Week 5: Look For Ways to Help Others

Each time I head to Oyler Elementary, I hope the children will want to participate and accept my ideas, and yet every week, I am shocked at how much they already know.  I feel like my job is to reiterate the positive aspects of growing up, leading, and being a professional.


This week, we discussed the idea of helping others.  When I posed the question, "How do you help others?", every hand immediately was thrust into the air.  The obvious answers of cleaning the house, helping dress younger siblings, cleaning the car, carrying in groceries were very common.  I was shocked to hear cooking dinner and doing laundry.  As a 19 year old living away from home, these two statements make me feel pathetic.  I eat every meal in the dining halls, and my mom cleans my clothes each week.  These 6, 7, and 8 year old children were doing me than me!  


We also discussed the act of helping is much more important than the amount of helping.  Simple things, such as arriving on time, helping the elderly, and holding doors for others are easy, yet can turn around someone's day.


Each week, I try to stress the importance of kindness and treating others with respect.  Some of the children can't seem to grasp this concept, so I will continue to preach that winners don't bully others, yet they treat them with dignity and respect.


I'd say this was a successful lesson, and my students now know that they need to Look For Ways to Help Others!  No matter how small the act of kindness, it is important to complete it.  

Life’s most persistent question is, ‘what are you doing for others?' -Martin Luther King

Confidence in Women Leaders

I found this to be a very interesting article (http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/11/women_leaders_need_self-confidence.html) about the need for confident women in the workplace.  


The article discusses leadership gender stereotypes, and states that "Applied to leadership, gender role stereotypes suggest that female-stereotypical forms of leadership are interpersonally oriented and collaborative, whereas male-stereotypical forms of leadership are task oriented and dominating. To the extent that women who are leaders exhibit a masculine style, they amplify their role conflict and increase the chances of receiving unfairly negative evaluations."  This reflects the bullying in the workplace post, as women who try to take on the dominating leader role are often seen as bullies and receive negative feedback.  

Bullying in the Workplace?

Talking about bullying with my students encouraged me to do some research on leaders who are bullies.  Bully leaders exists everywhere, but especially in the workplace.  Many bosses and managers are bullies and use their powers to control others.  


Bully leaders have very skewed perceptions.  These people think they are being productive in situations trying to get people to work together and accomplish tasks, but they go about it in an authoritarian way.  Bully leaders are loud and bark orders at their workers.  Bully leaders must given all credit for great ideas, although the team behind the leader helped to research and develop the ideas.  


Workers respond quickly to this type of leadership, but in the worst way possible.  Morale declines, as does production.  People dread coming to work and do as little as possible to get through each task.  Because bullying is what superiors do, middle managers and lower managers also seem to adapt this style of leadership creating more animosity with workers.


As a business student and young professional, it is important for me never to adopt this leadership style as I know it will win me no friends in the workplace.  I think as a woman with the potential to be a manager or top executive, I must be careful how I handle certain situations.  Women are more likely to be terrible bosses than men because they are much more emotional in terms of dealing with people and situations.  


Want to learn more about bully leadership?  Click here:  http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Bully_Leaders.html


Here are some sterotypes of women bosses:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2011/10/24/worst-stereotypes-powerful-women-christine-lagarde-hillary-clinton/

Week 4: Bullying is Wrong and Hurts Everyone

Sorry it has been such a long time since a post... still in my Thanksgiving food coma.  Last week, I spoke to the students about bullying.  During week 3, I was faced with some problematic students, so I needed to address bullying in a subtle way.  Sure enough, Winners Walk Tall has a program about bullying!  


Beginning class, I asked if any students had been bullied and if they could share what happened.  Many were teased, pushed, and shoved.  I found it interesting that the older boys in the class stood up to those who were bullying younger siblings, but they handled the situation in the wrong way.  One boy's little brother was being called names, so he got into a fight with the bullies.  As I have never been in this situation before, I offered my best advice.  I told the children that they shouldn't start a fight, but they need to tell a trusted adult. 


This led into a conversation about who the students can tell if they are bullied.  I got all of the expected answers, such as parents, grandparents, older siblings, and teachers, which I found to be very encouraging.  


We finished the class reviewing material from the previous weeks, and I couldn't believe the students remembered everything!  It shows that my time is truly worth it because these students are learning.  I am working to help them have better, brighter futures.


Winners Walk Tall and stand up against bullying because BULLYING IS WRONG AND HURTS EVERYONE!




I've been actually really very pleased to see how much awareness was raised around bullying, and how deeply it affects everyone. You know, you don't have to be the loser kid in high school to be bullied. Bullying and being picked on comes in so many different forms.  -Lady Gaga

The Art of Shaking Hands

Week 3 - Shake Hands with a Firm Grip, Look People in the Eyes, and Call Them by Name, With a Smile!

Let me start off by saying this week didn't exactly go as planned.  The children were all very reckless, and since I have never been in a situation where children yell and hurt each other, I immediately reverted to the dictatorship leadership style.  I was more focused on controlling my class than allowing them to have fun.  I knew that the day's lesson would be challenging because it was lots of interaction, but I was not prepared for what I faced upon walking into the room.  


