Tomorrow's Leaders

The most interesting game to me is the recruiting negotiation. When playing the game, my partner and I just focused on getting the maximum personal benefits. We did not understand that compromise would bring higher score for two people as a whole. From the game, I learn that hiring managers should not try to give recruitees as fewer benefits as they can because this will lower new workers' motivation. Then firms will bear loss because of lower labor productivity.

The book Social Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion is my favorite in this class. The influence tactics it describes are really useful for building leadership. So far, I often it hard to influence people, especially someone in higher positions, and I can use these tactics in the future.

BUS262 Team6: Final Blog Topic

While I really enjoyed all of the topics and activities, my favorite topic was conflict and negotiations. The reason why I enjoyed this topic the most is because I learned greatly about how to handle uncomfortable situations through negotiation and collaboration. I also really enjoyed the activity as I negotiated my new job benefits with my future boss. Before this lecture, my method of handling uncomfortable situations was to simply say “yes” to the other person. Through this topic, I learned how to negotiate more effectively by having options and by understanding my bottom line.

I really liked all of the books. My favorite one was Predictably Irrational because it was an eye-opening experience learning how we can be irrational individuals even when we think we are not. It’s important to understand people’s behaviors and their motives and influences.

I don’t have a specific book to recommend however I would like to learn more about how to increase my leadership confidence.

Tomorrow's Leaders

Of all the class activities, I really liked the one where we were trying to figure out which day of the made-up week that the Atlanteans finished building their obelisk. Although each person had a small amount of information, it gave us the opportunity to exercise our leadership skills and collect all the information that each person had and figure out the answer.

Of all the books (other than our own), I really liked Predictably Irrational, because people are irrational creatures and thus it is important to find out what makes each of us tick and how to lead different people who perceive things differently.

I don't really have a book to recommend, but a suggestion is to implement how to lead cross-culturally with the course. The book we focused on (Geography of Thought) did focus somewhat on the Chinese and Western dynamic, but something a little bit more culturally diverse would be extremely useful. The world is getting a lot smaller and having that multi-cultural aspect in the leadership program would ultimately benefit the leaders of tomorrow who most likely have to lead a culturally diverse team.

Final Blog Topic

Out of all the class activities I really enjoyed the survival one. Picking items by yourself then with a group showed me that if you want your opinions to be considered you need to speak up and have some valid reasoning to back them up. If you have sound logic your initial advice can actually put you in a credible leadership potion. Even though this assignment was small I feel that it actually had the biggest impact on me. I also felt it was one of the more fun projects.

Out of all the books I liked Drive the most. This was purely on the reason that there were two groups. I felt that being able to contrast between two different approaches on the same topic allowed me to see more into what the book was trying to say. It also created a bit of competition and possibly more out of the box thinking to top the other group.

Final Blog Topic

We've reached the end of this part of your leadership journey - and hopefully you are ready to continue on your own! In this posting, please write about what activity, topic, or reading you found the most interesting and useful. It may be interesting to see how others saw the class and what they found of value.

Also, please briefly describe which book - other than your own - you think was most useful to learn about and if you know of other books that you think would be useful for a future class, please provide the title!

Leadership in Groups

My leadership style changes along with various situations. When facing my subordinates in the company, I usually use the combination of authority, incentives, and inspiration to get the subordinates do their jobs better. In the case of volunteers, I usually give them detailed explanations of what to do and praise them for help. When I am with my friends, family, or group members, I often follow the consensuses made by the majority.

I am always a follower in my family. I always listen to my dad and my mom and follow their decisions, because in Chinese culture younger people should respect and listen to elders who have the final say in family matters.

In my work place, some leaders develop not only strong working relationships but also personal  relationships with workers. These leaders care about the feelings of the subordinates and sometimes give them a hand when subordinates encounter difficulties at work or in personal life. I should learn this kind of leadership to have more harmonious relationships with my workers.    

BUS262 Team6: Blog Topic 12: Groups and leadership

I have always recognized how different my interactions are with different groups. The differences in my leadership behavior are actually quite the opposite depending on which group I am involved with. I tend to be a stronger leader in groups that I am the most comfortable with like friends and family. If someone asked a member in my family who they think the leader is, they will most likely say that I am. My leadership role with my family is quite obvious. On the other hand, my leadership skills tend to lessen in power when I am in a group of people that I am very uncomfortable with. Sometimes being around people that I don’t know makes me fall into a follower position instead of a leader.

