Soft Leadership

 
 
In his revolutionary eBook Stop Stealing Dreams, a solution the US public education system, Seth Godin helps us understand the history of school and its relationship with the industrial revolution.

Essentially, factories needed interchangeable, fearful, obedient workers who were on time, and prepared to perform repetitive tasks. 

Schools were invented to train youth to be on time to class, follow a repetitive schedule, do repetitive work, do their homework (or else!). And it worked! Schools churned out a workforce for the labor market.

Well, the labor market has changed...but school hasn't. Here's a starter list of what school is for.

What we need today are youth who are passionate, innovative, and caring problem solvers. 

If you'd like to know how we get there, then get your free copy of Stop Stealing Dreams and READ it.

If we choose to change the system here's what we need to do:
  1. Homework during the day, lectures at night.
  2. Open book, open note all the time.
  3. Access to any course, any where in the world, anytime you want to take it
  4. Precise focused education
  5. No more multiple choice exams. Measure experience instead of test scores
  6. Cooperation instead of isolation.
  7. Teachers transform in to coach.
  8. Lifelong learning, start working earlier.

Don't for a minute believe these two myths:
  1. Great performance in school leads to happiness and success.
  2. Great parents have kids who produce great performance in school. 

Here's what's true:
  • Grades are an illusion, passion and insight are reality.
  • Work is more important than congruence to an answer key.
  • Persistance in the face of a skeptical authority figure is priceless.
  • Fitting in is a short term strategy that gets you no where. Standing out is a long term strategy that takes guts and produces results.
 
 
It's so important to try new things because that's how you make discoveries about yourself. I'm approaching 30 and I'm still finding out new things about my personality, likes, and dislikes that I never realized. Not too long ago I learned I needed to find a career teaching because of my drive to learn new information each day - not just teaching via lecture, but rather through hands-on experience - now I have the great fortune of teaching through experience in 4-H.

I've found some useful (and free) assessment tools that have helped me uncover strengths and weaknesses I was not even aware of. Check 'em out:

Discover Your Personality
  1. Keirsey Temperament Sorter: Helps you determine your character and learn more about yourself.
  2. Jung Typology Test: Provides an assessment of your personality type, occupations, and relevant degrees that would best suit you.
  3. Personality Type: Discover yours with the help of this assessment.
  4. Enneagram Test: Assess your personality on nine different factors.
  5. Type Focus: Find out if you’re an introvert or extrovert.
  6. PersonalDNA: This test reveals your true personality.
  7. Big 5 Personality Typing Test: Helps you learn more about your traits in extroversion, emotional stability, orderliness, accommodation, and intellect.

Choose the Right Career Path

  1. Small Business Administration: Are you ready to start a small business? Find out.
  2. Career Vision Job Satisfaction Survey: In just 37 questions find out if you're satisfied with your job.
  3. ColorCareerCounselor: Find out about career paths based on your personality.
  4. True Colors Career Assessment: A career personality assessment that helps you find a career that matches your personality. 
  5. Management Skills & Styles Assessment: Are you management material? Find out.
  6. Career Explorer: Identifies careers that match your personality.
  7. Sales Hunter-Farmer Test: Are you cut out to be in Sales? Find out. 
  8. Sales Personality Test: Do you have the personality to be a salesman? Find out.
  9. Work Importance Profiler: Discover what's important to you in a job.

How Does Your Relationship Potential Stack Up?

  1. Emotional Intelligence Test: Learn how well you relate to others. This test measures your emotional intelligence.
  2. Big Five Compatibility Test: This assessment help you determine your level of compatibility with a another test taker.


Just How Smart are You?
  1. Intelligence Type Test: Assesses the way you learn and use your intelligence. Very cool.
  2. IQTest.com: Fun and scientifically valid test to determine your level of intelligence.
  3. The Oracle Exam: Helps measure your general knowledge and ability to comprehend.
  4. Visual Pattern Fluid Intelligence Test: Assesses your intelligence through visual patterns.
  5. Lateral Thinking Puzzle IQ Test: Discover how well you think outside the box.
  6. MyIQNow: Find out how smart (or Dumb) you are in 30 questions.
  7. BrainBall: Provides an IQ test and mental exercise in a game.


