#5

A part of the book I read yesterday was focused on the way you treat other people when working with them. One way to be successful in business is to involve strong interpersonal relationships which will help make others want to help and worth with you in a way you simply couldn't make happen without their support. The author talks about always learning the names of low level employees and remembering the birthdays of business partners and sending them cards to show you remembered the birthday. The last thing, and in my opinion the most important and impactful thing discussed, was having a genuine interest in others. Really paying attention to how the other person is thinking and showing that you value what they value. I think that this is the most important of all the three suggestions about how to make friends and have good business success. I do think its worth mentioning that this idea is a bit of a juxtaposition from the books name, which suggests that friends something to be "won" like possessions, or collectables that one owns. If you have a genuine invest in others, it would probably be noted that people don't like being owned or claimed as an object might. This strange name which is so different from the message of the chapter is curious and makes me want to understand why such a specific wording was chosen for the title.   

#4

This week I read the part of the book How to Win Friends and Influence People that concentrated on positive interpersonal relationships. It is arguably one of the most important parts of the book, as it can be used by anyone whether or not they are trying to go into business. The chapter talked a lot about "having a genuine interest in others in order to make friends." This is very true, as it has also been said that peoples favorite subjects are themselves. In friendships, families, businesses, and classes, having a genuine interest in other people is very important. It really helps people feel comfortable when they are listened to when talking about things that are important to them. I believe that the way you treat others is very very important and so taking interest in others in a big part of that. The next part of the chapter talks about how important smiling is. A person tried a test where he had to smile pretty constantly for a week, even though he frowned often. I will be trying this for the next few days, because I would consider myself to be at least somewhat nice, but the act of smiling much more consistently I hope will bring other benefits to my life, I also know that smiling and laughter whether genuine or artificial have the power to release chemicals for happiness ad thus better health in the brain so I can see why this is important and I'm excited to try it as the book suggested!

#3

I would like to begin this blog post with an apology for not having uploaded it earlier I hope that you will still accept it if not I suppose it can be counted as blog post number four unless you would prefer that I do a different reading for blog post number four and skip the reading I did for blog post number three…

The chapter I have read about has mostly to do with complementing other people and affirming their desire for recognition and attention. The author claims the people mostly bought approval this is the opposite of the first chapter which talked a lot about not wanting criticism they go hand-in-hand. As I have continued to work on my project at the MIRA coalition, i've had an amazing experience. I have been able to be in contact with high-profile people in the media and the Guatemalan consulate and several churches across the state in order to promote the citizenship clinic. We have businesses cosponsoring the event, and we will do the door-to-door out reach and canvassing on Monday! I'm really excited for how things have been going, and I am thrilled for the event. One major challenge we've had has been balancing near is very practical and secular way of running clinics that have been a high model of success compared to the way that the Evangelical churches want to do things in a more conservative or fundamental way. Balancing these two parts of our network has been a bit of a challenge at times. Even so, maintaining a very nonjudgmental and complementary state of mine has really helped me to move the project forward with minimal interruptions or setbacks. Both my amazing supervisor and he and I have done our best not to criticize the ways of the church but simply to let them watch over us off for a few compliments use some parts of the suggestions and then go back to the office and do the clinics that we and Mira has been doing for years successfully. This has really helped us in other ways as well because we have gotten members of the church who own businesses to cosponsor, gotten donations from church members, and been very widely accepted by the church community. 

This outreach has been seemingly successful, and I think that that is partly because our cause is good and just, but also because we have done our best to treat others really well in the process. We are working hard to make people feel appreciated and show that we are very grateful for their assistance and explain to them all the ways, small and large, that they are helping the cause. I certainly believe that making others feel appreciated and valued in a project makes them want to continue with you. I myself have left, or disliked, classes or jobs where I felt unappreciated and not valued, and I have thrived more so at the places where I feel valuable and appreciated. In our work with volunteers and co-sposors, thank you notes, beginning calls sharing how excited we are to have their presence, and listening in a way that makes them feel valued, are all important parts of my job that (for me) confirm the positivity of complementing offers on a business project.

