Saturday 14 September

Saturday was a quiet day regarding work, however we felt a little bit of group bonding was in order for the later hours of the evening…

Sunday 15 September

Sunday has been considered the day of rest for over 2013 years… So that is what we did.

Friday 13 September

Today was interesting as well as a long day. We had a great lecture on Sir Ernest Shackleton and the ways in which he embodies the characteristics of a leader. The two things that really stood out to me, and I know us at Thrift, was his humility, and his undying, iron will and resolve. He went through some hardships and struggles on his adventures that most people on this planet cannot even begin to imagine about. He chose a crew to support and travel with him, and they essentially needed a leader of incredible stature to get them to their goal. This is even more prominent when this crew don’t fully understand the extent of their travels. People go mad, they get crazy and make irrational decisions and take wild actions. The crew did not think they would even survive, but Shackleton’s amazing leadership got every single one of the crew back home safe, despite the treacherous conditions.

He really was a burning example of what a leader should embody and the way in which they can go about their leadership experiences in their everyday life.

Thursday 12 September

Today was a quieter day but did involve a lecture in MTIP on empathic listening. This is essentially ensuring a greater understanding from both parties. Ensuring an understanding is agreed upon. And this is highly effective and useful seeing as yesterdays lecture was on self preservation and making sure we leave with ourselves well looked after. This too relates to the fundamental human needs, as well as coveys habit 5.

Wednesday 11 September

Today is the memorial of those who lost their lives in the terrible terrorist attacks on the twin towers. This got me thinking about all of those people who were involved and lost their lives. It also got me thinking about those people that were involved in the helping process, from the rescue teams, to the clean up teams, to the rebuilding crews of Ground Zero. It came to me that all of these people were leaders. They were leading with the ambition to improve and help those around them. They were ‘others centered’ and really did what they could for the greater good. There was a leader at the head of every single team that helped get New York and America up and running again after those attacks. I just felt this needed to be included because I don’t think a thought like this would have come to me before this year.

We started class with a Genesis workshop. This workshop was based on power and was extremely insightful. It was something and one of those lectures that sticks with you long after (and hopefully forever) it is done. We learnt that self preservation is the fundamental interest and something that we need to know when entering a room. This means that if a mutual understanding of such a fact is known, both parties can work around such an understanding and know that a mutually beneficial and win/win situation is best for all.

This also lead to the topic of how leadership should be based on influence, and most definitely not on manipulation. This has a strong message that needs to be brought out into South Africa. We feel like we have certainly done this with Thrift this year as we have not had one bit of conflict that even deserves mentioning. This we all feel is just one result of this leadership through influence, rather than manipulation.

Tuesday 10 September

Tuesday is the usual day for our group meetings in which we catch up on everything that needs to be done academically, and business wise. It is always great to meet up and keep it light hearted for the beginning of the meeting, and then to get into the serious stuff. We spoke about production, bags that needed to be collected from clients with faulty stitching, or incorrect shoulder straps. This was an issue for us as firstly, it is embarrassing, and secondly, it’s a mission to fetch from customers. We decided that it is something we really don’t want to happen again in the future, and so we decided to do a total recall of all of our stock. This seemed like quite a dramatic step to take, but we all agreed it could possibly damage the name of Thrift, add additional hassles to the group, and cause unnecessary administration for both us and the clients.

Monday 9 September

Today was our soft submission date for our group sales report two. We all put in a lot of work for it and I think this time around we are expecting a better mark in that regard. I am always amazed at the functionality that our group has grown into. This is because of things such as accountability that is playing a large role in us achieving what we have achieved. These soft dates are so easy to not listen to, and to put on one side and say that they are not the proper date. We have stuck to every single soft date and respect the amount of work that goes into the editing. Therefore we know the assignments have to be in for these soft dates for a reason, and this includes a good result.

On a note of the team dynamic, I can safely say that we just keep moving in a positive, and healthy direction. We really do all get along really well and are yet to have any conflict of any nature. We all respect each others’ opinions and are happy to hear each other out. This means that no action is taken without a clear and well thought out reason for action.