Do You Have Skills?
  1. Time Management Test: How well do you organize your time? Find out.
  2. Skills Profiler: Discover occupations that use your current skills and find out which ones you need to improve.
  3. Concentration Test: Learn how well you concentrate.
  4. ISEEK Skills Assessment: Learn what skills you need to be successful in life based on your personality. 
  5. Verbal IQ Test: Find out how deep your vocabulary is.
  6. Mathematics Skills Assessment Test: How good are you at math? Find out.


Other Ways to Learn More About Yourself
  1. Right/Left Brain Test: Which side of your brain is dominant? Find out.
  2. Learning Styles Self-Assessment: What are the best ways you learn? Find out.
  3. Word Association Test: Learn how your mind associates with words.
 
 
So you've got big plans for the future...Great, so do I! A year or so ago, while I was reading  Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk, I realized that I wanted to have a career sharing leadership and business principles. I think it would be fun and I like learning. I recognized that this dream was a long way down the road, but I had better get started doing something now.

So I follwed Gary's advice on branding yourself and started this blog writing about the things that I am interested in. I enjoy it, it's fun, and I'm learning.

I'm sure someday I will look back on this and be embarrassed. However, I've learned that if you're not launching too soon, you're launching too late. Or better put, if you're not embarrassed by your first version, you've launched too late.

In this video, Derek Sivers teaches that "Version 0.1" is the thing you can do right now to get started because "Version 4.8" will come eventually after much trial, error, and refining. The important concept to realize is that you'll never begin if you're trying to start with "Version 2.0". Apple launched the first iPad even though deep in the basement of their R&D Dept. they had a prototype of the iPad 6. The point is, you'll never launch if you're waiting until the product is perfect.
 
 
We all struggle through learning curves because they’re really hard at first. In The Dip, Seth Godin will help you determine whether you should keep trudging through the difficult process or quit it altogether.

If you decide to stick with whatever you’re learning, whether it’s a musical instrument, calculus, programming, cooking, chemistry, or baseball,  it’s important to understand that natural genius is a myth.

Recent scientific findings support the notion that success is the product of disciplined practice – not an uncontainable natural genius. I realized this simple principle after reading Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin. The examples of the work ethic in Mozart and Michael Jordan were very inspiring. They were not born with their amazing abilities; they were driven to the point where they wanted to practice music and basketball all day long, every single day. It was only after long periods of deliberate practice that they became incredibly skilled.

In his book, Outliers, Malcom Gladwell writes about the 10,000 Rule. He explains that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in a given field, to actually master the subject.

One of my favorite examples is that of legendary slugger Ted Williams. He is believed to be the most gifted hitter of his era (the last man to hit over .400). Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr said, ”Ted just had that natural ability." It was also said that Ted had laser-like eyesight, which allowed him to decipher the spin of a ball as it left the pitcher's fingers. Ty Cobb once said, "Ted Williams sees more of the ball than any man alive." I even heard Ted Williams could leap tall buildings in a single step! Sounds like some guys are just born with it, right?

Wrong, scientific tests showed Ted’s eyesight to be well within ordinary human range. The true story of Ted Williams’ talent was nothing more than a phantasmagorical work ethic that began when he was five years old and continued until he retired from the game. He grew up poor, yet paid his friends to shag balls. He denied entertainment, social activities, and other sports to focus on baseball. As a rookie, he practiced long after practice was over, he hit balls until they disintegrated, and swung bats until they splintered.

Drive is an acquired trait. Talent is a process, not a natural gift.

What are you passionate about?
 
 
I couldn't agree more with Rainn on stepping outside your comfort zone and looking inward to solve creative blocks.
I think everyone experiences blocks or times when they want to do something meaningful, positive, and fulfilling, but aren't quite sure what exactly to do or where to go.
 

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