Brett Shannon Essay

Brett Shannon, who works as the Director of Retail Operations at the Luxor and Excalibur along with the MGM Resorts International came to our class to talk about the talents of being a leader and what it really takes. He has had over seventeen years of retail management experience where his career had started, working at Treasure Island. Mr. Shannon’s life had started just like most average kids, which was growing up working in retail department stores such as Macy’s. Brett stated in his presentation that he his always fascinated how he worked for really good and really bad people. When Brett said this it makes me think about the jobs that I have had and to come to the conclusion that this is very true. I have worked for a company where I would never go back and work there where as the catering company that I work for right now I feel as if they are my family. Mr. Shannon’s main concept throughout his presentation was about the twelve talents of Centric Leaders and how you can choose to impact your world, ever day, starting immediately. There were a total of twelve talents, but a few had stood out to me. When Brett Shannon had said this during his presentation, it made me think about all the leadership experience I have done over the past six years. I have always held some sort of leadership position in the past years and as I entered college I have not had the chance to hold a position, but am hoping to by the end of the year through my sorority. Mr. Shannon describes what the difference between managing and leading is leaders lead with the heart and understand with the heart. Where as managing you tend to not think of others you take control of the situation. My goal through life is everyday to be a leader in some way, whether it is being a role model or creating the greater influence in other people. Throughout Brett’s presentation there were several talents that stood out to me that I could relate to in many ways. Each talent expresses a specific characteristic that can be demonstrated through a specific leadership skill. The first talent that Brett Shannon shared was an acute awareness of self and others, where he expressed to not allow others to define who you are. I believe this concept is very true because many people in today’s generation don’t act as their true selves. People tend to use social media and cover up the real person they truly are. Several girls may even feel the need dress like their friends because they want to fit in better. I believe this does happen to people very often, but don’t want to fully admit it. If everyone were to be who they really are I believe society would be much different and people wouldn’t change to impress others or change who they really are. Talent number four that Brett Shannon discussed in the class presentation relates to a lot of my leadership experiences in the past. …show more content…
In this talent he had discussed creating alignment and what it is. He discusses that a unified goal provides clear decision-making and the most positive outcome. I believe this is true, when I was in leadership this task had applied greatly to us. We would discuss how we feel the activity we put on went overall and what we could improve on for the same event the following year. This would greatly improve the same event the following year and just like Brett stated in his presentation, big changes do take time and small steps create big change. This can apply to life aspects as well, if a person wants some sort of change in their life they must understand that it wont happen within the blink of an eye. Another talent that stood out to me the most that Mr. Shannon had expressed was talent number six which expresses the engagement of others. He shares in his presentation that the more they serve the more influence and energy they gain, the greater impact on others. The more involved a leader is, the greater the impact they will have on others in the end. When you lead others, there are