Purdue Students BLOG about Kirk

Each year Professor Feinberg, of Purdue University, invites Kirk Weisler in to speak to his nearly 300 students for 5 HOURS about leadership.  The majority of the students approach this evening with dread, thinking “a FIVE HOUR lecture…UGGGH!”…but they leave this 5 hours inspired, changed, and excited for their future journey as leaders. 

Read what these students said in their leadership blogs about Kirk’s lecture on leadership!  

If Kirk could do this for students, many of whom came in tired, burned out, cynical about the evening & life and opening thinking it was going to stink…. and the left re-freshed, re-focused, and re-committed to a personal vision of becoming the best leader they could be.  Then what can Kirk do for your organization, team, or department?

Saturday, February 14, 2009  Kirk Weisler

I heard only good things about the workshop from previous students so the 5 hours didn’t seem like it would be torture. Turns out the night was not only interesting but inspiring and fun! The emphasis on how things and people in your life can and are a huge part of a person’s motivation and their choices was a breath of fresh air compared to the other professors I have that emphasize how their class will be used in all walks of life after we graduate. Although I do not doubt I will use many things I learn in college for the rest of my life it is definitely not to the extent of csr 309, which not only tells you what we should and should not pay attention to during class but for the rest of our lives. I really enjoyed the activity and I showed my roommates and friends after we got back that night and it was quite amusing trying to tell them how this exercise was to show how flexible we are when we get stuck in a problem. They all understood the message but could not seem to implement it which was intriguing. (With a little help they all got it). I emailed a thank you letter to Kirk because I was/am in the same situation about reading except I’ve taken the first step of purchasing the books but never seem to find the time or make excuses to avoid reading them. Kirk emailed back with a couple more selections on top of the 20 he gave that night that were more short reads and would be a good start. I was lucky enough to have had a ride after the workshop was over since it was pouring out and the funny thing was my friend was debating to start reading their book for class now or wait yet another day. Of course, my gung ho reaction was to “DO IT TONIGHT! If you keep putting it off you never know when you’re going to get it done. We just had a night on taking the initiative and how that will set us apart from others and help get an upper hand on things….etc……” As this went on their face turned to the “where is all this personal power coming from” face and decided I was right. It felt good to spread a part of what I had just gotten out of the workshop in a few minutes.

Posted by Tina Kuo at 2:22 PM

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Leadership Workshop

I really enjoyed listening to Kirk Weisler Monday night. I learned a lot from him in that short amount of time. A lot of the things he talked about was “common sense” but yet a lot of us do not take the opportunities he was talking about.

The thing that stuck with me the most from what he said was “readers are leaders - leaders are readers.” I am not a big reader at all but Kirk got me excited about wanting to read several of the books he talked out. They seemed to have topics in them that I could apply to real life. I would have probably never heard about most of those books if he had not come to talk to us. I wanted The Dog Poop Initiative book to read at our next staff meeting and was so excited when we each received a copy. We have not really had any major issues on this topic, but I still think it would be a good idea to read it just as a different way of doing the meetings. I want to be like Kirk and inspire my employees to want to keep learning, not only about fitness but being leaders too. They are all leaders in their own areas and like Kirk said leaders need to keep learning.

Kirk was a great example of a leader. He inspired me (the non-reader) to want to go actually buy some of the books he was talking about. He was able to capture our attention and keep us engaged for a long time. Kirk also gave us several lessons that we will be able to take with us on our leadership journey. He wanted to give us examples of how he applied these lessons in real life, which was easier for us to pick up the concept of.

Hopefully the leaders in our class were at the workshop and listening to what Kirk had to say. This way they can be contagious and inspire us!

Posted by Sara Mathavich at 11:32 AM

What if I told you that you had to attend a four and a half hour lecture after a full day’s worth of work? Would you be annoyed? Enthusiastic? Would you be optimistic about the presenter’s experience and the lessons he or she was capable of teaching? Or, perhaps, would you think it was impossible to truly learn about leadership by sitting in a chair for that long without interacting with others or even saying a word the entire time?

