最近まで忙しすぎて「ブログを書く」という気力が全く起きなかったけど、こうして向き合うことができるようになった。
色々とあった。
いったんブログを書く気になれたのはとても良いことだ。
2025年も半分が過ぎたが、大学を卒業して就職してからのことを振り返りつつ、これから何をしたいのかを考える一年にしたい。
そういえば、このブログを始めた頃は「ブログで収益化」がブームだったけど、そのうち「YouTuber」がブームだった。
今は、何が「収益化・副業」のブームなんだろう。
「生成系AIの活用」なのか。
ブログもYouTubeもやってみて職場でも一生懸命に働いてみて気付く。
「踊らされたんだ」と。
新人の頃に管理職の言っていることがヨクワカラナカッタが、最近は分かるようになった。
視座が上がったのかもしれない。
そしてまたブログに戻ってきた。
去年の今頃、なんだか暗いブログを更新している。
当時つらつらと書いたことは間違えていなくて、その後も色々とあって「人は恐ろしい」と痛感することが続く。
そんな毒づいた職場を離れ、新しい部署でのスタートを切れた。
前の部署では、着任当初から「合わないな。マズいな」と思っていたが、今の部署は「合っている」と思える。
先ずは業務内容。これが自分の性格に合っている。
そして同僚とも価値観が似ている。
仕事の難易度は上がった。
自分に合わない環境から脱出できたことは本当に良いことだった。
そして、この数年間は色んな意味で自分に投資をしてきた。
勉強をしていたので、「朝起きて勉強して仕事して帰宅して勉強して」と自由な時間がほとんど無かった。
なので、勉強が終わった時に「久しぶりに自由な時間ができた」と涙が出るほど嬉しかった。
家族に関しては、親が年老いていくのが分かる。
親は社会との接点が無いため、「家の中で何もしない日々」を過ごしていることがよく分かる。
体力も知力も衰えているせいか、全てにおいてやる気が無い。
家にいて何もしない。ご飯は食べられる。でも何もしない。
考えただけでも気が狂いそうである。
「これが老人の孤独か」と思わずにはいられない。
老人になってもイキイキと過ごすためには、定年退職後の過ごし方についてある程度考えておく必要がありそうだ。
年老いた自分を想像しながら「これからどう過ごそうか」と考える。
新しい部署での仕事や人間関係に馴染むことを目標にしつつ、早くも新しい目標や新しい投資先を見つけたくなってきた。
自分も年をとり、体力の衰えも感じ始める。
「定年退職まであと30年ぐらいあるのか」と思うと同時に「時間は限られているんだな」とも思う。
一見矛盾しているようだが、「今」は限られている。
どうせ死ぬ時が来るなら残りの『今』で何をしたいんだろうか。
「孤独な親」と向き合うのか、更に自己投資を続けるのか、それとも自由気ままに過ごすのか。
そういうことを考える時期なのかな。
このブログを開設したのが2016年12月末。
今日は2024年6月。
8年と半年という歳月が流れている。
人生は本当にあっという間。
あっという間と言いつつも、信じられない出来事、想像できなかった出来事を沢山経験した。
家族が病気になり、彼らは生きる気力が無くして途方にくれてしまった。
職場で一生懸命に働いたかと思えば、いいよう使われて体を壊してしまった。
心機一転再スタートをきった場所でも相変わらず陰湿ないじめをする人がいた。
久しぶりに新しい友達ができるかもと思いきや、その人はとんでもない嘘つきで話を合わせてくれているだけだったと知った。
結果的に誰も信用できなくなった。
暗いことから書き始めたが、良いこともあった。
自分の時間を大切にし「純粋な興味」を追求するようになった。
新しい勉強を始めて知的好奇心がかきたてられるワクワクに浸れるようになった。
買いたいもの、着たいものを買って普段の生活が快適になった。
人に無駄な期待をしなくなった分「自由」になった。
色々な経験もしたことだし、今年からボチボチとブログを更新したい。
久しぶりにブログを書いてみる。
このブログも８年目に突入！？
全然想像していなかったことが色々ありましたな～。
最近よく感じるようになったことは「自分について不用意に他人に話さないことの大切さ」です。
友達のように仲良く振舞ってくれる人でも「良く知らない人」であれば、あくまでも表面上の付き合いをするのが良いと思ったことが多々あった。
あとは、職場でよく「どうでも良い話」でどうにか話しかけてくるおじさんが出現。
私の担当業務の中で「それはアンタが気にするポイントじゃないよね？何でお前が確認してるの？」という話題で会話をしかけてくる。
例えば「今日、電話対応沢山あってすごく大変そうだね！」と話しかけてきたり。
「いや、お前誰やねん」という気持ちでいっぱいだし、人の時間を奪うので話しかけられる度にイライラ。
おまけに「俺は素晴らしい」という自信満々な態度で、ウザいを通りこして怖い。次に話しかけてきたら「いや、お前に興味ないんだけど」ともう少しハッキリ伝えてみようかな。
謎の上から目線で話しかけてきて本当に意味不明。
多分、ナルシストだな。
そして、社会人歴も10年を迎えようとしているので「後輩との付き合い方」も考えさせられる機会に恵まれました。
「ただただ『自然』に接しているとダメなんだ」ということを痛感する。
職場ではある程度「職場の私」でいる方が良いなと思ったし、みんな利害関係者であることを思い知らされるのでした。
色んなネタが溜まったけど今は公開する時期でもない気がするので、ひとまず簡単に記録した。
人生は良いことも悪いこともビックリすることも色々ありますね。
でも、屋根のある家で寝れる環境で生きていることに感謝して明日も良い一日を過ごそうと思います。
オヴォワ～！
BUS 5211: Managing in the Global Economy, University of the People
Unit 8 Portfolio Activity
Grade: 10/10 (1006 words)
Before answering this question, I thought about authentic leaders in real life. It wasn't easy to find a leader who fulfilled all factors of it. For example, when I searched for authentic leadership, I found politicians with authentic leadership, such as Mahatma Gandhi and Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern, the current Prime Minister of New Zealand Land. Many sites mentioned Steven Jobs as an Authentic leader. His clear vision and passion led people to innovate and create one-of-a-kind products. However, we can also find many anecdotes of him abusing his employees in front of their colleagues or taking ideas from his subordinates and treating them as if they were his own. Steven Jobs was a great leader, but I thought his behavior of abusing others because he was too honest in his opinions or too preoccupied with achieving his goals did not meet the factors of an authentic leader.
