Values

“It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” 
― Roy Disney

Everyday you come in contact with things and events that make you test your personal values. I think our values come from the environment we are a part of and some we are just born with. The idea of nature vs nurture. I honestly think your values have to do with more of nurture. I know personally I value almost all of the same things that my parents and my family does. My parents raised me to reach for the stars and surround myself with people who would help me reach my goals and align with my own values. You can assure you are spending time on things you value by being aware of what you are doing and thinking before you do something, does this really align with what I believe in. In high school my dad would always tell me "think before you do something" of course I made mistakes at some points but I definitely learned form this and it has allowed me to become more congruent with my values and actually live out what I believe in. Some things I personally value are family, acceptance, trust, forgiveness, love, drive, friendship, my sisters, learning and independence. I am spending most of my time on learning, my sisters, friends and family. I need to focus on acceptance I value when people accept me for who I am so I need to be congruent with that and not judge people but accept them for who they are. I also need to focus on forgiveness when something goes wrong whether it be with a friend or with one of my sisters I am one to hold on to it forever and not forget about it but I need to show that value more and forgive and forget.

Personal values can be contributed into shared group values through adaptation. Being a leader I realize that I will not always be right and other people will have ideas that align with their values and this goes along with acceptance and listening to their values and adapting them to the group idea to develop ideas that create shared values for everyone. I personally do not think it is possible to always be a person of congruence there are times when you will slip up and that is when you need to step back and realize I was not aligning with my values and learn from that mistake. I think being a leader in the greek community helps because your sense of congruence develops and you are more aware that everyone watches what you do. That is why I strive to lead by example and display my values in my actions so people cannot come at me and say well you said this but did this so what should I believe or do. I want to be someone who is congruent in their actions so people take me seriously and value the ideas I bring to the table.

Vision statement

When first starting to think about my vision statement I thought about all the things that I enjoy doing and being a part of. I love my family more than words I honestly don't know what I would do without them. My cousins are my best friends. College would be nothing without Delta Zeta and the opportunities I have been apart of. Although school sometimes is stressful I truly enjoy learning new things everyday. I also love working out it is such a great stress reliever for me and allows me to eat the food I want to eat. I love watching sports all my life I have grown up going to different sports events with my family from Detroit Tigers baseball games to LPGA golf tournaments to college football and basketball and now Blue Jackets hockey games, Ohio State football, basketball and hockey games, I can say sports are a big part of my life. I would also say leadership is a big part of my life I grew up and literally everyday my dad would tell me "be a leader not a follower" and that has lead me to where I am today, President of Delta Zeta sorority at The Ohio State University. When thinking about my vision statement I also thought of things that I struggle with and need to work on. One being my impatience, I am very impatient and when I want something done it should have been done five minutes ago. Since taking on the presidency I have learned to let this go a little bit because I know not everyone works at the same pace as I do. I also struggle with instant gratification, I like to get things right away. When I order a package online I expect it to be at my doorstep an hour later, naturally this doesn't happen. I also struggle with being sympathetic to others, I am not the friend that you come crying when something has gone wrong, of course I will be there for you but that is not how I am. I have learned I need to be sympathetic because there will be times in my presidency when people come to me and just want to talk and I will be there to listen. I would say my personal vision reads something like this

"I lead a life of giving 100% in everything I do, to the best of my ability. I know there will be hard times but things could always be worse. There will always be people to lean on when you need help, family, friends, exec board, advisors, no matter what other people are going through the same problems as you. Remember in order to play hard you have to work hard. School  can get tough but you will be rewarded in the end. I know how much I enjoy the experiences I have at Ohio State and in Delta Zeta, needless to say the future looks bright. Remember to be mindful of other's emotions and make time for yourself."

Week 5

Vision: What is the ideal future for this organization?
Aims: Why does this organization exist?
Values: How do we agree to treat ourselves and others as we pursue our mission and vision?

In my chapter I would say we all have a clear vision and that stems from the aim of the organization and our values help shape our vision. Vision, aims, and values are definitely all intertwined within one another. One vision we have as an organization is to recruit the best girls each and every year and to grow as a chapter. Our values help shape that vision because we recruit girls who share the same values as us. Our creed is a good representation of Delta Zeta's values

"To the world I promise temperance, insight, and courage. To crusade for justice to seek the truth and defend it always. To those who my life may touch in slight measure may I give graciously of what is mine. To my friends understanding and appreciation. To those closer ones love that is ever steadfast. To my mind growth To my self faith that I may walk  truly in the light of the flame".

If we recruit women who do not exemplify the aims of the founder's in our creed then we will not have a clear vision and women will not share the same values. That is why it is important to evaluate the women in your chapter, get to know them and the things they value so you can continue to grow together.

Controversy vs. Conflict a fine line. Conflict has two distinct sides and people align with one side or the other. While controversy has different opinions on the issues but different sides are not staked out and people can come together and listen to each other to come up with a solution. No one likes to deal with conflict so I think people need to start looking at differences more from a controversy with civility lens and allowing each other to speak in a dialogue about the differences and what each side wants to do instead of making it a conflict where someone always has to loose. Controversy with civility is much more productive than conflict. This is often hard with girls, when there is a conflict someone thinks they are right and will not listen to what the other person has to say and it turns into a screaming match to see who can talk the loudest. Although this does not happen frequently next time it does I am going to step back and see how the situation can be handled from a controversy with civility standpoint instead of a conflict standpoint.

Blog 4

In a world where everyone is a part of groups or teams I find that many people interchange the words collaborate, cooperate, and compromise. The biggest difference is that collaboration is reaching a mutual goal, something that the whole group agrees on. I think this is very hard in groups because everyone has different opinions and no one ever wants to deviate from what they want to do. Because of this there is usually always compromise or cooperation and not collaboration. Personally I view collaboration as the most successful way to get people together since everyone is reaching a common goal instead of cooperating on individual goals or compromising to meet in the middle. It is challenge when one or more members does not to work collaboratively you have to somehow convince them that the idea or project is worth their time, sell it to them so they will want to work together to reach that common goal. I believe competition can be motivation to collaborate if the competition is with another organization. I know from personal experience Delta Zeta comes together to collaborate and reach a common goal of winning when they are competing against other organizations or teams. This was recently demonstrated when our buckeyethon team collaborated and all had a common goal of being the top Greek fundraising team. With the competition of beating other teams our women collaborated to raise as much money as they could, because of this we were the greek chapter that raised the most money for Nationwide Children's Hospital and Children's Miracle Network. Our chapter has also recently collaborated with our advisors to create a professionalism capsule about how to deal with interviewing, email etiquette and much more. This came up when one of our executive board members saw girls sending her unprofessional emails she expressed this concern to the advisors and they decided to collaborate and create a capsule to teach girls about professionalism (the common goal). The capsule was very informative and the chapter enjoyed it. All in all sometimes collaboration can be hard but in the end the result is worth it.