After Monday’s class, I know exactly what I would do. I would be optimistic and attend the lecture with an open mind. There is always something to learn when listening to others, especially when the topic is leadership. Kirk Weisler is a man who has a great deal to say. As a guest in our Monday class, he spoke of his life experiences and shared both success and failure stories. Kirk was extremely motivational and inspiring, and it is evident that a person who can hold the attention of around 300 college students for nearly five hours has figured out how to be a successful leader.

Kirk’s book is one of the best I have read on the subject of leadership, and clearly the shortest and simplest. Maybe that’s precisely what leadership is in today’s society…making even the most difficult subjects seem simple. When people feel empowered to do things they normally do not think they are capable of accomplishing, they are more willing to put forth their best effort in an attempt. Kirk undoubtedly made all of us feel that we were capable of being the best leaders of the future-simply by taking initiative and holding ourselves accountable instead of pointing fingers at others or at the problem.

Posted by jwampler at 2:46 PM

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Kirk Weisler

Many of us went into Monday night dreading having to go to class for 5 hours, but I think most would agree that those 5 hours were well spent with Kirk Weisler. There were many things that Kirk talked about in regards to leadership, but there were a couple things that really stuck out in my mind when he was talking about them. “Inspire not require.” It is easier to inspire someone to want to do something than to require them to do something. As a leader you want to really got your team excited and motivated about a certain topic, otherwise if they aren’t enthusiastic about it it could probably turn out horrible and they won’t be interested in it so they will put little effort into that job. Inspire them to learn don’t require it! Another important thing was that leadership doesn’t just happen, it is a day to day process. You can want to be a leader, but you must work at becoming that leader and take the steps you need to to get where you want to be. It won’t just happen…at least not for most of us.

Kirk also said that one of the most important things as a leader is to grow yourself. Don’t just settle to be an average leader, because in most cases you won’t succeed. Make yourself better by challenging yourself in different ways, be able to talk about something interesting…be able to tell your life story.

Posted by Morgan at 9:39 AM

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Kirk Weisler Presentation

If I could sum up Kirk’s presentation on Monday in two words, they would be “awesome” and “insightful”. I don’t know that there is a better presenter that we could have chosen to speak in front of us for four and half hours. All of his examples were something we could relate to with people in everyday life whether it was family, friends or co-workers. He was such an example of a leader, and he had no problem going and speaking in front of a group of hundreds of skeptical students on a Monday night. I thought it was bold of him to show pictures and talk about the love he had for his family right away. People were able to see right away that they were going to be a major topic of his presentation. I’ll be honest when I say that the girls sitting right next to me said, “Wow, what a perfect family.”

When I went back to my apartment, I didn’t realize how much I actually got out of the presentation until my roommate asked about it. I could not stop telling the funny stories that he told us, especially the “Dog Poop Initiative” book. Another thing that didn’t ever leave my mind was how much he talked about leaving a note or a card for a co-worker changes their day, and sometimes even their life. I recently had a co-worker switch from the branch that I work at to another branch in our company. I wasn’t able to be at his last day carry-in that we had so I wrote him a card to Congratulate and let him know that I would miss him. On Tuesday, the day after Kirk’s presentation, I recieved a card back from him that I am going to keep in my work drawer for a very long time. Everytime I see the envelope it makes me very happy because it was such a touching letter back to me. I never realized how much I actually meant to him, and when he expressed that to me in the letter it made me feel really special. Things like this could actually change a person’s day. From now on, for any reason possible, I will be writing motivational notes, cards, etc to anyone possible. Needless to say, he left a lasting impression and a great example of leadership on all of us that night. Whether we realize it today, tomorrow or another day, I believe we all walked away learning at least one important thing that night.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Kirk Weisler

Monday we spent 4 and a half hours listening to a man, Kirk Weisler, talk about leadership. I was not looking forward to it. Surprisingly, I enjoyed most of the evening. He had some powerful insights. One that I found that applied to me was to let my light shine. I complain a lot and constantly second guess myself and put myself down because I feel like that’s what people want. People don’t want you to think you’re great or special. They want to hear how bad you have it so they can feel better. I’m going to try to stop that. Another thing that I liked is that he said that it is small adjustments. I can do slight adjustments. I’ve always been taught go big or go home, so I thought if I couldn’t do it all, I wouldn’t do it at all. I learned a lot from Kirk and I had fun. Who knew?!

