Managing and Developing a Small Business What do Leaders really do

Introduction Leaders and managers of an organization play incredible roles in the endeavour to ensure that organizations succeed in attaining their aims and objectives, as stipulated in their strategic plans. A dominant argument among scholars is that, leaders can also serve the roles of the managers.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Managing and Developing a Small Business: What do Leaders really do? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More On the other hand, other scholars argue that, leaders cannot act as managers of an organization. Consequently, there is unresolved debate whether managers can be leaders and the vice versa. For instance, Kotter posits, â€Å"leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action† (1990, p.103). This argument implies that, leadership and management have two differing traits and functions within an organization. The main question remains: which of the two is more appropriate for being given more consideration to enhance better success of an organization? Increasing body of literature places a strong argument that, the two are significant towards this end, especially when the volatilities and complexities of the modern day organizations’ operation environment are considered. From this position, this paper seeks to address the two aspects, which may immensely enhance the performance and hence the success of an organization. This goal is achieved through conducting a summary of Kotter’s article appearing on the journal of Harvard Business Review in 1990 titled: â€Å"what leaders really do†, and then articulating it with the existing body of literature on the position of leadership and management in enhancing success of an organization. Difference between management and leadership Management entails dealing ardently with organizational complexity. According to Brungardt (1996), â€Å"management controls or dire cts people or resources in a group according to principles or values that have already been established† (p.83).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the absence of cute organizational management strategies, complex business establishments may get chaotic in numerous ways hence creating the risks to the existence of the business establishment in question. In this context, Kotter (1990) laments that, â€Å"good management brings a degree of order and consistency to key dimensions like the quality and profitability of products† (p.104). On the other hand, leadership entails putting forth new visions and or directions for people working within an organization. In the journey towards achievement of this vision and direction, the leader work principally as the spearhead. This implies that leadership is all about deploying appropriate measures to deal cutely with organ izational change. Leadership is the tool that can be deployed, within an organization, to help it deal proactively with various factors that make conducting business a challenge. Such factors includes technological sophistication, volatility of the markets, increased international competitions, rapidly varying demographic characteristics, changing capital markets characteristics coupled with deregulation of capital markets among other factors. Consequently, as management scholars would suggest, doing what was effective yesterday and/or at ten percent better, can help in improvement of organizational performance. In case of leadership, this scenario is no longer a formula for realizing organizational success. Amid the cited functions of management in enhancing organizational success, it is necessary to point out that when the two are employed independently in an organization, differing results are produced.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Managing and Developi ng a Small Business: What do Leaders really do? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When management is applied without leadership, incredible results are obtained in control of resources in a manner that ensures that, the status quo is maintained and/or facilitates achievement of aims, goals, and objectives in accordance to an initially re-established plan. On the other hand, when leadership is applied alone, it â€Å"sets a direction or vision that others follow, without considering too much how the new direction is going to be achieved† (Rost Baker 2000, p.9). However, when both are applied, both the management of resources and setting a new direction of the organization, in the future world of uncertainty, are realized. Budgeting and planning are two plausible tools for ensuring that complexity is well managed by organizations. This accomplished through â€Å"setting targets or goals for the future, establishing detailed step s for achieving those targets and then allocating resources to accomplish the plans† (Kotter 1990, p.104). Arguably, this aspect is different with leadership. Leadership is initiated by direction setting. It entangles development of a vision through generation of wider perspective of future, coupled with adopting strategies that are critical in ensuring production of changes, which are vital in the achievement of the vision. Another striking difference is that, in case of management, the capacity for achieving the preset plans is dependent on strategies for staffing coupled with the power of organizing deployed by the organization. It is in this end that job design, job delegation, staff selection and recruitment and organizational communication becomes significant. On the other hand, as Kotter (1990) reckons, â€Å"the equivalent leadership activity is aligning people† (p.104).