I like to observe other leaders in my various groups in order to learn more about leading. Sometimes the main difference between my leadership skills and that of another person is the level of confidence. I really admire those leaders that can lead with such great confidence. I know that I can enhance my leadership skills by increasing my confidence level.

Leadership in Groups

With my friends or my family, my leadership role changes depending on who is in the group. I make a suggestion and it's voted on whether or not we would follow through on that suggestion. However, with my family, I typically regress into the same role: listen to what my parents have to say and pop in a comment when it is appropriate. The perception of power plays a huge role in how I see myself as a leader. With my friends, I believe I can influence their decisions based off my suggestions and therefore I feel empowered by that. I can make an off-the-wall suggestion and it would be taken seriously. However, with my family, it is so much more difficult to change the way my parents think or influence their decisions. If I make a suggestion, more often than not, it is immediately shot down. The situation is different with my younger sister, but largely due to the fact that she often defers decision making to me, especially when it comes to the question of where do we go to eat. She cites that it is my right as the older sibling, despite me telling her to choose.

Leadership

I often think of myself as a leader however it's during certain situations of when no one else steps up to the plate. I found that this is often the case when I'm either with more highly skilled individuals or when I'm with older team members. It's a reoccurring event that, after this class, I've really com to realize.

My cultural background is Japanese/Chinese and elders are never challenged even if you know they are wrong. I think this plays a huge role in where I only become the leader when I'm the older person in the group. It's actually only been recently when I take the leadership role due to my superior knowledge in certain areas. This primarily came about due to the necessity to complete a task.

Although it is almost common nature to me to only take an active role when I'm the elder, I need to learn to work with and even supervise my elders in the workforce. Being able to over come this obstacle will allow me to effectively lead a group and feel confident that my decisions are not going to be challenged at every step of the way.

Blog Topic 12: Groups and leadership

It is likely that over this long weekend, you are finding yourself interacting with friendship groups and family groups more intensely than you usually do. The holidays and celebrations typically bring people together - which is sometimes good and sometimes bad.

In class, we talked about adjusting your leadership for different kinds of groups - volunteer groups, paid groups, etc. Take this time to reflect on your leadership in the different types of groups of which you are a member (even if you didn't see them all this week). How does your leadership style change? Are you more effective in one group versus another? Do you fall into a pattern such that you are in the same role in all groups? Or, as is typical in family groups, do you find yourself regressing to the same role in the family that you've always played, regardless of other accomplishments? Think about other leaders in these groups. What do they do that is effective and how can you learn from them?

External Feedback

I wasn’t really shocked to find the results on my feedback sheet. Although I like to think that people see me as more quite and shy, when it comes down to it I always take an active leadership role. I think often people, when around me, fall into a follower mode and I instantly become the leader. Maybe it’s because of my personality or how I present myself but I always feel that this is the case. As far as my leadership goals I would like to be the leader rather than always fall into the position. I feel that I get lazy which prevents me from actually going face forward into this role. I hope that this more direct approach will also play into effect into my everyday life in where I am more direct at what I want. I think after some time I could just ask my co-workers on how I’ve moved forward with my goals.

External Feedback

       I was surprised by the feedback. I rated myself a 5.75, but my peers rated me only a 4.89 on Regulating own emotions. Also, my score on Exchange was only 3.67 as my peers rated, while I rated myself 5.00. Another surprise was that I only got 4.47 on Articulate vision from my peers. Based on these scores, I didn't control my emotion effectively, didn't provide enough incentives to my peers, and  didn't give my peers a clear vision about the company. These areas are crucial for leadership, so I really need to put more effort to improve my performance in these areas.

        

 I don't often get authentic feedback from my peers. My peers most of the time just say "You've done a good job", without giving me any detailed comments on my work. I think that honest feedback will let me have a clear picture about my leadership skills and styles, and then I can see my weaknesses and improve my leadership skills accordingly.

Feedback

In all honesty, the only thing that surprised me was the score on Pressure and Exchange under Influence Tactics. I rated myself a 3.00, with my peers rated me a 5.00 on Pressure. For Exchange, it was reversed, I rated myself 6.00, while my peers rated me 3.50. In most of the other sections the score were close. I didn't think I exerted pressure effectively. I don't recall which questions on the surveys dealt directly with exchange.

