I think it is very valuable to know the difference in these three types of conversing. I believe that each of these tactics of conversation have their own place in communication and it is very valuable to know when to use each one and how to use it effectively. Communication is a huge part of being a leader and thus that is why it was included in our experience.

Ability is the most important social Identity to me and here is why. (Excerpt from our discussion)

Ever since I was born, my mom has been in a Wheelchair. Every time I walk into a room I take notice of people & what they are able to do. I also think about the things that I do or others do that some people might not be able to do. For example, I walked into a restaurant the other day & notice that my mom would be unable to access the majority of the restaurant when people normally take advantage of the simple ability to get to their seats at restaurants.

Self-awareness is vital. Everyone has a different image of you and There is no one in the world who sees the same version of you as another, including yourself. So it is important for us to recognize the key themes of how people view one another in terms of our power privilege and oppression in order to help better the lives and images of those around us.

To the right, you can see a p marked on a shirt for all of the privileges I have that others may not have which is not necessarily bad, but important to recognize. I feel as though it is important to learn and be comfortable with race and others when leading others. We can not properly lead others if we do not first understand them.

In particular the last photo and message with liberation involved, It had me thinking about the balance between systemization and liberation. If you get rid of "the wall" completely then you have now changed "the game" that you are watching for the worse. baseball is not baseball without a target destination to bat the ball towards. If you get rid of the wall completely then you would take away the most exciting part of the game: home runs. And I believe there is a balance to that. You can have the right wall where people can still enjoy watching, but also where everyone no matter what their opportunities can watch the game. In real life I think this is true as well. There is a balance to a system that is unfair and complete liberation from the system.

I think that this portion is a valuable asset to our experience in the McGill Program since The balance of equity and equality is a very important aspect of society as a whole.

I think it is very valuable to look at how intersectionality plays a role in society. These videos do a great job at explaining how the different aspects of our social identity might come to a crossroads and effect us in multiple ways at once. For example, I think that I have a lot of privilege as a white male and tend to have a lot of resources when it comes to these intersections. There is almost no discrimination and especially being in a Christian home with access to education and money, I basically cheating the odds. It is very important for someone like me to try and change the accidents that happen for some people due to intersectionality. For example, understanding these differences and what people go through will be extremely beneficial in collaboration in the workfield.

This session was mainly conversation led, but it was a very beneficial conversation about choosing a focus not only for our own lives but for our capstone, and for our academics. It included valuable discussion on good goal setting. I have a workshop on goal setting which I believe to be one of my strengths that I welcome anyone to talk with me about!

This session was all about setting SMART Goals and making sure you didn't get overwhelmed with your goals. It had valuable information for me regarding confirmation on how I set my goals and worked to achieve them and helped form some of the material in my Goal setting workshop that I host.

Clearly a very valuable session for leaders to be able to provide reasonable Smart goals for themselves and others.

Time management is the basis of success. If you cannot manage your time then you simply cannot be successful. This is the first most important step in being a good leader and that is why this is included in our experience. For example, I choose what I call "Non negotiables" these are things that I never miss, and I never plan things during. After that I have levels of priorities that I then choose to put my time towards. I view my time as a resource rather something I "Have." Whether I do something or not depends on the value I see in the "thing" and the amount that I want to do it. once I find out where that falls I will place it in its respective stage of importance on my schedule.

With the important inclusion of the difference between hearing and listening, this section was very valuable for a leader who needs to be able to communicate with those they are leading. Also learned valuable skills to listening with intent and what to listen for.

I watched 10 ways to have a better conversation. The biggest thing that I took away from the video, besides the amazing lesson that it taught me was the division of people and the question "why cant more people converse like this?" the problem is that it takes two people to have a conversation, so as long as both people are divided, or even one person in the conversation is divided and unwilling to compromise there will never be good conversation. Earlier this year I watched the doc. Social Delima which focused heavily on the division that technology is creating in people. And the fact that this division caused by disinformation will continue to grow until something happens to change ethical practices in technology.