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It encompasses putting in place mechanisms of enhancing clear communication of the new directions for adoption to ensure the realization of the aims, goals and objectives of the organization in the near future to all stakeholders who commit themselves and accept being guided by the established direction. Additionally, from the perspectives of management, plans are achieved through designing mechanisms of the solution to problems coupled with controlling them, which is opposed to leadership whereby visions are achieved through inspiration and ensuring that the team that is responsible for the realization of the vision is proactively motivated. Critical scrutiny of the differences between management and leadership evidences traits of a leader. Therefore, they also shed light on what leaders needs to do on a daily basis. Setting direction One of the fundamental roles of leadership is to set the organizational direction, which is necessary in the endeavour to attain the subtle objective of leadership: to produce change. However, setting of direction should not get confused with planning. According to Kotter (1990), planning entails â€Å"a management process which is deductive in nature and designed to produce orderly results, not change† (p.104). This implies that setting of direction is ideally inductive in its nature. For the leaders to be able to set appropriate direction, they garner an immense data and then attempt to derive patterns and linkages. Most importantly, they use the data gathered to determine relationships. This move is critical in making them able to explain things. In the context of leadership roles in an organization, setting of direction yields strategies coupled with visions, as opposed to plans. For the leaders to have the capacity to achieve commendable organizational direction, hard work, often entailing taking risks, is required because setting of direction is not achieved through magic. Kotter is also inclined to this line of tho ught when he argues that â€Å" people who articulate visions are not magicians but broad based strategic thinkers who are willing to take risks† (1990, p.105). However, it is crucial to note that strategies and visions do not necessary deserve to be brilliantly innovative. Indeed, many of the cute visions are not. Aligning people Upon the setting of the desired direction, the next objective of leadership is to see people moving according to the stipulated vision and strategies. In many organizations, people are normally tied amongst themselves by â€Å"their work, systems of management, technology, and hierarchy systems† (Kotter 1990 p.105). Consequently, in the endeavour of leadership to play its chief function of bringing about change, such linkages expose some challenges. This means that for people to move collectively in accordance to the strategies and visions, a leader aligns them, as opposed to organizing them. In this end, Kotter laments, â€Å"To executives who are overeducated in management, the idea of moving people in the same direction appears to be an organizational problem† (1990, p.105). From this dimension, it becomes crucial to argue that the challenge of aligning people is more of communication problem as opposed to design challenge. For a leader to be able to align people well to the visions and the strategies, he or she needs to talk much more than a manager would, in order to have people organized in accordance to the stipulated organizational plans (Hiebert Klatt 2000, p.98). The people that a leader must establish an ardent communication with include peer staff members, subordinates, bosses, and officials of the government, while not negating the consumers. Other relevant parties that the leader needs to talk to entails all those other organizational stakeholders who have the capacity to hinder or aid in the visions and strategies implementation. By enhancing ardent communication, a leader is able to empower all p eople dependent on his or her vision or strategies to achieve their targets, hence enhancing the performance of an organization coupled with its success. Motivating people In the attempt to induce change, a leader encounters myriads of impediments. Such impediments entangle development of the capacity to inculcate the need to develop an energized code of behaviours among the people who are being led. Motivation serves to make the people develop the requisite energy demanded to make people overcome various obstacles in the path of attempting to realize the visions and strategies of change. Kotter amplifies this argument when he comments, â€Å"Achieving grand visions always requires an occasional burst of energy† (1990, p.107). In comparison to controlling, motivation does not push people to the desired direction. Rather, it does it through satisfaction of essential human needs, creation of a feeling of self-belonging, amplification of self-esteem of people and recognition amo ng other things. Leaders can motivate people in a variety of ways. One of the chief ways of doing this motivation is by articulating people with the organizational vision â€Å"in a manner that stresses the value of the audience they are addressing† (Kotter 1990, p.108). Another way is to aid people to make decisions on how to attain the vision of the organization. This may be done by making provisions of feedback, coaching, and even acting as role models. Where the leader recognizes that people are succeeding in achieving the visions and strategies, he or she does not hesitate to reward the success ardently. This makes the work done