Response to Student Blogs

1. Lead by example, you can't ask someone to do something that you would not do yourself.
2. Right now it impacts me because as a section leader in band, I can tell people to do stuff, but they won't listen or do it if  I am not doing it. This impacts me in the future because this is a life lesson you should know. People won't respect you if they are held to a double standard.
3. Right now I need to stop and look at the things I do. Is everything I do representing a good leader? I have to act like a leader 100% of the time or people may think you are a fake.

Dianna Elrod

Motivation in High School

It seems to me that a lot of people don't seem to care about school or their activities nearly as much as they used to. It is sad to see that attitude decrease. Having this attitude in life isn't going to help you at all. If you want something, you are going to have to work for it. An A+ or a win for the basketball team isn't just given to you. The problem is people having the attitude to work for it. Where can students find their motivation? This is a real question everyone should ask themselves. You don't want students to be bribed into their success. You want them to want it for themselves. I hope people will realize once they get to college, they can't have their high school life back. So do it right the first time because you don't have a second chance. What you put into it is what you will get out of it!

Dianna Elrod

Always a leader

Today in class we were presenting some of our problems to the administration. One of the problems was attendance at school activities and school spirit. A point was brought up that really made me step back and say woah what's going on. Ms. O'Connor made the comment that a parent said to her that no one was standing up and cheering and all of the school leaders are sitting down. If leaders of WHS are sitting down with no school spirit....is anyone else going to stand up? No. Your peers look up to the leaders. If your a true leader, you are going to act like a leader 100% of the time...not just the time your being a leader. People are always going to be looking at you as a leader...whether you are actually leading something or sitting in the at the stands watching a volleyball game. Always be a leader.

Dianna Elrod

High School Drama

Being a high school student, I have been through a lot of drama. I think this year more than any other I have dealt with more drama than any before; this includes my drama and drama from my friends and peers. Recently I have had some things happen in my life that have really made me stop and think. Life isn't always going to go the way you want it to...actually it will rarely go the way you want it to. The thing I have learned from high school drama and hard times at home is that it is not going to go away. So I think the best thing you can do it rise above it all. Live and learn. This past couple of months has really been an eye opener. I have realized that you are only in high school once. I have also really realized how important my friends are to me. I wouldn't be the person I am today without my friends and my high school peers. Even though you might not get want you want or something is going wrong, rise above. Look at everything you already have and are taking advantage of.

Dianna Elrod

Friends

Friends have a huge impact in your life, especially during your high school years. I think it is very important to make sure you are picking the right group of friends to hang with. Find friends that have similar core values and beliefs as you. If you do, then I think you are more likely to get along. You and your friends are not always going to agree though. This is when you have to be a good friend and let things be. You can look out for your friends when they make bad decisions, but you can't make the decisions for them. This is when you let them know that they are your friend and matter what you will stick to their side whether or not you agree with them. Friendships are very important to me. I cherish my friendships everyday!

Dianna Elrod

Mr. Ritchie

Listening to Mr. Ritchie talk was neat because he showed us how we can use our leadership skills in our sports and other activities in high school. You may not realize it, but a high school student can use leadership skills everyday in a sport, even if they are only leading themselves. If you are positively leading yourself then that is awesome....keep it up. But if you look at yourself as an athlete and are unhappy with where you are at then take some initiative and get yourself where you want. Mr. Ritchie really got me thinking about that. I think high school athletes rely on the seniors to lead the team. I don't think this is the right attitude to have. A freshman athlete can lead the team just as well as any other athlete on the team could.

Dianna Elrod

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is time where a person really needs to stop and think about everything they are given in life. People don't think about the little things daily that they should be thankful for. A blanket to cover up with, food on your plate, running water, and education are some things that would fall into that category. So next time you go to school, you should realize there are children out there that don't get an education. Be thankful that you aren't one of them.
Now how does this relate to leadership? A leader needs to make sure they aren't taking the little things people are doing for them for granted. Show your appreciation and your gratitude for the things people are doing to help you reach your goal. Your followers need to know that they are appreciated otherwise they will give up on you. They need to know what they are doing is making just as much as a difference as what the leader is doing!

