommissioned platforms with Wavebobs.  I also looked at what Chile is currently doing with renewable energy and whether funding opportunities exist, and pieced together the opinion that the government’s role at this point is mainly setting goals and in a few cases, mandates, but not particularly enforcing them or providing incentives to do so.  The former roles are being played more by utilities and third party agencies…

Jan came out to Maynooth today and met with Andrew, then we all went to lunch at Barberton Castle – the former home of Eric Clapton.  It was a good little break – it’s always nice to get out of the office for a bit.  As we were leaving, we saw a fascinating little thing roaming the grounds…it looked like a Rhumba.  We couldn’t figure out what it was doing (it didn’t look like it was mowing), but it sparked a discussion for the ride back to the office.

Speaking of car-ride discussions, on the way back to the hotel this evening one of the team members expressed that this course was too much work, and another brought up “working for free.”  Opinions were asked, so two of us responded that given the condensed nature of the course we felt the workload was completely appropriate, and that the “working for free” was a valuable opportunity to learn, apply, and hone business skills.  What we’re doing is (at least should be) growing us as leaders and building our resumes in the best kind of environment – a real one – some of the very things I undertook my MBA to accomplish.  I mention it only because it reinforced what was told to us at the beginning of the class – “you will get from the course whatever you put into it.”  There have been some long days and the nature of the situation has required some extra attention to interpersonal skills, but I have gotten so much out this experience so far.  It’s completely worth it, and I feel like what I’ve put in has been multiplied back to me.  I think that’s generally the case in life.  Sometimes it takes a while before the returns are seen, but I feel like I’ve gained multiple valuable things every day here.  It also reminded me to tell my mom “thanks” again for nurturing a (mostly) positive attitude.  I tend to think that you see what you choose to see.  Most situations can be viewed as either positive or negative, depending on what one chooses to focus on.  Jan encouraged us to view our challenges as learning opportunities and take as much good and self-change from them as we can, but I think this is even more basic than that…it’s about not viewing everything as a challenge, but rather simply seeing some things for the good that they are.  Ah the reflection this course has evoked…more on that later…for now, we’re arriving in Dublin…

Ireland - June 20

Today was another sunny day.  Except for a few sprinkles Sunday afternoon, we’ve been blessed with gorgeous (albeit not hot) weather which is unusual here.  Knock on wood!  Breakfast was nice – lots of hot options, including the traditional Irish Breakfast of fried eggs, bacon, fried tomatoes, and baked beans – so we got fueled up for the day.  We met Adrienne at the office this morning, who continued the friendly tradition and got us set up beautifully.  Andrew spent a few minutes going through a presentation to give us yet a more clear picture of what the company is about, during which time Jen and I got to sit in the most awesome beanbag chairs ever and Justin and Jill claimed the white polka-dotted couch.  Lia just got the plain red couch. 

We decided to tackle the issue of whether or not Wavebob should enter the Chilean market by researching two main issues today – a PEST (political, economic, social, and technology) analysis of Chile and a competitive scan of which other companies are looking at and/or entering the market.  We split out little group into two teams and went at it all day, with a quick break in the lunch room over the noon hour…where we somehow got to talking about gangs jumping people in Denver, which made the poor Irish fellow sitting at the other table decide he might not want to visit (not really, it wasn’t that bad).  4-5pm was another leader study interview, but this one was a bit more painful than the others given that we got one-word answers, even to the follow-on questions we asked to probe deeper.  He seemed a rather unhappy person.  I’m sure that wasn’t his intention and he’d just had a busy and/or tough day, but it was a good reminder that you make an impression on everyone you meet and speak to – what will mine be?  How will people remember me?  Both those I interact with regularly, and those I only meet in passing.  That can be a rather sobering thought.

Our work day ended with an extended meeting with Andrew to review what we’d done for the day and discuss priorities for tomorrow, along with insights and ideas he had for us to pursue.  For a very busy CEO, Andrew has given us lots of time and input so far, which has earned him respect and appreciation. 

Team dynamics came into play today too.  We have a fantastic team and we all like each other, but we’re all a bit tired, don’t know each other that well, and are working on a pretty big project…so expectations don’t always align perfectly.  We’ve done well sharing opinions and giving each person room to speak, and so far have come to agreements fairly easily about how to proceed.  But I was reminded that when working in groups, agreement on how to move forward doesn’t necessarily mean unanimous agreement that it’s the absolute best way to do it.  Everyone should be heard and validated and I am in full favor of asking questions and pushing back.  But once a decision is made, each team member must support it or things fall apart.  The challenge I’ve found working in school teams is that unlike the work world where (usually) one person has more of a stake/responsibility for the project and thus has ultimate decision-making authority, school team members (usually) have equal stake, and thus it can be difficult to determine who gets to make the call if five people have five different ideas.    

