Blog 4

My best friend had always come to me for advice about how to deal with her terrible boyfriend. As a good friend, I always tried to guide her into the direction that would help her to gain independence and happiness. However, she would never take my advice and always ended up depressed because she would continue to allow him to treat her horribly. After I supported her through this for a year, I finally quit giving her advice and just told her to figure it out on her own hoping that she’d be able to realize on her own the things that I had told her all those times. After that, she became extremely upset with me and told me that I wasn’t a good friend to her. I really struggled with this because, although I wanted to be there for her, I couldn’t help but to just ignore her drama and let her figure it out on her own. It hurt me that she thought my approach to her situation was one in which I wasn’t being a good friend, but it was the last thing I could do. My personal values that were challenged through this were that I really value loyalty and trust. My friend no longer valued my loyalty as a friend, and did not trust me to be there for her. In the end, I knew that I had responded to her situation because she eventually got out of the toxic relationship and thanked me for letting her figure it out on her own. She thanked me for all the advice I had given her in the past and told me that I was a great friend. Ethical decision making relates to social change because it empowers individuals to continue to do the right, moral thing and encourages others to do so to, which creates a better society.

Blog 3

Syria is a small, densely-populated country located in the Middle East, near the Mediterranean Sea. It has a very strong government, led by President Bashar al-Assad. The conflict began in 2011, when a small group of activists led a peaceful protest against the Syrian government. They were protesting against dictators and regimes in neighboring countries, which linked to Syria. In response, the Syrian government began secretly killing the activists with great violence. This created an upset throughout the civilian population, which caused an even greater resistance to the Syrian government.

In my opinion, the best way to respond as a leader would be to build an international coalition. A leader should come to a consensus with other international leaders, the U.S. Congress, and U.S. citizens on whether or not to intervene in the Syria conflict. If decided that intervention was necessary, then all international leaders should invest in the conflict financially, diplomatically, and with some military force, if necessary. Otherwise, the U.S. and other countries should remain peaceful and closely watch the Syrian conflict until further notice. In either case, a good leader should remain confident in the decisions and actions of the international coalition, and have a clear line of communication between all parties involved.

At this point in time, the U.S. should not intervene in the Syria conflict because there are no viable options to doing so. If the U.S. government attempts to support the rebel groups, it might encourage an even worse civil war. A “no fly zone” wouldn’t impact ground-level fighting, and an invasion would only accelerate the killing. Furthermore, a peace treaty is unlikely because of the high amount of tension between the government and the rebel groups. The U.S. should simply keep a watchful eye on Syria, but take no further action because eventually the fighting will settle.

 

Fisher, Max. "9 Questions about Syria You Were Too Embarrassed to Ask." The Washington Poast. N.p., 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/08/29/9-questions-about-syria-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask/>.

Blog 2

Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts

Ted.com’s video, “Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts” (March 2012) exposes society’s bias toward extroverted people and how this has negatively impacted innovation and growth throughout history. Cain supports this claim by providing extensive information on the studies that she’s completed during the past seven years. Cain’s purpose is to inform Americans about the effects of disregarding the values and creativity that introverts have to offer to society in order to create social change.

This video relates to social change in society because Cain is fighting typical societal standards and routines in society so that introverts do not continue to be suppressed as innovators and leaders. She explains how modern schools and businesses are tailored to fit the needs of extroverts, with constant encouragement for teamwork and collaboration. Because of this, introverts are often labeled as outliers in society because of their innate tendency to be more quiet and shy. Cain would like to see modern schools and businesses encourage individual thought more and promote solitude as a factor to creativity and innovation.

According to Cain, the type of person that is ideal for creating social change is one who is equally introverted and extroverted. These people have great social skills, while also maintain the ability to enjoy solitude and deep thought. They make for the best leaders of social change because they are able to use the strengths of each personality type as a way to create positive change in society. They are also the best leaders in society because they typically generate the best ideas and lead groups of people positively.

 

"Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts." TED.com. N.p., Mar. 2012. Web. <Susan Cain: The power of introverts>.

Blog 1

 

As you can see in the picture above, the man commands his troops courageously from the front. He actively shows his men how to fight for their country by facing the enemy headfirst and achieving victory through diligence and fortitude.

Although this particular example demonstrates one particular style of leadership, the history and the evolution of leadership has shown to have a multitude of very different styles of leadership. Leaders may choose to lead from the front or from behind, democratically or autocratically, marginally or vastly, traditionally or charismatically, and much more. Leaders may choose to lead differently depending on the individual situations in which they are expected to lead. Some leaders choose to lead with admiration and respect, while others choose to lead with fear and violence.

While the complete origins of leadership remain unidentified, most scholars agree that all leaders share some psychological and behavioral traits which allow them to take on special leadership roles. These traits may include motivation, temperance, dominance, and knowledge. These traits may be combined with many different styles of leadership to create collaboration and social change. Although no particular leadership style is good or bad, each style may lead to a more or less desirable outcome which determines the success of a leader. For example, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Lincoln demonstrated very different styles of leadership. However, they were both extremely successful in creating mass social change.

In conclusion, leadership has evolved immensely throughout history. Previously in America, people who held leadership positions were primarily white males (as shown in the picture above). However, through civil rights movements and positive social change, as a society we now see that people of all races, ethnicities, genders, ages, and economic standing hold leadership positions successfully.

 

Andrew J. King, Dominic D.P. Johnson, Mark Van Vugt, The Origins and Evolution of Leadership, Current Biology, Volume 19, Issue 19, 13 October 2009, Pages R911-R916, ISSN 0960-9822, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2009.07.027.

(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982209014122)