Combined Balance and Happiness:

Considering the similarity I have chosen to combine the two posts into one. The fall semester was a difficult term academically and personally. The days were long and the nights were short. While most people enjoyed a summer break, I had Officer Candidate School with the Marine Corps all summer long. This was the most stressful time of my life-bar none. I returned to campus on Monday and we started classes on Wednesday, so there was really no time off. With my responsibilities in other organizations and work, class material was tough to stay up to speed on.

 To make through the semester, I learned to manage stress and enjoy the little things in life. I accepted everything will not be perfect, so do you best-then just keep moving. During the week, I would go to the gym nearly every day first thing in the morning. This would allow me time to free my mind, and relieve some stress. Then on the weekends, if possible I would drive home. I find value in solitude. I enjoy leaving Columbus and campus behind for a little while. It allows be to spend some time with my family and reset for the week ahead.

Living life to the fullest brings me happiness. My life’s goal thus far has been to become a Marine Office. August 4^th my dream becomes reality. I enjoy helping people in need. Not just in a socioeconomic sense, but when a friend or family member needs help with a task or project. I feel a sense of reward that comes from helping people. I guess that’s why I joined the Marine Corps.

“Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem.”- President Ronald Regan

BLF Leadership Vlog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hP2bhL2wxY&feature=g-upl

Click on the link to see my video.

Jack

Perception of Leadership

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRMZv_wVLOE&feature=g-upl

Click on the link to see my video.

Jack

BLF Weekend Retreat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnxehiG0mzI&feature=plcp

Mentorship

Over the last several years, I have had opportunities to be a mentor to others. Starting with serving in church children’s programs and now I am assisting new applicants to the United States Marine Corps officer selection process.  I do my best to share my experiences and lend advice as needed. I understand it’s not a large impact that I’m making, but I am always happy to help someone who has questions.

With the Marine Corps, I help with physical training, general military customs and courtesy and academic preparations for their start of training at Officer Candidate School. I want to help new applicants prepare for the challenges that they will face, so they will be more successful during training.

Through the BLF challenge last fall and our involvement with the Veterans in the OSU Veterans House. Through that challenge I have stayed on and have continued to assist with raising support.  James Miller has become a mentor to me and has assisted in the development of my leadership style.  This cause has led to my position in USG as a committee deputy director.  I have been hosting networking luncheons and receptions for corporate executives and student veterans make meaningful connections that can a make a difference in their careers. This mentorship has allowed me to have new can challenges as an undergrad that I would not have the opportunity to have otherwise.

I think in the most basic sense, a mentorship is just investing your time and resources to assist another person grow professionally or and personally through advice and opportunities to push yourself and grow into a better person. I have been a benefactor of mentorships, and enjoy even in having a small role, being a mentor in order to make a difference in someone’s life.

Jack

MBTI Post

I would use the MBTI for an interview when talking about my strengths. There are three reasons why it could be advantageous to talk about the MBTI in an interview setting.

1.       Talking about the MBTI during an interview allows you to talk about your strengths as an individual, and how you can be an asset to their institution.

2.       This is a great opportunity to show you have undertaken personality assessments which only more senior leadership will have exposure to. This will set you apart from your peers who will be applying for the same position.

3.       Lastly, talking about the MBTI in an intelligent manner in an interview is the best opportunity to show you have a larger understanding of yourself and along with the assessment you have more to offer than any of your peers.

While the MBTI is very helpful, I would not expect the assessment to land me a job. It is just a part of the larger picture of who I am.  I would probably not talk about the MBTI at a party or just any normal conversation. But I do like it far more than the Strengths Finder. The MBTI has far more depth to it.

Jack

Summer Vacation? What Vacation?!

This summer I reported for duty to the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, VA.  This was my second cycle of OCS. While I understood what to expect, nothing can prepare you for the stress and sleep deprivation each person deals with during training. 

The mission of Officer Candidate School is to screen, train and evaluate candidates for their leadership potential in the Marine Corps as a 2^nd Lieutenant.  To sum it all up, OCS is a round the clock job interview. We were always being evaluated; always being watched. 