I'm currently unemployed, so I don't get feedback from anybody in particular, but even at my last job, feedback wasn't forthcoming, partly because of the nature of the work was repetitive and a great deal of it was done solo.

Personally, I think having an honest point of view is refreshing. Too often on the job, I hear "good job" or "well done", but not honest feedback on what was done well or how my performance could have been improved. Getting that feedback is vital for me to improve myself.

BUS262 Team6: Blog Topic 11: Seeing ourselves as other see us

I was pretty nervous about finding out what my co-workers thought about me in regards to my leadership skills. I was expecting bad reviews from them. To my surprise, their assessment of me was better than what I expected. While their reviews were not the highest, they were still better than my own assessment for the most part. This was a really nice surprise and it increased my confidence. The only item that came below my own assessment was my ability to pressure others. I never realized that I lacked an authoritative side. However, now that I think about it I totally agree with their assessment of me. When I need to get things done, I rarely motivate people through pressure. I have always found other approaches that worked well for me. However, I do understand that it is important for leaders to convey a sense of control and authority.

I am very glad for the feedback that was provided by my peers. Their reviews of me are very helpful. Going forward I will keep in mind that I need to convey to others that I can also be authoritative. I normally don't receive feedback from others but going forward I will seek it because it will only help me learn and grow as a better manager. I will take feedback from others with an open mind and work hard to improve my leadership skills.

Blog Topic 11: Seeing ourselves as other see us

Last week, you received feedback on how other people see you in a leadership roles. Was anything surprising to you? You've had a few days to digest the feedback, how can the information you received move you towards your leadership goals? How frequently do you receive authentic feedback in your everyday life? How can acquiring honest feedback help you achieve your goals?

BUS262 Team6: Blog Topic 10: Motivation

I am most motivated when I feel the most challenged and when I feel that my contributions will have direct affect. I often find that challenges really motivate me and most of my great work is done through challenges. I think that challenges provide motivation because they provide goals and plans, things that I can inspire to. I also get motivated when I know that my work will have a direct contribution towards the goal. That being said, I often get motivated with larger important project than with smaller less important projects. With larger important projects, I understand that my contributions will be very important. I don't get motivated with tedious projects that lack inspiration or that have little influence.

My method of motivating individuals is through inspiration. Because I understand that inspiration works very well with me, I tend to think that inspiration will also work for others. So far, providing inspiration has worked very well. For example, I recently motivate my little brother to apply to college through inspiration. I communicated to my brother that his quality of life will be much better upon graduating college. I think it is easier for people to get motivated and to work harder if they believe that their hard work will result in a better outcome.

Motivational Power

I'm really motivated when something really catches my interest, especially if it is something that I have never experienced before. However, if a task is continuously repetitive and I can't see an end in sight, I feel like it is a grind and I'm just doing it because it is my job.

Motivating others is difficult. Depending on the person and the situation, it may require different tactics. For instance, back in college, when I wanted one of my four roommates to take out the garbage or clean the bathrooms, I'd try to incite them to act. First, I'd ask them nicely. If that didn't work (and it usually didn't), I'd throw a tantrum - not my favorite tactic, but it is one that seems to work best on them. On the other hand, during UC Davis' Picnic Day, I tried to convince my roommates to go to see the events with me, since I didn't want to go by myself. Instead of getting angry, I tried to get them interested in the events. Like I would tell one of them, "Hey there's a professor talking about black holes and time travel," because he was really interested in quantum physics.

Practice makes perfect. To improve my motivational repertoire, I need to practice and gain the experience to know what type of motivation to use and when.

Motivation

I feel motivated when doing something that I am interested in and helps other people. When I am going to do something I am interested in, I will have more energy and put more effort; when doing something that will help other people, I will feel happy and proud because what I do will make a difference in another person's life. I find myself unmotivated when being forced to do things that I am not interested at, and in this case, I will not really try my best. I feel more comfortable in the first situation.

I often motivate people by inspiring them. Sometimes I will show my co-workers how well other departments are doing to remind them that they can learn from other people to do things better. I think that fear and anger will not really motivate people. Some people will be at a loss when they are worried about something; also, showing my anger will only deteriorate the relationships between other people and me. I believe that constantly appraising people and showing them other examples of success will give people the energy and confidence to do their best.       

