Wednesday, February 23, 2005

You never know...

You never know
When you meet someone
Will she be the one

You never know...

And I wonder to myself
I wonder to myself

Are you beautiful on the inside...

---lyrics from Banana Republic TV commercial---

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Three Levels of Leadership

Leadership can be viewed on three levels. From least effective to
most effective, these levels may be defined this way:

LEVEL ONE: IMPRESS
The leader impresses followers. This can be done with little or no
relationship. It requires only the will of the leader to be involved. He must want to leave a memorable impression on the
followers.

LEVEL TWO: INFLUENCE
The leader influences followers. This can be done with some
relationship between the two. It requires the will of the follower
to be involved. He must want to be influenced by the leader.

LEVEL THREE: IMPACT
The leader impacts followers. This can only be done through
intimate relationships. It requires both the will of the leader and follower be involved. They must agree to accountability and growth.

In other words, even my feeble attempts at mentoring are better than my best attempts at impressing someone from the stage. Good, honest attempts at developmental relationships are better than no attempt at all.

--Excerpt taken from Mentoring, by Tim Elmore

Thursday, February 17, 2005

二月當機天

二月真是適合當機的月份。繼我的網站伺服器當機之後,我們辦公室(佛羅里達州州政府教育局)的檔案伺服器也在昨天當了!當機的結果是只要跟電腦有關的事情幾乎都做不了了。原本以為會比較輕鬆,沒想到卻還是有一大堆事情要做。

By the way,趁著話題還在當機,如果在讀我的文章的同時你的電腦檔案沒有備份的,建議你快快去備份一下。不要等到真的當機的時候才後悔莫及!

Thursday, February 03, 2005

The Cage

Recently we put up a hummingbird feeder with four feeding stations. Almost immediately it became popular with the hummingbirds that live in our area. Two, three, or even four birds would feed at one time. We refilled the feeder at least once a day. Suddenly the usage decreased to almost nothing. The feeder needed filling only about once a week.

The reason for the decreased usage soon became apparent. A male bird had taken over the feeder as his property. He is now the only hummingbird who uses our feeder. He feeds and then sits in a nearby tree, rising to attack any bird that approaches his feeder. Guard duty occupies his every waking hour. He is an effective guard. The only time another bird gets to use the feeder is when the self-appointed owner is momentarily gone to chase away an intruder.

We soon realized that the hummingbird was teaching us a valuable lesson. By choosing to assume ownership of the feeder, he is forfeiting his freedom. He is no longer free to come and go as he wished. He is tied to the work of guarding his feeder. He is possessed by his possession. His freedom of action is as circumscribed as if he were in a cage. He is caged by a situation he has created.

Written by W. L. Barnes

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這個由美國教育部所設立的網站讓你查詢所有美國大學的Accreditation。如果你在申請學校,不要忘了查查你所申請的學校看看它是不是美國教育部所承認的。