Posted by E.B. at 3:53 PM 0 comments

2/9/09 - Kirk Weisler’s Leadership Workshop

One word: AMAZING. I could seriously write pages on the things I learned during Monday’s leadership workshop. Kirk Weisler spoke that night and taught us many things about how to be a great leader including love, culture, and passion. We must always be looking for opportunities to take something from good to great. This can be done by doing just a little something extra.

Kirk talked about the 5 love languages during the workshop. I had heard of those before and actually have tried to figure out mine. The languages are words of affirmation, gifts, time, physical touch, and acts of service. As a leader, you should strive to show the people you work with the love they need. One thing he said to do was write thank-you notes because those notes are incredibly impactful. I have a note from a friend from the beginning of this school year that I plan to keep because it means so much. Showing love is so important to being a good leader.

You should strive to have a positive work culture and not a negative one. If you’re in a negative culture, change it and don’t let it change you. Kirk mentioned that it’s a day-to-day process to keep the culture positive, but that’s your job as a leader. This ties in with love. A leader commits to a culture of trust, vulnerability, and connections. That, summed up, is love! The culture needs it to be prosperous.

Passion is contagious. A leader with passion is someone everyone will follow. Kirk said, “Seek to be a leader to inspire, not require, to seek the results you desire.” You inspire when you demonstrate a passion for life and the organization. It is so true that you cannot motivate someone. They can only motivate themselves. You can, however, teach them. I see this in a club I am in right now. I cannot motivate my members to come to the meetings, they have to want to. I can show them the benefits of coming and make it worth their while when they come by offering important information there.

This leadership workshop was full of amazing advice and information. Kirk stressed that you must be continually growing. We’re never done growing our minds, so why pretend like they’re done growing? I will, for sure, take what Kirk said about love, culture, and passion and start to apply them to different clubs I am in and the experiences I will have.

Posted by Rachel Dougherty

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Class: Mon. Feb. 9

Kirk Weisler Presentation

This presentation was inspiring. Kirk began the presentation by talking about some of his life experiences. He spoke about leadership in the workplace, and in life. He gave an extraordinary presentation, and we were all lucky to have been there to hear it.

Toward the beginning part of the presentation, Kirk explained that a Gallup Management Journal survey was conducted 17% of American workers are actively disengaged. This means that they are at their job, doing it, but not completely disengaged from what is going on. Not only are they disconnected from their work, but they are going it on purpose. They mean to be disconnected. He continued to explain that 54% were not engaged. Over half of all workers are not connected to their job. They’re completely zoning out. Finally, he explained that only 29% of Americans are engaged in their work. These numbers were shocking. It is hard to imagine that people are so disconnected from their work.

He continued to explain that it is more important to discover your strengths than to work on your weaknesses. He asked, “What are your 5 major themes?” He went on to say that most high performers do not spend much time on their weaknesses, but instead they exploit their strengths. What a concept! Instead of thinking to yourself, “How can I better my weaknesses?” One should spend time concentrating on what they do best, and completely take advantage of these things.

The cork game was an interesting display of the need of balance. It is important to make adjustments in one’s leadership style in order to have balance. There is synergy when everything is compliant and balanced with each other.

I enjoy reading, and I always love getting book recommendations. The book that he recommended that I found most interesting is “QBQ,” the “Questions behind the Questions.” I think this is an interesting concept for a book, and something that I will look into. The book describes the six most important decisions that one will ever make. This is an intriguing concept that I will look into further.

Kirk described that there are 5 ways to say “I love you,” and that a leader will use any of these 5 ways to show his team that he appreciates them. These 5 ways include: words of affirmation, gifts, time, physical touch, and acts of service. I knew that couples in relationships have different ways of telling each they’re in love, but I didn’t think that a leader would use one or more of these ways. It really makes you think about the way your superiors show it…

“The single greatest thing to inspire growth and development, is to grow myself.”

“Be contagious.”

“The quickest way to connect to a leader is to speak their language. Read what your leader is reading.”

“We can make excuses or we can make a difference.”

