A521.8.4.RB_StevensEric

I would characterize myself as being a relatively outgoing person. I have not always been outgoing and able to make conversation with a stranger with ease. I remember when I was growing up I was a very shy kid who did not want to look at anybody in the eye and when I answered questions it was very short answers. I believe that cultures often dictate from the beginning who comfortable you are with strangers and the unknown aspects of conversation. I can attribute this initial behavior to my upbringing in the South. My parents always taught me to respect adults and elders and to use manners such as the terms “yes sir, yes ma’am, and so on”. This was done out of respect of the age of status as adults. This initial lesson in making conversation with strangers can be looked at as a weakness for some but I tend to disagree and these learned traits have given me a sense of learning how to talk to strangers and this is how.

                In the lesson learned in this chapter the message delivery method has opened up new approaches with conversation and the meeting of strangers. I can say now that I am extremely comfortable with talking to strangers. I utilize these skills everyday with my professional career. I have to gain the comfort level of the victim of a violent and personal crime. The stranger will often open up and reveal personal details and sometimes intimate details based upon the crime. I have used the active listening skills to my advantage and built upon the trust of the stranger. This is a very important skill to have and I have at every chance used these skills I have learned to my advantage.

                On a personal level I have transferred these skills and have been comfortable working the room. I do have to admit I have used these skills to talk to the opposite sex and with a majority of positive results. I have found out that I seem to be more comfortable talking to the opposite sex than I do my own. I seem to be able to be a compassionate active listener and have learned to read the body language of the strangers and gaged my next response off of these gestures to change my approach to conversation.  These skills have proved invaluable in past experiences and hopefully I can continue with these successes.  

A521.7.4.RB_StevensEric

The first concept of a knowledge sharing story that I can relate to a learning experience is one of personal encounter and a life choice. In the summer of 1991 I was 16 years old and I had my father and older brother activated for Operation Desert Storm with the United States Army. My mother was at time alone as a single parent in essence because my father wasn’t around and she was raising a 16 year old who knew everything. No matter how hard my mother attempted to convince that 16 year old that his choices in life were not very good ones that 16 year old knew it all.

Oh did I mention that the 16 year olds father was also a Deputy Sheriff and was well respected in the community. One night that 16 year old again made a decision that he had made many times in the past thinking he could get away with about anything and decided it was going to be a great idea to take his mother’s car from the house without a driver’s license and permission and go for a joy ride.

The 16 year old went and picked his friends up and his own girlfriend and before he knew it he was living large and high on life. The trio was riding around in the middle of the night and having a great time. About 3:30am in the morning the 16 year old know it all realized it was getting close to time to go home since he knew his mother would be getting up at 5:30am to go to work. He had to get the car home in time to let it cool down so he could once again outsmart the parent.

He realized that he needed gas and decided to pull into the gas station before going home and right in the sights of a waiting Deputy Sheriff who was parked in the parking lot. In a shear moment of panic the 16 year old quickly pulled back out of the Parking lot. This quickly caught the deputy’s attention and the next thing he knew he was stopped. Now that 16 year old was faced with the crimes of grand theft auto, and no driver’s license. All that he thought and the familiar words of his mother came haunting him. He could hear the words “You need to straighten up and do the right thing before you go to jail”.  That moment in time was a defining moment and changed the life of that 16 year old.

I learned a valuable lesson that night and discovered that the experience of my elders will always outweigh the intelligence of a teenager who thinks they know everything about life. I have since shared my experiences with my own children as a reminder that even if they think they are right they need to slow down and think about the decisions they are making.

               

A521.6.3.RB_StevensEric

The elements of a high performance team can be expressed in different ways. The team can have a driving force to get the job done right. The team can be focused not only on succeeding in accomplishing the minimum standards but exceeding these standards. I see this every day when I go to work with my squad mates. We tackle issues together and problem solves these issues together and if we fail then we all fail. If one of us on the team makes a bad decision it can reflect on the work performance of the whole squad.  The team can have a shared goal in this mission. The squads ultimate goal is shared and we understand the importance of coming out with the same goal. The team is on the same page and realizes that if the job is not done right it looks bad on everybody.   

                The four patterns of working together are work groups which can encompass the entire organization. In my organization I would consider the high performance team as my squad who work together day in and day out. The work group can be absorbing ideas from other squads or zones throughout my organization. We may work as a work group but not quite at the level of a high performance team.

                The team can be viewed as individuals trying to achieve a common goal. This goal can be different for each person but the end result and the commonality of success may be shared by all that is involved. This will also require the community working with the teams to achieve this goal. In my occupation this can be the reliance of citizens helping by being the eyes and ears of our organization. This can be achieved by networking and putting the word out there in the form of crime watches.

                Putting the four patterns together I have had successes and failures during my process. I had an experience when I was a detective of utilizing all four of the patterns where I had patrol assist me in locating evidence and securing the evidence. This ensured that the case when presented at trial would not be compromised. I also asked the public to assist me in identifying potential witness to the subject’s whereabouts during a certain time frame. I used social media and networking assets to assist me in gaining more information. The outcome was great and a successful arrest and conviction was obtained.

                In the negative result of this team’s assignment I was working a case with a fellow detective. During my assist on this case I was always running into a situation where I had to almost plead with the other detective for more information to assist me in my role of the investigation. The other detective continually stated that he couldn’t give me any further information because it would compromise his investigation. Now I can say that we were working on the same case and I concluded by his actions that he was afraid he was not going to get any credit for the case.

                I could have pushed harder on the detective to remind him that we wanted the same result of any case. The end result is arrest and successful prosecution and the clearance of the case. By pushing this issue I think this could of resulted in a smoother operation and quicker resolution.

A521.5.8.RB_StevensEric

                When you look at the different type of values that a company has you are often confused on the intent of the organization and what is their purpose. Does the company want customer satisfaction? The company looks like it is all about the customer but what is it like on inside. We have all had jobs where you at one time may have been a customer and thought to yourself that the employees of this company are so lucky to be affiliated with this type of organization. From the outside looking in it seems like a dream job.

                The thought of the company treating its employees with discontent and disrespect can be appalling and unthinkable. I have recently been exposed to a company which I will omit their name out of respect for the customers of the inner workings of the company. The job is in the restaurant industry and I have been a customer many times in the past and always thought the cohesion of the employees were just like any other successful company.  I found out the employees are not the cohesive unit that thought that they were.  The employees engaged in an inner rivalry and arguments with each other over potential customers and the back biting and the near fist fights over tables was revealing. These employees appeared to not care about the company’s values but of their own.  The management of the store appeared to act more of a mediator or referee than a manager or leader. It then dawned on me that this company’s values were more of the robber barons. This company only cared about the profit that the store made each night. The management did not really care about the employees themselves.

                I was then exposed to a company where it appeared that the employees were a team. The team focused on its employees and the happiness of the employees and the morale. The manager was constantly mindful of the morale of their employees. The employees of the store appeared to be mindful as satisfying the customers and the manager. The manager praised his employees every chance he could get. The environments between these two restaurants were different even though they performed the same functions. This is my observation had the makings in the value of a Pragmatists.

                The differences between these values were very evident in my observations of the two businesses. It was a great model for these two styles.