Dear everyone

Dear everyone,

Thank you for the great class!! I think we are the best class of sophomore English classes. It seems to me that we always made a good circumstance of each class that contributed for win-win result for us. Each member had good consciousness of leadership.
As regards myself... Classes are over. Just final exams left. My time in ICU has passed so fast. I have known the word "The older you get, the more you think time passes quickly". But this word rather than being a general lesson is actually the word that has been really brought home to me lately.
One day, when I walked around in ICU library, I found a piece of graffiti on the wall. It said "Could you find what you were looking for?" I have gradually found what I would like to do in the future. So now I have hope in my future.
From now on I intend to make good use of this valuable class.

The next adventure is about to begin!!

Shaw

Personal Narrative Story

A practice of negotiation

 -a chronicle of my brilliant struggle-

     Recently, my grandfather has begun to live with our family because he aggravated relations with my grandmother. They had lived together in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture. They have three children. Oldest daughter is my mother, oldest son is my uncle, and second daughter, who is the youngest child, is my aunt. My family, of course including my mother, lives in Funabashi City, Chiba prefecture. Though my uncle and aunt live in Matsumoto, they didn’t want to live with my grandfather, so my family accepted him. He packed up his things and left from Matsumoto, which is the country he loved so much. However, before he arrived at Funabashi, we got to know the truth of this event. Initially, our family was told that it was my grandfather’s guilt to aggravate relations with my grandmother, but it was completely wrong. It was my grandmother’s guilt. Every time our family visiting Matsumoto, it seemed that my grandfather and grandmother was happily married. But it was wrong. My grandmother pretended to be a good couple because she didn’t want us to worry. In fact, my grandmother had disliked her husband from her marriage. She hated all his actions. She couldn't hold out any longer, so she kicked out him.

     Initially, we lived without any problems. But a big problem appeared. We have a white cute dog. We let him (our dog) run loose in our house. My grandfather didn’t like dogs. One day my grandfather asked us "Please get the dog on a leash, and never let him run loose in our house". Generally speaking, dogs like to be unconfined and this is good for their health because this prevent them from having less stress. So we answered "Sorry, but this dog is one of our family as well as you". Then he said "No. Please get the dog on a leash if not, I will get out from this house". At the moment I naively understood why my grandmother disliked him. My family wanted grandfather live together happily. We faced conflict. At that time I felt this conflict was a huge wall and wouldn't overcome it.

     I came up with idea that we would decide when to let our dog run loose in our house, that is, we would get him on a leash outside that time. My father and mother agreed with this idea. So I told it to my grandfather, that is, I negotiated with him. The answer was OK. He said a word of thanks to me. The negotiation was supposed to succeed. We were supposed to get win-win result.

     Everyone in my house believed that everything was going to do well. But a few weeks later my grandfather decided to go back to his own house. He said "Well, I was happy to live with you. A few months I passed here was valuable and something that provoked me. One thing that I've realized about living here is an unanswerable difference in life rhythm between the young and the old. I couldn't adapt in your life rhythm. I knew you cared for me in lots of things, but this problem is something I cannot deal with". He thanked us again and promised us that he would live happily in his old home than ever.

     I think what my family did for my grandfather was not wrong. We solved one problem by negotiation, but faced a problem which we couldn't solve with negotiation (probably with any ways). But I don't give up the shoe. From now on I will try to find a good solution for any problems whenever I will go. And with this experience in mind I will definitely solve any problems and conflicts that will challenge me.

About Carlos Ghosn

1. Who is Carlos Ghosn?

• Name: Carlos Ghosn, KBE (Arabic: كارلوس غصن)
• Brazilian-born French businessman
• The Chairman and CEO of Japan-based Nissan and Paris-based Renault
• Can speak 6 languages: Arabic, Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, and Japanese
• Nicknames “le cost killer", "Mr. Fix It”

2. His Chronicle

1. Born in Port, Brazil between Lebanese Brazilian father and Lebanese French mother
2. Moved to Beirut, Lebanon when he was 6 years old
3. Moved to France and graduated from Mines ParisTech
4. Became COO of Nissan in 1999
5. Became president of it in 2000 and was named CEO in 2001

