Art Appreciation
For the first 7 weeks of term one of my modules was Art Appreciation. This was something id never done before and therefore I was curious to see what it ws about. In this class we looked at many famous buildings like the White House. When looking at the different buildings we analysed their design. Using many words id never come across before like triglets, gib door and scaling. When examining the pillars we could identify their order, that is either iconic, doric or Corinthian. We looked at the fabulous work of the Francin brothers. The one thing that really stuck out to me in all the Georgian Buildings was that they were symmetrical.
This was a very interesting module for me because I learned things that I had never learned about before. I also did a project on Mary Cassatt which was extremely interesting.
Leadership
Project
Chapter 1
What is leadership?
A leader is someone who has followers due to their beliefs and what their ideas are. Leadership is about being able to inspire those around you and gain followers because of this ability. Leadership is not about being bossy or controlling its about seeing problems or difficulties others are facing and being able to resolve them. Leaders are there to inspire others to do the right things. In a famous speech called ‘inches’ speech Al Pacino is acting as a football coach, his team are losing and he must inspire them, he talks about the inches in life the struggles faced everyday, he humanises himself making him relatable to the players, he tells them where he went wrong, he starts with his voice low and calm and then towards the end rises it to raise the atmosphere in the room, he uses all leadership traits that we learn about and therefore was a perfect leader to study in class. We see leaders everywhere in the world and these following traits are used by almost all.
Have conviction
Being a leader you must strongly believe in your ideas, by strongly believing in your ideas you will inspire others to also believe. By making aims and inspiring others you will become confident and this will build confidence in your followers. In moneyball we see Beane the baseball coach, making tough decisions and dropping good players, although everyone doubted him he stuck to his ideas because he strongly believed he would be right and Oakland began to win, this built confidence and his colleagues also became confident in what he was doing.
Impose context
To be able to focus, a leader must be able to focus on what's important. They must be able to guide their followers in the right direction and to do this they must focus on their aims and what is most important. They won't waste time on things that aren't important and people they work with will know there exact aims and tasks.
Challenge and change
To be a leader, you cannot rest on your laurels, you must step outside of your comfort zone and encourage your followers to do the same. They must experiment and try new things in order to intrigue their followers. By doing this leaders will find new ways to solve problems and surprise their followers and competitors. In moneyball we see Beane doing this when he drops one of the best players because the coach was not playing the team the way he wanted by dropping the player it left the coach no choice but to use the players the way Beane wanted them to be used. This is a perfect example of how he challenges the rules and it worked in his favour.
Generate critical mass
As a leader you need followers, you cannot be a leader without followers. To gain followers you must inspire people to work together and this will generate more attention, it allows the opportunity for human development and makes things happen.
Make risks and take risks
This trait is similar to challenge and change, it is making decisions that are unexpected, Making risks and taking them allows leaders to develop and will also help their followers to develop. By taking risks it can open doors to many new exciting opportunities. In Moneyball, this trait is the same as Challenge and Change when we see Bean manipulate the system and takes a huge risk in dropping the team's best player.
Chapter 2
Nelson Mandela
Rolihlahla Mandela, was born into the Madiba family in the village of Mvezo Transkei, on July 18 1918. Rolihlahla went to Qunu primary school and was named Nelson by one of his teachers. The teacher did this because they all had to have Christian names. Mandela studied at the university of Fort and the university of Witwatersrand. In the University of Fort Mandela was expelled for joining in a student protest. Although being expelled from the University of Ford Mandela went on to qualify in law in University of Witwatersrand. Most of his beliefs were influenced by what he experienced everyday. He uses many leadership traits and was an exceptional leader.
Mandela joined the African National Congress in 1944 and helped to form the ANC youth league. He quickly rose in the ranks due to his ideas and leadership skills. The ANC adopted a more radical mass-based policy. This was done to put an end to the evil apartheid system that South Africa was living under. After years of long and hard work in 1952 Mandela and Oliver Tambo established South Africa's first black law firm. The ANC played a very important part in Mandela's rise to the top.