How to make friends and influence people #2

The book I am reading "How to Make Friends and Influence People" has pleasantly surprised me by being actually useful in my senior project. I have been working very hard to get approval for the citizenship clinic, have applied for a grant, made fliers and other posters to distribute, made announcements to congregations, and other things. It has so far been a lot of work but I have enjoyed it. Even with a lot of time consuming pieces of the project, the hardest part has been maintaining strong relationships with some people who have very strong personalities. Hermana Juanita, Pastor Quiles wife, is a very loving but extremely strict and analytical person. She  is gentle and kind, but very particular about what she wants. She wanted me to present to her my project again once I had a three ring binder, wanted my flier to have a header, wanted the name of the congregation (Islesia Cristiana Jesucristo Vive) not the church (International Community Church) on the flier, and the flier should be a full page, not to speak for more than four minutes to the congregation etc. She had strong criticisms and clear requests. I remembered back to the  second chapter of the book, where it said that criticism is useless and gets in the way of progress. I agreed with this statement upon reading it. Criticism makes people feel less confident, and thus can lessen their ability. I certainly know this from my work with the pie business where Sophia and I can be quick to criticize each other at times, and we are trying to remain more positive in the project to improve the business as a whole. Now, after being strongly criticized (yet also strongly supported and cared for) I feel a bit differently. I knew that according to this book, the criticism should have gotten in the way of my success, but simply because I knew that I decided in myself that I would have to prove it wrong. Instead of feeling discouraged I used the criticism to help me grow and as an opportunity for Hermana Juanita to get to know me and in part educate me on how this were going to happen in her church. It was thanks to the theory I read about that I was able to be conscious and not let the criticism effect me, so I'm really glad I chose this book and read it because it has already proven helpful and this is just the second blog post!

In light of the fact that I was obviously too excited about my project, and said almost nothing about my reading, I will do a little elaboration. Criticism is hard to take, and at times I think its necessary because kind and constructive criticism helps us improve our work, especially when that criticism comes from people who care about us and our successes enough to say things with empathy and positivity. I definitely understand the idea that strong criticism from people who ae just upset with our performance isn't generally very effective, and doesn't leave much room for the person to improve. I do think though that people are oftentimes overcritism. not because they want someone to improve, but because they are frustrated with someones poor performance and criticize not for the betterment of others, but because they aren't handling their emotions well. This typeof criticism is unkind and counter productive but we somehow all do and should really be careful to avoid it. Instead we can support the positive development of those we care about to improve.

HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE #1

For the next C4E project, I will be reading the entrepreneurship book, "How to Make Friends and Influence People." This book is a classic in entrepreneurship and I am excited to begin reading it for this class. The book was written by Dale Carnegie. More than 15 million copies have been sold and the book is widely renowned in the field of entreprenuership as well as many many others. I read the forward of the book which is meant to convince people to read the rest of the book. The book is written in a storytelling and conversational tone which I am enjoying because I don't much care for the dry tone many similar books have. The stories of Al Capone, and other big gangster and public enemies are being psychoanalyzed to show why certain tactics, such as criticisms, is ineffective and doesn't help get a leaders point across. So in short, this book is so far interesting and I look forward to reading it!

Jan 16th 2

The $200 project is continuing in a positive direction and we are excited about the presentation of our storefront work. I think that in the last week our group has been able to come together pretty effectively, and especially under Becky's  leadership we have been a bit reunited. Despite some shortness of Freshmen sales we are hopeful about breaking even and are looking for ways to do so. We have offered free candy with bracelets, and sent fliers to freshman advisories, both to no avail. Our next plan might be selling at Freshmen sports games, or trying to get the administration on board with advertising to Freshmen students. It's interesting because we all expected Freshmen to be the quickest to buy bracelets, and Seniors not to care nearly as much, but its been the opposite completely. I guess this goes to show that sometimes you can't anticipate how the market will play out, and you have to take a risk and try what you think is right. In hindsight I would have made all bracelets the same, without any "Class of" on them. This way we would have double the possible students and teachers and staff could also participate in purchasing the wristbands, but you learn as you wok and this is one of those lessons. Now all we can do is try our best to find creative ways to sell the remaining freshmen bands, and a few senior bands, in order to finish the project with a profit.


Also Mr. Fischer thank you for teaching me how to speak up in front of crowds eloquently in Freshman scholars, I am always grateful for all the skills you gave me and my fellow Scholars whenever I have to do a similar presentations and feel like I know how to be successful!!