These were just some of the many powerful quotes that I picked up on. Kirk was inspiring to be a leader. He described it from all different angles. From superiors, from the followers, those looking out, those looking in. He had some powerful things to say, and I hope that I use some of his techniques in the future. What I thought was most interesting, was how Kirk got his start. He spoke about the average to below average grades that he got in high school and in the start of college. He started to figure out methods to improve. He started sitting in the “Magic T,” section of the classroom. He started becoming friends with the bookworms, etc. It is inspiring to know that great leaders can come out of nowhere, just like Kirk. Now, he is getting paid thousands per presentation, and he is doing simply what he knows how to do, what comes naturally. This presentation was something that seemed to stick in my mind, and I hope to utilize the methods that he spoke of to eventually be a powerful, inspiring leader.

Posted by Anna

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Kirk Weisler

The leadership seminar gave a lot of information during the 5 hours. Before going into the class, I thought it would be hard to be there for that long period of time, but the time went by fast, and he was very informative in several ways. Hearing Kirk talk about his failures in life made his story that much more fascinating. I also thoroughly hearing him talk about his family, because you could tell he was raising his children to be the same type of leader that he has become. I have written down all the books and am planning on trying to read as many as possible once school is over. I took notes and have typed them out and stored them in a place where I can reference them often. I hope that this can help me improve my leadership skills.

Posted by Kayle Koenig

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Today was the leadership workshop with Kirk Weisler. He is a great speaker, and my conclusion by the end of the workshop was that he is a great leader as well. So what makes him such a great leader? I found several things that really stood out. First of all, he is really passionate about what he does. You can really tell that he cares for others and is willing to do just about anything to help. Some of the stories he told demonstrated just how far he is willing to go in order to put a smile on someone’s face, even if it’s a complete stranger. Another quality I noticed about Kirk is that he takes pride in his accomplishments, his career, and his family. He has a great attittude about life and it really showed when he was speaking.

The main topic that I picked up at the workshop was ways that I can improve my leadership skills. It’s important to your followers that you care about them on a personal level. Kirk described the five love languages that we can use to show others that we care. It also means a lot to your followers that you take the time to get to know them and then follow up on that information. This really shows that you care. My favorite lesson that I took from the workshop was that you have to inspire rather than motivate. Motivation is a dependent on the individual. You cannot motivate another person; rather you must lead by example, and therefore inspire them.

Posted by Emily

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Our leadership workshop with Kirk was extremely motivating. I plan on reading a book every month because of him and trying to stay in contact with him. I loved his stories and enjoyed the workshop. Talking to him during the breaks made it a lot more personal for me, which really made it a fun experience. I will strive to be like Kirk in the future. He talks like my father, with the same kind of personal motivation. The same kind that I try to have in my life every day.

Posted by hcarpy23

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Kirk Weisler’s Blow Out Speech

Before i went to the 4hours and half long workshop/seminar, i thought it was going to be so darn boring. It did not turn out this way, i enjoyed every single minute of his speech, he was also very humorous which was good because it did not bore everyone to death.

Kirk talked about just how to be great in life period.
I have learned what most leaders do and how they achieve their goals in life by spending more time exploring their strengths instead of trying to fix their weaknesses. In team work, it is day to day process that makes good team work and it can not come perfect in a short amount of time. I have also acknowledged how to love another without saying “I love you.” He talked about 5 ways of doing this. Words of affirmation, gifts, time, physical touch, and acts of service. It was interesting to me when he did a demonstration in class with another fellow student. I thought to myself, wow this does really have the love affect for one another. He has named so many books in class that is a MUST READ, some books were “Question Behind Question,” “First, Break all the Rules,” and last but definitely not least “Now, Discover your Strengths.” I believe that out of these ten books he recommended, i will purchase at least two or tree to learn more about leadership and to strengthen myself.
He said this in one of his last presentation slides “Stop trying to be perfect and start being remarkable.” This started bouncing around my head and it really did hit me. I’m always trying to be perfect impressing others around me but really, what’s that worth? being remarkable to other will always stay in their hearts, they will remember for quite along time.

Posted by Chuck

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Kirk Weisler

“The key to a happy life is an eagerness to learn and a willingness to change.”   -Rebecca Weisler

The leadership seminar my CSR 309 class attended was led by Kirk Weisler. Kirk ended his seminar with this quote which his wife, Rebecca, chooses to live her life by. 