Mandela showed conviction and this played a huge role in his success. Mandela's followers could see that he wanted to unite the black and white population. He showed this even after spending many years in Robben island suffering because of his beliefs. The fact that when Mandela was released from prison he still fought for equal rights after what he had endured in Robben Island shows his commitment to the cause and this made him a truly great leader.
Mandela knew how to generate critical mass and get people talking which is another reason for his success. He targeted Francois Pienaar, captain of the Springbok rugby team. Mandela knew that he would encourage people to follow him and that he would generate attention on the topic. As many people were fans of rugby he worked closely with the team and went about uniting the blacks and whites on this base. As we see in ‘invictous’ this got many people talking and more people began to follow Mandela.
Mandela is a great speaker and therefore he is very good at delivering a clear message to his followers. He gives them clear aims and inspires them to act. He always focuses on what's important and gave a very clear vision. This keeps people interested in what he has to say and leaves people excited and inspired, this is something a true leader does.
Chapter 3
Winston Churchill
Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was born on the 30 November 1874 in Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England into an aristocratic family. His father was a politician while his mother was the daughter of an American millionaire. Growing up he was mostly raised by nannies. He detested education as a child and in April 1888 he was sent to Harrow school, a boarding school near london. After leaving he attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He graduated in December 1894.
Churchill served 55 years in Great Britain's parliament. It began in october 1900 when he was elected to take a seat as a member of Parliament in the house of commons. Between 1906 and 1940, churchill served in the british cabinet in charge of board and trade, home office, Admiralty And the Munitions. From 1924 to 1929 he headed the Treasury as Chancellor of the Exchequer, a position once held by his father.
Having conviction is such an important part of being a leader, churchill was a dedicated man. He was a war correspondent, a soldier, a writer and a statesman. He felt so strongly about the betterment of the country. Showing this passion he made others believe and also feel this passion. He was very passionate about winning the war, by having this strong faith in his country he inspired his nation who went on to win the war. ‘ i felt as if i were walking with destiny and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial.’
Great leaders have visions and aims and they are not shy of showing them to their followers. Having clear goals are as vital as a weapon in battle. Churchill was a brilliant speaker and made his vision and aims very clear to people which in turn brought him more support and more followers. Churchill's vision was total victory. ‘ you ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word; it is victory, victory at all costs.’
To be a leader you need support it's a fact. Churchill during the war was a visible well know leader. He was often seen visiting factories, bombed houses and talking to people. Many people loved seeing their leader doing this, becoming involved in their community and people who spoke to him showed him their support. From doing this Churchill created a huge amount of followers and many people began supporting him.
Churchill showed courage in tough times, a crucial part of being a leader this reassures your followers that everything is ok. He took risks and challenged the boundaries when staying in war alone with the Nazi Germany, he knew if he succumbed to the power of the Nazi that Britain would have been taken over instead he took a risk and fought the war alone. This risk was a success and even more of the public began to follow him later. ‘never give in.’
Chapter 4
Conclusion
When comparing Mandela and Churchill you can see they were fairly similar leaders. They both were very good speakers, this would have been a trait of impose context as they could easily get across their point and set out aims for their followers to try to achieve. This made them more popular with the public.
Both leaders also had conviction and lots of it! Mandela showed it in everything he did, how passionate he was and that he would put his body on the line to succeed. He gave up numerous years of his life in jail for human rights. Churchill threw himself into everything and he did this to better the country and win the war. His ultimate goal was to win the war and he again would have given his life to do so.
Generating Critical mass is one of the only areas where Mandela and Churchill differed. Mandela got one person on side, the captain of the Springbok rugby team and because of this his supporters also started to support Mandela. Churchill went out and met people and visited bombed houses and connected with the public this way he generated as many followers as possible by connecting with the people around him and letting it spread. Both were fantastic leaders who show all the traits and characteristics a leader should have.
During this project i learnt lots of new information about Churchill and leadership traits and i really enjoyed doing this.