Topic 10

I often find myself motivated when I am very interested or feel that through my actions I will have some kind of impact on the end result. I typically find myself unmotivated when I feel that no matter what I contribute the end results will be the same. I take a lot of pride in the things I believe in however the opposite holds true when I don’t take much pride in things I don’t believe are important. This is a pretty harsh way to look at it and it may be the extremes however it is the way I look at life. I tend not to want to waste effort on things that I don’t see are worth it. I am most comfortable when I find a task that I really feel strongly about and I feel better about everything and happy that I was able to give it my all.

I believe that I motivate other by keeping calm and seeming like I know what’s going on. There are time when I don’t but freaking out solves anything. I’ve also found that fear works however it isn’t very efficient and most of the time people just end up being stressed out and quit. It’s more effective if you make them feel good about themselves and make them feel empowered with their own desire to do the best that they can. Finding a common goal usually unites people and gives them the motivation to do the best they can.

Blog Topic 10: Motivation

In retrospect, our discussion of motivation in class went in two directions: how to motivate others and how to motivate oneself. The two aren't necessarily unrelated, but it is helpful to consider them separately before combining them. The videos below concern self-motivation, but could also be applied to understanding your followers.

What do you think motivates you? Are there times when you are just trying to get by and are there times when you are striving something really great? When do you experience each kind of feeling? Which feeling are your more comfortable with?

Having considered what motivates you, think about how you might motivate others. Can you shift gears between different styles and types of motivation when working with your followers? Can you use fear? Can you use anger? Can you use inspiration? How can you improve your motivational repertoire?

Geography of Thought

I always think that people's behavior is affected and determined by the social environment. In my opinion, some people misbehave, not because they are inherently bad people, but  because they are affected by the people or some other things and sometimes are forced to do something bad.

This thought of mine sometimes causes arguments between my friends and me. When I was an undergraduate, my friends and I established a student club at school. One of the club members was often late for meetings and activities, and because members were required to show up on time, my friends were proposing canceling the student's membership. My friends argued that that student came late because he personally did not want to obey the rules of our club, and no matter how many more chances were given, he would be late again. But I told them that maybe he had another class before our club's meetings, and so he could not come on time. I suggested that we should give the student one more chance. Because all my friends in the club disagreed with me, they voted to cancel the student's membership.

This experience teaches me that not everybody had the same idea as mine about people's behavior. I need to learn how to better interact with other people having different views in a similar situation.       

BUS262 Team6: Blog Topic 9: Geography of Thought

I sometimes generalize people’s political views based on their cultures or backgrounds. I think I do this because of how I grew up and because of what I see on the media.

Because of this wrongful mindset of mine, I often surprise myself when meeting people. I also find myself in uncomfortable situation. One memorable example is when I met my boyfriend while I was in college. My boyfriend is Mexican like myself. When I first met him, I stereotyped him to be a liberal democrat. However, to my surprise, my boyfriend was the opposite of what I expected. I found out that he was a very conservative type of guy. Our first fight was related to our different political views. I just couldn’t understand why his views were so different from mine if he had the same background as me.

Learning that people can have two very different views while still having the same culture background was extremely eye opening. That experience really showed me that I need to be mindful of how I view people.

Topic 9

A specific time in where I anticipated another outcome was during my interaction with a group partner that was younger than me. I originally thought hat this exercise would be very uneventful and not challenging simply because I didn’t think, because of his age, he would be able to contribute anything that I hadn’t already thought of. I had thought that logically since I was older I would posses all that was needed for this exercise and that since he was younger his education would only encompass what I had already known. This obviously didn’t work out that well and later found that he actually did know several things I didn’t and had a lot more to offer than I ever could have imagined. Being Asian my cultural mindset is placed on the idea that elders know more and that you need to respect them. I believe that this was a gross over stretch of this cultural idea and it wasn’t entirely correct.

Geography of Differences

I often times believe that because people go to the same schools and have similar educational experiences, that they would tend to think alike rather than think differently. This comes from experience as most of my closest friends think like I do. However, one particular experience I had at my last job showed me that my assumptions did not always fit.

One of my coworkers had been reading the news on Somali pirates that seized a cargo ship. He was a year older than me and by complete coincidence we had gone to the same high school, same college, and even had the same degree from that college, although he was a grade level above me. So on that day he turns to me and he says: "Eric, did you know that there are still pirates in the world?"