by all people in the organization become internally motivating. Leadership culture For an organization to succeed in the competitive environment, it is indispensable for executives to posses both leadership and management attributes. In fact, â€Å"some companies have consistently demonstrated an ability to develop people into outstanding leader -manager† (Kotter 1990, p.107). In the process of development of leadership culture in an organization, the first step is to recruit people who have leadership potential. The next step is to ensure that their leadership career is appropriately monitored. The goal is to ensure that all people charged with leadership duties are able to share numerous career experiences amongst themselves. Developing leadership For people to develop leadership experiences, it is significant that a leader in charge creates an environment that is dominated by challenging decision-making opportunities. Upon determination of the people and the necessary skills that need development, leaders normally spend a significant fraction of their time planning the mechanisms that they are going to utilize in order to ensure that the skills are developed in a manner that would advantage the organization in future (Northouse 2006, p.68; Schein 2004, 112). Sometimes, this development is accomplished through plann ing. This sort of planning is essentially formal or through a development process, that has high potential attributes: informal. However, in any of these ways â€Å"the key ingredient appears to be an intelligent assessment of what is feasible development opportunity fit for each candidate† (Kotter 1990, p.111). This way, young leader becomes prepared to assume leadership roles for both small and medium sized organization. Institutionalization of leadership culture In an attempt to foster institutionalization of leadership culture within an organization, many organizational leadership scholars contend that a means of rewarding leaders who have aided in development of leadership traits among the workforce is vital. However, â€Å"this is not done as part of formal compensation or bonus formula, simply because it is so difficult to measure such achievements with precision† (p.111). Arguably, in case people, in the top realm of organizational leadership, are informed that they could be promoted based on their capacity to develop leadership, even those who belief that leadership is not possible to develop may look for ways in which it can be nurtured. This way, it becomes possible to inculcate a corporate culture that can incredibly aid in building an immensely strong leadership culture, coupled with attempts to create it. This observation is largely consistent with Kotter (1990) argument that, â€Å"institutionalizing a leadership-centred culture is the ultimate act of leadership† (p.111). This means that, what leaders actually need to do is to ensure that leadership culture is developed from the top most to bottom most people, in the organizational hierarchical order. Conclusion Organizational leaders play vital roles in ensuring that organizations succeed in achieving their goals, aims, and objectives. It is crucial for people aspiring to become leader to understand the chief things that leaders do on a daily basis. It is from this perspect ive that the paper found it essential to scrutinize what leaders certainly do. After conducting a summary of the of Kotter’s article, â€Å"What Leaders Really Do† and conducting an intensive introspection of existing literature of the role of leadership in enhancing success of an organization, the paper discussed setting direction, motivation, aligning people, creating an environment where leadership culture can thrive, developing leadership, and institutionalization of leadership culture, as the key things Reference List Brungardt, C 1996, ‘The making of leaders: A review of the research in leadership development and education’, The Journal of Leadership Studies, vol. 3 no.3, pp 81–95. Hiebert, M Klatt, B 2000, The Encyclopedia of Leadership: A Practical Guide to Popular Leadership Theories and Techniques, McGraw Hill, New York. Kotter, J 1990, ‘What leaders really do’, Harvard Business Review, vol.1 no. 1, pp 103-111. Northouse, P 2 006, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks. Rost, J Baker, R 2000, ‘Leadership education in colleges: Toward a 21st century paradigm’, The Journal of Leadership Studies, vol. 7 no.1, pp 3–12. Schein, E 2004, Organizational Culture and Leadership, Jossey Bass, San Francisco. This report on Managing and Developing a Small Business: What do Leaders really do? was written and submitted by user Bennett Carver to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Never Underestimate Chekhovs Gun

Never Underestimate Chekhovs Gun Known as one of the greatest short story writers in history, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Russian physician, playwright and short-story writer once wrote in a letter to a friend, Medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress. Also among his letters is the principle now referred to as Chekhovs gun- a writing concept he brought up multiple times throughout his extensive correspondence.This version of it is noted in Bill Valentines Chekhov: The Silent Voice of Freedom:Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If its not going to be fired, it shouldnt be hanging there.Chekhov: The Silent Voice of FreedomIn a letter to Aleksandr Semenovich Lazarev (pseudonym of A. S. Gruzinsky) written on November 1, 1889, Chekhov wrote, One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isnt going to go off. Its wrong to make