Gucci. Hermes. Dolce & Gabbana. Louis Vutton. Versace. Then YOU! Your Name!
Yes, you could be a Designer Brand if you want to, I told 27 student leaders at Tanglin Secondary School yesterday during a 3-hour workshop that was part of their 2-day leadership camp.
All you need to do is to live your life by design, not by default. Know where have you been, know where you are today, know where you want to go, then go where you want to go. That makes for a Designer Life.
During the 3-hour session, I got the Student Council members to work through 3 exercises.
Exercise One, think and write one-liners for 3 questions: 1) My proudest achievement todate. 2) My biggest contribution as a student leader. 3) My purpose in life.
Exercise Two, answer two questions: 1) Who is or are your role models? 2) Who or what would you like to be if you could be whoever/whatever you wanted.
Exercise Three, what do you think is the ultimate life-skill, the skill of skills, that will set you up for life. (Write it down, then let's put all your ideas on the whiteboard, and vote on them in two stages.)
So, it was not a "I talk, you listen" session. That made sure that they won't sleep on me in class ;)
The responses were interesting, naturally.
Consider these responses to One: Overcoming the "high elements" (rock climbing) after having failed the first time. Being able to understand what my grandma is saying especially because she slurs badly. Being able to pass my maths finally, after having failed it before. Scoring full marks for this or that subject ...
How about these responses to Two? My biggest contribution as a student leader is raising the flag in front of the school assembly every morning (even though I feel nervous about standing in front of everyone). I like this one - playing the national anthem during assembly. On questioning, we found that all that was involved was pressing the play button!
This contribution reminds me of the story of the New York taxi driver in the book, You Inc, who does his work with so much pride and class and style, unlike the "typical New York taxi driver", that he becomes rich on the generous tips his customers give to him. He is also a happy man on the job.
Some said their biggest contribution as a student leader was to help clean up the Student Council room. Earlier, I had seen a number of them carting old sofas, chairs and even tables to a dumpsite behind the carpark.
I invited the students to think broader, deeper. What do you think about your biggest contribution as a student leader being none other than being "Me" or "The Best of Me". Imagine, my biggest contribution as student leader is Me and what I am, what I stand for, how I live and how I'd like to live out my future today.
Being a "better you" in whatever you do would already be a big contribution, and the beautiful thing is everybody is different. That way, everybody gets to make a unique contribution to whatever they are doing :)
My favourite response to Three, What is your purpose in life, is: "Make people happy in all that I do and put a smile on their faces."
Among the few that needed help were vague responses like this: To achieve my ideal dream. To achieve my goals.
The ideal dream and the goals were unspoken, also unwritten on checking. Hey, boys and girls, if you don't dare speak them out, you won't ever get them. When you do speak them out, be sure to make it specific, make it real, make it heart-felt. Make it sound like something you really like. Then, you are more likely to achieve your dreams or goals.
I was glad to have had this fun opportunity with the student councillors of Tanglin Seconday School
This has been a Service to New Generation project of the Rotary Club of Pandan Valley project. The group of 27 included a number of Interactors i.e. members of the Interact Club of Tanglin Sec. The teacher advisor, who sat through the session with a view to implementing this as a regular feature in the future, is Mr Tan Puay Eng.
