Day 22: Hesselbein Global Leadership Academy Day 3

Today was an interesting day, where the groups were taken to their case study locations to complete a leadership activity. Our group, having being assigned to the American Red Cross, were taken to their headquarters. After receiving a tour where we met workers from the different aspects of the facility – including crisis management, community engagement and volunteer management we were briefed on the challenge. The American Red Cross is looking to reduce the number of physical sites they have, without reducing their community engagement. The biggest challenge is that for the towns that have a Red Cross centre, they feel a strong sense of connectedness with the Red Cross and should the organisation close its physical location in these areas, they will feel shafted and as if the group has abandoned them. Our job was to develop strategies that could assist in ensuring these communities were still engaged and felt like the Red Cross was still working in the communities despite the lack of a physical presence. The challenges included: varying community demographics, technological literacy, and emergency response capacity.

The biggest problem with trying to make a team out of five leaders is that everyone wants to be in charge and no one is a particularly good follower. It’s not in their instinct. And with different problem solving methods, it was difficult to find a group dynamic that worked. The Nigerian Engineer tried to take charge again and apply his usual leadership style, which was frustrating for the rest of us as he was not as consultative as we would have liked. In the end, Sam (the Commanding Officer Cadet from Virginia Tech) ended up running the brainstorm session, which worked well for almost everyone. Unfortunately, our Nigerian friend did not like not being in charge and despite our best efforts to engage him, went off and did his own thing for the rest of the day.

As a team we broke the problem down into different elements, the key goals required to achieve the greatest success. We looked at community engagement, emergency responsiveness, volunteers and technology. As a team we put forward every idea we could come up with and then went as individuals to develop more detailed plans to meet these goals. Breaking for lunch meant more adventure as we ended up wandering around an area of Pittsburgh without many food places trying to find some lunch. Eventually we found a little take-away shop that did amazing burgers to your own specifications (which worked really well for me – being such a fussy eater).

Upon our return to the American Red Cross Centre, we presented our solution. It was excellent to receive such positive feedback, with our ideas either being already in progress or new angles they had not considered. Upon returning to the bus, we met up with one of the other Hesselbein groups who had been working with the local law enforcement group and had received rave reviews for their work. Hopefully our efforts today will be utilised by the organisations we have been working with.

We returned to our accommodation to get ready for the main event. Unfortunately this would be my last event at Hesselbein as I am leaving early tomorrow morning to fly to Thailand! It was our formal lecture from Francis Hesselbein herself. As Francis is unwell, she was unable to fly from New York City to give the lecture. So she skyped in the talk to us about her life, her experiences and the role we had as the next generation of leaders. It was a very motivating discussion and afterwards, we were treated to dinner with alumni and it was during that time that Toshiko (my mentor) gave me a pin from Francis Hesselbein with her best known saying "to serve is to live." That was pretty special and made my night. We got photos with our groups. My group looked fantastic, particularly with Sam in her formal military attire. 

We went down to the college bar against. It was there the organisers remembered that tomorrow was my birthday (they admitted to forgetting). So they rounded up everyone and they sung Happy Birthday to me. It was super embarrassing, but we had a lot of fun for the evening with karaoke (although I didn't sing) and just chatting all evening before the bar closed and we skulked back to the accommodation. 

The rest of the night was pretty quiet - everyone stayed up late and talked. I showed off my Wonder Woman shirt I bought in DC (and was obviously the best dressed there) and packed for the morning. I also said most of my goodbyes as I was leaving before breakfast and thus probably wouldn't see anyone again. As the clock struck midnight I celebrated my 21st birthday re-reading my speech, before a few drunken stragglers came back late and brought me a traditional 21st birthday present from the bar - a viking hat - although I'm not 100% sure why.

So with my body clock successfully adjusted so I will be at my best for the public speaking competition in Thailand, it is time to go to sleep before I celebrate the rest of my 21st birthday on American Airlines. What a fun way to party! Next time I post I will be in Thailand. Thanks America- it's been awesome! I promise I'll be back one day.