Jan 16th 1

I have just finished the book Lean In by Sheryl Sandburg. Overall I think it was an excellent read, because it helped promote a national conversation about feminism, and because of its mainstream feel and constant name dropping of current day important people, the book was very successful in engaging people far and wide to think about or advocate for gender equality. I work for like than fifteen families as a baby-sitter, and I saw this book in almost every household, and found myself reading a few pages here and there. Now in class, I've have the opportunity to read the entire book and give myself a chance to really reflect on it. Sandburgs voice is very clear and present throughout the book, and in my opinion she isn't the most relatable or lovable character, I felt that she was a little bit cold and harsh, despite her eloquent points. Maybe this strong and decisive female voice will inspire other women to add some strength to their own tones in the future. Even though I am not a huge fan of he way Sandburg's personality shine though in this writing, I also realize that she likely had many people pushing her many different ways as this was a very commercial production, and in many ways her motto "Lean In" is exactly what she's doing by speaking very mater of factly through out her writing, and never act as though she doesn't know best, when in reality, its HER book and she should be able to know best. This is a bit abrasive, or annoying, but maybe I would be a bit more accepting of this behavior if it hadn't come from a women. Either way, I am happy to have read this book as it has challenged me to consider the ways I think about gender especially as a woman who has grown up with a fairly strong and independent attitude myself.

jan 9th 2

I am continuing to read Sheryl Sandbugs Lean In, and to quote an NPR article I read about the book is "not much of a manifesto but still a win of women." It's becoming a little bit difficult to take Sandburg seriously, apparently she was named the 5th most powerful woman by Forbes, and has billions of dollars, as well as two Harvard degrees. These things are all amazing and impressive, but they are also an indicator that Sandburg may not be totally in touch with the average woman's experiences with sexism. This might explain why she doesn't mention too many systemic factors of misogyny or oppression, in many ways she has the means to overcome these things. This raises an important question for me. I don't think that individual incidents of sexism or racism happen in a vacuum. Sandburg might be filthy rich but does that mean all her power gets her away from the sexism women face, especially in the corporate environment in which she works as the COO of Facebook. How do issues of sexism and patriarchy vary between social classes? At what point does financial privilege outweigh male privilege if ever? Does this explain Sandburgs' emphasis on personal decisions and responsibility, because she had so many options for every deception she's made? I am really more an more curious as to why Sandburg's personality shining through in the book is making me feel a little bit attacked (for lack of a better word). Her harsh judgement of women who have had extremely different options than she has seem slightly arrogant and the style of the book is a little bit too polished to the point where it seems a bit over produced. Either way, I appreciate the necessary questions brought up by the  dialogue and the way other feminists have spoken for and against the book is fascinating to consider.

jan 9th 1

In the past weeks we have enjoyed a vacation and are now back selling wristbands as part of the $200 project. So far sales are going alright and we will be trying to find new ways and places to sell them. We have found that people have been receptive to the wristbands, even though the market is pretty spread out with water bottles, calendars, and stickers all for BHS students. One challenge our group is facing is that we didn't originally plan to sell wristbands. It seemed like a reasonably easy project for the short time we had with so many things to work on with the storefront project. Even though we are hopefully going to be successful, it feels a little bit like maybe if we had had more time to think of an idea that we really were more passionate about we would be more motivated. I am still enjoying the project even though I might not have chosen it. Also, I am trying to get in touch with Sonciary from Promoboxx, this is because I am a bit worried that our selling wristbands at lunch will eventually get old for buyers. We don't have an extremely innovative idea, but they say that part of the success is really how you sell the product. I really am hoping that she will be able to help us with some great ideas for how to market our wristbands to BHS students and teachers, but especially freshmen as they are lagging behind in sales right now. Overall, I think my group is in a good place to move forward and be successful on the $200 project at this point

5

Lean In

Post #3

Book by Sheryl Sandburg.