My mouth dropped open and I stared at him for a few seconds trying to think of something to say to him. I ended up with a reply that sounded like: "Um... yeah... not everywhere in the world is the same as us."

He was completely blown away by my statement. He couldn't believe that stuff like pirates existed. Here was a guy who went to the same high school and college as I did. We had similar experiences in our coursework, and yet we clearly didn't see the world in the same way. I'm not saying that he was naive, but he just couldn't grasp the concept that because people in that part of the world are poor, that they resort to stealing from wealthier nations to deal with it.

So when all is said and done, I can't just assume that because somebody went through the same experiences that I did, that they would perceive things the same way I do. Every person receives the lessons learned differently. On top of that, it is the individual experiences beyond our schooling that have shaped our beliefs and our worldview. I traveled outside the country a lot on vacations and I've been to a lot of different places, while my coworker had only been to Taiwan. So perhaps because of that different experience had shaped each of us to the point where he was surprised by the fact that pirates existed and I wasn't.

Blog Topic 9: Geography of Thought

Last week, we talked about rationality and irrationality. I asked you how you might use "irrational" thinking as a leader and still manage and create change and progress towards goals. This week, we talked about different ways of thinking - that cognitive processes are not universal but may also be affected by culture. So, now leaders not only have to deal with appearing irrational, but also have to deal with ways of thought (mind bugs) that may vary by country, ethnicity, religion, etc. This could easily be overwhelming. But, we've sought to make this manageable by describing the principals that underlie cultures (Hofstede's 5 characteristics), and the principals that underlie rationality.

In this post, think back to a time when you have had interactions where you experienced a "(mis)meeting of the minds." Have you had experiences which, in retrospect, didn't go well because you had different assumptions about causality or use of logic than your interaction partner? What is the geography of your thought and can how does it affect you in your interactions with others? What are the elements of your cultural mindset?

Irrational Thoughts

If I were a leader and I had to explain my irrational actions because they made sound sense to me, I would give distinctive reasons as to why my decisions were the right ones and why. I have to prove myself as a confident leader, one that has earned my subordinates trust - trust that they have placed in me to make the right choices, whether irrational or not. Also people have a tendency to rationalize their thoughts, even if the end actions are irrational to others.

I have a good friend who once spent $150 on a collector's edition of a game, when the rest of us spent $40 on the regular version. The collector's edition just included the game's soundtrack. When we asked him why he spent so much for so little, he simply replied: "Because I can brag about it." To the rest of us it was completely irrational. He had spent more than three times than the rest of us on the same game and had gotten minimal returns, but to him, his rationality behind his irrational decision was that he could brag to us and everyone else that he got the collector's edition.

There was another instance where I went to my local used bookstore. The store had given me a weeks worth of coupons that varied in amount between 20% to 50% and the coupons were only good for certain days, for instance: Sunday and Monday was 20% off one item, Tuesday and Wednesday was 40% off one item, etc. I ended up going to that bookstore all week just to cash in on small savings and I usually ended up buying more than one item, which was completely irrational, since I went in expecting to buy only one item and saving money. Instead I spent a lot more than I had expected to and ended up going to the bookstore more times that week than I had in the last two months.

Decision Making

I think when we refer to rational leaders making irrational decisions is more along the lines of they are making different choices in how to do a project. I think to the norm it is irrational however it may also be a better plan as irrational to the norm it may seem. I also think that to the employees of a leader some of his/her choices may seem irrational to the employee however that maybe because of lack of information on behalf of the employee. To be a good leader I believe it's a good idea to keep all your employees in the loop.

The presentation of information into a situation has different effects. For instance one time I went out and saw a sign saying “sale buy two for 1.50 each” while on the other hand I saw another larger bottle for 2.75. The funny part was that I bought the two for 1.50 each but later looked back and realized that the liquid amount of the larger bottle was more than the two that were on sale. End result was I paid more for less. If I had been introduced to this information earlier I would have made a totally difference choice. The only information that I had at the time was that it was on “sale” which made my choice for me.

Irrational Decision Making

People sometimes need direction from their leaders when they don't know what to do in certain situation.  When I am doing something irrational, I will explain to my followers why I am doing it and how it will have positive impacts in order to justify my decision. If my workers still oppose my decision at worker place, I will use my power to force them to follow me.

