The End

Yesterday CSR 309 came to life for me. My friend Amy got a group of us together for Tom's shoes national One Day Without Shoes campaign. The night before we printed flyers and spray painted t-shirts for our walk on campus. We started at 10:00 in the morning, walking on campus without any shoes. We handed out flyers and tried to get people aware of what Tom's shoes message was. Children in Ethiopia sometimes can't go to school barefoot and because of silica in the soil, many of them end up with a disease called moss foot. On our flyers was the website for Tom's shoes, where, if someone would buy a pair of shoes, Tom's would donate a pair. It was a one for one deal.

The cause was good, but to see Amy and the rest of us step and try to make a difference was what leadership is all about. Did I mention that this was not for a group, club, or class? We did it because it mattered. Before CSR 309, I would've helped out with this cause, but I wouldn't have noticed the leadership associated with it. I now look at things and see leadership and want to tell Dr. Feinberg.

Thank you Dr. Feinberg for an interesting experience and for a wonderful class. I was skeptical, but you were awesome!

Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus.

This week we talked about men and women and how to lead both. I agree that men and women are different. My husband and I view and handle things very differently at times. Leading the opposite sex can be hard. I noticed this when I played softball.

I never had a female coach from kindergarten to my senior year in high school. Some of my male coaches understood that girls are different than boys, but some didn't. Some of my coaches would yell at us and give us harsh criticism. Maybe this motivates boys to try harder and prove you wrong, but this does not work on girls. If you tell me I suck, then I'll believe you and lose all confidence in myself and get worse. Girls need more affirmation than boys, especially from men.

I've also noticed as a woman in college, that when you're in a group with men, you have to be more stern and very to the point. They don't respect weak recommendations. You have to be confident when you talk to them if you want them to take you seriously.

I think that these observations will serve me well as I go into the workplace and work with both sexes. I have a better understanding of how to work with men and I also know better how to handle other women.

Since Dr. Feinberg loves Youtube, I have posted two Youtube videos that I found that demonstrate the difference between men and women.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0LgJo9Do-8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8n76TiTieA