If I have seen further....

One of our cohort 7 fellows, Becca Speyer, reflects on workshop two.  Both cohorts came together and we focused on Leadership...

Last Sunday Diller cohort 7 met again for a magnificent meeting. The first thing we did was met the fellows from cohort 6. Then Sami gave us the obstacle of getting into two pyramids by using the cohort six people as our base and cohort 7 on top. After much difficulty and laughter, we all sat down and talked about different topics relating to our pyramid and what it means. One of the topics was why Sami only had cohort 6 on the bottom of the pyramid. I realized it was because we are going off of what they have laid down for us already and we are keeping the legacy of the Diller program.

 After the pyramid, Hannah and I ran a program having to do with 2 of our Values (from our values chamsa): friendship and community. I was nervous to get in front of the whole group and explain the game called physiatrist, but everyone seemed to really get into it and had fun. Hannah and I achieved our goal of creating an exciting program that helps build community through laughing and having fun. Then we discussed the different leaders we know in our lives and had to come up with lists of their names and what qualities about them that shows leadership. I added my parents because if they set their mind to a goal, they will achieve it no matter what. We also created a list of traits in a great leader. The traits I added to the list were respect and being a good speaker.

Then we evaluated ourselves using the leadership compass. When Sami was reading what each direction meant, I thought I was a teacher (West), but then after getting a packet with details, I learned I am a warrior (North). Through this activity, I learned a lot about my peers and the way they learn and do their work. Although we have different views of how to do group activities, I know we can come together as a whole to get tasks done. 

After this we learned about emotional intelligence, what we see and what we do personally and socially. A great leader has to be much more than book smart, they have to be able to read people and situations in order to get their point across. It opened my mind to the approach I take to be a leader where I now look at the whole picture, not just what I want and feel.

 Finally we ended with creating our Shabbat Manifesto in preparation for spending Shabbat together in a few weeks. I am very excited to spend the holiday with my Diller cohort because we are all so different but we are brought together through Judaism and spending Shabbat together will bring us even closer.