promises you dont mean to keep.So, what is Chekovs gun?Chekovs gun is the concept that a writers focus on objects, details or locations should have future significance in the story. This doesnt mean that every single object needs to have significance, however. It just means that if you point it out and encourage your readers mind to dwell on it, there should be a reason for doing so. Now Novel explains it like this:The lesson behind Chekhovs gun is that your story should be cohesive. Each part should contribute to the whole in a way that makes sense. It does not mean that every single plot point of your story must be hugely significant. Some story elements function to create mood or describe the setting. Yet each part of your story should correspond to the whole in at least a tangential way.Nownovel.comFor example, if your character has a limp, there should be a backstory that is significant for character building. Dont simply give him a limp and not explain to your reader why he has it. Another example wou ld be focusing on and describing a characters vivid dreams. Unless something significant will happen in one of those dreams that affects the characters choices further in the plot, or unless youre using it to foreshadow a future event, dont focus your writing on the dreams.Unless your characters vivid dreams play a role in the plot, dont focus on describing them. Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash.Does it mean that every single detail needs to be significant?Chekov wasnt saying that every detail you include needs to be significant to the storyline. There are obviously times when youll describe a location with details that create setting and mood, or write characters who engage in small talk that isnt some great plot twist.Heres an example:Lets say youre writing a scene in which a character smokes a pipe. That pipe could simply be part of your choice in characterization and doesnt necessarily need to hold any special significance beyond that. However, if you focus your writing on t he details of that pipe, or use an entire page or more to describe how your character languidly smokes it, that pipe should be significant to the story. It should hold special significance in your characters past or future.Another example is if two of your characters are leaning in for a passionate kiss and interrupted by a loud alarm that goes off nearby, youve allowed that alarm to affect the plot. In doing so, you need to provide further explanation at some point before the end as to why youve done this. Is the alarm perhaps a metaphor warning the character that the kiss would lead to a toxic relationship? Did something happen down the street that would later affect the characters in some significant way beyond interrupting a romantic moment?Chekovs gun on televisionFans of the hit ABC show Lost, which first aired on September 22, 2004, understand firsthand how important Chekovs gun is, whether on page, stage, or screen. After the final episode, which aired on May 23, 2010, many fans experienced feelings ranging from disappointment to disbelief to outright anger. For six years, they had been taken on a wild, engrossing science fiction journey involving time travel, parallel universes, ancient civilizations, and scientific experiments, only to be left at the end with multiple questions still unanswered. Much of this confusion had to do with the shows writers offering up lots of seemingly significant objects, characters, and events- only to leave those elements unexplained by the end.For example, this reviewer on Den of Geek writes:My main fear was that the writers themselves never knew [what was going on], and had been content to roll along, episode to episode, season to season, chucking out twists hither and thither without any creative masterplan to guide them. I could imagine the scene in the writers room: Hey, this new twistll be cool. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, and I dont know how well write ourselves out of it, but people will be surprise d, and thats the main thing, isnt it? If viewers start to question how ridiculous it is, well just come up with something even more messed up and unbelievable to distract them from the first thing, and then repeat that formula until we get cancelled, or we all just decide to violently murder each other using ball-point pens.Den of GeekThis review is a good example of why readers are frustrated when authors point to seemingly significant things that turn out to be not so important after all. When audiences invest their time, energy, and emotions into a work- whether that be a book, TV series, movie, or play- they dont what to feel like their time is wasted. So, if youre going to have a gun in the first act, make sure its shot by the end of the third act. Otherwise, dont point out the gun at all.A screenshot of Mr. Echo and the smoke monster from Lost, a show often faulted for not following the rules of Chekovs Gun.When Chekovs gun is actually a Red HerringMystery, thriller, and crime novelists use a device known as a Red Herring to throw the reader off track for a greater surprise effect when the big reveal occurs. According to LiteraryDevices.net, a good example of a Red Herring in a popular work is the character of Bishop Aringarosa in Dan Browns novel Da Vinci Code:Bishop Aringarosa serves as an example of a red herring throughout the novel. The character is presented in such a way that the readers suspect him to be the mastermind of the whole conspiracy in the church.Later, it is revealed that he is innocent. This example of a red herring in the novel distracts the readers from who the real bad