Monday, November 28, 2011

Students' Articles: Leadership

LAM Chi-tat, Chi House

When I was still in junior form, I was a member of an uniform team. I am glad that I met several good leaders in that time. They taught me a lot. Later, they gave me a chance to be an assistant patrol leader. That was a great opportunity to learn to be a leader. From then on, my leadership has started building up from nothing.

I have learnt a lot about leadership from those good leaders. What is leadership? From my experiences, leadership is the ability of a leader to lead his teammates to complete tasks. But, how can a leader lead his team successfully? The most important thing is his teammates are keen to work for him. The leader has to act as a role model to let his teammates believe in him. At least, the leader should be responsible or otherwise he is not qualified enough to take the role as a leader. Being responsible can let the teammates know they have chosen the correct leader and will be willing to work with him.

However, only being responsible is not enough. I know that a leader has to deal with a ton of stuff and probably face many challenges because I also came across many problems even I was only a assistant patrol leader. Obviously, not giving up is just the basic criteria for a leader. Besides that, a leader should be able to think of some ways to tackle the problems and lead his team to fight against all the challenges in order to turn the situation around. In other words, a good leader should have excellent problem solving skill and this is related to the adversity quotient.

Apart from having high adversity quotient, a high emotional quotient is also important. As teammates are easily affected by leader’s emotion, he should be able to control himself. For example, if a leader always gets angry easily with his teammates just because of some minor issues, his teammates will not be happy and the morale of the team will be lower or even cause them to leave the team. So, a leader with high emotional quotient can maintain good relationships with his teammates and the team can work within a harmonious atmosphere. Also, he can make a more sensitive decision as he is not affected by his feeling.

In addition, a leader should equip himself with good organization and management skills so that the whole team will not be in a mess and will run smoothly and systematically.

All the criteria above can help building the leadership of a leader but this is not the whole picture of it. This implies that what I have learnt is not enough and I still have loads to explore. I will make use of the opportunity of being a house captain to dig further and learn to be a better leader. I know that being a leader is not easy and being a good leader will be even more difficult. But, I will try and embrace all challenges. No one gets all the talents naturally. I believe I can finally approach to success because I am willing to learn and willing to learn is also one of the requirements to be a good leader. All things are easy that are done willingly!

Students' Articles: Leadership

LAU Pui-yat, Kwan House

In today’s democratic world, most leaders are usually elected or nominated by people. Leaders would be empowered with authority, yet they should not take it for granted. They need to remind themselves where their authority and power come from. Mission of all leaders can be well-illustrated by US President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, “of the people”, “by the people”, “for the people”. History repeats itself since that most leaders were corrupted by power as power is drug. To avoid stepping in their shoes, I shall have a humble mind, reflect and evaluate myself always. On top of this prerequisite concept, self-understanding, human relationships skill, time management skill, goal setting skill and resources allocation skill are important factors a successful leader should equip as well.

To be agreeable, a leader not only needs to have unique talents and strengths, but also furnish themselves with basic requirements. Patience and endurance are both basis for a gratifying leader, which Dr. Sun Yat Sin is a conspicuous example. Without patience and endurance, a person will be irritable and pessimistic, which a leader should avoid. Leader should manifest a positive impression to his followers. To be convincing, I would show my respectable moral standard and my determination to overcome hardship to people under my leadership. Speech delivering skill is an important factor of shaping a leader by the same token. Leaders such as Hitler and Chris Pattern became admirable as they were talented in speech delivery. None of these qualities is regardless for an outstanding leader.

Understanding oneself helps leaders to recognize their talents and strengths. If a person does not have the clear understanding about himself, he may be lacking confidence or be bumptious. To avoid being stuck in such situation, a leader should have a clear self-understanding in order to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. Understanding himself, however, is not enough for being a good leader. Being audacious to ask for help and to dedicate to the party under his leadership is in fact the greatest hardship for a leader to conquer.

People having lots of friends are regarded as having strong social network and sound human relationship. A leader needs a rich social network and delightful human relationships in order to be identified. No leader can do a good job alone, which teamwork is what a leader should consistently stand by. So as to gain support from my fellows, I will be selfishness but firmly assertive. This is going to show my dedication and motivation as well as my commitment to defend my House’s rights and interests. I have worked seriously in balancing the allocation of human resources, which consideration towards my House members are included. These are all factors to strengthen my human relationships and social network. I will be sure to bear them in mind as I will never forget where my power and authority come from.

