Definitions of Leadership
I think Ronald Reagan states it best in his statement, “Leadership is to grasp and hold a vision, that is the very essence of successful leadership” (Oxford University Press). According to J. Thomas Wren, the author of The Leader’s Companion,
“Leadership has been conceived as the focus of group processes, as a matter of personality, as a matter of introducing compliance, as the exercise of influence, as particular behaviors, as a form of persuasion, as a power relation, as an instrument to achieve goals, as an effect of interaction, as a differentiated role, as initiation of structure” (Wren, 38).
Throughout history, leadership has been defined by specific attributes that a leader is thought to have. There is not a right or wrong definition of leadership, but it is important to know the roots and history behind the term.

Leaders Throughout History
According to the text, The Leader’s Companion, the word “leader” dates back as early as the year 1300 but the word “leadership” did not appear until the first half of the nineteenth century. Written principles were created as early as 5,000 years ago in Egyptian hieroglyphics for leadership (seshemet), leader (seshemu) and the follower (shemsu) (Wren, 50). Leaders during that time were seen as prophets, kings, priests, and chiefs. It seems as though blood and class played an important role in defining leadership during that period.
The Greeks described leaders as heroic and inspirational individuals. An example of this is seen in Homer’s Iliad. During this age, aspects of leadership were defined by, “justice and judgment, wisdom and counsel, shrewdness and cunning, and valor and activism” (Wren, 50).
Hegel believed that in order to be an effective leader you must first act as a follower to understand where the followers are coming from (Wren, 50). I believe Hegel understood that in order to fully serve the people, you must initially know first hand the important issues that affect the people you are serving.

Leader vs. Manager
As it has been shown throughout history, there are many dissertations on the definition of leadership. When analyzing the concept of leadership, I questioned, is leadership the same as today’s managers? What I have discovered is there is a vast difference between the two types of individuals.
Leaders are seen as innovators, individuals that have a vision and inspire their following. The attributes of leaders that come to mind are charismatic, enlightening, passionate, risk taker or proactive. Leaders tend to take risks and push against the grain in the hopes of achieving a long-term goal or vision. Manager may be described as organize, stability, practice oriented and avoids conflict. After comparing the roles and attributes of leaders compared to managers, I wondered, can leaders be managers?
I do believe that a manager can be a leader and vice versa but not all managers can act as a leader. A blog on Leadership v. Management describes this idea as, “a leader is someone who knows where to go. Management skills are how they actually get there.” (McCarthy, 2008). This may take a little give and take between the two personality qualities in order to maintain balance. Imagine the qualities of management and leadership being weighed on a scale. For example, a manager can be passionate and be leading their workers toward a specific vision. A manager can be motivated and create a sense of urgency but to keep the business afloat they must maintain order and also obtain a good social standing. Leaders have historically been known to veer away from traditional views and rise up with a new perspectives and beliefs. This can create hostility amongst others that are not willing to change. I believe the test of a great manager is one that can incorporate their leadership qualities into their work.

The above is a visual of the balancing of management qualitites and leadership tendencies (ICS 655 Seminar).

Personal View on Leadership
The term leadership throughout history has molded into many different meanings. What I have learned from my research is that one cannot pinpoint the exact definition of a leader, but can create their own ideas. I view a leader to be a person that is a visionairy, that works for a long term goal. Martin Luther King, for example, had his vision or dream. He led by example, created a following, and made an impact on history. I believe the test of a great leader is if their vision can break through the boundaries of communication and make their dream, your dream.

Bibliography
Wren, J. Thomas. (1995). The Leader’s Companion: Insights on Leadership
Through the Ages. New York, N.Y. The Free Press.
McCarthy, Dan. (2008). Leadership vs. Management. Retrieved on January 19,
2008 from http://www.leadership501.com/node/4/leadership-vs-
management.
Oxford University Press. Leadership definition. Retrieved on January 19, 2008
from http://www.oup.com.
ICS 655 Seminar. Muncie, IN. 16, January, 2008.

I thought this brief overview of the NCTA case would be beneficial for everyone in ICS642 next semester.

It has been argued that with the fast spread of information, that the quality of information that is being spread is going down. That scholarly work has been replaced with what Dr. Steele calls "Vanity crap" such as youtube.com and myspace.com. As Tom Pike discusses in his book "Information Renaissance" the quality of this communication must aspire to excellence. With the advantages of callaborative community exposure has increased tremendously. The question is are we holding up to the definition given in Leonardo da Vinci's day? I would have to say in CICS we are.

I didn't realize how fast technology was changing until I read Nick Clark's blog. According to this research "the amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years. For students starting a four-year technical or college degree, this means that… half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study. By 2010, it is predicted to double every 72 hours". I ran into this concept quite frequently after graduating from the Telecommunications Department at Ball State. Since, Ball State prides itself on being the leading in technology, I was trained in the best and most current production software and programs at the time. The problem with this is that especially in Indiana, there is not enough of a budget out in the work place to keep up with the constantly changing technology. Therefore everything I was trained on did not exist in the workplace and I guess I would consider myself "spoiled" with great technology.

Having this type of immediate information could be considered a blessing or a burden. The increase in mobility and technology has caused many distractions in everyday tasks. For example, the use of cell phones and ipods while crossing intersections have been banned in some areas, including New York City, because of the increase in injuries and mortalities to pedestrians. In the City there has been a drastic increase in pedestrian fatalities with 170 deaths in 2006. The fatality rate has increased to almost 9 percent compared to the previous year, Although the reasons for the pedestrian fatalities have not been recorded by the city’s Department of Transportation the recent popularity of the mobile devices have been known to distract their users.

