A couple days later, though, through a simple email, it was announced that my friend had won employee of the semester! Her prize included a ten dollar gift certificate to the campus café and the recognition given in the email. At first I doubted whether this would mean anything to her. What is ten dollars and a pat on the back if she did not receive the supervisor position and title she deserved?

Well, when I saw her later that evening working the dinner shift, I would have thought she had been put in charge of the whole dining hall. She was smiling from ear-to-ear, running around, finishing jobs no one else wanted to, and barely stopped to talk for a moment. She was so proud to be given such recognition, it was as though she had completely forgotten about the freshman supervisor position.

After this, I began to think about the importance of recognition. I have found that school leaders often do not receive the recognition they deserve because certain actions have become expected of them, and most of the time, the leaders do not ask, or even think, to be recognized. However, I have also seen and experienced the power a simple “Well done” or “Good job” has on a person.

Recognition is funny, because it cannot be packaged and decorated with a bow, it cannot be put on a résumé, it cannot even be shown off to other people. Yet recognition of a job-well-done is possibly the greatest gift you can give someone who has given effort towards achieving a goal.

While receiving recognition for your own hard work is always a treasure, giving recognition to others is a great way to see the effects it has over his or her attitude. Tell the lunch ladies that the food was really tasty. Tell the kid at the cash register that he has done a remarkable job keeping the line moving. Say to your parents that the holiday decorations look especially nice this season. Say to your best friend that you really appreciate his or her friendship. Let your teachers know that you really enjoyed their class and learned a lot this semester. You can even tell a stranger on the sidewalk that their dog just brightened up your day.

They are all easy, simple little things you can say to show others you recognize their hard work, even if they are not going to win an award or a raise for what they are doing. Letting someone know you see them trying often empowers that person to finish their job and perhaps even go beyond what is expected.

The holiday season is a great time to begin showing recognition, because everyone is already contemplating what they are most thankful for from the past year and what they are looking forward to for the following year. Regardless of how many people you encounter this season, I guarantee you, if you start showing recognition for those people who do come into your life in these next few weeks, you will see a handful of new smiles.

Katie G

MYLead AP Communications Coordinator

My family of one boyfriend and endless dogs

My family of blood, back home in Metro Detroit

My family of work mates, all selflessly saving lives of homeless pets

My family of friends, from all corners of the globe

My family of MYLeaders, spanning literally a decade of memories and new friendships — the photo is some of the CAs during the fifth year of MYLead!

Kaylee H

Director of Communications

Ruthann L

2012 Conference Co-Chair

Before Hope I had plenty of friends but none that I felt close to. In high school I never had friends that I talked to and really knew. I never had friends that I cared about so deeply or knew that they loved me just as much. Of course I cared for my friends in high school but the love I feel for my friends here at Hope is a different kind of friendship. At the start of my freshmen year I was blessed to meet six incredible men whom have since become more than just my closest friends, they are like brothers to me.

The reason I am so thankful for them is because I know that no matter what, they will always be there for me. They care about me, and we care about each other very much which is something that I mentioned I did not always feel from my friends in high school. I look up to them greatly. They are such incredible men of faith and integrity. They lead by setting a perfect example of how I want to be as a person. And they are just straight up goons. I love them. We have so much fun together. Whether it is getting a ride to Grand Rapids, being dropped off and walking back to Holland (which we actually did, ask me about it sometime!), messing around playing basketball, or just sitting around having a man chat, I am always so grateful every time I am reminded of them and how big of a blessing in my life they have been. By the way, a man chat is when we all sit down and just share about the three G’s- girls, God and garbage. These are my favorite moments because we all trust each other enough to be open and vulnerable with one another and it is because of this that we have all grown so close.

I really do know that my life would be completely different without these people in it. I am so thankful for my friends because they have always been there to support me, will always care for me, and they are always there to crack a joke at my expense but I love them for it all the same.

I hope that this blog finds you all well and as you step into this holiday season that you will be able to see all the incredible blessings in your life as well! Have a great rest of your day and don’t forget to tell your friends how much you love them.