Also emerging is the tendency to assume other people feel/think the same way someone else does.  Making decisions based on that faulty assumption can result in dissatisfaction for some because they've been spoken for inaccurately.

I was also reminded that what’s going on internally – being tired, etc – can impact interactions with others.  As we talked about Monday, am I “hearing the unheard?”  Taking the time to dig deep enough usually reveals that someone isn’t a particularly terrible person, but rather, that something was going on inside that (however unintentionally) seeped out.  Not a bad thing for a leader to remember about him/herself and his/her followers.  Speaking of which, I ought to snag a few hours of sleep…

Ireland - June 19

Today our class went our separate ways to work on our company projects.  My team of five headed to Maynooth, but first we walked over to the Dublin Castle – which is (and looks more like) a current government building.  Most of the original medieval castle was destroyed and then later rebuilt, but we did see an original tower and a bit of wall (now underground).  It wasn’t at all an opulent Versailles-ish sort of castle, and it didn’t have the dramatic flair of Neushwanstein, but it was fascinating to learn some of the Irish/Dublin history as we went through it.  I hadn’t realized Ireland is such a young republic, only having gained independence in 1922.  Likely due to the facts that their buildings are still old and cool and their history goes back much further.

After the castle we ate lunch at KC Peaches, took a quick swing through St. Stephen’s Green, and then retrieved our bags from Trinity and headed to Pearse station to catch the train to Maynooth.  Our ride was slightly delayed due to the fact that at one stop the conductor announced the train was terminating and we all had to get off and wait for the next train (that’s one of those times we were really thankful we were in an English-speaking country and could understand what was going on:), but we still made it to Maynooth in under an hour.  Armed with directions from a very friendly Irish woman, we found our hotel and then cabbed it over to the Wavebob offices.  We met Andrew and got ourselves settled in, then conducted another phone interview for our leader study and got ourselves ready to go for the next day.  Andrew then took us to a great spot in Strawberry Bed for dinner – Anglers Rest – after showing us the really cool university in Maynooth…we’ll have to walk around it sometime!  Dinner was great and we really enjoyed talking with Andrew!  So much so that all of a sudden it was 10:45 and we realized we probably ought to head “home!” 

Lia provided us with multiple laughs today.  She has curly red hair and freckles and is not Irish, but she’s been asked a lot if she is.  So today she had our cabbie believing (and us dying of laughter) that her last name is O’Leary and she’s visiting family here.  She was also coerced into trying Guinness and Irish Whisky for the first time at dinner, and invented a nickname that stuck – J Tickle.  All somewhat inside jokes, but they gave us a good daily dose of humor.

Circling back around to business, we were impressed with our host CEO tonight.  One thing we’ve noticed here is that everyone is SO friendly.  Andrew told us that the Irish don’t think they’re friendly – they think Americans are – but he is wrong.  People have regularly gone out of their way to be kind and help us out – even strangers.  Andrew was no exception, and we realized on the way home his graciousness throughout the evening inspired us to really try to deliver a valuable project to him.  Hmmm – sounds like a leadership principle at play…treat your employees well and make them feel good, and they’ll want to work hard and do a good job.  Goes back to the James Clawson definition of leadership Jan shared Monday – “…the ability and willingness to influence others so that they respond willingly.”  Andrew took the time and made the effort to pour into us a little bit by treating us to dinner, explaining his company/project, and answering all our questions, which just naturally made us want to deliver results.  The other leadership principle I was reminded of was that achievement and confidence are powerful motivators.  Andrew gave us a big goal with somewhat lofty expectations.  He isn’t asking us to do something impossible, but he is pushing us and giving us the opportunity to achieve something worthwhile and that will require significant input.  And as we heard Monday, that is actually empowering, motivating.  We’re the ones working “for free” (or rather, we paid a course fee to work:), but I have a feeling we will be getting an incredible amount from it.

P.S.  Happy Birthday Darlin!  Love you!

Ireland - June 18

Today we grabbed a quick breakfast in Buttery - the school cafeteria - before heading to our classroom for the day.  I felt fairly revived after a good night sleep, and really enjoyed the guest lecturers we had.  We were fortunate enough to have numerous CEO's of successful Irish companies speak to us, and they were all very friendly and open about their challenges and what's worked and what hasn't.  That's one thing I've noticed here - the culture seems to be more open and humble...tell it like it is regarding struggles, and downplay success to a certain extent.  The speakers (including our professor) were all really good and delivered points that made me think...I can't even begin to spell it all out, but following are a few of the things that stuck out most to me and I will be pondering the next few days:

• How much "change" has to do with "leadership."  If you're not leading some sort of change, chances are you're simply managing, not really leading.
• Being aware of your own insecurities it vital for good leaders, because if you allow your own insecurities to run you (your decisions, responses, etc), you will never be able to bring out the best in others.
• Good leaders are not victims.  They don't blame circumstances (or other people).  They take their teams and make them something special (somewhat like how some NFL coaches turn their group of players into superbowl winners, despite most teams having pretty good talent and a few not-so-great players).
• "Leadership is the ability and the willingness to influence others so that they respond willingly."  James Clawson.  It's not about forcing your team to comply with what you want done...it's about obtaining true commitment so they willingly support the vision.
• Are you a net giver or a net taker of energy?
• A good leader holds up a mirror in a way that helps people see themselves in a way they haven't before...the good and the bad...but then focuses on the strengths and how to maximize them.
• Many young leaders' (or wanna-be leaders) blind spot is "Not knowing what they don't know."  Many know what they do know, and some even know what they don't know...but few are willing to accept that there are things they may not have even thought about not knowing yet.  Ask questions - probe!
• One of the biggest indicators of whether someone is a good leader or not is how they deal with adversity.  Are they a victim, constantly blaming others/things?  Do they get all worked up and make snap, poor decisions?  Or do they remain calm and really allow themselves to learn from their challenges and be present through them?
• A good leader has a team that pushes back - they don't manipulate them into fearful agreement or yes-men.  That doesn't do anyone any good.  
• Are you an easy person to help?
• "People are inherently good and want to do good work.  If you start with that belief, 95% of the time it's true and you get the best our of people.  Then you just have to deal with the 5%.  If you're going to be a successful leader, you have to be an optimist and look for the good.  If you're constantly looking for something to be wrong, it will be.  You'll make it so even if it's not."  Alan Looney
• "All successful people make sacrifices.  What will yours be?" Kieran Daly

I'm sure I'll have some more coherent idea of how this all fits with me after I've slept a bit more...

After a full day of sessions, we had dinner at The Porterhouse Central and then met and mingled with some graduate marketing students from University College Dublin.

Our class at dinner

A few little things I noted today:

• They're not all like this, but the sinks in the dorm have separate faucets for hot and cold water.  So unless you want to fill the sink up and dip from there (which I didn't), you cup your hands and get some cold water, then add a bit of hot, and splash it on your face before it all seeps out.
• Irish drop pronounce "th" as "t."  So "three" becomes "tree," and so on.
• People are very friendly.

The last two observances are better shown than just told:

Soccer is important to play anywhere...even on the tennis court

Hair straighteners are available in the women's restroom at the Porterhouse.  You know, just in case you need to touch up your hair while you're at dinner.  And no, I did not make an progress on Lia's hair...

As I washed up tonight, I pondered how fortunate I am to be here - to be in a situation where I get to participate in a truly international course like this with these people in this country.  I'm quite thankful for that, and will continue to take the opportunity to make lifelong memories.

Ireland - June 17, 2012

Well I made it to Ireland and found my team today, and despite my weary brain, I can say this is going to be a great trip!  To combat jet lag, one of my classmates, Justin, and I walked around Dublin for a couple of hours after arriving at the 420-year-old Trinity College (where we're staying a few nights).  

Justin in the infamous Temple Bar district

 It started drizzling a bit, but we saw a big church at the end of the street so we kept going and took refuge in Christ Church Cathedral.  I like European churches, in part because of the sense of reverence I get upon entering.  They're quiet, and the high ceilings, stained glass, and general artistry - even of the pillars and floors - exhibits the care and detail that went into them.  Some might find it ostentatious, but I find it respectful of the One worshipped there. My interior pictures didn't turn out stellar due to low lighting (and possibly operator error), but a sampling follows:

It almost looks like a (small) castle from the outside

Love the floor

Wish I could have heard the organ play

  

 

 It had stopped raining when we left, so we wandered around the streets for a while...which was probably good for us in terms of getting the blood moving after long flights, just as much as it served to keep us awake after being awake for 34 hours!

Yes, the signs are actually helpful.  You'd be surprised how ingrained in our heads it is to look the "right" way before crossing a street...and thus possibly miss a car here (they drive on the left)!

Then we stumbled upon St. Stephen's Green, a really lovely park.

Back on campus, we met up with the rest of our class for a quick check-in meeting...

Le, Teresa, Jill, Justin, Lia

The campus courtyard

Now here's some trivia for you (that Teresa learned on a tour) - this is the largest Oregon Maple in Europe.

 

House 13, the dorm we're staying in

It's been a long time since I've been in a dorm room...!

Some of us then went to dinner, and then I crashed!  Though I was pretty tired today, it was fun to get a feel for the city (and college), and spend a little downtown with my classmates. I think this shall be an experience to remember!