Kirk demonstrated how he believes in his wife’s quote. The first part, “an eagerness to learn,” is a concept Kirk stressed in great detail. He inspired me to read more with the extensive list of leadership and business books he provided–I’ve already read “It’s Your Ship,” which was encouraged by Professor Feinberg. Reading allows a person to continue learning, even beyond any schooling. It provides for more conversation starters, as well as a wealth of knowledge to help a future/current leader to be successful. Kirk challenged us to read at least two books a year. I think I’ll shoot for three. Kirk claims, “Readers are leaders.”

Kirk also demonstrated how good leaders must be willing to change. He claims that leaders should inspire their followers, not require them to achieve results. Leaders should build relationships and base their techniques on the individual. If you consider your job to be miserable, the key to being happy at your job is to look at what is making it unbearable. There are three signs of a miserable job:

1. Anonymity

2. Irrelevance

3. Immeasurement

You must be a proactive person if you want these problems to change. A person must create their own motivation and inspire others around them to be positively contagious. 

I truly believe that if I follow the guidelines outlined in Rebecca’s quote, I, too, can make my life an even happier one.

Posted by Morgan McDonald

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Four hours thirty minutes is a long time. But Kirk Weisler sure made the whole workshop funny, full of wits, and memorable.

First, Kirk showed us a picture of his whole family, his lovely two sons, three daughters and wife. He even brought his cute and adorable daughter to the workshop. I think he gained our trust with his honesty and a figure of a good husband and father of a beautiful family. I am not saying he used his family to sell his point to us but I think it is a good strategy and important to get respect as a leader to people who are not sure or has no clear idea of who he is yet. We are people who must sit there and listen to what he says for next four hours. It could be really rough for him if we do not care about what he says and does not give him enough trust to tell us his points. It would be meaningless and pointless talking to people who has no willingness to hear what other person is trying to say.

His workshop was really fun and interesting. He told us many stories that were related to good leadership. Be open-minded person, be professional. You must have eagerness to learn and willingness to change. This is what Kirk’s wife said. I really agree with her quote. We are constantly inspired by other people’s great action and behavior. And you must inspire other people in a good way. It is like paying it forward. I believe Kirk taught us really good ideas of good leadership and we will never forget him.

Posted by Peacejinho

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Monday, February 9, 2009

Today in class we had our leadership workshop with professional motivational speaker Kirk Weisler. The presentation was about leadership and how to execute it in life. Most of the presentation focused on being contagious, becoming a self-starter, and turning our “bright” light on. Contagious means we tend to spread information to others. This can impact the decisions of others quickley. For example, if you are having a bad day and one of your employees gives you a appreciative note you are more than likely going to reflect upon it daily. The majority of people who have been given similar notes have kept them for 5-30 years. Most of us keep these notes close to us because it reminds of us from time to time that othesr think us dearly. For instance, Kirk mentioned one person he met kept a special note given to him from a co-worker in his wallet. The note was written on a sticky 30 years ago. The point is that we should let others know we appreciate them for their hard work. Words of couragement can go a long way.

What I learned tonight is that every choice we make determines our destiny. We should choose a job with less limitations so that we can grow. It would be an opportunity for us to learn and develop new skills. as a leader you need to inspire others. Leaders inspire by teaching. It is the responsibility of the individual to motivate themselves. Become a self-starter that not only finishes their job but has passion. Leaders teach, remind, and rejuvenate. You have to understand how to lead others so that you have followers. You have the ability to change the climate of the company so that everyone generates happy memories. Do an activity where others can learn about a specific thing from someone. For example, ask the person next to you what their favorite cereal is. You never know they may like the same one as you.

Books Kirk recommended:
The Five Love Languages, QBQ, Raving Fans, How to Discover your Strengths, Leader Voice, Love is the Killer, First Break All the Rules, Brand You, Six Most Important Decisions You Will Ever Make, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job, Gong Ho, lastly, check out the questions from the Gallops Q12.