Building up a proficient goal setting skill is another challenge for a leader. To lead a group, a leader must have clear objectives and goals to achieve for, whereas there will be a timetable for him to follow on. Goals and objectives not only satisfy voters, but they also provide distinct directions and motivations for leaders to carry out their responsibilities. For example, US President Barack Obama had promised to “change” before the election took place. This farsighted goal finally led to his victory in the President election, which later motivated him to proclaim a series of “changes” in governmental systems. Only if I set my goals and plans explicitly can I successfully lead my House to be successful.

Resources are always limited. Careful consideration is needed when a leader is about to make decision of management of resources. There should be no excuse for any ill-consideration of resources allocation. A praiseworthy leader can decide the most suitable moment for allocation of resources onto the in need parties. This decision requires an appropriate time management skill. If resources are not allotted on a typical time, leaders could lose a potential for improvements of their groups or even waste their resources. This can be concluded that resources allocation skill and time management skill are both fundamental qualities of a leader.

After having discussed the important factors of being a good leader, evaluation could be a meaningful finale. Having studied in Munsang for nearly 14 years, I have privilege to be a bright leader in aspect of human relationship. I had been taught to set farseeing goals for three years. I can now challenge myself to realize the theory which enlightened me. Time management can be said as a by-product of goal setting to me. In the beginning of every school year, I would fix my schemes of work and timetables which contribute a lot to the smooth running of my learning as well as my Co-curricular activities. I understand my limited abilities may lead to a heavy load of difficulties and hardship in front of my way as a House Captain. However, I am a team with all my House members who provide me confidence, bravery and strengths. With them, I consider myself could be a trustworthy leader.

Students' Articles: How to interpret leadership?

LAI Ka-wai, Love House

Leadership, a word combines by ‘leader’ and ‘ship’. It is obvious that there is a close relationship between leader and leadership. So what is leader? Leader is the person who guides his own teammate. Usually, the activities done by a leader is planning, organizing, directing and controlling.

As mentioned above, leader and leadership has an intimate relationship between each other. Hence, in order to interpret leadership, we need to ‘decompose’ leader.

L-Learn
No one is perfect.  None of us can know all the things since our birth. As a result, learning is a must! Learning is a process to gain knowledge and comprehend ourselves deeper, helping us to know our strengths and weaknesses. As a Love House Captain, I know I have got a lot of things to learn to lead my house members. More importantly, I have to learn after success or failure!

E-Enthusiastic
Enthusiastic is a kind of passion and excitement about something. Before being the House Captain, I have asked myself a question “Do I really want to serve Love House? Do I really love the house?” My answer is Yes! Deep in my heart, I have long to take the post to serve Love House already! The sense of belongings generated in the past five years drives me to this stage. It is my pleasure to serve my members and to strengthen Love House in the coming year.  I strongly believe that a leader with this personality would bring fruitful outcome for his effort.

A-Appreciation
Appreciation is hard but needed. From my point of view, suitable appreciation is an encouragement to the members to walk towards success. As a house captain, the acknowledgement to the members for their tasks completed can make the minutia feel like it was all worth the effort. Besides, the team spirit can also be built up.

D-Discreet
Careful planning reflects a leader’s quality. In order to achieve a goal, Leaders should obtain a discreet plan. As an old saying, ‘Think before you act’ is important because a wrong step will lead you and your members to failure. Thus, being the house captain, stay calm and well-prepared are necessary in every decision.I must admit that I am not a clever person, but still, careful thinking has made up my deficiency.

E-Evaluation
Evaluation refers to a periodic process of gathering data and then analyzing or ordering it in such a way that the resulting information helps to determine whether your organization or program is effectively carrying out planned activities, and the extent to which it is achieving its stated objectives and anticipated results. For a good leader, evaluation is important to them as they can learn from and avoid the mistake during the evaluation process.

R- Responsibility
‘R’, the last letter in the word. In my opinion, it is the last but the most important “letter”. It stands for responsibility. As a great leader, he will take the blame of crisis and learns from his mistakes. In contrast, an irresponsible leader stands aloof or shifts the blame to someone or something else that makes the same mistakes over and over again.The word also includes one element, ‘respond’. A leader willing to respond and responsible would definitely gain the support of the members.

