EGL @ Leadership Connections

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May 06, 2009

Day 3: Where We Are, Where We Want to Be

Greetings from the still dry (keep your fingers crossed) Camp Michigania ~ Day 3!

Though a few of us were still upset about the Red Wings loss last night (or early this morning rather), we woke earlier than before to get a good start on our day.

Our first task consisted of recollection of the personal values and beliefs that we came up with the night before. Division into groups of seven then followed where we played Jeopardy against the other teams. Jeopardy had four categories (supermarkets, financial organizations, universities, and communication companies). Each question presented a mission statement for an unknown institution. The goal was to guess which institution the mission statement belonged to. It was very surprising to see how many mission statements did not agree with some of our personal opinions of each institution.

We then were lead into an activity about the values of our own student groups. First, each individual member selected their personal top five values (from the same deck as last night) that EGL stands for. After comparing the values we set for EGL and our personal values, it was surprising to see many differences. However, we came to the conclusion that our individual values were much different than the values our group should have due to the unique contribution each member adds to the group as a whole.

Though the previous task was not easy, we didn't know that a harder task was ahead of us. As a group, we were instructed to collaborate the top three values for EGL. With varying opinions, we took part in a healthy debate. The values that were discussed were:
-accomplishment
-improvement
-learning
-teamwork
-ambition
-diversity
-quality
-collaboration

Though many overlapped and everyone's interpretation of certain words were different, we came together and selected three (presented in no particular order):
-diversity
-accomplishment
-improvement

Just as we began to wonder how our values met our mission, the facilitators created an activity to do just that. Our findings were miraculously accurate. As a reminder, EGL's mission statement is the following:

"The EGL Honor Society looks to develop and leverage the collective skills of its members in an effort to make a siginficant contribution to the University and the community. EGL has four interrelated purposes:
1. To serve as n Honors Program within the College of Engineering that recognizes a student's conmmitment to academic excellence while pursuing a rigorous curriculum leading to both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering.
2. To improve a student's ability to live and work effectively in an increasingly global society through the development of intercultrural communication skills and the study of the language, history, and customs of a region of the world.
3. To encourage and foster an understanding of business principles by integrating coursework offered by the Ross School of Business into the engineering educational experience.
4. To develop each student's potential to become a future leader in engineering and business through the successful completion of a synthesis team project through the Tauber Institute for Global Operations, leadership modules, networking and engagement in a strong and active society with students and alumni of similar abilities and aspirations."

After relating these to our values, it was easy to see that our selections were quite accurate. Each purpose of our mission statement was satisfied by at least two of our three values.
Purpose 1: met via improvement & accomplishment
Purpose 2: met improvement & diversity
Purpose 3: met improvement & diversity
Purpose 4: met improvement, diversity, & accomplishment

Though our task was tough, we felt a sense of accomplishment (no pun intended) after this activity. It was by far the top moment thus far we have had as a group.

After another delicious meal, we regathered to asses the organizational culture of EGL. Organizational Culture consists of the purpose, values, practice, and projection of a group.

The purpose was the fundamental reason the organization exists. Values are what the organization stands for, or the prime belief that directs how things are run. On the other hand, practices and projections will change with time as they are based on the internal and external things that EGL does. Practices are where your organization lives out the priorities, both internally and externally. Projects are how your organization markets itself, how the group informs others about itself.

After dinner we had a two-hour session on goal-setting. We all found this to be very worthwhile. We learned about the state of an organization and how many factors can create various outcomes. The key parts of an organization are:
*vision
*skills
*incentives
*resources
*an action plan
*results
All these put together create CHANGE!

Possible outcomes when one is missing are: confusion, anxiety, resistance or frustration. Then we individually brainstormed goals for EGL in the generation segment of the session. When we returned to the group, the five of us created a web of goals.

The top three tangible goals based on our discussion were:

1) Determine new ways to fundraise and implement them! Use money to fund the new incentives program and other EGL events.
2) Engage membership, specifically new members, with a retreat/survival guide and a strong push for mentorship "pods."
3) Help brand EGL in a positive manner through collaboration in social/cultural events.

Other goals (some reachable, some not) consisted of:
- Figure out how to improve the website so that it caters to the membership, alumni, and corporate sponsors.
- Find ways to increase input and provide immediate, visual results
- Create an international buddy program push.
- Tweak the board (when adding new Membership Chair) and reevaluate the board's office hours. Consider making the office hours offer activities that relate to each board position.

We would like to get more input from the membership about these goals as the members at LC did last year. As the summer progresses and as we return to campus next fall, we look forward to hearing various opinions on our ideas about EGL. Feel free to leave a comment on the blog, in fact we would love to hear from you!

Speaking of goals, (and the fact that it is hump day) encourages us to evaluate how we are doing on the goals that we made for this camp.
* We have all made new friends and strengthened relationships - both within EGL and outside of EGL
* We have learned about other societies and are formulating lunches in the next few days to plan events.
* We have represented EGL well - we have in fact become a common group to "poke" here at LC

Lastly Facebook updates!
- EGL is now a genie in a bottle baby, you better rub us the right way
- EGL accepted an invitation with SGE for a dinner date tomorrow. No formal attire required.
- EGL was superpoked by SWE (must be Ben... read below)

After finishing these goals and writing to you fellow bloggers, we will head to the bonfire by Walloon Lake. There will be smores, camp fire songs, and overall a lot fun.

Cheers,

Claudio, Chelsea, Ben, Nick and Tom

P.S. Ben Don saved the president of SWE in her dream last night. As Taylor Swift would put it, Ben Don has traded in his unicycle for a set of armor and a white horse.

Posted by tgham at May 6, 2009 11:36 AM

Comments

Posted by: jnanry at May 7, 2009 12:13 AM

Posted by: brumao at May 7, 2009 02:06 AM

Posted by: sjed at May 8, 2009 12:25 PM

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