 

There are three main grading areas at OCS physical, academic and leadership.  The physical part involves the obstacle course, forced marches, the endurance course, and a host of other physical training. We had classes on the Law of War, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, suicide prevention, military tactics and others as well. We had an entire semesters worth of academic courses in a span of about four and a half weeks.  Leadership involved, among other events, successfully leading formations of 4-13 other candidates through training exercises with explosions and gun fire.

A normal day would consist of getting up at 4AM before the lights come on. When the lights come on in the squad bay you have about 90 seconds to get dressed in your uniform boots and gear. During the day, we would have physical training, academic classes, hand to hand combat training and so much more in the course of the day.  The food was great, but we had no more than 10 minutes to eat all we could, so we didn’t taste very much of it. The lights would go out at 9PM to give us a “full eight hours of sleep”.  J  But we had tasks to get done for the next day, gear to get ready, studying to do for the next test and fire watch to stand for an hour too.  The majority of the time there I had about three hours of sleep a night.

We spent time in the field going on patrols as well as time in the swamp.  We dealt with leaches, snakes, ticks, spiders and swarms of mosquitoes. We had candidates going to the hospital for fevers of 107 and 108 degrees. They say at 109 degrees you begin to have brain damage. 

Through it all I did ok, I had good days and bad days too.  I learned that your body can take a great deal of punishment and still be able to perform.  Your mind can handle a great deal of stress and still to make decisions and accomplish the mission.  You just have to be mentally tough enough.  Now the goal is to graduate OSU and earn my Commission as a 2^nd Lt. in the United States Marine Corps.

It’s good to be back at OSU,

Jack McBride

P.S. You are all invited to the Commissioning Ceremony!

Mentorship Vlog

CAM Vlog

Vlog / spring challenge

vlog week 3

I'm in for the Duration

Spring Break

The Devil is in the Details

Situation
The challenge this quarter started off well.  We knew the bar was set high, but we had the knowledge, tools and the ability to handle the challenge.  We all agreed to a leadership structure, and set off.  Although there were challenges and gray zones, I thought time would help solve the communication difficulties throughout the organization.  As the quarter developed, we were doing great on ideation for the event, but for execution, the devil was in the details.  

In my personal perspective, not procrastinating and raising solutions to our communication problems was a lesson I learned this quarter.  During the first half of the quarter our leadership encouraged an environment for our committees to form, plan and execute things within the committees.  Although it would seem this would work given our personalities within each group to accomplish tasks and be self- motivators, the reality was otherwise. Some committees were just spinning their wheels and running in circles without a lot of tangible evidence to show for their work.
My perspective of the second half of the quarter was a knee-jerk reaction to the first half.  I think after seeing the challenges and inefficiencies our leadership took a lot of responsibility onto their shoulders to try and set out on getting a plan, or vision for everyone to work on.   The intentions were never in anyway sinister.  With just a few minds on such a large project, there will be gaps and issues, were only human.  The best way to outline something on this scale is to have more minds working on the problem.  The leadership structure was changed.  Now all the stress is not just on a few people and there are fewer gray zones.  
Lesson
There are still difficulties to work on, but I learned a valuable lesson.  Don’t wait so long before raising questions and offering solutions to help solve the problem.  I think our group lost valuable time by hoping things would just get better on their own. Next time I won’t wait and hope things get better.  When time is on your side, fixing and adjusting things is far better than reinventing how business is done.

Jack

Lunch Challenge

During the cooking challenge, I saw the day as a great effort to strengthen the BLF connection with our families.  Explaining what exactly challenges in BLF are like can be difficult at times, the cooking event helped in showing how the challenges are usually open for a personal touch.  The program needs supporters.  Building a sustainable program needs a strong supporter base, not only financially but by building the programs reputation. 

We had a great dynamic in our kitchen.  The moms took care of the more difficult parts of cooking the main parts of the dishes.  I didn’t notice any difference in how Brandon, Sheila and I acted while around our families.  It was a fun and relaxed atmosphere. Brandon and I reminded our team to aim to have everything done 5-10 minutes before we needed to, so we could have more time for preparing our presentation.  Our goal was met, and we didn’t feel rushed at the end.  It was similar to working with fellows in that, we had our areas that we chose and did well at.  I think the difference was the work load did not get pushed to the end.  The difference was our team planned ahead better, and set rough goals to have things done by.  That was very beneficial.