Dianna Elrod

Motivation

I think motivation is a huge characteristic of a leader. People aren't going to want to take action if they have no motivation from anyone. As a cheerleader, I give motivation to the players. Sometime I think they get discouraged when they aren't winning, so thats when the cheerleaders are needed the most. I think the players get motivated if they hear people encouraging them to work for it. A win isn't just going to come...it has to be earned. So as a cheerleader, the most important thing to me is to encourage the players. This motivates them then to earn their win. It's always nice hearing people cheer you on, but how they cheer you on is more important. A cheerleader can never give up encouraging the team and players. You just have to keep them with their heads up!

Dianna Elrod

A couple days ago Vuk gave our class a presentation about where he came from....Montenegro. It's really neat to hear and learn about how people are the same and different between nations. One thing that really shocked me was that only 2% of Montenegro's population is overweight or obese. It's weird that here in the United States people go and eat McDonalds, but Vuk said McDonalds doesn't even exist there. We always talk about what we want to see change in the 21st century. The one thing that I would like to see change in our world today is the health of our country as a whole. I think it is sad that things have become more convenient and allow people to be even more lazy! America needs to be more active. We should learn from Vuk that it is ok to walk places and not always drive!

Dianna Elrod

An application to my life

This weekend I went to a birthday party. This involved teamwork because we went on a scavenger hunt. I noticed myself doing some of the things we have talked about it class. I was the driver, which sort of meant that I was a team captain. I really noticed myself managing the list. I grouped the things we had to find, so we weren't running back and forth around town. I was also taking the initiative to make sure we had a plan. The other groups just kind of went with it, but I felt a lot better with a plan. You never know when you are going to use these leadership skills in your everyday life!

Dianna Elrod

Aaron Thomas

Coach Ed Thomas's son, Aaron Thomas, came and talked to our school on Thursday. I was expecting him to be emotional about his fathers murder, but I was wrong. He seems to be a person who really knows who he is. He is a very strong person. He really emphasized that you need to remember where you came from. I took this as to mean that a person should remember what they grew up with...whether it be good or bad. Aaron learned from both the good and bad things of his life. I also think it means that you can't forget what is important to you, so don't let others change your opinion. He also made a good point that someone has it worse then you. You may feel like you have the worst life....but someone somewhere has it worse. So be thankful for what you have while you have it. Someone or something could be gone before you know it.

Dianna Elrod

Mission Statement Reflection

It's weird that you can go through and answer all if these random questions about yourself, and they can go and write a mission statement from it that describes me perfectly. Looking at my mission statement you can tell getting a successful job is important to me because it comes up or is implied a lot. This refers to Mr. Fritz blog about things that are important to you are shown and spoken in your life. This mission statement motivates me to get what I want in life. It also is not set in stone, so it can be changed as I live my life and my things I want in life change.

Dianna Elrod

My Mission Statement

You now have the beginning of a mission statement built on a foundation of your values. You have more clarity into you want to be and to do in your life. You can also start to detect the values and principles upon which your life is based.

You can continue to write and revise your mission statement until you feel it reflects what you live for. You could also try going through the Freewrite section of this site to help you refine your mission and values, or you could visit the Get Inspired section for more ideas.

I am at my best when I am well rested and doing something I enjoy..
I will try to prevent times when I am tired and forced to do something I don't like to do, when I have no motivation..
I will enjoy my work by finding employment where I can I love to ring at the cash register and help people find cute outfits for their children..
I will find enjoyment in my personal life through I love to spend time with my friends and family. I also love to go shopping..
I will find opportunities to use my natural talents and gifts such as I am talented musically. I am also good at cheerleading and being friends with many different kinds of people..
I can do anything I set my mind to. I will bring the whole world to peace with each other..
My life's journey is I am going to get a good job and find a good career. I would do this for support of my family and for myself to have something I enjoy to do. This results in me having fun everyday with something I enjoy while I am giving support for my family..
I will be a person who My parents would be there (if they were still alive), my closest friends, my husband, and my children would be there. I would like them to say I am fun loving and enjoyable to be around. I would also like them to say I am responsible, reliable, and caring..
My most important future contribution to others will be I want to contribute to their happiness. I want to be able to help them with their life..

I will stop procrastinating and start working on:

• I should not procrastinate as much as I do. I should stop.
• I should not gossip and/or spread gossip because it hurts people in the end.
• I should make my faith stronger.