To conclude, it is not easy to be a good leader. There are a lot of barriers that needed to be overcome. It is my great honor to be the House Captain of Love House. In order to lead my house towards the success, I have to show my leadership to my members by the criteria set above. I will try my very best to be a successful leader and serve my House as the members will rely on me.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Key points which might help in your interviews

To:F.6 and F.7 Students
From:Ms. Kuby Chan

Key points which might help in your interviews
  • Be well-prepared and remember:

  • “You are making a presentation, but not responding to questions”
  • Make people remember you (how to tell people your name)
  • No need to be apologetic (avoid saying “sorry’ all the time)
  • Should try your best to cheer up the interviewers or even the interviewing process itself


  • Voice projection
  • make sure that you can be heard
  • be very clear in your pronunciation (especially your name)
  • show your passion through your voice, intonation of your speech


  • Facial expression
  • be cheerful, showing respect to your group members by looking at them
  • smiling face, attention given to your group member while he/she is speaking
  • be connected (refer to “Your Turn to Express Yourself” below)


  • Posture
  • showing your self-confidence
  • sit straight


  • Body language
  • use of your hands/arms
  • movement of your eyes/head …


  • Introducing yourself
    Name of yourself
    (clear with every syllable, Christian name being easier to be caught & remembered, can also try a short acronym)
    Name of the school
    Age
    Background (family, hobby, interest…)

    How to Begin
    Please grant me the chance to be the first one to introduce myself
    Please allow me the privilege to be the first one to express my own opinion
    (but don't overdo it, don't turn them into tired clichés)

    Your Turn to Express Yourself (be connected)
    To be connected by saying:
    His hobby is … For me, I like ….
    He is talking about music. My hobby is completely different because I like sports.
    I share his view / I don’t agree with him / her on …

    Content
  • Show your strengths
  • e.g.my academic qualification entitles me a place in your institute / faculty
    HKU is one of my choices
    HKU should be proud of me when …

  • Knowledge of the university applying for
  • e.g.CUHK is a knowledge-based university.
    HKUST was established in 1991 and is celebrating its 20th Anniversary.
    HKU is a renowned university with a pool of world-class professors.
    Search for information on the frontier disciplines (faculties) of the university
    Hope that I can become an alumnus / alumna capable of contributing back to the university after graduation.
    I am much impressed by ….

  • Knowledge of the faculty applying for

  • Be familiar with the terms / jargons of the discipline you are pursuing
    e.g.Scientists:90% genius to go with 10 % curiosity
      Journalist: “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish” by Mr. Steve Job
      Engineer: character-wise, I am not that disciplined, but I like challenges
      Geography: different disciplines of Geography, e.g. economic, social, geomorphology...
      Nursing: I have a caring heart for the weak / sick / deprived
      Law: I aspire to modernize the legal practice in HK
      Accounting: I aspire to modernize the accounting practices in HK

  • Career planning

  • Relating your career plan to your own interest / hobby
    Be familiar with the qualifications required
    To become a professional, I will definitely study hard to gain the qualifications required
    News
  • Read the news of the day
  • Read through the most current “Newsweek” thoroughly (e.g. for quotations, etc.)


  • Others
    Your life motto
    Think of 2 heroes (related to your choice of discipline / faculty / career)
    What to say when being invited to conclude in 15 seconds
    What to say when being invited to ask a question

    Mr. Henry Tsoi’s concluding remarks:
    Shortbe concise and precise
    Strong pick the most convincing point and be selective
    Special quote your personal experiences
    Sound give meaningful comments and support
    Straight be to the point

    No Worry! Please read the Comforting Words from our Lord:
    Isaiah 41:10 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
    10 Do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be afraid, for I am your God.
    I will strengthen you; I will help you;
    I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.
     
    Remember to pray to our Lord in the principles of His promises, for interview, public examination or your future:
    Proverbs 3:3-6 New International Version (NIV)
    3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
    bind them around your neck,
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
    4 Then you will win favor and a good name
    in the sight of God and man.
    5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
    6 in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will direct your paths.