Introduction
Several social entrepreneurial behaviors, processes, and issues occurred in my class. The class is composed of international students, and the fact that I knew only one boy was quite challenging. The tutor divided us into groups of five, where every member was from a different culture and this posed a significant social problem since I had not dealt with local students before. However, an interesting experience arose whereby Nikki, a local student in my group volunteered to help me understand the group activities since the English used in the group was quite different from mine. A real-life example of Nikki’s willingness is seen where she always helped me with a good heart even at late night. I do not like the idea that I came late and was scared to share my business idea in the first meeting of the group. According to Kolb’s model, this is wrong since for one to be prosperous then he should stand out of the crowd. I like the fact that every group member was pleased with my business idea.
Discussion
My own understanding of social entrepreneurial behavior is a behavior that puts passion, creativity, and determination of a social group together with the aim of achieving a certain goal. One of the conclusions that I can derive from my observations and experience is that it is a personal responsibility to stay productive and engaged in any social or group activity. One needs to cultivate a thorough understanding of himself in terms of his strengths, weaknesses, and values since through this, he can attain true excellence. Another conclusion that I can derive from my observations and experience is that the only way to realize one’s strengths is through obtaining feedback. (Bonk & Zhang 2006).
The achievements of the team were at first hindered by problems of cultural and language barrier, which made the group members to feel uncomfortable with one another. The fact that the group member’s were willing to assist each other helped the group to achieve its goals.
The theory I have read makes a lot of meaning to my experience in the group. For instance, for any social work to be effective, then the members should try to understand each other and make use of their strengths. For instance, in my group I used Nikki to help me understand the group activities. The generalizations I can make for the wider world include the fact that people who try to change themselves to fit in a particular social group have very low chances of succeeding and should instead work hard to enhance their performance (DeFillippi & Wankel 2006).
Recommendations
Prosperity in today’s world requires that every person be his own brand without considering age and social status. Every person has an opportunity of being successful through learning, improving, and enhancing skills (Peters 1997), (Fayolle 2010). This means that every person has an opportunity of standing out of the crowd in his own way. For one to be his own brand, he should first identify the features that make him different from his colleagues and make the necessary steps to stand out from the rest. Since we live in an era of unprecedented opportunities, then standing out and managing ourselves can make us achieve our goals in life (Drucker 1999).
References
Bonk, J. & Zhang, C., 2006, Empowering Online Learning: 100+ Activities for Reading, Reflecting, Displaying, and Doing. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
DeFillippi, B. & Wankel, C., 2006. New visions of graduate management education. Greenwich: IAP Publishers.
Drucker, P.F., 1999, Managing Oneself.[online] Harvard Business Review. Web.
Fayolle, A., 2010. Handbook of Research in Entrepreneurship Education: International Perspectives. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Peters, T., 1997. Brand Called You. [online] Fast Company. Web.