Trait, Skills or Style?

What?           

                                           

There are so many approaches to leadership: trait, skills and style (Rowe and Guerrero, 2011). I was quite confused because they are different from one another but they are all important. Everyone has their own definition of leadership. Is it acceptable if we have our own definition, or do we follow definition given by leaders themselves and those who carry out research on leadership? I think each individual will possess at least one different characteristic in each approach, and all these contribute to what makes him or her, a leader.

So What?

Alain Gomez, Craig Conway and John Chambers were all top leaders in their own companies and they view leadership from trait, skills and style approaches respectively. I guess there are a lot of factors that contribute to what makes a leader. I have a Strengths Development class that focuses on personal talents and strengths. When I link what I learned from both Leadership and Strengths Development class, I realized that these strengths do contribute to what make leaders at their best in their own fields. I think leaders view leadership from different perspectives because they have different strengths and they may be making full use of their own strengths to play to success.

Now What?

I took the Big Five Personality Test (Leadership Trait Approach) and I think the results are quite accurate for me if not for others. Of course, all personality tests have their gray areas; each individual is unique and many other factors may affect the results. In my opinion, these tests provide good information for self-improvement, but they don’t necessarily determine one’s future. Personally, I will consider playing with my talents and strengths if I were to become a leader in the future.

Searching for Strengths

What?

What a busy week, but I enjoyed it anyways! I had quizzes and assignments as usual but there were a few extraordinary and special events that took place. The best experience for me so far is to wake up in very early in the morning just to go to the Math Emporium to take my quiz. Secondly, I helped prepare and attended a dinner with a group of delegates from a Malaysian university (UTM) at Cranwell International Center on Thursday. They are actually touring around universities in the United States and decided to stop by Virginia Tech for a few days. On Friday, I went out with a friend and my roommate for the Lumenhaus Tour on the Drillfield (It’s Sustainability Week) and then had a wonderful dinner with them at University Mall.

My fellow graduate friends and Katherine in Cranwell.

Guests from UTM.

The very cool Lumenhaus.

In Lumenhaus's bathroom.

So What?

After all these activities, I think I have discovered some my talents; I felt really happy after going for the activities and look forward to doing them again! I suppose I have to pay more attention to my strengths as they are not as clear as I thought. After last week’s class, I was truly amazed by what Marcus Buckingham said in his video. I am not sure if that’s because he has a good power of persuasion or I am easily persuaded. I think it’s both.  Anyhow, these activities really exposed me to different types of new environments and knowledge. For me, I enjoy the learning process where I’m mesmerized by the power and creativity of the human brain.

Now What?

The coming weeks will be exam weeks! I’m getting ready for all of them but before that, I hope I can make it to tonight’s Moon Festival in Squires. I really want to have some mooncakes. The Mid-Autumn Festival is quite a big festival for Chinese all over the world. Lucky for me, I did not feel homesick at all. I hope it will be the same during Chinese New Year Celebration early next year. May all my exams go well and may I find my talents and strengths soon!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life - A Food Blog

What?

I felt sorry for myself for not attending the lecture given by the author of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Barbara Kingsolver in Burruss Hall. I couldn’t write this blog based on it, and I couldn’t answer the question in my World Forests and Forest Products Quiz 3. Initially, I din't think of attending any of the activities because this week was extremely packed! Fortunately, I changed my mind and made the right decision by attending the Virginia Harvest Celebration Dinner in D2 and got myself some interesting-looking food. If I am not wrong, this is a special dinner held in honor of the author herself. I dragged my roommate, Katherine with me and got the chance to meet some new friends!

My copy of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life.

Katherine enjoying her meal in D2.

New found friends; rightmost is Katherine's high school friend.

So what?

Dinner in D2 is not cheap at all, even if one has a meal plan. I’m really lucky that I brought Katherine; she has a meal plan, so both of us got our dinner for about $10 dollars per person. Otherwise, I would have to fork out about $15, which is really expensive for just one meal. This is my second time in D2, and this is my first time observing so many different types of vegetable dishes served in D2. They should be Virginia’s fall harvest and I don’t think D2 serves that many variety of vegetable dishes on normal occasions. Not surprisingly, I have never seen or tasted some of the food served: examples include baked Rosemary potatoes, pastry or pizza with turkey and goat cheese and many other names that I could not remember. They looked and tasted exotic too! The ones that I enjoyed most are the roast beef with white sauce and grilled chicken. They were extremely good. I was quite disappointed that I did not have the chance to taste everything, including dessert. There were so many people, the queues were long and I arrived late at 6.50 p.m.

Roast beef with white sauce; baked potatoes.

Goat cheese and turkey pastry/pizza.

Mixture of vegetables; grilled chicken.

Now what?

I did not regret going for the dinner even though it cost me a fortune. It was a brand new experience and now I know many local dishes made from Virginia/local produce. Some of them might not be of my taste but at least I had the chance to try them. From this dinner, I can observe how important agriculture is to produce enough food for people, whether locally or internationally. I look forward to going to Katherine’s home in Arlington during Thanksgiving and Christmas to taste more of these different local foods. As for the book, I have yet to finish reading it, but I will try my best to do so.

Heading home after the meal.

Leaders

What?

It is not easy to define what makes a leader and what leadership is. Majority of people may think that a leader is someone who leads the group, whether or not if he or she is doing the right thing. I think so too, before attending a leadership class in Tech. I used to be the Vice-president of the Choir Club back in high school (Sultan Abu Bakar School, Kuantan), and for me, it was not easy. My main purpose in joining the club is to get into the school team and win in the National Level Choir Competition. My team had a lot of fun, but we’ve had difficult times too.  There were so many boundaries and challenges - financial difficulties, lack of motivation and student cooperation and others. These problems were frustrating because they never seem to end; but those were the proudest moments of my life!

