Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, ...Ryan Lamb?

Thirty minutes ago I thought leadership inventories were stupid.... Okay, maybe that is a little harsh. My problem with these tests are the binary responses. How can a piece of paper or a computer algorithm nail down the dynamic facets of my personality with 70 yes or no questions? It just doesn't seem right. There just is no room for shades of gray when taking a test like the Myers Briggs. What if my answer isn't "yes," but instead "maybe," or "it depends?" 

So back to thirty minutes ago, I sit down to take the Myers Briggs for a business ethics class that I am enrolled in at Fisher and per usual I am unimpressed by the parade of yes or no questions on my computer screen. Then I hit "score it" and guess what!

The first sentence in my description begins "Beneath that quiet exterior..." ERRRRR. Wrong. You are the weakest link, goodbye.

Quiet is about the last word anyone who knows me would throw out as a descriptor. The little people inside the microprocessor of my computer really should consider refusing to process leadership inventories. Honestly, it's a waste of space on the internet. 

But analyzing the results is part of an assignment and so I must continue soldiering on. 

Apparently I am an INFJ. Whatever that means. 

The results tell me that I am similar to Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa. I guess that is sort of cool.

"Strongly humanitarian in outlook." - Okay that does sound a bit more like me. Helping others is one of the most important pillars of my value system.

"INFJs [take] a disproportionate amount of responsibility in the various causes to which so many of them seem to be drawn" - Can I get an Amen?

"They are, in fact, sometimes mistaken for extroverts because they appear so outgoing and are so genuinely interested in people." - Okay now this is interesting. Tell me more. 

"On the contrary, INFJs are true introverts, who can only be emotionally intimate and fulfilled with a chosen few from among their long-term friends, family, or obvious 'soul mates.'" - Holy Brutus Buckeye, did I just learn something about myself?

So I stop here to reflect on what is actually a pretty ground shattering revelation. According to the analysis of my Myers Briggs, I'm not actually an extrovert. This is pretty shocking stuff. My entire life I have pretty much always considered myself an extrovert. I am always one of the loudest of my friends. I am a goofball. I love to talk. No seriously, I LOVE TO TALK. I love it so much that I don't even stop talking when I go to bed at night. Ask my brothers, my parents, or my roommates. 

But here is the deal, here is something that I haven't always understood about myself: After the day is through and my work is done, nothing makes me happier than to sit down and read a book or watch the latest episode of Survivor (yes I still watch, and you should be watching too). On the weekends nothing makes me groan more than the mention of going to a house party where I know a grand total of five people. Talk about awkward. That's not exactly extroverted I suppose. 

So what Myers Briggs says on the subject is that I am actually a giver. I want to help people and I am sincerely interested in how others are doing. Relationships are incredibly important to me. This is all a part of the "Feeling" aspect of my personality. However, at the end of the day, or the week, I need a break from people. I need to unwind in my own world. 

I guess after all this what I have to say is that...maybe...leadership inventories don't really suck. Sure they are flawed. But thanks to a series of seventy yes or no questions I just figured out something about myself that I have been trying to understand for years.

That's kind of cool.

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The same league, eh? You can take the Myers Briggs test here and find out which future saint or anti-apartheid activist you are most like. 

Do or Die: A Student Org In Crisis

Earlier I posted about the concept of Leadership and how I find it difficult to describe or define. It really is something that you just experience. Case in point: 

This evening I took part in the organizational meeting of a student organization and non-profit called Nourish International. As we gathered for our inaugural event, a horrifying situation began to unfold, a situation  that I am sure will repeat itself numerous times across campus over the next week. As the full gravity of the situation became apparent it became do or die time for the organization's leadership... 

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Nourish is this absolutely incredible organization I was introduced to by one of my greatest friends at Ohio State during my Sophomore year at OSU. Our motto is to Eradicate Poverty by Engaging Students and Empowering Communities.

Nourish is really what I would say the typical OSU Student Organization is. It isn't one of the student org powerhouses such as the widely known and generously funded OUAB or the celebrated Ohio Staters, nor is it one of the many organizations who exist merely on paper (I'm looking at you Citizens United against Masturbation/Justice for Innocent SpermatoZoa*). We are a relatively small group of students who have been brought together by a common interest in positively impacting the world around us and are working to achieve our dreams NOW.

