Revised - Be a Leader applications of HTWFIP

Principle 4: No One Likes to take Orders:

Earlier last week, a good friend had a midterm exam but was not prepared at all. He was complaining about the fact that he is going to fail but he also had to finish up another project for his job. I tried to ease up the tension by making some jokes and try to tell him that he could prioritize the tasks and so manage them more efficiently. I figured that he did not want to get orders or annoying suggestion for what he should do, so I tried to sway him to recognize the efficiency in prioritizing his tasks, even though the project had to suffer from that decision. He had the feeling that he was now on top of his game and managed to utilize his remaining resources to do well in his midterm, instead of favoring his job over school.



Principle 5: Let the Other Person Save Face:

Friday night, I was engaged in a conversation with couple of people. Some of them were seniors, so the nature of the conversation was based on respectful responses. The topic, however; was the tragic shooting in the English learning center for immigrants in Upstate NY (the American Civic Association), were 13 people died. I already had heard about it on npr, and the reporter said that it was to assume that the suspect was a man from Vietnamese descent but were not able to confirm that information, because the suspects identity was still unclear at that time.
However, one of the men started to tell the others about the incident and made some serious mistakes. Thus, I recognized it as an opportunity and friendly intervened. I just mentioned how sad it is and how terrible the survivors and loved ones of those who died must feel. After I had caught their attention, I told them that the suspect was speculated to be an immigrant himself and committed this monstrous act because of the stigmas he experienced as an immigrant. By doing so the conversation was redirected and the man did not have to lose his face in-front of all the people.