The most challenging part for me was trying to find something to deep-fry. I just started to slice oranges and pears up for the presentation plate while I thought on what I could use to deep-fry.   I spent the first 30 minutes looking and thinking up something, anything to deep-fry.  I thought of bread, pears, and oranges, but when wiser people, the moms, kept looking at me with a look of “What” on their faces, I knew that wasn’t the answer.  When Brandon was carrying a few bananas back to our area, we talked if it was even possible to deep-fry bananas.  After talking about it, we decided to go for it!  Long story short, through working together and using our creativity, we had our own unique touch on one of our dishes. Personally I used creativity, communication, and teamwork in this challenge.

 

I would highly recommend having this type of fun challenge another time. It was fun, relaxed, and it still teaches the parents and the fellows about team work and working with people that are older and wiser than you.  I loved our food, and thought we did a really good job.  One recommendation for next time would be, having each team make one extra plate so every other team can sample their competitors dishes.  I was so impressed by the other teams and what they came up with. I wish we had the chance to try all the other dishes. 

 

Until next week,

Jack

Quotes and Dreams

Point One,

I really have no time for “futile activities.”  Everything I’m involved with is to better prepare me to be an officer in the Marine Corps.  From BLF, to the classes I take, and working-out, it’s all to prepare me intellectually, physically, and personally.

Point Two,

One quote that I enjoy from “Crucibles of Leadership” is the following.

"While experience matters, what matters more is what one makes of experience: how a person comes to recognize in a crucible experience that something new or important is happening, to see beyond the discomfort, perhaps even the pain, of new and unexpected information and to incorporate that information as useful knowledge, not just about the world but, as likely, about oneself."

Point Three,

This last question is very vague.  This is how I interpret the question.  If there is something you have always wanted to do, a career or something, what has kept you from thinking about it or making that dream become reality? 

My dream has always been to be a Marine.  Over the last several years, I have been making that dream become a reality.  Any other dreams or wishes that I have can be accomplished after my time in the Corps.  It’s just the way my mind works.  Right now I don’t spend a lot of time thinking of what I would like to become later in life.  I just have a rough idea.  I will deal with the details down the road.  Right now, I just think of what steps I need to take to get on the right path.  Everyone knows there will be difficult challenges.  So I don’t think how great the challenges are, I think of how to overcome the challenges we face. We know there are problems that will have to be dealt with, but I think the world needs problem solvers and not problem finders. 

Sorry if the blog is short, but I have to rush off and update the Google doc!

 

Jack

I think it is very important to be creative.   In every area of life you should be creative as possible.  If you go through life without being a creative person, I think you miss out on so much that life has to offer.  
 
The last time I have taken time to just play around was when I was at home. I like to play with our dog Sig.  We usually take hikes through the woods.  This is when I’m the most relaxed and able to think clearly. I also look forward to going running on the Olentangy Trail, and just leave classes, work and everything behind me, just for a while.  For me, this is fun, a challenge, something to push myself.  I enjoy getting away from campus, and all the academic jargon.

 
Prior to Friday’s activity, I thought creativity was essential to any organization.  I still think that, but the activities we were involved in helped clarify how creativity does not always happen in a brain storming session, or by a few bright people.  I learned that being creative is almost a way of life.  To always try to see situations from a different viewpoint.  Also, never fall into a group think mindset.  Encourage others around you to make work fun, and foster a creative environment.
I will apply my new knowledge in creativity, and keep plain sheets of paper with me so we can play the shape game when we need to become more creative.  I learned I need to make more time to relax and just have some more fun.  I enjoyed the whole night on Friday. It was a great bonding experience with all the Fellows.
Soooo, I guess now I’m writing a book.  If I were going to write a book and work very hard for many hours, I would want to make sure I sell many copies!  So, I would have one chapter about me, Captain Jack, fighting zombies.  I would have a patch over one eye, and I would have a dog named Kimber.  The lessons that I would try to teach-do whatever it takes to survive.
​​​​​​​​​
Yeah, that will be in my book for sure.  I mean-it’s all true!
Jackson

Ps.
I had cool pictures from zombieland, but I had technical difficulties, and they didn't make it...sad

Through Hell and High Water

Through hell and high water we will get these blogs done!  Just like the mailmen, through rail or sleet the mail gets through, maybe late, but it gets through. The strengths that came up in the assessments were Futurist, competition, context, focus and learner.  One area I used the most was futurist.  It’s just how my mind works. I don’t worry too much about the details in the short term. I keep looking for the long term plan and goal, whatever the situation is.