Eric D

CA Co-Director

Click the link below to see what Olivia is thankful for!

thankful blog 2011

Olivia G

Director of Facilities

Well, what are you going to do about that less-than-pleasant interaction in your life?  Internalize all the feelings of angst and put on your happy face?  Pretend that it doesn’t bother you as much as you know it really does?  Vent to someone who will listen, but can’t help resolve it?  All of these are common ways to cope… but they’re just that… only ways to cope, and they’re not addressing the fundamental issue.

What about talking through the issue with the person involved, having that difficult conversation head-on?  I’m talking sitting down face-to-face and having a conversation.  Laying out your perspective, your concerns, and offering suggestions on moving forward.  Not being accusatory.  Working together to come up with the best way to move forward.  Being responsible adults.  Ohh, I’m guessing that may cause some of us to tense up a bit and take a slight pause in our breathing just thinking about it.  Why?  Because, for most of us, such a conversation is waaaaaay outside our comfort zone.  Is it time to step out of that comfort zone?  Being a leader is about taking action where others hesitate; taking the “hard right” over the “easy wrong;” being a positive role model to others.  The more we have such “difficult conversations,” the easier they become, the more we grow as leaders, and the more others around us grow too.

Still thinking about putting off that difficult conversation more?  Here are some tidbits to help in getting ready for it: Attack the problem, not the person.  Remain cool and calm.  We’ve got two ears and only one mouth; use them proportionately.  Focus on what the core issue is your concerned with – it’s too easy to get distracted by more minor issues and those more minor issues make it harder to be clear and move forward on the more major stuff.  Be ready to keep re-focusing the conversation on the core issue if the discussion gets distracted to the periphery.  Remember it’s a difficult conversation for the other person too.

If you’re someone whose been procrastinating on that difficult conversation, I hope this message helped motivate you.  I’ve been thinking about writing this post for months, but was procrastinating for the “good time” … but just like the conversations themselves, I realized there is no “good time.”

I’ve shared my thoughts… if you’ve recently had success with a difficult conversation, what words of wisdom can you share to help motivate others?  Please share your experiences and what we could learn from you.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Check out that HUGE pile of postcards. There is one for each alumni of MYLead conferences. There are 1,632 postcards to be exact. Why did we recently send those postcards? Simple: to say “Happy Birthday” to MYLead! This coming spring marks MYLead’s 10^th anniversary conference. MYLead’s 10^th anniversary is a big deal. What are we doing to celebrate? Let me tell you all about it:

Survey. What stupendous things have MYLead alums gone on to do with their lives since attending MYLead? Has MYLead had an ongoing impact? That’s what we want to know too. And if you’re a MYLead alum, that’s what we want YOU to help us figure out. Please visit www.mylead.org and click the link to complete our 10^th anniversary survey. Results will be shared with everyone who completes the survey. Also, everyone who completes the survey will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win 2 VIP tickets to MYLead’s reunion gala.

Gala. Ever been to one of the annual MYLead galas? Think it was stupendous? Well you ain’t seen nothing yet! Wait until you see what we have in store for MYLead’s 10^th anniversary – a reunion gala for all MYLead alums, volunteers, supporters, family, and other friends of MYLead. Gala will be this coming March. It’s THE MYLead event of the DECADE and I hope to see YOU there. More details coming in the next couple months. In the meantime, if you’d like to help plan it, contact our gala coordinator Keri Gustafson at keri@mylead.org.

Videos. We really want to here more detail about your successes and accomplishments in life since MYLead in even more vivid life than through our survey.  It would be STUPENDOUS if you could upload a You Tube video.  The theme of video submissions: “What MYLead meant to you and how it has helped make your life stupendous.”  We’re also interested in recent pictures of you (or, even better, you with people you met at MYLead).  Once your video or picture is ready, e-mail the YouTube link or the picture to heather@mylead.org.  Everyone who submits a video or a picture will also have chance to win VIP tickets to the reunion gala.

Back to all those postcards, the different colors are for the different locations for MYLead. That would’ve been Wayne State University for our first year (green), Concordia University for 2004-2006 (yellow), and MSU for 2007+ (blue). MYLead has continued to reach more and more sophomores each year and, as a result, those early years (Wayne State and Concordia) have a relatively small number of alums. SO… while I’m hopefully ALL alums will help us by completing this survey, I’d like to give a special shout-out to those of you who attended at Wayne State or Concordia and ask you to be sure to help out.

