VLE 2015
Sunday, June 07, 2015 Mikentire 0 Comments Category : Adventures , Causes , Veterinary Medicine
VLE takes place at Ross Point Baptist Camp in beautiful Post Falls, Idaho. The scenery is absolutely beautiful and serves as the perfect backdrop for the transformations that take place within us as we reflect on ourselves and our leadership styles. Led by John and Fay Batchelder, this great facility and staff work hard to provide an environment for growth, fun, and learning. If you're considering a team-building experience or camp, you should definitely check out Ross Point.
It has been so incredible to be with a group of professionals and students who are committed to looking within themselves to see what they can do better to be a leader. Everyone here was simply fantastic and I have made some friends that I will have for life. We were divided into groups and I was fortunate to be placed in the wonderful Group 7 - Team Septapus. With our wonderful facilitators, Glennon Mays and Fay Batchelder, we were unstoppable. We even adopted Glennon's mustache as our team mascot and all the guys shaved their beards to be Stachetastic. I learned so much from this group of people and I know I've got some lifelong friends here.
This experience has been incredible and has really changed the way I think about interacting with people. We spent a lot of time talking about our Meyer's Briggs preferences. The MBTI is a test that assesses your preferences in situations and places you in a category of people with similar preferences. And while some studies have shown that the boxes the test places you in aren't necessarily accurate, there is real power in understanding where you fall on each spectrum and how you can be more accomadating to people whose preferences differ from your own. If you haven't taken the test you can take a version of it HERE. People really do have different ways of viewing the world and this is just one way to be self-aware in your interactions with others. As we talked about this in our small group, it was clear that these preferences really do matter to people and that we should take everybody's preferences into account when working in a group setting.
Every morning we'd meet to discuss important aspects of leadership - from understanding our MBTI preferences, to conflict resolution, self-assessment, and effective communication and listening, we covered just about every aspect in effective leadership. It was amazing. Dr. Betsy Charles showed us so many wonderful videos and took us through some amazing activities and I just wanted to share some of them.
One of my favorites is the concept of Lollipop Moments - profound moments of leadership we may not even be aware are going on. Every single one of us has the potential to change the world for somebody else - we just have to be willing to try. To learn more about what I'm talking about check out this TED Talk:
Just imagine what life would be like if we constantly went around seeking out opportunities like Drew Dudley's and if we took the time to thank those who gave us our own lollipop moments.
Another favorite of mine was this TED Talk on the power of positivity. I love that our minds work so much better in a positive atmosphere and I've made a goal to implement the activities that increase positivity shared at the end of Shawn Achor's amazing TED Talk.
There was a study shown that individuals who wrote down three new things they are thankful for daily exercised more, ate better, and worked more effectively because they had that aspect of gratitude in their lives. Who doesn't want all that in their lives? So let's start writing down what we're grateful for to remind us in times when things get tough.
We also spent some time looking at our own stories. It started by showing a clip from the Film Gladiator and discussing his statement of intent as he faces down the assumed emperor. We all need a statement like that. So we spent a couple hours writing down every event, person, place, action, or memory that shaped us and placed them into chapters within our lives so we could write our own Gladiator Statements.
We also spent some time looking at our own stories. It started by showing a clip from the Film Gladiator and discussing his statement of intent as he faces down the assumed emperor. We all need a statement like that. So we spent a couple hours writing down every event, person, place, action, or memory that shaped us and placed them into chapters within our lives so we could write our own Gladiator Statements.
It was wonderful to go through my life and think of all the moments that have defined me. Since starting vet school, my self-identity has begun to revolve around my career goals - but I am so much more than that. It may be a work in progress, but I was able to come up with my own Gladiator Statement: My name is Michael McEntire and I am a son of God. I love learning. I love conservation. I love teaching. I love veterinary medicine. I will spend my days uplifting those around me, bringing them closer to God, and working together to create a better world.
Outside our small groups went through a variety of fun outdoors team-building experiences and I learned to love my group more and more each day. And met some great new friends along the way.
To anyone considering participating in the VLE, I say go for it at the top of my lungs! There's nothing quite like it!
#VLE2015 #VLEALUM #VLILEADERS