As this book unfolds many topics are becoming themes. Sndburg is a bit critical, or at least very observant of, women who know they are worthy of good careers, but choose not to pursue because they plan on having children and do not want to have to choose between work and motherhood. I wonder if it will be appropriate for me to speak to our PromoBox Donor about this, as she is of the age where many women start having children. What does she plan to do? How has sexism effected her work as an entrepreneur thus far? How has she overcome it to be successful in her field?  I think often about this because I am interested in becoming a Foreign Service Worker. My main concern is that my job will have a negative effect on my future kids, will living abroad without having to assimilate to the local culture make them entitled? Will they be socially awkward if they have to move often? Will the environment be one that leaves them without friends, a nation identity, or spoiled? I just became interested in this career, I am 18 years old but already I am concerned less about the careers impact on myself, but more on the impact it might have on people who don't even exist yet. I think that this is a female thought, I don't think that men think as deeply about the way their actions will affect their fire children as they think about how much their actions will affect their future selves. It is so fascinating to see how this topic that Sandburg blames for so much lack of female success in the workforce, manifested in myself exactly as she describes it. The thing is, I can acknowledge it, but I am still not sure if I (or other young women allowing their career goals to be affected by familial prospects) should listen to Sandburg. My children will be a big part of my life in the future, they will make a huge different in my life trajectory and I think that peoples families always should. Is it possible that men should allow their own career goals to be swayed by family? Should our culture families as a place to be as successful as the workplace? Or maybe womens roles have been internalized so much so that hte only way to reverse them is to be “selfish,” and state that just like men they will cross the bridge of a work life balance when they come to it.

5

This past week has been extremely focused on the storefront reject. I have been in charge of contacting others to get the most accurate numbers so we can write all financial statements (such as the P+L) most accurately. This job has been a bit difficult as most people don't have their electric bills in front of them when I call, or remember what they pay monthly for deep conditioners. While we are trying to move foreword on the project, I have also had to be patient because these salons have no incentive to help us so if they take a few days to get back and call in the middle of my math class, I have to accommodate them while making sure my group know that I am trying to get work done quickly and efficiently.

We also received our wristbands in the mail late this week! We are excited to begin promoting ad selling them as soon as possible. Our donation came from PromoBox, and our donor told us that she would be happy to help us advertise our product. We are excited to learn from her and see her ideas about promoting these wristbands. We are selling to YOG '15 and YOG '18 because we thin these groups are more likely to have the most school spirit. We have a great flier that will go all around the school as well as announcements on the loud speaker, and we will sell them at lunches. Hopefully people will be attracted to them but if not we will need to find ways to advertise and hopefully our donor can help. I am most worried because in my experience with baking, high school students aren’t a very dependable market. They tend to commit to purchasing, but last minute will flake out on you. I am curious to find out how our relationship with promobox will help, and how we can leverage our contacts in our own parts of the BHS community to get people to buy these and turn a profit with the project by the end of the second quarter.

post #4

Our original idea for the $200 project was holding holiday events for elementary school children. We would show movies in the gym, sell foods, and include donation boxes for Toys for Tots and other holiday charities. There would also be personal shoppers who could handle the responsibilities of others for a cost. We would only be paying for food preparation and maybe decorations. The issue with this is, what movies do we show? Brookline has many non-Christian families, and maybe they won't pay for their children to attend these events. The other problem was timing, we would need to have everything done before the holidays because no one will come and watch a Christmas movie in late January. The final issue was getting a space. I met several times with Ms. Keavney, but at BHS there are so many events, that actually getting a space is often times quite difficult. We would have liked to use the Shluntz gym, but it is constantly booked. All of these challenges seemed insurmountable in the short time we had, and thus we chose to go in a different direction.

We are selling BHS Class of 20** wristbands for Seniors and Freshmen. Hopefully, we are correct in saying that these groups have the host school spirit. Our wristbands are being shipped and we will begin selling them soon, but not until after Winter Break. I've notice a surge of school spirit related items being sold recently and am curious to find out where will we fit into this. Warrior stickers, water bottles, and other warrior paraphanelia are now being sold around school. Does this mean that people are more invested in paying for school spirit items, or are there a bunch of projects happening and the market will be split between the few students interested in buying these items. Does the new Spartan Warrior effect school spirit? I think that these questions can only be answered with time, and will use creative ways to make sure our product is sold out and we make a profit.

post #3

In my group we are working on a project for a salon that would also be a part of the school and include some community building aspects. I think that this salon is a great idea, and I have always said that BHS doesn't serve all of its students well in technical skills especially the girls as the autoshop is mostly attractive to male students. I really wish this actually existed! At the same time, I am curious, a a little worried about whether or not this salon would be successful. Most people in Brookline are willing to spend money for haircuts and spa treatments, thus I am worried that we will not have a large clientele as we will have a less elegant salon with owed prices, and more work will be being done by high school students. Up until, student run businesses (like restaurant 108) have been serving other students, not the general public. I would be interested to see who is attracted to this salon if it where to open, sometimes businesses are surprised by where they find clients.

