Wisdom Works Awarded Two Scholarships to Emerging Leaders for the 2007-08 Academic Year - We are currently accepting applications for the 2008-09 Academic Year

2007-2008 Academic Year Awards: James Mangenello of The University of Michigan & Jonathan Romig of Colorado State University demonstrated their commitment to including sustainable 21st century leadership in their education and their lives as promising young leaders. Wisdom Works provided both scholars with $1,000 and opportunities to read articles written by Wisdom Works coaches and reflect on the principles discussed for the 2007-2008 School Year.

The Wisdom Scholars are a part of the Giving Back program at Wisdom Works. We believe that to manifest our mantra, healthy leader, healthy business, healthy world, we must engage the leaders of tomorrow who will need the skills of sustainable, integral and health minded leadership in order to be outwardly effective and inwardly energized.

Thoughts from the 2007-2008 Wisdom Scholars

Article: Qualities of Servant Leadership

James Manganello is a junior, working toward a BA in History and English from the University of Michigan. He is studying in Ireland this semester. Some of his observations follow:

“I study at an Irish university, and this too has been a forum for examining differences. Irish universities are currently attempting to shift from an old system to a new one. The old system was one based completely on lectures and exams—a completely unidirectional system from teacher to student. Now, the university is trying to shift toward a more discussion-based venue, by which the students are more actively engaged in the material. This attempt at change followed from the realization that students learned better when encouraged to interact with the teacher and with the material, and also that teachers taught better when receiving more immediate feedback from their pupils.”

While in Ireland, James is working in a restaurant and sees Servant Leadership in action there. “We all have different positions, but no position is better than another, and if it’s more sensible to bend that position than to keep staunch order, then we just bend. My boss—despite my egalitarian portrait, I do have a boss—is practicing, I think, an admirable form of servant leadership. When I read about this form of leadership, my body immediately recreated the warmth of interdependence that I feel at work. This feeling is adamantly opposed to the tense, rushed attitude of many other jobs I’ve held, where the prevailing feeling is that it really is horrible if one cog in the machine falters.”

Article:  Dollars and Sense, A Case for Health and the Bottom Line

Jonathan Romig is a junior at Colorado State University studying Business Investing with a minor in English. Jonathan had some good insights after reading his article.

“Reading this Wisdom Works article has helped develop my thought process surrounding a project I am working on in my Business Communication class. My team is developing a report on the topic of building relationships in the workplace. Through our research, we have come to the conclusion that everyday office relationships fail to meet potential. If employers take the time to develop relationships through extracurricular team building activities, coworkers become more cohesive, productive, relaxed, happy, and retention is higher.

“After reading your article, I realized my project is about a mental and spiritual health that contributes to physical health. Promoting a healthy lifestyle and well being in the workplace has the same goals. It’s fascinating to see Wisdom Work’s real-world business topic relate to my in class assignment.

“In order to be an influential and effective leader in personal health, I must first commit to the responsibilities myself. I plan on being a manager and Wisdom Works has helped me understand that the way I present myself will influence my employees’ and my company’s presentation. Managers have a presence everyone looks to for guidance. As a leader, I will have to maintain a healthy body, mind and attitude.”