One thing Kirk pointed out was the magic T factor. Anyone who sits in the two front years of the classroom and the middle was in the magic T. Someone told him that it has been proven if you sit in this area you will get better grades. It turned out that it did not matter where you sat as long as you paid attention. Kirk always sat in the heart of the T. There he met other people who shared common goals of getting a good grade in the class. The students around him became his friends and they studied together for exams. This was a great thing for Kirk because they knew how to study well. Kirk learned that the little changes can have huge outcomes that inspires not requires. A leader has the ability to show a better way and make a difference. Be contagious and share your message.

Being great requires you to excel in your life. Personal growth and development is valuable. You should inspire the team to grow and develop. Its the greatest thing you can do as a leader. That is to inspire. Grow yourself. Don’t be afraid of change. You would be more fun if you grow. Work with others and experience group synergy. Readers are leaders. Leaders are readers. Try to read one leadership title a month. Feel free to get a book buddy too. This is will help understand someone’s language, which could be beneficial for you later down the road. In conclusion, tonight’s leadership workshop was fun. I learned a lot about leadership and how I can become a better leader today and in the future. We need leaders that can inspire and motivate others. Leaders that challenge us to grow and develop new knowledge over time. Leaders that are contagious.

Posted by mich

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Kirk Weisler on Leadership

Overall I found that Mr. Weisler provided some valuable points on leadership. A lot of the ideas that he portrayed to us were many concepts that we have discussed in class and through assignments. He suggested that as leaders we continue to grow and the importance of always reading. I thought this was significant and also very true. In order to stay current, allow growth, and continue learning leaders definitely need to read. I think this is one area that many people struggle with due to busy schedules.

He also discussed the need to be enthusiastic and have a contagious mood. This was a unique point because it is very true. If you have a negative attitude for the day, this attitude can definitely influence other people’s moods. So as a leader it is important to have a positive mood and be enthusiastic because in return your followers will implement these attitudes.

Posted by K.U.

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This week in CSR 309 we learned a lot about leadership. Surprise.

Kirk Weisler’s presentation was fascinating and he offered a lot of new perspectives on the topic of leadership and being in control of and discovering yourself. I found this very insightful at this point in my life where as I am about to make some decisions that will affect me for the rest of my life. His lecture pointed out different aspects about the process of self-discovery that I am newly aware of that will help me to make these decisions. I really like the “poop” book too

On Wednesday, we met our group leaders. I was surprised by some of the selections and by some of those who I know were not selected. I thought the concept of “Why is choosing leaders important?” had some good points. Surrounding yourself with leaders will only make you better.

Good stuff.

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BLOG POST 300 in 2009

In Monday’s class we had a leadership workshop. This workshop was a 4 1/2 hour long guest speaker,Kirk Weisler. He spent the night talking about how to improve yourself and your corporation. Although, it was an extremely long presentation, it was very beneficial. Kirk provided a lot of valuable insight on how to be able to shine your brightest so to speak. One of the best things he said Monday night was, “Most high performers don’t spend time on their weaknesses, but exploiting their strengths. ” This statement really through me off. My whole life I have been taught to spend more time on the things I do not perform well in and less time on my stronger areas. I have wasted a lot of time. I know he didn’t mean not to work on your weaknesses but not to focus solely on those things. I really wish I would have known that earlier in life…it would have changed a lot of things. Had I been told this when I was playing basketball, I would not have spent so much of workouts trying to get faster and focused more of my time on my shooting and offensive skills. This in turn would have probably not have caused me to burn-out from exerting so much energy in areas that frustrated me to work on. I obsessed over my weaknesses which caused me to lose interest in the one thing in my life that I really loved to do.
Another key statement Kirk talked about was, “Feet must match mouth.” I have always been taught that what you say must match what you do. If you do not follow through with what you say, you become dishonest and people will not follow you. You cannot implement rules in an organization if you say that something is suppose to be done one way and then you do it another. I feel like there are a lot of managers, CEOs, and parents whose actions and words do not match. My question to them is, how do you expect to have people listen to you if your feet do not match your mouth? Our society would be much better off if we had leaders who could do this at least 80% of the time.
Kirk Weisler gave me a lot of good advice and provided a number of different books that he recommended we read. I know I will be taking his advice and trying to apply it to my life so I can become a better person and leader.

Posted by krueth at 8:22 AM