guy is, and thus adds to the mystery of the story. Interestingly, the Italian surname of the bishop Aringarosa translates in English as red herring.LiteraryDevices.netThe differences between foreshadowing and Chekovs gunLets go back to Chekhovs gun and re-examine what he said about it. Basically, if you mention a gun in chapter one, by the end of the novel, that gun needs to be shot. With this explanation in mind, you might recognize another often-used literary device that has a similar idea- foreshadowing.Foreshadowing, on the other hand, is a literary device that involves using words, phrases, objects, or characters to hint to the reader about what will happen later in the story. However, the important thing to note about foreshadowing is it is only a small hint- barely perceptible so as not to give away too much of the storyline. Chekovs gun is drawing attention to something in a more obvious way. So, the difference lies in the degree to which you emphasize the object, person, or ability.Essentially, think of Chekovs gun as a promise between you (the writer) and your readers that this thing youre mentioning will have significance at some point in the story. Its a pledge.Foreshadowing is a hint, and perhaps one that is so subtle that your reader wont notice it until the final reveal happens and all the plot twists have taken place.Tips for wr iters to apply Chekovs gun to your own writingIf youve been adequately convinced that Chekovs gun makes sense, here are a few tips to apply this same principle to your own writing.Create a scene list, containing each scenes plot points, character goals, action to advance the plot, and action to increase the tension. This article on 8 ways to create a scene list is a great resource that details the exact steps to take to make a scene list happen. Having a scene list will help you determine if there are unnecessary elements that were included in one chapter and dont return in future chapters as significant plot points.Read through your draft of each chapter and make sure that any focus youve given to objects, characters, or traits is fleshed out in future chapters.Above all, keep the unspoken promise to your reader that in exchange for their time and emotions, you wont lead them down a dead-end path in any part of your storytelling.

State Names and Abbreviations

State Names and Abbreviations State Names and Abbreviations State Names and Abbreviations By Mark Nichol How should you treat references to states? The form depends on which style guide you adhere to and why the state is being referenced. Details about how to refer to states follow. The Chicago Manual of Style and The Associated Press Stylebook agree on one thing: When referring to a state on its own, spell the state name out (â€Å"California became a state in 1850†). However, when referring to a city and the state in which it is located, although Chicago recommends retaining the spelled-out version of the state name (â€Å"San Diego, California†), AP style calls for abbreviating the state name (â€Å"San Diego, Calif.†) if it consists of more than six letters. (Chicago also has abbreviations if you insist, but they don’t always match AP’s style.) The AP style abbreviations arbitrarily range in length from two to six letters, and all two-word names are abbreviated with the initials, such as N.Y. for â€Å"New York† with the exception of West Virginia’s abbreviation, which for some reason is rendered W.Va. (Note that AP style omits state names for a specified list of cities considered familiar enough that the state in which they are located need not be mentioned.) In headlines, the periods are omitted. However, when giving an address, or in tables or other uses in which space is limited, use the US Postal Service’s symbol system, which consists of a two-letter abbreviation in which both letters are always capitalized and no periods are used (for example, NY for â€Å"New York†). Other style handbooks have their own guidelines, so, if you are writing or editing for a particularly company as a staff member or a freelancer, determine which resource is considered the authority on state abbreviation. Note, too, that abbreviation of country names is rare and not recommended. US and UK are frequently used as nouns in informal contexts, but the names should be spelled out except as adjectives â€Å"the US response,† for example, or â€Å"the UK’s role† and Chicago recommends omitting periods in these cases, as is advised for all capitalized abbreviations. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Creative Writing 101English Grammar 101: Verb Mood30 Words for Small Amounts

Images of an "Oriental Other" Assignment

Images of an "Oriental Other" - Assignment Example But tools have changed, and nowadays Western foreign policy is expressed through mass culture and Orientalism is widely presented in mass media production (Nicha 2012). The image of â€Å"Oriental Others† discussed in this essay is the image of Persian Prince, which was presented in 2010 in American movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The part of the Prince is played by a famous American actor Jake Gyllenhaal and therefore, Persian Prince looks more like a White, Western man, a â€Å"hot†, protagonist and American superhero, as Jehanzeb Dar puts it (Dar 2010). The orientalism of the discussed image is illustrated well through a screen shot from the movie. On this picture Prince fights and defeats an antagonistic personage, a one of the hirelings Assassins, who were hired by â€Å"evil side† to kill Prince. It’s typical in modern American mass culture that the Orient got associated with