What is leadership?
A leader is someone who has followers due to their beliefs and what their ideas are. Leadership is about being able to inspire those around you and gain followers because of this ability. Leadership is not about being bossy or controlling its about seeing problems or difficulties others are facing and being able to resolve them. Leaders are there to inspire others to do the right things. In a famous speech called ‘inches’ speech Al Pacino is acting as a football coach, his team are losing and he must inspire them, he talks about the inches in life the struggles faced everyday, he humanises himself making him relatable to the players, he tells them where he went wrong, he starts with his voice low and calm and then towards the end rises it to raise the atmosphere in the room, he uses all leadership traits that we learn about and therefore was a perfect leader to study in class. We see leaders everywhere in the world and these following traits are used by almost all.
Have conviction
Being a leader you must strongly believe in your ideas, by strongly believing in your ideas you will inspire others to also believe. By making aims and inspiring others you will become confident and this will build confidence in your followers. In moneyball we see Beane the baseball coach, making tough decisions and dropping good players, although everyone doubted him he stuck to his ideas because he strongly believed he would be right and Oakland began to win, this built confidence and his colleagues also became confident in what he was doing.
Impose context
To be able to focus, a leader must be able to focus on what's important. They must be able to guide their followers in the right direction and to do this they must focus on their aims and what is most important. They won't waste time on things that aren't important and people they work with will know there exact aims and tasks.
Challenge and change
To be a leader, you cannot rest on your laurels, you must step outside of your comfort zone and encourage your followers to do the same. They must experiment and try new things in order to intrigue their followers. By doing this leaders will find new ways to solve problems and surprise their followers and competitors. In moneyball we see Beane doing this when he drops one of the best players because the coach was not playing the team the way he wanted by dropping the player it left the coach no choice but to use the players the way Beane wanted them to be used. This is a perfect example of how he challenges the rules and it worked in his favour.
Generate critical mass
As a leader you need followers, you cannot be a leader without followers. To gain followers you must inspire people to work together and this will generate more attention, it allows the opportunity for human development and makes things happen.
Make risks and take risks
This trait is similar to challenge and change, it is making decisions that are unexpected, Making risks and taking them allows leaders to develop and will also help their followers to develop. By taking risks it can open doors to many new exciting opportunities. In Moneyball, this trait is the same as Challenge and Change when we see Bean manipulate the system and takes a huge risk in dropping the team's best player.
Chapter 2
Nelson Mandela
Rolihlahla Mandela, was born into the Madiba family in the village of Mvezo Transkei, on July 18 1918. Rolihlahla went to Qunu primary school and was named Nelson by one of his teachers. The teacher did this because they all had to have Christian names. Mandela studied at the university of Fort and the university of Witwatersrand. In the University of Fort Mandela was expelled for joining in a student protest. Although being expelled from the University of Ford Mandela went on to qualify in law in University of Witwatersrand. Most of his beliefs were influenced by what he experienced everyday. He uses many leadership traits and was an exceptional leader.
Mandela joined the African National Congress in 1944 and helped to form the ANC youth league. He quickly rose in the ranks due to his ideas and leadership skills. The ANC adopted a more radical mass-based policy. This was done to put an end to the evil apartheid system that South Africa was living under. After years of long and hard work in 1952 Mandela and Oliver Tambo established South Africa's first black law firm. The ANC played a very important part in Mandela's rise to the top.
Mandela showed conviction and this played a huge role in his success. Mandela's followers could see that he wanted to unite the black and white population. He showed this even after spending many years in Robben island suffering because of his beliefs. The fact that when Mandela was released from prison he still fought for equal rights after what he had endured in Robben Island shows his commitment to the cause and this made him a truly great leader.
Mandela knew how to generate critical mass and get people talking which is another reason for his success. He targeted Francois Pienaar, captain of the Springbok rugby team. Mandela knew that he would encourage people to follow him and that he would generate attention on the topic. As many people were fans of rugby he worked closely with the team and went about uniting the blacks and whites on this base. As we see in ‘invictous’ this got many people talking and more people began to follow Mandela.