So, to sum hope, please help MYLead celebrate our 10^th anniversary by (1) completing our survey – www.mylead.org (2) celebrating with us at the gala in March and (3) send us a You Tube video or pictures. We look forward to hearing from you.

Stay stupendous,

Dr. David S. Sweetman

President, MYLead

david@mylead.org

In February of 2002, when Maddy was only in third grade, she noticed a girl on the playground without a coat. Troubled by what she saw, Maddy returned home that afternoon and asked her mother if they could buy her classmate a coat, a hat, and a pair of gloves. While delivering the items to her school’s guidance counselor, Maddy learned of just how many children did not have a coat even through the bitter month of February. Her immediate subsequent thought: Why not get more coats for more kids? And Coat-A-Kid was born.

In the first year, the Beckmann family was able to provide 27 coats from home (1 coat = 1 coat, 1 hat, and a pair of gloves) to Maddy’s elementary school classmates. The next year, 130 coats had been donated and Coat-A-Kid was able to spread into other local public schools – coating many more chilly children. By 2007, Coat-A-Kid officially became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, allowing them to move into a small office building where Coat-A-Kid could purchase, collect, and reship coats to elementary schools, Head-Start programs, and foster homes all around St. Louis. In 2009, Coat-A-Kid transferred to a large warehouse where the organization was able to expand rapidly. Last year alone, Coat-A-Kid was able to donate over 4,000 coats. By the end of 2010, more than 7,000 children had been “coated.” Maddy’s goal for 2011 is to coat at least another 6,000 children.

“These kids have never had a coat in their lives,” Maddy explains. “Some kids have to live in these coats because they don’t have heat in their homes. Some kids’ only meals are their school lunches, and if they cannot get to school because it’s too cold to stand at the bus stop without a coat, the kids don’t get to eat that day. Even kids who are four years old are very happy. We can coat four kids for only $100.” Reflecting on why she loves community service, Maddy notes: “They [the kids] put the coats on and are like: ‘Is this for me?’… and then they have fashion shows down the hallway. We’re giving them basic essentials. That’s a huge thing.”

Now attending school 17 hours away and anticipating a move to Tuscan, Maddy hopes to hand over Coat-A-Kid to another St. Louis family with two young girls so they too can grow from benefiting other children – possibly even their own classmates. Following the philosophy of Ryan Porter, Maddy loves community service and is interested in education reform. While she does not know how she is going to merge the two into a career, she is determined to continue doing what she loves while helping others.

Starting a charity, running a single service project, drawing public awareness to a particular issue, or even joining a preexisting charity might seem overwhelming. You might have an idea of how you want to help, but you don’t have the monetary resources, the manpower, or even a plan on how to start. This is where MYLead is meant help you! Maybe just thinking about talking to politicians, social workers, or random people on the street reminds you of public speaking and sets your heart racing. Remember Justin Ryan’s Comfort Zone challenge? Not only can busting out of your comfort zone help you grow, but in cases like the development of Coat-A-Kid, it can potentially aid thousands of people. Perhaps your comfort zone is not necessarily holding you back, back you need a little financial aid to get your feet off the ground. Do not forget about MYLead AP’s Alumni Grants. Any MYLead alumni partnered with at least one other alumni from another high school can apply for a $500 grant on www.mylead.org. You can always find another MYLeader interested in volunteering from your homegroup, viewpoints group, on Facebook, or Twitter.

You do not have to travel far to find someone who needs help or to find someplace that needs improvement. Whether you are able to help one person, seven thousand, or any number in between, you have changed this world for the better. Find something you love to do, do it with the people you love, and do it for the ones you love. You can make your community stupendous with a single step towards your goal.

Stay Stupendous MYLead!

Katie G

MYLead AP Communications Coordinator

For more information about Coat-A-Kid, you can go online to www.coatakid.org or find them on Facebook and Twitter. 

