Fandom High School

Yeah. Just 'Leadership.' Nice and simple.

"Welcome to very nearly the last class period of the school year," Scott said. He looked extremely comfortable in his uniform. This may have had something to do with the fact that his previous uniform was a skin-tight leather bodysuit, so this was really a step up comfort-wise. "One final, important part of leadership that we haven't talked about much this semester is the ability to inspire others through not just your actions, but your words."

"What I'd like each of you to do is come up to the front of the room and just spend a couple minutes giving your classmates some inspiration to help them get through their own speeches. Because this week, you're all part of one team and have one goal: be a beacon for everyone who comes after you."

"I know this isn't something you've practiced for this class, but I have complete faith in all of you. Each of you has shown me and everyone else in this room a lot this semester. We're almost through it. Good luck finishing strong, but I don't think you'll need it."

[OOC: Work is going to make me cry today, and then I'll be at a lecture tonight. So if you need to talk to Scott about anything, I'll be extremely slow.]

"Leadership has its drawbacks, of course," Scott said, starting things off oh so positively. "If you commit, really commit to your team and make sure they work together as well as possible, carefully balancing their strengths and weaknesses into a whole that ends up being greater than the sum of its parts, you may find yourself lacking in your own individual abilities."

"This is actually very common. By the time you've worked your way up the ladder into a leadership position in a company or another kind of team, not only are you spending less time with whatever skills helped you get there in the first place, but you're probably going to be leading people from the next generation who have the benefit of being raised on refined techniques and technologies. There are countless groups out there being run by people who have no practical knowledge of how to do what their team can do easily for the simple reason that they were already in management when new tools started being used."

"Ideally, you want to avoid that. You want to be able to keep your skills sharp so that you understand things better and can do it on your own if need be. So now and then you need to go solo," Scott said. "No puns on anyone's last name intended, of course." By Scott. NOT BY ME. Mwahahahaha.

"So, what we have here today are a few chances to keep your individual abilities sharp. There are both physical and mental challenges so you can actually get something out of this class depending on your strengths."

"Good luck staying sharp."

Class today was in the Danger Shop... which looked like a casino floor. Yep, Scott was back on his game after last week. Credit that to having plenty of time to think yesterday when he couldn't find his visor or glasses.

"Hey everyone. I figured we'd just go ahead and have some fun today, so I toyed with the shop a little. Welcome to the Summers Casino," Scott said. "You'll all get 100 credits in chips. You can bet them on your own, or you can team up to go for big winnings. And that's where the real fun comes in today."

"The shop will keep track of all your winnings and the top three winning amounts above zero will get special prizes. Whoever brings in the most credits will get an automatic A- for the semester, minimum. You'll be able to raise that grade the rest of the semester, of course, but that will be the lowest grade you can get. Second place will earn a free pass out of any single class period you want, signed by me and available for the rest of the semester. Third place will get an X-Men hat." Scott held up the baseball cap with the X logo on it. It was very snazzy.

"That's enough from me. Go ahead and have some fun."

... Of course, if people payed very close attention to the games, they were the kind of games that took luck to win. The kind of luck that could be carefully programmed not to happen in a controlled environment like this. So there was zero chance of winning anything. The shop was going to cheat at all times, unimpeded by any powers that might be used. Because Scott knew how to program a Danger Room.

... And if they paid close attention to Scott's phrasing, it didn't matter how many chips they ended up with, just how many they won, therefore it would inevitably be a class-wide tie at 0. So, below the threshold for prizes.

Yes, class, Scott blatantly lied to you. You were being taught to pay attention to your surroundings and when to cut your losses in a hopeless situation. Because those chips you started off with? Actually had chocolate inside them. The sooner you recognized the futility, the more chocolate you had.

Real chocolate, too. Not holographic chocolate.

"Let me tell you about a guy named Logan," Scott said, standing next to a table in the middle of a fake park again. That's right, Danger Shop day. "No relation to Rebecca. But this Logan is a surly guy, constantly drinking, smells like a cigar bar around the clock, even when he hasn't smoked all day. Terrible manners, tries to pick up other people's fiancees, easily the most violent person I've ever met, absolutely no respect for authority whatsoever."

"If I'm being completely honest, whenever I'm with him, I want to punch him," Scott said. "But I don't do it. At least not yet."

"That's how you deal with interpersonal conflict in a nutshell. Because, let's be honest, any kind of team you're on, somebody's going to rub you the wrong way. And if you're leading a team, that person may very well be opposed to the very idea of working with you. But you have a job to do and, frankly, an example to set for the rest of your teammates."