The way to present information certainly has huge impact on decision making. I remember that when I wanted to purchase a cell phone plan, I faced the choice between AT&T and T-Mobile. I already knew that T-Mobile 's plans were cheaper but it had inferior coverage compared to AT&T. When I checked T-Mobile's website, it said that "We have coverage where you need it". That let me I think that even though T-Mobile's coverage was not as good as AT&T's, I would still get covered where I needed most. So I signed a one-year service agreement with T-Mobile, and the result was that I suffered from dropped calls at home everyday. So it was the way T-Mobile represented it's coverage that caused my unwise decision. If I face the same choice again, I will absolutely choose AT&T as the service provider.

People sometimes don’t know what they’re doing so they’re looking up to the leader hoping that this person will lead them to the right directions by being rational and making the right choices. As a leader, if my actions and decisions make sense in an irrational sense, I could try to give reasons why such decisions are they right ones. I must show my confidence so people can trust my decisions.

It’s true that the way information being presented can influence decision-making. My aunt, who’s only a few years older than me, and I always go shopping together and we would take turn to drive. One time, it was her turn to drive us to the mall. But all of a sudden, my aunt suggested that we should go to Vacaville outlet. She hates driving anywhere that’s over 15 miles so she said I should drive. Of course I was lazy so I said no, too far. Then she asked me to drive us to Great Mall instead. First, I already felt guilty for turning down her first suggestion. Second, I thought well, Great Mall seemed to be less than half the distance. So it was a better choice and I agreed to drive us to Great Mall. If she was to ask me to drive us to Great Mall first, I probably would have said no. When I got home from the mall that day, I thought, wait a minute, she tricked me (haha). I ended up driving us to Great Mall even though it was her turn to drive that day. So the way she presented her requests has influenced my decision-making.

BUS262 Team6: Blog Topic: Predictably Irrational

It is true that followers want leaders to act in a way that is rational and expected. However, these expectations of a leader come from individuals that can be irrational sometimes. This situation makes it difficult for leaders to explain and defend their behaviors to their followers. It would be hard for me as a leader to explain my irrational behavior to people even if I truly believed in the behavior. There is simply no case to defend irrational behavior. However, I would defend that behavior by simply saying that the behavior is predictable by most people.

It is very surprising how the presentation of information can influence decision-making. Many marketing promotions have influenced me to purchase many products through the presentation of such promotions. One example of how I was influenced to purchase was when I received two sale coupons by the same store. One coupon stated that if I purchased $150 worth of stuff, I could get $25 back. The second coupon stated that If I purchased $250 worth of stuff, I would get $50 back. I used the second coupon because it had the larger dollar back amount even though I didn’t need to purchase that much stuff. In my mind, I wanted to take advantage of the larger savings. This was irrational behavior because I actually did not save as much as I thought because I purchased more stuff than I needed.

Blog Topic: Predictably Irrational

We are continuing our discussion of the human brain with last week's topic of irrationality. These findings suggest that humans are not rational, but are still predictable. This idea has two implications for you as a leader. First, people tend to expect leaders to be rational, to obey certain laws of physics, so to speak, yet, they themselves may act in ways that are not rational. This presents leaders with a conundrum: when you know your actions and decisions make sense, in the predictably irrational sense, but that they do not make sense in the traditionally rational sense, what do you do? How do you explain your decisions? How to defend them?

The second implication has to do with followers and their decision-making strategies. Following on the heels of our discussion of social influence, it seems that you could present information in ways to influence decision-making. Can you think of specific times that this has been done to you, or that, if you had known about it, you'd have changed how you presented information prior to a decision-making situation?

Perception

Even though I’ve taken numerous psychology courses I still had a hard time believeing there wasn’t a difference in size between the table tops. I’ve seen that photo over a dosen times and I still can’t seem to believe they are the same size. This made me start to think that maybe there are things in my life that even though I may feel so strongly about something it actually maybe incorrect and I need to learn to open to the idea of things not always seeming as they appear. There are so many times that my perceptions have been incorrect however I choose to stick to my original conclusion. I think this is the reason because I hate admitting that I was wrong and to do so would show I’m not very informed.

There have been numerous instances where others perception of me has caused a problem. They often viewed me as being quite and unsocial which has prevented them from talking to me or even allowing me to be part of the group. This is further from the truth and because of this I have had to go out there to really show them who the real me is and that I am very social and very outspoken.