The organization benefits from the unique opportunities of such an incredible university but also struggles with the bureaucracy and the sometimes inevitable tendency to just become a number. Like many student orgs we have an advisor, but it really is just in name. Everything we do is truly student led and student executed. At the start of this new school year our exec board is filled with both fresh new faces and a couple of seasoned veterans (as seasoned as a three year old organization can provide). 

Every year Nourish fights to gain a little more ground and traction on campus. Over the past three years we have built an orphanage in Bolivia, and a health clinic and clean water system in Peru. Our efforts have made positive and lasting change in the lives of thousands, helping to raise the standard of living in the poverty stricken areas we aim to help.

PICTURED (Nico Mata, OSU Senior, capturing a Kodak moment with Peruvian children during the OSU chapter of Nourish's 2010 Water for the World Project in Peru)

*I didn't actually deeply research this particular organization, but I assure you they exist. I've never seen them marketed on campus, and seriously, just look at the org's abbreviation CUM/JISZ #SMH
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As I type this I can imagine the face of Theresa Schmidt, OSU Junior and incoming President of Nourish, as she realizes that OSU's largest student organization, Block O, is already occupying the room that she thought she had set in stone as the location of the informational session to attract new members to Nourish's cause. The well rehearsed meeting with elaborate visual aides and a powerful video on a previous trip was falling apart right before our young leader's eyes. With 30 expectant students and possible recruits knocking at the door, Theresa had to work quickly.

After some quick thinking, member Nico Mata was dispatched to the outdoor Browning Amphitheater on the side of Mirror Lake to find out if it was being used. Not only was it available, but the weather couldn't have possibly been better. The interested students were rounded up from the hallway and marched the short and scenic walk across Neil Ave. and along the banks of Mirror Lake to the old amphitheater.

Even without their visual aides the exec board shined. Each member of the team brought their own charisma to their different jobs in describing the aim of Nourish International. Their passion was inspiring as they spoke of the work that Ohio State chapter of the organization has accomplished through adversity.

By the time the presentation was concluded, the ice breakers were over, and the cupcakes were eaten, you could already feel a new family forming. Of course not every student will return, that's just a part of the game. But after today's meeting I am willing to bet that more will come back for another look at Nourish than a classroom presentation could have attracted. And maybe they will even bring a friend. That's our hope after all. And somewhere in that crowd are likely the next leaders of Nourish International, about to catch fire with the passion that the organization almost always elicits from those it touches.

Nourish now meets Tuesdays in Campbell Hall 209 at 6:30 PM. If you can't wait until next Tuesday to get involved come out to our Nourish Barbecue on Sunday at 5:30. Here's the details! 

Leadership

Leadership.

Now that is a pretty powerful word. It's a word that seems so simple, but the more you think about it, the more exceedingly elaborate and intricate its meaning becomes. And don't even bother checking with Webster on this one, that guy rarely does more than just gloss over the surface.

As a member of an organization called Student Leadership Advocates you would think that I could easily spout off a summary of everything it means to be a leader, everything that exemplifies true leadership. But I am going to be honest here: When I was prompted to explain how I see leadership, I immediately realized how little reflection I have done on being a leader. Just moments before a concept that seemed so concrete gave way to a river of different ideas, experiences, and people that I could swear were somehow connected.

As I pondered the idea of leadership, and how I see leadership, I began thinking in the sense of "who." Who is inspiring? Who is setting an example? Who helps to develop others? Who shows the way?

After a few minutes I started to realized that maybe Leadership isn't just about the "who" question. After all, it isn't just WHO a person is, but HOW a person carries themselves, WHAT they are doing, WHERE they are doing it, WHEN they are doing it, and WHY they doing it.

So, here is the deal, the honest truth. I'm no expert. Sure some may see me as a leader. I try to step up when I can. I try and do for others what I want done for me. I do have a passion for the betterment of the people around me. But I'm not sure that is what makes a person a leader. It seems to me that Leadership is this amorphous concept, unable to be confined by "the who." A concept that manifests itself in different people in different ways, that can be examined by casting different lights upon it.

And so after all of this reflection and examination, I ask myself "Now what?"

This Blog is my "Now What." Through the coming weeks as I examine the world around me with the "lens" of an Ohio State student, of student organization member, as a 20 year old hooligan, as the person that has been shaped by many (or not so many) life experiences. This blog will be my reflection. And hopefully through this "now what" my idea of leadership will become more informed. And with that informed idea I hope I will become a better leader. Because lord knows I am no shining beacon of Leadership perfection.....but hopefully I can get a little closer.