2006 National Level Choir Competition

So What?

School clubs are quite different compared to real-life jobs in a company; the members do not depend on it for a salary. It is more on a voluntary basis and thus the lack of dedication. Some of them may have different intentions in joining the club and hence the lack of commitment when they realized it is not up to their expectation. As usual, when all the activities and competitions were done with, the frustration stops for a while until the next competition is here. Maybe, if I know what leadership is back then, this might not happen. On the contrary, if I had known what leadership is, I wouldn’t have experienced all the good and the bad in life to be better in the future. Of my 3 years in the choir team, we have always managed to get to National Level, but we have never gotten the Top 3 spot. We were sad for we practiced night and day, but at the same time determined to do better the coming year.

We won the 2007 State Level competition, my final year in high school.

Now What?

The year after I’ve graduated high school, the school team lost at State Level. Everyone was dumbfounded because SABS’s team has represented the State of Pahang for 5 consecutive years. The good news is, they are now back in action! Congratulations! I hope the school team will get the chance to be in the Top 3 someday. As for me, I still have a lot to learn about leadership; there are too many definitions of leadership. For now, I am still looking for what it takes to be a leader.

Differences are Challenges

What?

“Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri” to all Malaysians, especially my Muslim friends in the United States who are not able to celebrate it with their family this year. I can’t describe how time passes by. It’s really hard to believe that I’m a second-year university student now. I could still remember my first day in kindergarten, seriously. It is almost incredible to see how things have changed all the years. It has also been a month since I came to Blacksburg, Virginia and on have fascinated my roommate with interesting facts about Malaysia.

My cousin's 6th birthday 16 years ago; I am 2nd from right.

So What?

I am not really surprised that most Tech students do not know where Malaysia is. It may be a really small country but those who have visited Malaysia will be surprised how “Americanized” Malaysia is. We have McDonalds’, KFCs, Papa Johns’, Pizza Huts, Subways and Starbucks all over the country. I had a nice chat with my roommate on Thursday and she said it’s weird that Malaysians use the Metric System, and I feel the same about Americans. Honestly, I don’t know my weight and height in pounds and feet. I have no idea how many miles are there in a kilometer and how many ounces are there in liter. When I had a fever, she was shocked when I told her my temperature, and that’s because it’s in degree Celsius. Despite the differences, I know nothing is difficult for me as long as I have the will to learn. Back in my country, I understood that Westerners love the sun very much; they will sunbathe under the scorching sun when Malaysians are practically looking for places with air-conditioner (that’s what I do best). Situated on the equator, my town, Kuantan has the lowest temperatures (20-21°C) during North-East Monsoon season in December, when it rains night and day. If it ever snows, that may be the end of the world.

My ex-roommate's birthday celebration in McDonald's.

With close friends in Pizza Hut.

A highway signboard in Malaysia.

What Now?

I’m happy that my roommate knows more about me and the country I originated from. She might not remember everything, but at least somebody knows about the place where I came from. Of course, I hope more people will come to know more about Malaysia. I will be glad to promote Malaysia to everyone in Tech. For this reason, I am really excited and look forward to the International Street Fair and International Week in Spring next year. My fellow Malaysian graduate friends are really glad that I’m here to help them out. I hope it will be a lot of fun!

Of Independence and being Independent

What?

Our 1st Prime Minister declaring our Independence in the Merdeka Stadium in 1957.

My beloved home country Malaysia celebrated her 53rd “Hari Merdeka” on August 31, 2010. This day brings happy and meaningful memories to Malaysians of all ages. On this date 53 years ago, the then Federation of Malaya was declared free from the British occupation after decades of hardships and sufferings. To the first leaders of Malaya, you will never be forgotten.

Me and my beloved sisters.

Being independent is important to survive in this competitive and ever-changing world. Born into a family with only female siblings, I was brought up performing challenging tasks at home. Thanks to our beloved know-it-all dad, all the knowledge that we obtained in the process comes in handy whenever we need it. I felt grateful for my dad after changing all the light bulbs in my apartment all on my own.

So What?

The true meaning of 1 Malaysia.

“Hari Merdeka” is remarkable; it brought people of all races in Malaysia together, be it Malays, Chinese, Indians, “Peranakans”, the indigenous as well as many others. We share different cultures, languages, beliefs and foods, and yet we live peacefully under an umbrella known as Malaysia. This is not a day’s work of course; we have our share of respect and tolerance that made us “1 Malaysia”.

My younger sister cleaning the fence for Chinese New Year.

Back at home, from changing fluorescent tubes, cleaning the ceiling fan to repairing the pipes, my siblings and I did practically all that we can do to help our parents out. As my dad is the only male in the family, we rely heavily on him to do things that we can’t. He taught us so many basic living skills that majority of people my age don’t possess. In my opinion, more and more people grow up being spoonfed.  When it is time for them to be on their own, they get into trouble because they have yet to learn how to be independent. This can be changed.

Now what?

The beautiful Teluk Chempedak Beach in my hometown.

Malaysia is a prosperous developing country that will never cease to be my home. Even though we have a hot and humid climate all year round, all the bad that we have may be just flash floods and isolated cases of “bad behaviors”. Otherwise, all is good. I miss Malaysia, especially the food! (and my family of course). Happy 53^rd Anniversary, Malaysia!

I believe.

As useful as it is, becoming independent is a life-long learning process that brings us forward and makes us good leaders in any institution, be it family, college or country. I want to be independent; that is why I came to Tech alone. I need to experience it firsthand and now I am. I believe and I know that I will be independent one day.