This was probably the biggest topic that we talked about over the course of the Experience. We read a book by Brene Brown called Dare to Lead that dove deep into how to wrestle with vulnerability and what positive things come out of finally being fully vulnerable and real and holding yourself accountable for mistakes and good things as well.

I think that often times in life we are placed in situations that we do not know the answer. And I think that the video "How to become an expert in vulnerability" would agree and further that by saying MOST of the time we are placed in a situation where we don't know. For example I see that in my future career being a new hire desiring to learn and grow my career because I am curious and desire to learn and am good at learning. I love the mindset of setting a goal, because I am... It removes all of the hesitation and setbacks and reasons not to do something and replaces them with motivation and reasons TO do something.

In this session we learned a lot about different conflict situations, different ways people generally handle conflict, our own conflict management techniques, the conflict cycle, and then better tips for how to handle conflict.

This concept is really important to me because I feel as though conflict resolution and conflict management is the KEY to being a good leader/manager/partner. Some things that stuck out to me where the facts that we are using pre historic tools for modern problems (our brain) and the fact that Conflict creates a reality for us that is different than anyone elses reality. I cant help but take this information to my personal relationships and I found these videos very informative. Id say My favorite one was finding beauty in conflict, I think that was a really powerful video

In this session we learned about the relationship between shame, blame, & accountability. This was a valuable lesson because mistakes and messups are a part of life and shame is a general outcome from those functions. And thus learning to take the accountability and steer away from blame in leadership is a very valuable asset.

In this session we learned 7 foundational points to negotiation

1) Never split the difference

2) reposition Negotiation

3) Reframe as an opportunity

4) Know the why

5) Outline non-negotiables

6) Get creative in your problem solving

7) Know your back up plan

Knowing how to hold your own whilst still being a good leader and keeping things productive is very important.

In this session we learned about aligning our whats to include our whys so that we can find purpose in what we are doing. This session is a very person inward looking tool that is just as important. I think the key to avoiding burnout is by having a purpose and feeling important and motivated in what you are doing an in your life as a whole.

There is a test called the Extraordinary life self assessment that takes a look at whats and whys and helps you score your "satisfaction" with life

I scored an 84. I feel really good about this score. I noticed that the questions I felt really good about where my goals for myself and how Im working to achieve those goals. And also the questions about my own character and self in the now. The things that I want to work on to achieve a more extraordinary life are things such as money or other motivational things for example recognizing things I need to stop or slow down on. I have goals but I burn myself out often, and my hope is that I can organize that better and move forward with correcting that.

In this session we learned about ways to better your resume and in particular things you can include for representing the McGill program with material we have learned. It is important to know how to market yourself and take pride in the work we have put in to better ourselves as leaders. for example the following could be included as summary.

- Ability to balance the role of a leader. able to step down and let others excel, while using my own expertise.

- Strong sense of understanding peoples differences and cultures

- A deep knowledge of how to lead a diverse group of people.

- A deep knowledge of discrimination and how to combat that.

- the ability to better understand the people i'm leading in order to better lead them

This is an important session to have for leaders because self identity and strong character is essential for a leader. It is vital to first understand yourself before you can understand others.

I think it is important to have a brand so that you can, in some ways, be predictable and consistent as a leader. I also think that your brand should be easily shifted and changed when presented with good arguments or evidence for the need for change.

It is good to have a brand so that people know what to expect to from you and so "your actions can match your words" in a way. But it would never be a good thing to be so caught up in your brand that it isn't sharpened and improved by experiences or conversations.

I also think there should be attributes to your brand that line up with your core values that do not change that help your identity become solid. It is a careful balance.

If I were to say something about my brand it would relate to "logic and reason and care for others."

In this session we saw a lot of how to adequately display what the McGill Program has offered us and connect it to the real world and what employers are looking for in their leadership positions.

Included to really show how valuable the Program is.