When I was finally able to gain control, we practiced correct handshakes.  Each child shook my hand and introduced them self, then formed a line where the shook hands with others in the class.  The group learned that winners SHAKE HANDS WITH A FIRM GRIP, LOOK PEOPLE IN THE EYES, AND CALL THEM BY NAME, WITH A SMILE!


I think that it is important for me to note that even though I was not prepared for the rambunctious class I was given, I was able to gain control by adapting my leadership abilities.


Here are some tips for the perfect handshake.  http://www.careerbuilder.com/Article/CB-431-Interview-Tips-Six-Tips-for-a-Perfect-Handshake/ 

Leadership Theory

Being a character coach got me thinking about ways to be a better, more effective leader.  How can I better control my class?  What can I do help them succeed?  I also wanted to learn about different leadership styles because I know that in different situations, I will us different leadership theories.

After doing some research, I have found that being a character coach is a people-oriented leadership role.  People-oriented leaders are focused on organizing people to achieve a goal and developing them to be their best selves.  I feel this is my main goal as a character coach.  I want to help these students grow into confidence, successful leaders of tomorrow.  With my help, I think this can be possible. 

While this project will mainly be people-oriented leadership, I think I will find as I progress through the program that at times, my leadership role will change depending on certain events.  

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other- John F. Kennedy

Tips to Boost Confidence

Here is a link to easy ways to immediately boost self confidence!


http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/10-ways-to-instantly-build-self-confidence/


Winners Walk Tall with Confidence!

Wall Tall With Confidence

Hello, again!


It's time to learn to Walk Tall with Confidence, a trait that is common among winners.  I was glad to know that all of the students remembered the message of the week prior, Strive to be a Winner!  Many of the students took it to heart and tried to be a winner each day, whether it was taking to to read or doing a nice deed for someone else.


I posed the question, "What is confidence?"  Many of the students had a general idea of the term, but I wanted to really stress its meaning.  In order to really describe confidence, I had the students perform a series of tasks.  


1.  Sit in your chair with all four chair legs on the ground and their own two legs on the ground.  We counted a total of six legs.  To ensure their safety and to demonstrate confidence, I noted that whenever SIX was called, all the students needed to be sure they had six legs on the ground.  
2.  Sit up straight with your shoulders back.
3.  Put on your biggest smile!


4.  Sit back down.
5.  Slump in your chair.
6.  Have a sad face :(


I found that all of the kids were much more confident in themselves while sitting up as straight as possible.  When slouched, the kids felt awkward and kept laughing because they knew it was wrong.


4.  Stand up as tall as possible.
5.  Shoulders should be back.
6.  Big smile!


We then proceeded to be models walking down the runway being as confident as possible!  When this got a bit out of hand, I was able to redirect the focus of the group by forming a large circle in which everyone had to WALK TALL WITH CONFIDENCE while giving everyone else a high-five!


Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.  - Eleanor Roosevelt

Strive to be a Winner!

Welcome to the Winners Walk Tall Character Coach Blog!  My name is Meghan Cappel.  I am a freshman at the University of Cincinnati.  I am a marketing major in the Carl H. Lindner Honors-PLUS program.  While I have many passions, I want to focus leadership.  I have chosen to be a character coach for Winners Walk Tall at Oyler Elementary School.  Each Wednesday, I head to Oyler for a half hour to teach the children that they are winners!  I will also be analyzing different types of leadership in order to learn as much as I can about becoming a successful leader.


Week 1- Strive to be a Winner


I walked into a class of 25 rowdy kids in grades K-2... needless to say, I was a bit overwhelmed.  Would I be able to handle this many children?  Would I make an impact in their lives?  Can I help them be winners, even when they may struggle in school or not have a steady family life?  Many questions filled my head as I wanted to be a positive role model for these children.  


Introductions were made- each kid had to say their name and how they were a winner (a goal they wished to accomplish, a sport the play, dream occupation).  I was shocked that many of the children were not confident enough to stand up in front of the class to state something brief about themselves.  After much coaxing, many of the nervous kids were able to state their names.  I took this as a good sign- they were responding well.  


We also played Little Winner Walker, a game where students run around in circles while singing a song.  At the end of a song, the students must do a dance move.  It's important for me to get these kids up, so they can have fun and rid themselves of some energy!  


The signature piece of Winners Walk Tall is the neon pink hat worn by all volunteers at each visit.  At the end of each lesson, one of the students gets to pick out of the hat a piece of paper with the day's theme printed on it.  The student then reads to the class what it says and is encouraged to take the paper home with them to remember to always be a winner.  This week's theme was STRIVE TO BE A WINNER.  I had the class repeat it several time, growing louder and gaining more enthusiasm each time.  


Before leaving that day, I posed the question, "Who considers them self a winner?"  Each child raised their hand as high as possible.  SUCCESS!