For those of you who did not have the pleasure of meeting this wonderful guy, I’d like to tell you a little about him. I met Jake in 2010; which was his ambassador year. My best friend Lisa finally decided to join the MYLead team as a group facilitator and wanted me to meet her group. Jake was still getting used to the atmosphere of MYLead, but as soon as I asked “how many of you want to come back next year” I saw a sparkle in his eyes that can only be described as one thing. He had caught the bug.
Before I knew it I was watching this shy young man blossom into a natural leader. He was cheering along with everyone, leading group discussions, and looked like he was soaking up every single minute of his conference year. I was so proud of him; and he wasn’t even one of my students.

Flash forward to MYLead 2011. Being transitioned into a new position, I did not get the pleasure of working with the Conference Alumni this year, however I was still curious who came back from the previous year. Lisa could not make it this year because of work and had asked me to seek out her students and give them a great big hug. Jake was first on my list. I walked over to him and said “You probably don’t remember me”…and he said “HEAVAN” and before I knew it I was engulfed in a big bear hug. We laughed for a few minutes, and that was that. He told me how excited he was to meet his group and change someone’s life like his GF and CA did. I simply smiled. It’s always nice when someone understands the magic of MYLead. I could tell that he was going to be involved for a while.

When I got word that Jake had passed, I immediately started weeping; as I’m sure a lot of you did. The pain is not something that can be described. Being such a close family like we are, Jake was a part of us. Think of it this way, if someone cut off your foot it would hurt. REALLY BAD, right? Then your wound would heal, and you would adapt to not having two feet anymore. In a way, that is what we have to do. Right now we are in the hurting process. A valued member of our family is gone. So we have to work through the pain. Grieve how we want to grieve. Your MYLead family is here for you every single day, anyone is just a phone call away. I strongly encourage you all to lean on each other in this moment of heartbreak and tragedy. Remember that it is okay to be upset and to cry. We all deal with grief in different ways. But the thing about MYLead is, there is always someone there to help you grieve and hold you up. Rest in Peace Jake, we will always love you. <3

Heavan Setler

Assistant Programming Director, 2012

I watched my classmates begin to panic about whether or not their loved ones, who were living in New York and Washington, where dead or alive. I wondered in those moments how many more attacks would be carried out in the following minutes, hours, days. Would Detroit be next?

So much fear and sadness was born on that day ten years ago, but even in the midst of such tragedy and destruction, we began to see the very best of the American spirit come alive. Stories began to emerge of the firefighters, policemen, and civilians who showed remarkable acts of courage to save the lives of those trapped beneath rubble and debris. Strangers, who would probably not have spoken two words to each other on that day otherwise, risked their very lives for one another. People of all shapes, sizes, and nationalities stood together as one to show the world that we are still the land of the free and the home of the brave. And, like the fabled phoenix, we have risen from the ashes and started anew.

As MYLeaders, there are so many lessons that we can take from what happened on September 11^th. We have seen what ignorance and hatred can do, but we have also seen what selflessness and faith can do. Having the selfless faith to step out of our comfort zones, even when we know that people might not like us for standing up and doing the right thing, is what we so desperately need in our world today.

Every day, our lives are on the line. Many times, it’s not our physical lives that are on the line, but rather our social lives, or perhaps our spiritual or moral lives as well. We make choices each and every day, and sometimes it’s not easy to make the right choices. Yet, when it’s your social life or your spiritual/moral life that is on the line, will you have the courage that those on 9/11 did to do the right thing?

As MYLeaders, I have tremendous faith in you. Our staff volunteers for this organization because of you. You show us that you are the people who are willing to make the tough choices at times because they are the right choices. You are the ones who choose to combat ignorance and hatred and embrace lives of acceptance and love for others. You, like those who made tough choices and made sacrifices on 9/11 and since 9/11, are heroes for the choices you make and the lives you lead.

Our national motto when speaking of that infamous September day ten years ago is: We will never forget. I hope that in the midst of turmoil, adversity, and darkness, when chaos ensues in your lives, that you will be a light for yourselves and others by leading lives of hope, faith in humanity, and selfless love. Like Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Our world needs change now more than ever, and you as MYLeaders have the ability to show everyone what it means to be true leaders. At MYLead, we have faith in you and we hope that you will always have faith in yourselves to be the very best leaders and shining examples for others that you can possibly be.

Christina Cracium

MYLead Conference Co-Chairperson