One of my jobs right now is to figure out how to engage a diverse clientele. We are located in a most diverse part of Brookline, with many minorities living in areas such as Walnut St, 22 High St, and High St.  Vets. Despite this added diversity we will need to depend on wealthier Caucasian people as well if we want a successful business. Thus, I will need to find ways to engage people from different backgrounds, and with different hair textures. Barber shops and hair salons have always been a somewhat segregated environment, both by neighborhood, race, and gender. I am a little concerned that  some People of Color, will not always be particularly interested in offering their business to a salon where they will either be in the minority or will not be run by members of their own community. Luckily I have a good relationship with Oneka, a hairstylist who works at E FX, in Fields Corner, Dorchester. Her salon serves an exclusively black female clientele, in a Vietnamese sections of the neighborhood. I am curious to find out what challenges she faces, and how she serves her clientele in a place that my not be near their house.

#2

Sandburg shares an anecdote where she is in an important business meeting and a group of female executives come into the meeting. They sit farther away from the male executives even though they are at the same level on the totem pole. Even when asked by Sandburg to move up, they politely decline. After the meeting Sandburg pulls them aside to ask why they chose to sit in a different place. They eventually all agreed that these women should have asserted themselves.

Sandburg talks about going up to a group of women who did not sit at the same part of the table in a business meeting and pointing out that they were invited but chose not to join anyways. She simply pulls them aside and asks why they didn't assert themselves physically. The women reflect and eventually agree with Sheryl saying that they should have been more confident in sitting with the other men. This anecdote puzzles me a bit. What about all four of these women did not feel comfortable sitting with the rest of the business people if they themselves were businesswomen? Why did Sheryl Sandburg feel justified to approach them, pull them aside, and call them out for their behavior? Most other women would notice and feel frustrated, but what made Sandburg feel it would be appropriate to put the other women on the spot? I wonder if Sandburg is a likable person, this story almost makes her seem a little intrusive or nosey. At the same time, I might feel differently if she had been a man pulling the women aside to ask why they didn't feel comfortable sitting with the men. Maybe this is my own internalized sexism, and I now have the opportunity to address it within myself.

Also, in my academic life, most of the girls will be the ones to sit in the front of the classroom, raise their hands, etc. It’s the boys who are quiet or sit off to the side. Is this going to change when I enter a career, or is the nation changing?

#1

I am interested by this book by Sheryl Sandburg, and I'm glad to read something that is currently receiving so much media attention so that I can be part of the conversation. I was more interested by the statistics about a woman's achievement, and reasons she credits for her success being different from a mans. Most women don't  accredit their internal qualities but claim "luck" go them to where they were. This now makes me curious to whether or not I have internalized some of these feelings of "feeling like a fraud" and I wonder how they show up in my own life without me even noticing. I am hoping to be more conscious of my own thoughts or actions, especially as an entrepreneur, so that I can help discourage these behaviors that Sandburg has labeled. I look forward to reading and reflecting on this book.

Sandburg notes that it is important for women who plan on having children later in life not to forget about their careers. It will be important for them to make work their main commitment, until its time for them to have kids. Then, they can leave their careers behind, either temporarily or for good, and care for their children. Of course this isn't an option for many women, who will need to work either way to support their families, so Sandbug is addressing upper middle class women. I am sometimes a little concerned about how this will play out in my own life, as I am looking at a career as a foreign service worker, but also want to have children. It might not be fair to move my children around every couple of years to a new country. I wonder if men have these thoughts when thinking about future careers. If not, this might be another way in which women internalize sexism because they put families (that don't even exist yet) into their plans, and because of this might not seek the high paying career as a foreign service worker for fear that it will not be good for their future kids.