I will strive to incorporate the following attributes into my life:

• loving and full of advice
• great cheerleading and always positive
• strength and relationships

I will constantly renew myself by focusing on the four dimensions of my life:

• Eat healthy and prevent any health defects.
• Go to church and practice my faith in everyday life.
• Take deep breaths and know everything will be okay. Talk things through with close people.
• Be friends with anyone and everyone who needs a friend.

10 Question Answers

1. My mom has had a huge impact on my life. I look up to her all the time. She is my go to person in life. I would like to mimic how responsible and reliable she is, how caring she is, and her faith.
2. Fifteen years from now I want to be surrounded by my family. I want to be married and have kids. I hope to be loving in a fairly nice house and both of us with great, supporting careers.
3. I would lose my greatest possession for my family or my faith. Both of these things mean the world to me and I would never give them up.
4. I would be studying ways to make our country and our world healthier. I would try and find some answers to get the number of people who are obese in our world down.
5. I love to be with my friends and family. I feel like I can really let loose and be myself. I love spending quality time with these people. I also love to go shopping.
6. When we had our leadership thing for band I was really inspired. I wanted to go out and become a better band member and a leader.
7. I would want them to say I have a successful career. I would also wanted them to say that my family was a cherished possession of mine. I would also want them to say that I am a caring, loving, and responsible person.
8. I think one of those robotic vacuums represents me because it has a fun way if doing a job and at the same time has a fun time. I have fun, but I get the job done.
9. I would spend a day in the life of one of my friends. I want to see from the outside of what people view me as. I am always curious about what others think about me.
10. I have talent cheerleading, being friendly with everyone, musically, and making people laugh.

Dianna Elrod

Leadership starts with yourself

We had a speaker in class last week. He made a point that I very much agree with. He said you aren't a leader if you can't lead yourself. You have to start by knowing what you want and leading yourself in that direction. This goes with standing up wfor what you believe in. We all know our core values...now put them into practice when it comes to leadership. If you can't lead yourself, then you aren't going to be able to lead a group of people. So learn how to stand up to what you believe in. That is the start of leadership!

Dianna Elrod

Two Day Workshop

Evan and I went to a two day workshop where we learned about problem solving in the workplace. We learned about all different kinds of steps to take to go about solving a real world problem. You can use many different tools just to get to one solution. One thing I think they could have done to make this workshop better is to give you real world stuff to deal with instead of hypothetical thinking. My group had difficulties with nothing to actually work with. I think all of these tools will be very helpful in real world situations outside of school. It does take a lot of work to find a solution this way...but you can get a good solution out of it!

Dianna Elrod

Group Work

We did three different activities with group work this week. I found it a lot of fun to learn how all of my classmates work together. I learned that it is ok to have people who don't help hands on in the group. If they are outside watchers they can more easily see things that aren't working and need changed. They can easily look at the big picture. It is also good to have one or two initiators instead if everyone in the group because then everyone is talking over each other. Sometimes when we were working in the group we had to change our strategy because the intial attempt wasn't working out. You are always going to have this...so it's good to be able to look at what you are doing and tweak it so that it works

Dianna Elrod

Don't Stand Still

When our speaker, Ashly McMillan, was talking about her core values...don't stand still is the one she seemed to stress quite a bit. "If you don't take a chance, you don't stand a chance." This is a quote she referenced, and I think it pretty much says it all. It's as easy as wanting to walk out the door...in order to walk out the door you have to take a first step. This easy concept is used time and time again in leadership. Sometimes I think it is overlooked. Leaders wonder why they aren't getting anywhere, and it's because they aren't taking the first step of action. So as a leader...don't stand still!

Dianna Elrod

My Top Five Core Values

Here are my top five values and why they are important to me:
1. Relationships- My faith is really important to me and I try to seek my faith above all else. My relationships with my friends and family are really inportant also. I like having a support group and being able to support others.
2. Self-improvement- I always like being able to get batter at things. I don't like just leaving things the way they are if they aren't to my full potential.
3. Respect- It is very important to have respect for everyone above and below you. You have to show respect for those above and below you in order to get respect back from those people.
4. Honesty- This may seem second grade....but it's really important. You can not tell the truth once and lose someones faith and trust in you.
5. Initiative- If you don't have that someone to get started and take the first step, you aren't going to get anywhere.