mysticism, barbarism, despotism, imagination and violence, â€Å"in other words, the opposite to the world of Western Europe†, as West imagines itself (Nicha 2012). Despite that Jake Gyllenhaal visually looks more like American man than like Persian one, the whole plot of the movie and characters are presented in stereotypical way. First of all, there’s a lot of violence in a movie, a lot of fights, and on this particularly picture where Prince fights Assassin, both of them are cold steel armed with weapons traditionally associated with bloodshed. Edward Said says, it’s typical when Oriental Others are shown as people who like violence and understands only force, so â€Å"civilized people† have no other choice but to deal with them using a military force. However, the true reason such image is justification of U.S. military intervention on Middle East, and behind the p owerful myths about how Arabs’ are originally threatening for Americans, true geopolitical

Labor law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8750 words

Labor law - Essay Example However, the comparing will be in specific aspects, labor law background in both countries, minimum wage, woman working, and child working. Chapter I Background: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Unite Sate of America, which are the subject of comparison in this research, had, in various aspects of life such as politics, economy and law. Of course, there is different background in labor law in both countries.In this chapter we will refer to the historical stages of labor law in every state. (2) United States labor lawbackground: Employer took their labor trouble to court almost as soon as American became independent. Each state has its own court, and they often have disagreed with one another about labor cases.(3) Because the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the freedom of association, the court did not outlaw unions as such. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, a common union tactic was for union members to agree among themselves how much in wage they would accept from their employers; the members also refused to work in the same shop as any other worker who accepted less than union scale. However, the courts held that this tactic was a criminal conspiracy,(4) (will be case as example under minimum wage section below). By the end of the nineteenth century, prosecutions for criminal conspiracy had become ineffective in controlling labor unions. There were two reasons for this change. First, a criminal case was too slow. The work could not be punished until after an indictment was issued and the case had gone to trial. This process took several months, during which the strike or boycott was damaging the employer’s business. Second, jurieswrer increasingly made up of workers, not merely shopkeepers and landowners; andworkers were hesitant to find coworkers guilty of the crime peacefully trying to improve their wage and working condition. Employers, therefore, took their complaints to civil court, and here they found the perfect we apon for fighting unions: the injunction. In the past, the law permitted judges to issue injunctions against unions freely.(5) In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act in order to control monopolies in business, but the wording of the law was so general that it could applied to labor unions as well. The statute outlawed â€Å" every . . . combination . . . or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce among the several states,† Al thought this act was not used against strikes over wages ad hours, it was used to control union organizing. (6) In the infamous DanburyHatters case, the union sought to organize all the fur hat makers of America by boycotting the products of nonunion manufactures. One manufactures sued, arguing that the boycott did diminish trade among the states and awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars of damages payable by the individual workers.(7) Twenty-five years later, in 1914, Congress passed the Clayton Act which stated, â€Å" the labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce† and â€Å" no . . . injunction shall be granted in any case between an employer and employees . . . growing out of a dispute concerning terms or conditions of employment,† Union leaders regarded the Clayton act as a great victory for organized labor. But court turned the victory into defeat by holding congress did not mean to permit boycotts in support of organizing campaigns.

Franklin D. Roosevelts Declaration of War Speech -- Speaking Communic

Franklin D. Roosevelt's Declaration of War Speech President Franklin D. Roosevelt was one of the most powerful and remembered presidents in United States history. When he spoke his words authorized a sort of empowerment and relief to his audience. On December 8, 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a Declaration of War speech that would be remembered for years to come. Aside from the subject, this speech has been remembered because the arguments are well supported. Also, Roosevelt’s excellent word choice coincided with his serious tone while rhetorically appealing to the logos. On December 7, 1941 the Japanese Empire attacked the island of Oahu. The next day president Roosevelt addressed the Vice president, Congress and the nation over the radio. He alerted the nation on the problems the United States were faced with and the actions the country would take in its defense. The purpose of the broadcast was to let his audience know that the premeditated, surprise attack on Pearl Harbor would not be stood for. Roosevelt very clearly stated that the U...

