Leadership Initiative Paper #3

Magali Huitron
Elizabeth Velasquez & Mayra Villarreal
October 20, 2014
Ethnic Studies 21
MW: 3:00 p.m.-3:50 p.m.

Speakers from the Leadership Initiative came to class today to present us with Gold
Workshop number six that counts toward the Gold Certificate. The main speaker was Melanie.
She was very energetic and made me laugh. That really helped me understand things better.
Since the beginning in workshop one for the Green Certificate we have been presented with one
of the seven Cs per workshop. This workshop was centered on controversy with civility.
The definition given on the PowerPoint was to hear different views and beliefs with an open
mind and welcoming discussion around disparate perspectives. To me that means having
problems but dealing with them respectfully and with courtesy towards others.
Civility according to the Leadership Initiative PowerPoint is not pursuing conflict and
keeping calm or civilized. To achieve civility ground rules have to be set. Knowing that can
help me with my success here at Sac State because of all the group work that I will be a part of.
Some ground rules that could be set are to listen, have equality with the amount of work to be
done, be open minded, and to let everyone speak. Setting ground rules like these can be helpful
for groups so that misunderstandings are avoided and they can prevent some arguments between
members. That is because since the beginning you are all directly saying how you think the
collaboration should be while the group completes the task.
After we received some information on the topic of controversy with civility we did an
activity. The activity was called the Bomb Shelter Activity. We worked in small groups and
we were all given a worksheet with a list of people and some of their qualities. Then we were
given a scenario that involved The Walking Dead which was great since a new season had just
started a few days earlier. We were supposed to pretend that we were in a scene of The Walking
Dead and we could only save seven people out of the list we were given. I worked with my
partner to see who we would save.

We had to set up ground rules first. A ground rule we set up was to listen to each other
and to respect each other. We also decided that we would choose people that were useful and that
wouldnt turn out to be crazy. We agreed to choose people who were physically fit or active. If
they did not have that quality they at least had to have some other valuable quality like medical
experience or electric experience. It was easy to pick people because we had set ground rules and
when we disagreed a little we would try to understand each others thoughts or directly ask one
another.
Something else I learned that will contribute to my success was that controversy without
civility is equal to fighting. That is because all people within the group want to win. No one will
admit he/she is wrong and that will lead to more conflict. Also the absence of civility will cause
yelling, interruptions, and people taking things seriously. Now I know that civility must exist in a
conflict in order for it to be resolved effectively so when I work in a group project I will be able
to steer things towards a civil manner when they seem to be getting uncivilized.
Some of the tips to manage conflict effectively we were given are: count to ten, let
everyone speak, pick your battles, be open to compromise, and to avoid gossip. One of the tips
that stood out was to pick your battles and although they can all apply to situations other than
school this particular one has helped me in relationships especially with my sister. We argue a lot
but sometimes I let her win and that calms the argument but it doesnt mean I lost because later
she will have to give in to something I want because I let her win before.
Overall I liked the outcome of the workshop because I learned a lot. The speaker Melanie
was funny and she taught us how important it is to be civil in an argument or conflict.
Controversy with civility is a key part to settling arguments in group projects or just in life. I also

think that the activity was interesting and those of us who watch The Walking Dead could
relate to it and that was good that they picked something that calls to us.