3. What he did?

• Rescued Nissan from near bankruptcy in the late 1990s
• Achieved celebrity status and ranks as one of the 50 most famous men in global business and politics. 
• Was Called "the ultimate rock star of the industry" he has been recruited to run at least two other automakers, General Motors and Ford

4. His View

• He speaks Japanese to Japanese workers in order to tell directly what he wants them to do
• He respects every worker
• His core strategy is “Cross Functionality”

5. Strategy “Cross Functionality”

• To communicate without restraint, regardless of classes and fields
• He lend his ear to every worker
• He emphasizes “Communication is important for Business Management

6. Other Strategies

• Be willing to understand others
• Always be open, Never live in a shell
• Have great endurance
• Be curious about any trivial things
• Absorb willingly what you feel good

What I learned from Mr. Hill's presentation

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Hill personally and to extend my appreciation to Ken for providing such an outstanding presentation which I will miss greatly.
I learned from Mr. Hill lots of things particularly strategies for Dynamic. All what he said were interesting, but some of them particularly caught my heart. Let me tell you those.

"You have to have VICES to be a good leader"

VICES are...

Vision

We must have real vision for a prosperous future. This is Shackleton's Strategy 1. Set a ultimate goal and never lose sight of it, and focus energy on short-term objectives in order to achieve it.

Integrity

Integrity means wholeness. In morality/ethics, it means having a point of view about what is right, doing what is right, and — at the highest level — taking a stand to correct what is not right. This is Shackleton's Strategy 6. Minimize status differences and insist on courtesy and mutual respect.

Competency

Leaders have some competencies for leadership. It is not so special because without such competencies, they cannot be leaders. Some people have potential as leaders and others don't. It is because whether they have leadership competency or not. "This is just the real world". Mr, Hill told us. If you find you don't have potential as a leader, you should change your way. You may be suited to support leader. This is Shackleton's Strategy 3. Instill optimism and self-confidence, but stay grounded in reality. There is always another new goal.

Efficiency

He said "Quantity is nothing to get upset about. Rather, make quality the first priority". Working too hard is not efficient. Take measurable rest. This is Shackleton's Strategy 4. Take care of your self: Maintain your stamina and let fo of guilt.

Sustained Success

Every leaders must have sustained success. The real test of leadership is not in the moment, but in the long term. Of course, our decisions at any moment can positively or negatively affect the long-term health of the business.

As the worldwide economy continues to improve, there will be a host of leaders who will be determined to show that they are getting great results right now. We might even be one of them. It is important for us to do our best to focus on long-term success as well as the next quarterly report. I think this is what Mr, Hill wanted to tell us. This is Shackleton's Strategy 2. Set a personal example with visible, memorable symbols and behaviors.

Text Case Studies Jigsaw Chapter 14

Chapter 14, Jack Creighton of Weyerhaeuser

     The company involved in this chapter 14 is Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the nation’s largest owners of timberlands and a world leader in the production of wood and paper. The leader was Jack Creighton, a president and chief operating officer of Weyerhaeuser Company in 1988.

     The particular challenge that he faced was financial performance. The company was lagging behind its competitors in the forest products industry. It was “A Crisis of Confidence” for the company. His actions were these followings. He reviewed all of the company’s business and operations, and reset and emphasized the ultimate goal, and short-term objectives and focused energy on latter. He thought strategically about the company’s future course. The realities of financial performance were not good, but he instilled optimism and self-confidence, but stayed grounded in reality. He reinforced the team message constantly, and set personal examples. There are three main strategies used. First Strategy 1, second Strategy 9, and last, Strategy 5.

What I learned from Mr. Kitashiro's presentation

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Kitashiro personally and to extend my appreciation to Ken for providing such an outstanding presentation which I will miss greatly.
I learned from Mr. Kitashiro lots of things particularly strategies for leaderships. All what he said were interesting, but some of them particularly caught my heart. Let me tell you those.