Episode in my life Essay

Some may ponder on how merely playing hockey changed my perspective in life and on people. Even I never expected pursuing my interest would result in such a dramatic affect in my life. It all started of when I was in my last year on the school hockey team.  Due to my seniority and experience in the game, my coach began to assign me the duty of instructing my juniors to become goalkeepers like me. One of the juniors I trained was Ili Anis Athirah who was also one of the best of my so called ‘apprentices’. We became team mates for the under 18 team in my final year on the squad. Unexpectedly, our coach chose Ili as the first eleven players and put me on bench. When I asked coach why he made such a decision, he said both of us were equally talented but Ili had two advantages compared to me; her eyesight was better and she was bigger in size than me. All my eagerness and determination to play for my last tournament shattered into pieces and turned into sheer disappointment. I was never given a chance to play during that last tournament. The team even broke into two groups. One group was on my side while the other was on Ili’s. I did not bother to gain empathy from my team mates but they were understanding and thought that coach was being unfair to me. He was treating me like an old rag that can be tossed away after being used for so long. Then, during the quarter finals against one of the strong teams of the league, I had an opening of regaining myself to my team mates and of course my coach. During that particular game, Ili performed badly and gave way to three goals for the opponent. All of a sudden, coach called Ili out and replaced her with me! Even when I was running to the goal post in those heavy goalkeepers’ equipment, I thought; THIS is the moment of truth! I wanted to prove the coach’s judgments wrong. Even though I was short sighted and smaller compared to Ili, I can still play the game effortlessly. I was not nervous because of the game but I was excited to finally get the chance to reclaim my position in the team. Strength and luck was on my side that day. Not a single goal passed through me. Even though we lost the game, I walked to the bench with the abundant feeling of satisfaction that was beyond explainable. Although I did not expect my coach to apologize for abandoning me through out that last tournament, I still felt pleased to just look at his face after the game; he had the expression mixed between amazement, disbelief and at the same time guiltiness. I know it will take him ages to realize that not giving me a chance to play during my final year truly broke my heart into pieces. From this experience, I did not only get the chance to prove my coach wrong, but I also began to appreciate my friends who were always on my side during the days of my hardships. They were the ones who faithfully listened to my feelings of disappointments and gave me strength through their words of advice. If it was not for them, I would not have the courage and vigor to confront such frustration and humiliation of being the reserved player after four consecutive years of being the first player. It also occurred to me that not everything in life is permanent. The fame and reputation I gained when I was on the team could be easily taken away by just one decision the coach made; From becoming one of the best players, I became the bench resident. I became a more humble and modest person in personality due to this experience. Fame and reputation changed from becoming one of my top priorities to the least that I could care of. I realized that there is much more in life such as the faithful friends I gained though this episode in my life. Forgiveness and patience also arose to my senses from this incident. I realized that no matter what a person does to you, we should learn to forgive them with all our hearts. I began to forgive my coach although he made a choice that swelled my heart with frustration and mortification. I learned that from forgiving and being patient, one can enjoy life better as enemies and foes will not surround their life. Above all, I learned that one should make full use of the opportunities given in life. Not everyone is lucky like me to get the chance to prove other people’s perception wrong. One should grab the chances given to them and put all his strength and efforts in making full usage of it. I began appreciating chances given to me; at the same time I became a more hardworking and passionate person in the things that I do. In essence, I would not change this experience for the world because of its positive impacts in my life and personality. I have learned how to appreciate my friends better and I also realized that fame and reputation are not the most important things in life. I have indeed become a more patient and forgivable person as well. Besides that, I began to make full use of the good chances given to me in life. No doubt, the moment of truth will stay in my heart FOREVER!