So, I decided to do a little more research and learn more about Eron Musk, the CEO of Tesla, Inc. Recently I read the news of his adultery, and he has a child with a subordinate. I can't say that adultery is morally right, but I will discuss his leadership, concentrating on whether or not he is ethical in business.
Elon Musk, an authentic leader
Elon Musk has been very successful worldwide in the mass production of environmentally friendly electric vehicles. Undoubtedly, he has demonstrated authentic leadership and has been successful in business by earning the people's trust and getting the best out of their abilities to succeed in business. Also, he showed his authentic leadership when he responded to a crisis in the organization. According to the Tesla diversity report, Tesla Inc. comprises employees from diverse backgrounds. Black and African American employees (10%), Asian employees (21%), Hispanic and Latino or Latina employees (22%), and White employees (34%). (Kolodny, 2020) The case I will introduce is not mentioned cross-cultural clearly. However, as I described, the employees working for the company have various backgrounds, and this case involves the aspect of cultural leadership and ethics.
A report described injury rates in Tesla's Fremont factory were dangerously high. Musk responded to the report by emailing his employees as follows. "It breaks my heart when someone is injured building cars and trying their best to make Tesla successful. Going forward, I've asked that every injury be reported directly to me, without exception. I'm meeting with the safety team every week and would like to meet every injured person as soon as they are well, so that I can understand from them exactly what we need to do to make it better. I will then go down to the production line and perform the same task that they perform." (Haden, 2017)
Evaluation of Musk's leadership with Four factors of authentic leadership
Before I rate Musk, I will introduce the essential factors of authentic leadership. Authentic leadership is composed of self-awareness, balanced processing, relational transparency, and an internalized moral/ethical perspective. According to Vogelgesang et al. (2019), the four components of an authentic leader can be broken down into cognitive, motivational, and active processes, allowing leaders to attain morally grounded cultural adaptation. (Vogelgesang et al., 2009).
Based on his emails, I rate his authentic leadership level relatively high, particularly ethics and personal values. In his email, he expressed his regret and admitted fault for managing safe environments for employees. Also, he proposed a concrete solution to improve the environment. (He asked employees to report directly to him any injury) Throughout the email, he successfully implied Tesla's culture. He indicated that Tesla does not draw a line between managers and employees, and he and managers care about all employees. According to Haden (2017), When a problem arises in a group, many leaders prioritize not worrying the group over the problem itself, letting them know that everything will be okay. They tend not to confront the problem without acknowledging the corporate safety blunder. As I examined Musk against the factors of authentic leadership, his level was higher than my expectation.