1. Never give up, but withdraw if necessary
2. Walk the talk, lead by example
3. Take calculated risk

As for the first, I wondered how we know when to withdraw because when we are so concentrated in one thing, we would be lost in the lure and would not be able to see when to quit. So I asked him about it after class. He answered "You would know when to quit by learning through experience, so just go through lots of things. Intuition is everything".
As for the second, it means "Do what you said", "Carry out your word", or "Make good on your promise". It is important for a leader to say something and take up the running.
As for the third, it is mentioned in Chapter 3 & 10. A leader must understand the effect of failure. Then, search for a good solution with great creativity.

Expedition Log.10 "Tenacious Creativity"

This chapter is a perfect complement to chapter 3. Chapter 3 showed the importance of having optimism in (with) reality "Optimism at The Edge means believing that somehow, someway, the team will succeed".

But it is one-half of the true strategy. The other half of the true strategy is expecting things will go wrong. You may think it is somewhat paradoxical, but in fact, it is quite true. So this chapter shows the way to expect bad things and daunt it. It is mobilizing the collective, tenacious creativity of the team to find a solution. The followings are key phrases.
"Tenacious creativity demands flexibility, and it requires recognizing what works and what doesn't".
"Do not dismiss any idea, no matter how farfetched, without thoroughly considering it".
"Think the unthinkable, and encourage others to do so as well".

Answers for Questions

1. I have somewhat tenacious creativity about problems and obstacles. I expect some bad things will happen in a certain way, so I am not surprised at their comings.

2. I devise a better method when things go wrong as McNealy. Sometime It requires me lots of time, but it is worth of doing it. I don't know the exact tolerance level for potentially frustrating events, but I think it is high.

3. I'm not sure I have such a process, but I don't cast aside "troublemakers".

4. I sometimes tell my organization that there are lots of ways to do something. If you face a big wall, you can change your way to approach it. I think this strategy is "Catalyst" in terms of chemistry.

Case study of negotiation

I got a case study of negotiation. Let me tell you.

Recently, my grandfather has began to live with our family because of some reasons. Initially, we lived without any problems. But a big problem appeared. We have a white cute dog. We let him (our dog) run loose in our house. My grandfather doen't like him (our dog). One day my grandfather asked us "Please get the dog on a leash, and never let him run loose in our house". Generally speaking, dogs like to be unconfined and this is good for their health. For, the condition make them have less stress. So we answered "Sorry, but this dog is one of our family as well as you". Then he said "No. Please get the dog on a leash if not, I will get out from this house". We want grandfather live together happily. We faced conflict. At that time I flet this conflict was a huge, huge wall and our family wouldn't overcome it. So, what did we do?

I came up with idea that we  would decide when to let our dog run loose in our house, that is, we would get him on a leash outside that time. My father and mother agreed with this idea. So I told it to my grandfather, that is, I negotiated with him. The answer was OK. He said a word of thanks to me. The negotiation was supposed to be right.

P.S.
Everyone in my house believed that everything were going to do well. But a few weeks later my grandfather decided to go back to his own house in Nagano. He said "Well, I was happy to live with you. A few months I passed here was valuable and something that provoked me. One thing that I've realized about living here is an unanswerable difference in life rhythm between the young and the old. I couldn't adapt in your life rhythm. I knew you cared for me in lots of things, but this problem is something I cannot deal with". He thanked us again and promised us that he would live happily in his old home than ever.

I think what my family did for my grandfather was not wrong. We solved one problem by negotiation, but faced a problem which we couldn't solve with negotiation (probably with any ways). But I don't give up the shoe. From now on I will try to find a good solution for any problems whenever I will go. And I will definitely solve any problems and conflicts that will challenge me.

Expedition Log.8 "Lighten Up!"

This strategy is the most interesting strategy of the ten strategies to me because I've always thought how important to lighten up people is. I think however hard time we are in, we must not forget having such a mind. I agree with "Yet, under extreme pressure, the ability to lighten up, celebrate, and laugh can make all the difference".
I read about this in today's paper. Noda gets a birthday cake from Obama at G-8 working dinner. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120519p2g00m0dm131000c.html
Before dealing with a difficult meeting, U.S. President Barack Obama celebrated our prime minister. He hes been in under extreme pressure now and he is staking his political career. So, Obama rewarded him for his services and made him relax. I don't think there are humans who dislike to be celebrated. So, it is important to do it in order not only to make organization bond firm but also to be a good man.
As for Laugh, it is important for our health, too. In medical way, it is used to cheer up patients. I am trying to find laugh and let someone have fun and laugh at.

