This is coming in late, but I did the responses in the book and generated some good ideas so I'm going to put this out there anyway. I want to start with the quote on page 63:
"If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."
-Antoine de Saint-Exupery
And Kouzes words just prior to that, "You have to paint a compelling picture of the future, one that enables constituents to experience viscerally what it would be like to actually experience and participate in an exciting and uplifting future." Chapter four has spoken to me more deeply than any other of Kouzes' chapters as of yet. I spoke in my 'Leader' speech about inspiration, "I want to be able to inspire;" it was the last of all my goals, the epitome of all the dreams for myself. When I did the exercises at the end of this chapter, I found first that the patterns and themes for my "turning points" all equaled to Adaptation; every single experience necessitated an immediate change of plan and a permanent change of plan. My injury junior year of high school ended my competitive athletic career; my grandpa and high school English teacher begged me to consider Creative Writing as a study and career; my choice to come to Montana State literally moved my entire life. The second part of the exercises really stuck with me though because what I found was that my ultimate goal for myself and my projects and for my audiences is inspiration. I want my work to inspire. I almost think this chapter should have come before the values chapter because this better helped me understand my goal - my ultimate value: inspiration.
No comments:
Post a Comment