My case of authentic leadership
I have had an authentic leadership role. At my workplace, there is a tendency to assign work to subordinates without considering the amount of work they have and their knowledge of the work. Because they could not understand the job, they convey incorrect information to the students who are the target of their services, or they are too busy to deal with the students, resulting in a situation where the students are not satisfied with the services they receive.
Based on my experience with too much workload, when I assign tasks to my subordinates, I try to ascertain the amount of work they already have and their knowledge of the job. I believe that by talking to them face-to-face for a minute, I can show that I communicate with them as equals and have successfully built a relationship of trust with them. I have been working with them for less than a year now, and I have been able to get my subordinates to do more work than before, and I have created an environment where they are willing to do the work for me when they are available. I believe this is the result of demonstrating authentic leadership.
Conclusion
Through this case, we have learned that Musk is not just a great manager but a person who combines authentic leadership. As demonstrated in this essay, in achieving his lofty goals, he acknowledged that there were problems with his management, apologized sincerely, offered concrete solutions, and worked to regain the trust of his employees.
I, too, would like to contribute to creating a better society through my work. Self-discipline is essential for achieving my goal, and learning at UoPeople is one step in that direction. Also, I must be confident in my work to be myself for admitting my failures and showing honestly. I want to grow daily to take an authentic leadership role like him and gain the trust of those around me to do a good job.
References
Cultural intelligence for leaders (v. 1.0). (2012, December 29). Lardbucket.
Retrieved from https://2012books.lardbucket.org/pdfs/cultural-intelligence-for-leaders.pdf
Haden, J. (2017, December 7). This Elon Musk Email to Tesla Employees Is a Powerful Lesson
in Authentic, Heartfelt Leadership. Inc. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/this-elon-musk-email-to-tesla-employees-is-a-powerful-lesson-in-authentic-heartfelt-leadership.html
Kolodny, L. (2020, December 7). Tesla publishes its first-ever diversity report revealing
leadership is 83% male and 59% White. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/04/tesla-publishes-its-first-diversity-report-here-are-the-key-numbers.html
Vogelgesang, G., Clapp-Smith, R., & Palmer, N. (2009). The role of authentic leadership and
cultural intelligence in Cross-Cultural Contexts: An objectivist perspective. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 5(2), 102-117. Retrieved from
BUS 5211: Managing in the Global Economy, University of the People
Unit 4 Portfolio Activity
Grade: 10/10 (865 words)
My goal
My goal is to earn a Business Administration Degree at the University of the People (UoPeople). I believe that learning at UoPeople will contribute tremendously to the betterment of my career and my abilities.
Five things I plan to do to achieve my goal
My mother's perspective
My friend's perspective
All three mentioned making plans related to obtaining an MBA and balancing work and study. Others mentioned what they considered important from their respective perspectives. For example, I didn’t think about my health or lifestyle, while my friend said, "Get up early, “and “do assignments in the morning”. Also, my mother said that "Don't give up until I achieve my goals" is essential, which is similar to the theme of Unit 4, "Self-efficacy. People with higher self-efficacy believe they can overcome obstacles, whether difficult or not. (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012)
Based on the above answers, I will respond to the following 4 questions. These questions are introduced in Cultural intelligence for leaders as an exercise to help us use mindfulness to accomplish a goal. (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012)
How would you react if none of your plans turned out as they were supposed to? (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012)
I will review my goal and my actions and rebuild my plans. It has already happened this term. This term, I tried to complete two courses for the first time. It was a new environment for me. However, I failed it and withdrew from one course after completing Unit 3.
To complete two courses, I made the most significant efforts to increase my study time by stopping making videos(my hobby), completing my work in the shortest time possible, and reducing the number of times I saw my friends. However, I couldn't manage to spend less time interacting with others. I couldn't adapt to the new environment.
What if, in the middle of working toward your goal, the goal changed? (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012)
When the goal changes, I will focus on achieving a new plan. If the reason for changing the goal is the result of doing the best I can, then changing the goal is not a problem. Our imagination is limited to making a perfect plan, and we can only know what we do. As stated above, I have changed my recent goal from taking two courses to one course this term. Although the change happened due to my failure, I am optimistic. I believe failures or changes always happen when I challenge a new goal. According to Cultural intelligence for leaders (2012), learning to develop an optimistic perspective will help to improve self-efficacy. Optimism also leads to an improved ability to be resilient to challenges.
If you reached your goal exactly as you planned it, what would you have learned about yourself? (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012)
If I earned an MBA at UoPeople as planned, I would learn many things. I will concentrate on answering the content related to this course. I believe that students will have the opportunity to enhance my cultural intelligence by learning with classmates from diverse backgrounds and developing self-efficacy and cultural strategic thinking.
