For my first ever post on any blog, I think I will simply discuss what I have taken away from class after four meetings.

The first part of professionalism is ARRIVING ON TIME. I was a few minutes late to our first class and unsurprisingly, Ron was rather brisk with me. We have been told to think of this class as real life and Ron as our boss or supervisor; I never would dream of being late on the first day of a new job, so really there is no excuse to be late for class. Since then I have had a couple close calls but am always in my seat by 08:00.

On that first day we discussed Good Leadership; leadership that is effective, authentic and moral. Leadership only works because it is authentic and moral. I am still thinking about that; the authentic side of leadership is clear to me, morality’s role is still fuzzy.

Something Ron said that first day stuck with me–to paraphrase;

“…Another thing to think about this term–Courage. There will come a moment this term where you will need it.”

Second class was mostly meeting and getting to know our team. I feel SO fortunate to have the team I do. I’ve never had a truly dreadful team experience (knock on wood) but I think this is going to be an excellent one, something I haven’t experienced before. I am genuinely excited for us to collectively tackle the group project. My notes are filled almost entirely with personal anecdotes; Ron is from Texas, moved to OR in ’96 (year of floods), lives on a small farm with horses and chickens. I have many more notes on each of my team members and its almost shocking to me we’ve only known eachother a week, I know SO much more about them today than I did then.

I enjoyed the memo reaction exercise, I thought it was practical and a fine example of what NOT to do. I took detailed notes on what a proper business presentation should be and I think they will be very helpful for the project.

I enjoyed the design/creativity exercise we did this week, but the most important thing I took away from our discussion was actually one sentence

“Connect with professionals in your field”

That is what I have done with my father and my small business, and it has paid off dividends I could never have expected. I helped a fellow vendor load a heavy stove into his truck when I was 17 and the next summer he called me with an invitation into the Olympic Trials. That event propelled our business from basically a corner stand to elite events all over the Pacific Northwest. The last few summers I realize I have slipped into the attitude that I already “know enough” of local vendors, but that is such a dangerous thought process. I hereby recommit myself to networking, socializing and exchanging information with my fellow vendors as frequently as possible. To stay informed is essential in my line of work and the best way to do so is to stay in constant contact with your peers.