Dianna Elrod

The Pursuit of Happyness

We watched The Pursuit of Happyness in class this last week and we watched at how his character changed throughout the movie. He wanted his son to have a better life than himself. Whenever something went wrong he was always worried about if his son was going got be ok, and then he thought up a solution for his son. He wanted to be a better dad to his child than his own father was to him. His dad wasn't around, so when his wife left he insisted that his son stay with hem. At one point in the movie they escaped to the beach. This was him stepping out of life and looking at what he does have and how important that is to him even though he didn't have much at all. What he had was the best thing, and that was his son. He was very motivated and determined as a person. When he was trying to solve the Rubik Cube he wasn';t going to stop until he solved it. he knew he could do it and he wouldn't let anyone doubt him.

Dianna Elrod

The Little Things that Count

Have you ever gone about your day like normal and then the smallest thing happens that makes your day? This happened to me this week. I was doing my math homework. I opened up my calculator to find that someone wrote "I love you". One of my best friends wrote that and it made me feel good. The little things can really make an impact.
This got me thinking, what does this have to do with leadership? Well the little things that you do can get you recognized as a leader. People notice and appreciate the little things that you do in life. You may think that no one is watching, but someone is. You can't let yourself slack as a leader just because no one is around. Always know that someone appreciates the little things that you so...even if they don't let you know.

Dianna Elrod

Time Management

Time management is a very important concept as a leader. If you manage your time well, you will be a more effective leader. Why? Because things will get done when they are supposed to so you can move on to bigger and better things as a leader. When I did my persuasive speech about energy drinks being bad for you, I said that drinking them is a bad use of time management because you are relying on the energy drink to wake you up and give you energy, if you managed your time you could get more sleep. Time management is something I have a hard time with. I need to figure something out so I can get more sleep. I am in so many activities so it seems I have a hard time getting everything worked out, but I make it work!

Dianna Elrod

Communication in Leadership

As a leader, I think there are three steps to effective communication as a leader. The three steps are 1. Speaking 2. Listening and 3. Learning. You have to have or develop all of these communication skills to have an effective communication with people in your life.
The first step is speaking. This is you talking about what you think, let others know what is going on. Nothing can get started if someone doesn't start talking. You let people know your opinion. But don't let this become controlling, because then people won't listen to you.
The second step is listening, This is where you would let others do the speaking. You have to listen to their thoughts and opinions, they listened to yours. The more input you have, the better. You can't always let yourself make all decisions, because sometimes your own decision might not be the best decision.
The third step is learning. You are talking with others, but why? You aren't just talking to talk. You are taking each others opinions and ideas and learning from them. You might learn about others or even yourself by what they communicate. I think the learning step of communicating is most important because you have to actually analyze what has been talked about. It isn't worth the time talking about it if you don't take something from it!

Dianna Elrod

Reflection from Thursday's Speaker

Leaders can get caught up a lot when they start thinking about failure. Some people don't like to accept the fact that they are going to mess up at some point. Everyone makes mistakes...it is bound to happen. But I think what makes a good leader is how you rebound from those mistakes. You can't let it get to you. Just find a solution and get on it!
"Pride left unchecked can destroy a person." I think this is saying that if you are a person who has a lot of pride, then you need to make sure you aren't thinking too highly of yourself. Leaders need to realize it takes a lot of effort from everyone, not just the leader, to accomplish the goal. Leadership begins in the dark when no one can see. It is the little things you do in everyday life that no ones sees that really counts.
A leader has to have character. If you don't have character you aren't going to be driven anywhere. I think a leader's character motivates you as a leader. "Character driven leaders make more of an impact in the world than those who just lead!

Dianna Elrod

Creating a Good Relationship

Mr. Jepson came and talked to our class last week. He said "A great leader is someone who can create relationship." I agree very much with this statement. If you don't have a good relationship with the people you are working with, then you are going to get nowhere with them.  You have to build a relationship with everyone so you can work towards that common goal.
Trust creates a good relationship. If you don't have trust in your relationship, then you can't be held accountable or be accountable for anything. Building this trust takes a long time, and it can be lost in five seconds. You can take a lifetime to build a trusting relationship with someone, but it takes you one time to say something you regret that can ruin that relationship. As a leader, you need to try and build these trusting relationships with everyone. You also need to keep them, once you loose it, it is hard to get it back.
He also talked about the 90-10 principle. 90% of your day to day events is what you make of it. The other 10% you can't control. You have to make the best of what you have. Keep a positive attitude throughout your whole day, even if it is a bad day. If you choose to make it a good situation, it will become a good situation. So make that 90% the best part of your day!