 I guess the environment was during the challenge.  I tried to anticipate, then deal with issues that might come up in the challenge, sometimes successfully, and other not.  Outside of BLF I try to plan the best I can, how decisions can change my Corse for better or worse.  Sometimes I have to back off and just not worry so much about things in the future too much, and enjoy the present.

I like to think having these strengths was beneficial to our team last quarter.  To see what needed to be done, and just get the job done.  I have learned lessons and I know where I need to improve.  Sometimes I become too competitive, and lose focus on what’s more important.

 

During the event planning challenge thus far I have been using the futuristic, area again.  I see as we move from forming ideas into execution phase, I think focus will come into play.

As far as feedback, tell me when I’m wrong or I have wronged someone so I can make it right. I’m not perfect, and I have many lessons I need to learn.  I hope someone would set me straight now, and keep me from making a bigger fool of myself down the road.

 

Jack


 


 

The Opportunity of a Lifetime

My initial thoughts of the challenge were that "this is great, we can make it whatever we wanted, large or small."  I think it's a great opportunity. We all want to make great connections and have experiences to remember.  I am excited how this event will provide us opportunities to use our all of our strengths as a group.

My greatest fear for our group this challenge would be, we fail to realize our true potential for this event. Why?  I know we can create something that will long outlast our time at osu. Not for personal pride, but for the longevity of the program.  I see this as an opportunity to show other universities they need a BLF program at their university.

  I think we have similar ideas in mind for the event.  We just have to learn how to translate or communicate our ideas from our world view into terms everyone will understand.

 My hope is simple, to create, plan and Marshall a fantastic event.  With our team members, university backing, and alumni connections, there is no reason we cannot have a great "conference."  An event that the business community, the university, and students would be proud to attend.

 We can use this opportunity to show other universities and businesses what a small group of motivated students can accomplish for the larger organization. Last quarter every group had success in one area of the challenge or another. Now with the larger group working on this event together, I feel we can be very successful. With clearly defined roles, and with our solid leadership I am confident we will be part of starting something great here at osu.

I'm sure we will use every one of the core competencies during the corse of the challenge.

Part Two

In addition, the three things I want to improve during the next quarter go something like this. Not be to focused on winning the challenge that I loose focus on the team. Although I am very competitive, the big picture is more important. Second, do everything I can to help with the flow of communication. And lastly, become better organized with school and BLF so that I will be more efficient.

Jack

Memoirs of the Leadership Summit

The Buckeye Leadership Fellows is without a doubt one of the best programs to gain leadership experience. BLF provides the tools and a protective learning environment to develop us from students into young professionals.

Together we have delt with many of the same issues with lack of communication, keeping every team member engaged, and time management. The challenge pushed us in many ways out of our commfort zones. We have not learned leadership not from a book, but through experience. Through this program we are laying a strong foundation for our future growth. We are learning lessons which most people only face years after they leave school.

The challenge brought a lot of pressure, and I now realize that leadership is more complicated than I originally thought. After the challenge I have had time to digest the entire quarter. The largest thing I learned about myself is that I am a great doer, but not yet a great leader. Instead of making the challenge about getting across the finish line, I should have thought more on how the team reaches the end.

The next quarter will deffinitly build on the previous. We will continue to grow and learn. The social events and speaking challenges all have a purpose. I know they have helped me improve, and I know they have helped you too. As the next quarter begins I have been thinking to myself,do great leaders ever stop earning new ways to lead? I read this quote a few day ago from President John F Kennedy, "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." So maybe great leaders never stop learning. I do know BLF gives us a great head start though.

Go Bucks,

Jack