Fanelli, James. (2007, February 8). Tuned out? No iPod Xing, pol says. Newsday, p.A06.
Wikipedia (2007). Retrieved on December 3, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Age.

Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo's contribution during this era coined the term "Renaissance Men". Since Dr. Gillette constantly refers to himslef as a "renaissance man" I began to wonder what this term actually means. This word is found in relation to "polymath" and "Homo Universalis". This term can be used to describe a person that is "well educated or who excels, in a wide variety of subjects or fields"(Wikipedia, 2007).

I would like to think that I am a "renaissance woman" or in the training to be one. I have always had a wide range of interests. This range goes from technology to musical theatre and back to sociology. I guess all of CICS masters candidates could be considered “Renaissance men and women” since our program trains and almost morphs us into well-rounded diverse individuals.

Wikipedia (2007). Retrieved on November 28, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath.

Methods of Communication
In order establish my own definition of Human Communications, I first had to analyze the different ways to communicate, and if that really is considered communicating effectively. One can achieve communication through non-verbal communication or body language, and verbal communication. Within this theory I have chosen to combine oral and written communication along with verbal communication.
Non-verbal communication is the most basic form of communication. This form of communicating can only be transmitted through sight. Non-verbal communication can be considered gesturing or body language. This can be as simple as crossing your arms or slamming down your fist. Without communicating verbally an emotion such as anger can be perceived to a second party through transmitters mannerisms.
Verbal communication can be defined as communicating by words and or writing. This style of communication is considered the most common and is often mistaken as the only method of communicating. An example of verbal communication can be seen with two people having a conversation. In verbal communication there must be a transmitter and a receiver. According to Introduction to Communications Technologies: A guide for non-engineers, the basis of human communication can be found in “ a type of transmit/ receive/ confirms format” . Within this definition of Human Communication the transmit is considered the individual sending the information or beginning the conversation and the receiver is the person that is being spoken to and then finally understands and acknowledges.
According to the Shannon Weaver model of communication, communication must first start by leaving the source and traveling through a channel. An example of a channel may include air, fiber optic, or cable. The message must then be sent to the second party to encode the information, this could also be thought of as understanding the message sent from the source. After encoding the message the sink, or second party in this situation, must decode the message to have an appropriate response. Then repeating the action and go through the channel once again .

Beyond the Words
The next step to obtaining effective communication is to accomplish understanding. In order to accomplish this a common language must exist. For example, if the source sends a message in French but the second party only speaks English, communication cannot take place. Technology can be seen as an example of this concept, if a message is sent from a computer but the second computer that is being sent the message is not equipped to translate the code message, the communication fails.
Efficient human communication involves more than speaking to another party, stomping your feet, or sharing a common language. In order to obtain clarity of the conversation, the significance or meaning of the message must be known . Without fully understanding the reason behind the message a person cannot respond appropriately in the conversation. To achieve effective communication the receiver must be considered “on the same page” as the transmitter. Imagine, the receiver being a blank page with no predisposed ideas or beliefs and then the transmitter communicating their thought and the receiver perceiving the idea the same as the transmitter. This level of communication is extremely difficult to master and is extremely rare. Since as individuals we all perceive things in different ways, this makes this level of communicating complex.
The art of human communication is an intricate subject. To truly communicate more than the definitions of the basic methods of communication must be acknowledged. An alteration of perspective must exist between the parties involved. By combining multiple theories and adding my own personal experiences and beliefs, I have established my own theory on the definition of human communication.

Bibliography
Jones, Stephan & Kovac, Ron. (2003). Introduction to Communications Technologies: A
Guide for Non-Engineers. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press LLC.
Gillette, Jay. ICS 602 seminar. Muncie, IN. 20, August, 2007.

Another quote that I think is profound is "Our only competition is ourselves". I think alot of what people view as failure in life is when they compare themselves to other individuals in life. Where it is good to strive in life and have goals it is also good to look at how far you have come in life. I believe it is better to analyze our individual growth than compare ourselves to others. We all have our strengths and weaknesses and where one person may be stronger in technical information the other may be more of a leader.

Also, a question that he liked to be asked was...
What would be the next step in the interviewing process?

The day was informative and good practice before heading out into the business world. I highly recommend it.

While visiting at my friends house a neighbor in the village had passed away. I found it interesting that the bell of the church would ring to announce this event for everyone to say a prayer and morn for their lost loved one. The street outside of the family's home was blocked off and for a week friends and family prayed outside and spoke of memories. They took the time to recognize the passing of this person and were able to later move on after spending lengthy and comforting time with close friends and family.

I also learned the cultural differences in making eye contact. Within each town in Mexico exists a type of town square. In the evening this becomes the social center of the town where most teens and young adults come to socialize, eat, shop and date. The significance of eye contact and body language play a great role in the dating traditions in their culture. My friends mother explained the tradition to me as the girls will walk in one direction around the square and the boys would walk in the opposite direction along the outside of the square. After making eye contact witheachother numerous times this lets the boy know you are interested in having a date with him and then they will begin walking the square together.

The way of living in the Mexican culture is drastically different from that of the United States. I have to admit I found their unorganized but centered way of living somewhat more attractive then the hustled, deadline filled life of America.