In an e-mail Feinberg sent us it said, "It is clear that you got it. Now the question must be can you live it?" I think this statement has a lot of bearing on the situation right now. We are done with CSR 309; done with learning the ins and outs of leadership. Its clear by the grades on some of my papers that I 'got it,' but can I live it?

If I were to evaluate my leadership ability and how it advanced throughout the semester, I do not think I did anything extravagant. I did step up in one group and become the leader, but there is not really a whole lot to it. I am running for vice president of a club I'm involved in, and hopefully I'll be a great leader next year. I have little reminders scattered throughout my room, purse, and car to remind me what it takes to be a great leader, but what it all comes down to is living it, right?

I now set goals on Sundays of what I want to accomplish in that week. I have goals for this semester, summer, etc. I try to bring love to other people's lives; little things that hopefully make a big difference. I have not figured out a way to make a big difference, but that's one of my goals.

CSR 309 was more than class to me and I'm pretty sure to just about everyone else who has ever taken the class. I believe it changed my life, maybe not on a large scale at this point, but I will always remember the lessons learned and try to implement them in my life every day.

Yesterday's lecture was one of my favorite so far. Dr. Feinberg talked about making decisions, something I will admit is not a strong point of mine. When it comes to a formal situation I have the ability to make a strong decision when the time comes, but in my personal life I postpone decisions as long as I can (and I'm very good at it).

A lesson Feinberg stressed again and again was that everyone needs to have a say in the decision; if they do not, then they will most likely not follow along with it. I have been working at Bath and Body Works in the mall since the beginning of the year. I started there as a Customer Sales Lead (a "kinda" manager) in charge of shipment. I'm not in that position anymore but merely a sales associate since that position was only needed during Christmas time. I really enjoy this job and have learned a lot from my managers. The co-manager of the store, Pam, is a very good leader and I feel I can learn a lot from her.

Pam is a good decision maker. During Christmas time she knew she did not know how shipment was getting put away, so if there was a question or a decision that needed to be made about it, she asked me, I guess you could say I was the "expert" when it came to shipment. Even though I'm not in that position anymore she still came to me when it came time to move our store to a different location and the backroom needed organized. I was put in charge of deciding where everything would go, and was given a small team to help me. This was difficult task. For heavens sake, I had no idea where the best spot for the shower gel would be, and where were we going to put the antibacteria soap!

So during the three days of moving I asked the members of my team, as well as the management staff, where the best place to put something would be if I did not already have a plan for it. I knew that once the store was ready to open I would not always be the person working, and what works for me might not work for the rest of the employees. Because I allowed others to have an input on the decision they all felt more a part of it and followed along with it. The backroom runs smoothly now and I'm very proud of the way my team and I put it together, not to mention I received much validation for my efforts!