Answers for Questions

1. Yes, of course. I always celebrate successes and achievements of my teammates regardless of how important the success is.

2. I'm always looking for any successes and achievements.

3. I characterize my organization spontaneous. Everyone in my organization have their own thoughts and say it. So, I am easy to discuss anything.

4. Some of them don't feel free to themselves. I should make them feel easy. In order to do that, I will hold a drinking session.

5. They have not been able to do such things yet.

6. Regardless of something wrong happening, I always use humor to do our work happily.

7. Yeah, of course. My life itself is something to be laughed.

Expedition Log.5 "The Team Message"

"Teamwork" is similar to "Kizuna" in recent Japan. Kizuna has become something of a modern rallying cry in today's Japanese society. Initially, it was used to make people's bonds firm in order to overcome the hard time, but it became obsolescence with time. There come people who even don't want to hear the word. It's shame. We must use words in proper ways, opportunities, and amounts.

This chapter tells us the importance of creating a solid team and sending a strong message of unity.

People tend to think our organization work is just to help players play the piano pleasantly, but it is not correct. It is true that it is players that entertain audience, but we also do. We arrange tables and chairs, set up sound equipment. It is not for only players but also for listeners. We hope people listen to classic music easy and good sound quality. Our organization are sharing this identity. Thanks to this identity, our bonds are firm and do work sincerely.

We often communicate with each other. As we are college students, it is difficult to meet each day at full strength. But thanks to the technology, we have many tools for communication. We use Skye, e-mail, and facebook. Everyday, we check our team mate's recent events and response to their comments. By doing this, we avoid drifting away.

Every person in my organization has his her work and they feel they have responsibility for their work. We respect each person's work, so we don't interfere with our team mate's work except for some extraordinary reason. In such case, we talk with him or her and have a think together.

We have work which is cut out for us. It is true that we should challenge work to which we give a wide berth, but our job consists of our pleasantness. So we need not challenge, but do our work in full steam.

Expedition Log.3 "Optimism and Reality"

From this chapter, I've learned the strategy "Instill optimism and self-confidence, but stay grounded in reality."
My high school teacher once said "Have passion like ice." I think these are same meaning.
In order to achieve this strategy, it is important to pay attention to these flowing things.
Cultivate optimism in myself
Spread the spirit of optimism
Build the right team "optimism quotient"
Know how to reframe a tough situation: If bad things happen, it is chance!! Change danger into your opportunity!!
Stay grounded in reality: Have passion like ice

Expedition Log
When I am faced with adversity or potential setback, I will tell myself that I can overcome it. I will imagine how happy I will be after overcoming it, and with this happy feeling, I will tackle it again. I can make changes to this self-talk that will create a more optimistic and enable me to bounce back more quickly. This is specific thought. The more specifically I think that how happy I will become after overcoming the adversity or potential setback, the more energy and happy feeling I can get. The word "specific" is important. My organization members are worried about our plans of activity for the future. So I would like to instill my optimism. I will say "Imagine that we succeed!!" to them with loud and kind voice. In fact, my organization lacks optimism, so I must tell them the importance of optimism. Thanks to this thought, I can stay in touch with reality and getting the full picture of my personal and organization's goal. I think people are not confortable when they give me bad news by looking at their faces.

My sentence

"He worked hard to dispel concerns about radioactive contamination from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant accident"

These days there are lots of information about radioactive materials. But most of them are not collect. Because of that people are warring beyond necessity, or paying less attentions to them.
Some people left Fukushima prefecture to escape from radioactive materials. However, they say they will go back to Fukushima an year or so. It serves no purpose because half-life of radioactive materials (uranium) are 30 years.
I am going to investigate radioactive materials and find out how to decrease half-life of them. If I can do that, I am able to give appropriate information to people, so that they live happily without warring about the danger of radioactive materials.