What type of life do you think you would lead if everything went according to your plans? (Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012)
I believe that if everything went according to my plans, I would succeed in increasing my mindfulness and have a life that is more likely to allow me to achieve "what I want to do." First of all, I believe that by the time I get my MBA, my English skills will have improved considerably, and I will be able to work in English and my native language. I also believe that my ability to work in the workplace will have improved as I adjust my workload. Berrospi (2021) describes that mindfulness can help to achieve success by helping me stay calm under stressful work situations.
Conclusion
Through this exercise, I thought about my goals. First, I listed five plans to achieve my goals and asked two people who know me also to list five plans. There were similarities and discrepancies between my plans and those of the others. The plans I had not considered were especially helpful in ensuring that I would be more successful in executing my plans. Also, this exercise taught me that I need to be more specific about my goals. I believe there is a difference between understanding and implementing the cultural intelligence, self-efficacy, and mindfulness we are learning in this course. I will learn new knowledge and skills through trial and error to achieve my goals.
References
Berrospi, G. (2021, November 8). How Mindfulness Can Help You Reach Your Goals — In Business And With Your Finances. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2021/11/08/how-mindfulness-can-help-you-reach-your-goals---in-business-and-with-your-finances/?sh=651b9236f0e7
Cultural intelligence for leaders (v. 1.0). (2012, December 29). Lardbucket. Retrieved from https://2012books.lardbucket.org/pdfs/cultural-intelligence-for-leaders.pdf
BUS 5211: Managing in the Global Economy, University of the People
Unit 2 Portfolio Activity
Grade: 10/10 (652 words)
When we have to learn a new skill for a job, we will experience various unfamiliar things in unfamiliar situations. If we don’t know how to overcome it, we may fail to learn a new skill. For these situations, metacognitive knowledge will help us adapt to unfamiliar environments, and obtain a new skill.
Case description
Before starting the discussion, I will define “new skill” because the needed skills depend on jobs, positions, and the workplace. Based on my experience, I define a new skill as “operating a host computer” in my workplace. I assume I just transferred from the international office to an academic affairs office in a private university in Japan, and I have to learn a new skill, how to operate a host computer. Before the transfer, I had never known or used it.
Following the instructions, I use the metacognitive knowledge concept and describe how I will learn a new skill for my job in 6 months. In Particular, I will describe the details of the learning process, the tasks of learning, and the strategies for my goal.
Metacognition and Metacognitive knowledge
Metacognition comprises three core components, metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive regulation, and metacognitive experience. (Global Metacognition, 2020) According to the Cambridge International Education Teaching and Learning Team (n.d.), metacognitive knowledge refers to what learners know about learning. This includes three factors:
Based on the above three factors, I will demonstrate how to learn a new skill, operating a host computer in 6 months.
Learning process
The host computer has various functions, and I must learn multiple functions depending on the work types. I am good at operating computers, so I am confident I will remember it within 6 months. However, there is one problem. The manual of the host computer isn’t updated for a long time, so some information is incorrect. I have to learn the part of the operation from my colleagues, but in my workplace, colleagues are not used to explaining the operating methods, and their explanation is not enough for me. I feel frustrated when I can’t do my work efficiently due to a lack of description.
Tasks of learning
To complete this task, I need to think about as follows:
Strategies for my goal
During the 6 months, I will operate a host computer to complete various jobs, so I have plenty of opportunities to get familiar with the operations and functions. I assume that it takes more time than usual when I use a host computer for the first time. Therefore, reviewing the tasks stated above and making a schedule is essential before starting learning. Based on my experience, taking extra time is vital for scheduling because we usually experience dealing with unexpected tasks during work.
Most people feel uneasy when encountering new environments and are required to learn new skills. However, understanding the concept of metacognition helps us deal with the situation. In this discussion, I concentrated on demonstrating how I can learn new skills and overcome my weak points with metacognitive knowledge. Metacognitive knowledge helps us obtain an objective view and allows us to perform well.
References
Cambridge International Education Teaching and Learning Team. (n.d.). Getting started with Metacognition. Retrieved from https://cambridge-community.org.uk/professional-development/gswmeta/index.html#:~:text=Metacognitive%20knowledge%20refers%20to%20what,going%20to%20read%20are%20complex')
Cultural intelligence for leaders (v. 1.0). (2012, December 29). Lardbucket. Retrieved from https://2012books.lardbucket.org/pdfs/cultural-intelligence-for-leaders.pdf
Global Metacognition. (2020, March 16). What is Metacognitive Knowledge? Retrieved from https://www.globalmetacognition.com/post/what-is-metacognitive-knowledge