Dianna Elrod

Leadership Packaged up in a Frame

This past week we had a frame project in class. It had four different parts to it in the four corners. These were the four different parts:
1. Perceive

• Your perspective in life
• How you see things as an individual

2. Purpose

• Your vision in life
• Motivation
• Values

3. Plan

• Goals
• Plan of action

4. Pursue

• Why?
• Finish line
• Get what you are after

This is the picture I chose to put in the center of my frame. To me it represents you running after something in life. I look at it and see the different colors and realize that everyone is running towards something different in life. The arrows represent that you are never done, you can always run after something more.
When we were presenting these in class it was interesting to see what others did. I heard that you have to believe in yourself before anything else can happen. I totally agree with this. If you don't believe in yourself then you are already starting with the glass half empty.
It was also said that you will always have a key to a door, you just have to find the right door and use it. This is very true to me. If you have a plan, you have to find the right path for you and your plan or you will never get there.
I learned a lot about other people and what their big picture is and how they see things.

What influences how I see things?

Everyone sees things differently in life. Everyone "looks through a different pair of glasses". No one has the same plan for life as you. Someone might have similar goals as you, but how you approach and achieve those goals will differ no matter what.
What makes my glasses different than everyone else? I think a lot of things influence how a person sees things. A person's values definitely plays part in this. If you value something, you are going to look at that as being important and really dig into it. If someone doesn't value that, then they will probably not look at that issue much and sort of look over it. If you value something it is going to stick out at you when you are looking at the big picture.
I also think your experiences influences how you see things. If you have experienced something you know what to expect. So you will see it as you have experienced it. You won't have much other thought in it other than how it was.

Hierachy vs Matrix

Doug Doty, from Mosanto, was a speaker for our leadership development class yesterday. He talked about the difference between a hierarchy and a matrix. He also talked about the difference in leadership between the two. He also talked about the 5 global competencies for Monsanto.
What is a hierarchy and a matrix? A hierarchy is what you see a lot of the time in business. You have the CEO of the company at the the top of the leader board, then you would have people like the district managers, then the managers, and the employees at the bottom. The leaders are the strong ones, maintain control, and are the only ones who know their strategy. With a matrix, everyone sort of communicates with one another and everyone is a leader in their own way.  Leaders in a matrix provide a clear vision and strategy for everyone and supports implementation.
Do I think one is better than the other? No. I think it depends on the business and what works best of the business. I like the idea of a matrix because it seems to me that everyone would get heard more and you would have more opinions. Then there isn't really a "boss" of the show. There is more of a share of the leadership. I think of a matrix as more of a go with the flow but still controlled sort of leadership. A hierarchy is still a great option though and works for a lot of businesses. This way there is someone talking initiative and letting the people right below them know what to do. Then the leader is only "in charge" of a small group below them instead of the whole company. Everyone would have a specific job description and know exactly what to do. So it just depends on the business itself and what works best for them.

Dianna Elrod

Character vs Competence

We had Mr. Hoffman, our vice principal, come and talk to our leadership development. On one of his first slides it said this....leadership theory deals with what a leader is and what a leader does. He said a leader's character is who a he/she is, and a leader's competence is what he/she does. I very much agreed with him when he was talking about this. This is the main message I got from him. He asked us these three questions at the end and here are my responses:
1. How can we build character in high school, college, or in a job?
-I believe you can build character by by being involved in team work. This will build your character working with other people. You can also build character by realizing who you are and what is important to you. Your character will come out even more when you know your purpose and you know what you are after.
2. How can we build competence in high school, college, or in a job?
-I think it would be easier to build your character first and then work on your competence. I don't think you can build competence without knowing who your character is. You can then build your competence by putting your goal into action and talking some initiative. Stay involved in activities, go to college and get a further education, learn of your different opportunities. This will all effect what you do as a leader.
3. Can you ever stop building your character or competence in anything you do?
-No! You can always learn more about yourself and you can always do more. With being a leader I don't think there is ever a finish line. You can always keep going!

Dianna Elrod

Relationships with Leaders

I believe that relationships with other people are one of the most important things as a leader. You need good relationships with other people as a leader because you can't make it to your goal alone. Relationships are very important to me. If I am not getting along with someone, or I know someone doesn't like me, it really bothers me. I will lay in bed at night thinking about how I can fix it. Personally, I believe it is important to put others before yourself as a leader. That doesn't mean you should forget your values and what is important to you. Sometimes I get so caught up with trying to get people to like me and and get along with everyone that I forget my own values. You are not going to get along with everyone....that is just life. So make the best if it and remember you are working tissues a common goal!