About negotiation -What I learned from Monday and Wednesday class-

I didn't understand negotiation rightly. When I hear the word "negotiate", I always image "make a deal" by communication. But it is different from the meaning of negotiation. Negotiation is communication for something. Making a deal is incidental of doing negotiation. It is not the end of negotiation.

Expedition Log.2 "Vision and Quick Victories"

Before going to communicate two visions (first is my personal short and long vision as a leader and second is for the organization), I need to tell you what organization I belong to as a next leader. My organization is DHPC. DHPC is an abbreviation for "Dining Hall Piano Concert". It is the club activity that manage concerts held at the dining hall in ICU.

Defining a Long-Term Vision

1. My personal vision

I think there are two qualities and behaviors that will be required for me to lead my organization to The Edge.

First is treating every member equally, that is, never treating someone differently. Since human being, I may have likes and dislikes of some members. But even so, I must treat every member equally. I must look at their eyes while communicating with them. When a person who wants to join with us comes, I will be willing to welcome him or her. I help him or her to make friends with other members as much as I can.

Second is being flexible but having non-negotiable thoughts. Be willing to accept critical feedback. Members may give critical feedback to me. It cannot be said that others think things you think are right are right. However, being too flexible is not good because it means an easy compromise. Look after your non-negotiable thoughts.

Third is making a good relationship between members.

2. The Edge Goal for our organization

Never be afraid of failure because success is an extension of failure, not opposite sides. So, in order to achieve this goal, we must do the following thing.

Facing failure and making the most of our setback. It is important to hold a meeting to review the each concert.

Focusing Energy on Short-Term Goals

1 & 2. Key opportunities for action and structures and routines for them

It is important to hold a meeting for our activity once a week and assign work to members. So they feel they have roles in this organization and have a sense of momentum and forward movement.

3. "Engaging distractions"

I assign work to a member who is not in charge of it usually. He or she can have an experience the novel sensation and find new charms in the work.

4. Milestones

I measure success on the journey our expedition has undertaken by seeing the number of audience. If our activity is good, lots of students and teachers will come to listen to a concert.

4/16, 18 Lecture

I learned first impression is very important. In order to make a good impression, we should make sure that we do
1. Good posture
2. Proper eye contact
3. Good handshake
4. Smiling

The simple way to memorize what we should do is to mind "SOFTEN". "SOFTEN" is Smile, Open stance, Forward lean, Tone, Eye contact, Nod". Essences are all in this word.

Expedition Log.1 "Preface"

I belonged to Ski club when I was a high school student. There were a few members when I was a first year student, and there were none who was a first year student except me. Older students didn’t have passion to invite students, so after they dropped out, I was only a member of the club finally. There came a crisis that our (my) ski club was on the verge of breaking up. Finally, I found the way to break through this crisis.
First was to give students lots of information about my club. The way to archive this is to pass out and post bills. Simple, but important, specific, and accurate information was in the bill.
Second was to present students about my club. It was not enough to understand my club by just reading the bill. So it was important to make a speech to students directly.
Third was to answer no matter how trivial the question was.

Then, as a result of my efforts, the number of my club member increased, and we could participate in many ski meets.

I think it is important to find a right way to break through problems and blocks from my experience. But if the way is wrong, you may not succeed. So please make sure you have to get the right way.

About me!!

Hi, I'm Shaw.
My name comes from George Bernard Shaw, a very famous playwright.

You may wonder why my name on the list (the picture) Ken gave us is Sho. The reason why this happened is that ICU office required me to use "Sho" as my name.
I'm from Chiba, and live in Musashi-koganei alone.
I belong to "ICU Runners". This is the club activity where you can run anytime you want to. All you have to do is just to send email that you want to run the following day to ICU Runners's email list.
I'm interested in Chemistry, and want to study radiochemistry. Last year, Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster happend and lots of people are suffering from radioactive materials. So I want to study more about radioactive materials and contribute to radiochemistry.
The reason why I chose this class is that I want to learn the skills that is needed to be a leader. Everyone can be a leader whatever the situation is. For example, father, a teacher, a chief, and so on. So the skills to lead others are very important.

Nice to meet you :)