Mandela is a great speaker and therefore he is very good at delivering a clear message to his followers. He gives them clear aims and inspires them to act. He always focuses on what's important and gave a very clear vision. This keeps people interested in what he has to say and leaves people excited and inspired, this is something a true leader does.
Chapter 3
Winston Churchill
Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was born on the 30 November 1874 in Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England into an aristocratic family. His father was a politician while his mother was the daughter of an American millionaire. Growing up he was mostly raised by nannies. He detested education as a child and in April 1888 he was sent to Harrow school, a boarding school near london. After leaving he attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He graduated in December 1894.
Churchill served 55 years in Great Britain's parliament. It began in october 1900 when he was elected to take a seat as a member of Parliament in the house of commons. Between 1906 and 1940, churchill served in the british cabinet in charge of board and trade, home office, Admiralty And the Munitions. From 1924 to 1929 he headed the Treasury as Chancellor of the Exchequer, a position once held by his father.
Having conviction is such an important part of being a leader, churchill was a dedicated man. He was a war correspondent, a soldier, a writer and a statesman. He felt so strongly about the betterment of the country. Showing this passion he made others believe and also feel this passion. He was very passionate about winning the war, by having this strong faith in his country he inspired his nation who went on to win the war. ‘ i felt as if i were walking with destiny and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial.’
Great leaders have visions and aims and they are not shy of showing them to their followers. Having clear goals are as vital as a weapon in battle. Churchill was a brilliant speaker and made his vision and aims very clear to people which in turn brought him more support and more followers. Churchill's vision was total victory. ‘ you ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word; it is victory, victory at all costs.’
To be a leader you need support it's a fact. Churchill during the war was a visible well know leader. He was often seen visiting factories, bombed houses and talking to people. Many people loved seeing their leader doing this, becoming involved in their community and people who spoke to him showed him their support. From doing this Churchill created a huge amount of followers and many people began supporting him.
Churchill showed courage in tough times, a crucial part of being a leader this reassures your followers that everything is ok. He took risks and challenged the boundaries when staying in war alone with the Nazi Germany, he knew if he succumbed to the power of the Nazi that Britain would have been taken over instead he took a risk and fought the war alone. This risk was a success and even more of the public began to follow him later. ‘never give in.’
Chapter 4
Conclusion
When comparing Mandela and Churchill you can see they were fairly similar leaders. They both were very good speakers, this would have been a trait of impose context as they could easily get across their point and set out aims for their followers to try to achieve. This made them more popular with the public.
Both leaders also had conviction and lots of it! Mandela showed it in everything he did, how passionate he was and that he would put his body on the line to succeed. He gave up numerous years of his life in jail for human rights. Churchill threw himself into everything and he did this to better the country and win the war. His ultimate goal was to win the war and he again would have given his life to do so.
Generating Critical mass is one of the only areas where Mandela and Churchill differed. Mandela got one person on side, the captain of the Springbok rugby team and because of this his supporters also started to support Mandela. Churchill went out and met people and visited bombed houses and connected with the public this way he generated as many followers as possible by connecting with the people around him and letting it spread. Both were fantastic leaders who show all the traits and characteristics a leader should have.
During this project i learnt lots of new information about Churchill and leadership traits and i really enjoyed doing this.
Mindfulness
This year in mindfulness we did a lot about finger breathing and having your mind in the present. We also learnt about the importance of having a clear mind.
Nutrition
This year in nutrition we learnt a lot about carbohydrates and the positive and negative effects they have on your body, we also looked at fats and a keto diet, the last thing we did was look at a vegan diet and how it contains all the nessary proteins.
Careers
For this module we have been doing a lot of research on what our further career may be, we also had to complete a project on what course and career we would like to do I did mine on social work.
Pottery
This module was a very enjoyable new experience I'd never been an arty person so it was fun to try, unfortunately I didn't get to finish any pieces but I did enjoy the module.