Visions...what are they really?

We have been talking in class about figuring out what your vision is....what is this vision? How do you know if you have set the right vision for yourself?
Why do we have a vision? We have a vision so we know what we want in life. Visions are good for making a pathway toward your goal in life. These visions give you something to work for, a life long goal to achieve. A vision represents who you are and what you, as an individual, stand for.
When you are figuring out your vision in life, you have a lot of questions to ask yourself and figure out before you can know your vision....
-Who do you want to be as a person? As a leader?
-What do you want to accomplish?
-What do you want to change? How?
-What's really important to you?
-What concerns you?
To get anywhere in life, you need a vision to direct yourself. You have to start with figuring out that vision, and then figure out your path getting there. This requires a lot of thought and learning about yourself. You really have to know what you want and what is important to you. Don't let others opinions change the way you think...it is your vision on your own life!

Dianna Elrod

What's your color?

       Are you red, blue, white, or yellow? And what does that mean? We took a personality test in our leadership development class. I am definitely a blue.
       What is a blue? To be a blue says you are very intimate. This is true. Relationships with other people are very important to me. If there is a problem with one of my relationships it will very much bother me. I have to make it right. I think that is important for a leader, so then your have a good relationship and understand others and their feelings as you are leading then toward something.
       Being a blue, I am said to be good morally. This is very much true. I always have to do the right thing. If I don't I will lay in bed regretting my decision. I also have to feel accepted and appreciated in order for me to feel I am doing a good job. This could be hard as a leader because you are never going to make everyone happy....so someone won't accept or appreciate what you are doing. This could bother me if a large number of people thought that.
       Quality is also very important to me. When we answer the question "what do you think your biggest strength is" I answer diligent. I feel useful and unwanted when I don't do good quality work. I believe do something right or don't do it at all. Now I have to say there are plenty of times that I don't do as good of a job as I could...so maybe that is something I could work on more as a leader. I believe getting the color blue matched my personality style very well.

Dianna Elrod

The first step....goal setting

       When I was looking for a fifth period class, I came across leadership development. I had always heard this was a fun class...so why not! And it was a Mr. Fritz class so I knew I would enjoy the teacher! So I put it on my schedule not really knowing what to expect and hoping I would enjoy it.      
       Then I had a leadership conference this summer. It was held here at the high school for the marching band drum major and section leaders. Alan Feirer, from Group Dynamic, gave us our leadership training. I was dreading going to this all day long leadership thing, but boy did I have fun! I learned so much about myself and my fellow band members. I learned that you have to have a big picture painted and work on the little details first. For example, we were trying to figure out how to get everyone in the band to be on time. Well we are only starting with early morning band days. Once they are on time we go from there. We also wrote down all of our personal goals as section leaders. Now that band has started I am really seeing that it is a long process....just like becoming a leader is. You can't just write something down on paper and expect it to happen. It takes a lot of work, effort , and commitment to make make those goals come true by a lot of work on the way.
       Leaving that leadership training I thought I would come out a leader and a better person....but to be completely honest. I am the same person I was the day before that leadership training. This has really put a perspective on the amount of work it takes for goals to be achieved. But I know I can make it happen if I set my mind to it.
       After having this super fun leadership training, I was really looking forward to this class. I knew it would be a lot of learning about me and my classmates, and I enjoy that.
       So where am I at with being a leader in band? I had a list of six goals for myself to achieve/work on throughout the marching band season.

• Leave 10 minutes earlier for band related activities so I am on time.
• Thinking of things that need to be done for the band when all of my things are done.
• Inspire others to make the band better by showing these things in myself...showing others by example.
• Listen to others in the section/band and be patient with them.
• Listen to their ideas and discuss with them to come to a conclusion.
• Not using the word "but" because it leaves the individual remembering the negative.

Well...the first goal has come a long way, and that has been the one i have been focusing on. I have not been late to band once! Now I just hope to keep these other goals in mind and hopefully I will be able to see some progress in them as well. I am sure this list will even tie into concert band and next year....because leadership is one step at a time!

Dianna Elrod