Blog Entries
Here are my thoughts and ideas about my leadership journey! Come along this splendid ride with me as we face new perspectives and ideas!
Entry 1: Management VS. Leadership
To start off, the quote “Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things,” by Peter Drucker portrays the idea that managing ensures that the necessary components of something are completed, while leadership uses those components to amplify morality and serve a purpose. An example showcasing this quote is Rihanna launching Fenty Beauty in 2017 with over 40 different shades of foundation. The beauty industry struggled with selling darker shades for darker girls. Rihanna took note of this issue, creating a brand with darker shades of foundation, as well as catering to different undertones and various skin types. She became a leader who “wanted everyone to be included” and by doing so her brand changed the world of makeup. Rihanna wanted a makeup brand, but what made her a leader is how dedicated she was to her consumers and how inclusive she made her brand. Another example can be seen through my own work experience where I became a supervisor. My top priority at work was to make sure closing went fine, cash was counted properly, and overall the place ran smoothly. Later on, I realized true leadership was about supporting my co workers, taking their feedback and acting as a role model. I learned that management is important because it helps systems run smoothly, but being a leader is of greater importance because it helps you become someone others can rely on, provide direction to, and achieve a positive work environment.
Khachatryan, Jasmine. “Fenty Beauty Marketing Case Study: How Rihanna Rewired the Beauty Industry,” TCF Team, February 10th, 2026, https://www.tcf.team/blog/fenty-beauty-marketing-case-study.
Entry 2: Failure
What are your thoughts on the concept of failure?
Entry 3: The Magic of Thinking Big, Chapter 1
What were some of the messages that stood out to you from this chapter and why?
The Magic of Thinking Big, Chapter 1 was very eye opening to me, someone who lives with a constant negative mindset. I regularly use phrases like "I'll do it but I don't think it'll be good” and “there is no point in trying". Many of the ideas in this text combat my mindset. In regards to the first phrase, the Magic of Thinking Big states that when our own minds disbelieve from the start, we attract reasons for disbelieving and this is why we are more likely to fail. Our mindset is the biggest part to our success. With thinking success, our minds condition themselves to pursue and produce success. Something else that sparked a thought is thinking big. My cousin always tells me how she always thinks bigger and better and this can be seen through her jobs. She never limits herself to stay comfortable but always strives to be better and more. She started off working as a waitress, with little pay and a very bad environment, then stepped up and went to a health and supplement store. From there she actively searched for new jobs, made connections and got a position at a hospital with many benefits. Even with this amazing job, she's still looking for more and searching for internships and a greater job. She tells me all the time how there is no point in thinking so small, when you're worth so much more. The Magic of Thinking Big showcased this through its point 3 of how to develop belief. It says that the size of your success is determined by the size of your belief.
What gets in the way of positive thinking? Opinion: How does positive/negative thinking determine success?
I think that many things get in the way of positive thinking. As humans we always look at the negative and this can be seen through our moods. When we're going about our day, we never recall the 50 good things that happened but always the 1 negative moment that soured our mood. This is known as Negativity Bias. Other examples that get in the way of positive thinking are the lack of confidence, the fear of failure and comparing yourself to others. What people don't take into account is that successful people aren't born successful, but are made through hard work and dedication. Many "successful" people went through a journey of acquiring qualities such as confidence which take time. However, the more you change your mindset little by little, it leads you one step closer to becoming successful. I think the more negative you think the more likely you are to be unsuccessful. This is because when we are positive we have feelings that allow us to believe in ourselves and know that if we work hard enough we can achieve whatever we strive for. When our negative thoughts fuel our success all that is achieved is things like constant overthinking and self destruction, making it harder to strive for success.
When you wake up in the morning to go to school, what voice do you hear – Mr. Triumph or Mr. Defeat? What does this voice sound like? Does this voice change throughout the day? How does this voice impact how you feel/what you accomplish on any given day?
In the morning, I wake up to Mr. Defeat and as I said before I'm a very negative person. Throughout my day, I feel like I mask my negativity with Mr. Triumph. I find myself avoiding things, saying “this is okay or “this is how I improve” but I never find myself striving for improvement. I use Mr. Triumph to cover up the Mr. Defeat ingrained within my thoughts. As I go to school, Mr. Triumph takes over but back when I'm at home he disappears and Defeat is back. Both make me reflect on what I've accomplished and to be honest, I have very limited aspirations and passions. I'm not the type to pursue goals and strive for accomplishments and I feel like because of this mindset and lack of motivation Mr. Defeat is always present.
Entry 4: Organizations in the New Workplace
What are your thoughts on women-only workspaces? Explain your answer from both a societal/personal and leadership/management perspective. Tie the Pixar Spark Shorts film into your answer strategically.
Limiting the workplace to one gender isn't a beneficial thing in my opinion. Although women only work spaces are empowering as can be seen through the CBC video, I think that it just creates a sense of community not diversity. Diversity is something that's really important to me because it allows us as humans to understand people with different races, ideas, age groups and in this case genders. It's important to look at various viewpoints because in the end we learn from our own experiences and other peoples. In the Purl video, due to the workplace being restricted to one gender, the yarn ball felt the need to conform. Purl projects her loss of identity onto the new yarn ball however then realizes that this exclusion should not be allowed. In the end, an inclusive environment is made. I think that to be a good leader you must not favor and should treat everyone equally regardless of gender, race and age because it creates a better work environment. Leaders are meant to support co-workers, not meant to exclude them and create a space where they are unable to be themselves.
Out of all the employee perks mentioned above, which do you believe would you enjoy the most and/or look for in a future occupation/employment and why?
Airbnb - gives its employees an annual stipend of $2,000 to travel and stay in an Airbnb listing anywhere in the world. I would totally use this perk because it gives you $2000 yearly for a vacation. I think that's a really good offer and travelling is something I love to do. You could totally pay 700 for a flight and use the rest on your trip and it would decrease your expenses for your vacation.
What stood out to you the most about Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy? How can you apply this in your own life?
Embrace your followers as equals and take initiative. A leader shouldn't be above someone else but beside them. True leadership isn't about controlling and demanding but about supporting and listening. To implement this in my life, I would ask for criticism and feedback when I'm in a leadership role. Asking people questions about how to improve will ultimately improve your skills. Taking initiative is also really important. It takes guts to be the first follower or even the dancing guy but as you step more and more out of your comfort zone, confidence develops. Something simple like raising a hand in class or presenting can help implement confidence into my life.
What are your thoughts on a 4 day workweek? How might this work for all? What about teaching professions? First responders? Students in school (elementary etc). Pros and cons?
I support it immensely. If the numbers aren't being affected and if it slightly improved them I think it should be essential. It allows people to feel less stressed and have more time for work life balance. That is something I care about a lot which is why I'm trying to pick a university with a good school life balance. It's important to have fun because you only live one life and what's the point of life if it's spent working a 9-5 five of the seven days. In the UAE, specifically the city Sharjah (I used to live in Dubai), they changed their whole system to a 4 day work and school week. I think that teachers and students could use a break especially when you get into the last year of high school. This time is literally stressful for everyone and I think that a longer weekend would be better for everyone. I think that the pros would be the happiness of the people, better work-life balance, less stress, and you'd be more productive. I honestly don't see cons for this and if workload is managed efficiently and well, it would be really beneficial to society.
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