"You can get through some of it with discussion and trying to come to terms with each other. Sometimes there's just no way you can possibly work with each other and can't stop fighting. Most of the time, you can find a middle ground," Scott said. "Like I said, I always want to punch Logan. But I have to grudgingly admit that he's one of the first people from my last school I'd call if I really needed help." After the rest of the faculty. Several of the students. The professor, obviously. Jean's corpse. Magneto (maybe).

"So, in a change of pace, not only am I going to let you pick your own partners, but I encourage you to pick somebody you don't really see eye to eye with. Take a few minutes, come to terms with each other, and then we're going to do a water balloon relay game. More on that in a couple minutes."

"First, find a partner. Preferably one you don't get along with!"

The 'don't punch them' warning was implied.

It may have been surprising to see the Danger Shop looking like a regular classroom. It may have been even more surprising to see that Scott wasn't paying any attention to the students after they filtered in. In fact, it looked like he was doing his taxes.

After a short time, a holographic chimpanzee walked into the classroom and climbed into a seat. After a couple more minutes of ignoring his surroundings, Scott pushed a button on his desk. If people hadn't figured it out by now, an unfurling banner would make it clear.

Fend For Yourselves
Objectives:

1. Teach the class something you know about leadership.
2. Get the chimp out of the room.

He had been waiting to see if anyone would step up and take charge of the class before that. But mostly it looked like he was really focusing on his taxes.

Class was in the Danger Shop again, although the shop looked suspiciously like the park once again. Furthermore, there were unmanned rickshaws all over the place.

"General George S. Patton once said, 'Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results,'" Scott recited.

Seemingly leaving that as a non-sequitur for now, he moved on. "So far in this class, you've discussed leadership qualities, looked at your personal philosophy, and tried to find either a leader or a consensus in a group to achieve construction and prevent destruction last week. But one thing I've held off on so far is forcing you into leadership," Scott said. "That changes today."

"You'll be paired up and you'll have to make two trips around the park in a rickshaw. During the first lap, one of you will be pulling the rickshaw while the other is in the seat. For the second lap, you'll switch places. Don't worry, the rickshaws are light enough that you should be able to pull them without much difficulty. And even if something goes wrong, like you crash into a pedestrian or a dog, the Shop will keep you from getting hurt. But not from being scared or embarrassed."

"And of course there's a catch."

Scott reached into one of the rickshaws and pulled out a blindfold. "This is for the person pulling the rickshaw. You'll be doing that job completely blind. The only way you'll know when to turn, how fast to go, when to stop, or what you're doing at all is by listening to your partner as they direct you. Leadership has been thrust upon them. They're responsible for both your safety and their own. But you're also being timed, so you're going to have to move faster than a crawl." Did you really want to find out what Scott had planned for teams who went too slow? Did you?

"As Patton said, 'tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results,'" Scott repeated. "Good luck, everyone. Try to surprise us."

"Good afternoon, class," Scott said. "One thing you have to figure out quickly is what kind of leader you want to be. Essentially, what's your leadership philosophy? TAs, please pass out this handout."

"Your leadership philosophy informs what you want to accomplish, how you want to do it, and what outside factors will influence your decisions," Scott said. "This isn't something to take lightly because if your team follows your orders, they may be essentially letting you control their short-term futures and perhaps even their morals. So as you develop your philosophy, you need to look at a combination of vision and values."

"Your vision is, essentially, what the Army Field Manual calls commander's intent. As defined by the Army, this is your Purpose (the unifying focus of a task), Method (how you want people to go about their jobs), and Endstate (what your ideal final outcome is). Once you have those three things worked out, you have - at least on an intellectual level - a idea of how you want to lead. To be a successful leader, you need to communicate your vision so your whole team knows what it is you want to do. We'll get into that more in future weeks. For now, you just want to recognize what your vision is."

"But something else enters into it. Values. Things like loyalty to your friends and to your mission, respect for yourself and others, selflessness to put others before you, and integrity to do what you feel is right. Where you stand on those issues and more will influence how you deal with your subordinates and how you'll set your own vision."

"Taking us out of the realm of the vague, undefined situations last week, I've prepared a few scenarios I'd like you to think about. Pick one or two, discuss it with your classmates if need be, and consider how you would want a generic team you put together to proceed per your vision and values. You can use friends or classmates as a template for the kind of team you would have if that makes it easier for you, but I want you to make this as universal as you can. After all, if your strategy involves letting one friend who can solve every issue easily do just that without orders, you're not really leading. You're just letting." Like, letting Wolverine do whatever he wants, Professor X.`