21st century week 4 journal entry
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Strayer University *
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Dec 6, 2023
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Uploaded by MateSealMaster104
JWMI LEADERSHIP IN THE 21
ST
CENTURY
Week 4 Learning Journal
Using The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) menu link in this course, select an article that relates to
the readings, videos, and discussions from this week or last week. Briefly explain why you
chose the article and how it relates to your leadership journey.
Good afternoon, Professor and classmates,
For our week four learning journal, the article I’ve selected is “Seal It with a
Handshake and a… Cold Plunge? The Hot New Way to Do Business,” written by
Anne Marie Chaker (1).
The hottest physical and mental wellness trend is all about getting really, really cold
or, in other words, taking a cold plunge. A cold plunge, known as cold water
immersion, submerges your body in cold water (59 degrees Fahrenheit or less) for
an extended time. According to research, studies, and countless high achievers,
cold water immersion is rich in physical and mental benefits, boosting the health of
the body and the mind. When participating in cold immersion, you decrease your
core body temperature, offering and delivering a wide range of benefits and, most
notably, the building of mental resilience and discipline (3). When the human body
becomes exposed and exposed consistently, we allow the mind to become familiar,
learning to deal with extremes, showing that we are in control and enhancing our
capability to deal with discomforts. In general, it is the process of mind over matter
and gaining overall satisfaction in achieving something difficult. It is a simple,
practical practice that assists in educating the mind on how to handle and deal with
stress and regain control of your life (3).
Based on my chosen article, and with that said, regaining control is precisely what
Anson Whitmer, chief executive of Mental, a wellness app, decided to do. “We need
to shake things up,” Whitmer said (2). He clapped his hands, waking everyone
dozed off in attendance; now glancing his way, ushering his fully clothed staff of
four into a walk-in shower at the Lake Tahoe retreat site, he turned on the water to
an ice-cold blast. A good old-fashioned cold plunge to what I assume was to rally his
troops or, in other words, to get their intellectual juices flowing.
The rest of the article discusses how these cold-water immersions have instilled new
life into the willing companies and their personnel. Once hit by the cold water, it is
said that a feeling or boosted sensation emerges, and an abrupt boost to mood and
mental clarity is experienced. The article discusses cold therapy and how the
process has officially arrived throughout industries and organizations, entertaining
plunge activities during business meet and greets, retreats, team bonding sessions,
and companywide get-togethers.
To briefly explain why I chose this article, I would need to mention Patrick Lencioni’s
book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Upon reading Lencioni’s book, we find that
the newly appointed CEO, Kathryn, takes her “staff” to an off-site executive retreat
in Napa Valley. The idea of the retreat is to work on building their team bonding and
leadership due to its lack of trust and dysfunction. Kathryn’s goal is to get
DecisionTech on the right track and back to where the organization will achieve
results (4), much like Anne Marie’s article and how the new way to do business and
build effective teams is to hold organizational retreats employing different and
drastic measures to ensure collaboration and trust. Kathyrn takes a more moderate
approach with her team-building tactics; however, if worst comes to worst, team
leaders, owners, and CEOs alike can take the more extreme approach and seal it
with a handshake and a cold plunge (1).
Not only are the cited sources awfully similar in approach and method. Their story
and path to team building are coincidentally alike, despite the one with the freezing
cold temperatures. Each scenario or situation educates on how justly effective team
building can be when it is done right, for the right reasons, and with all team
members on board. With a universal goal in mind, each organization or group has
the possibility to function together as a team, laying the foundation for the ultimate
goal; company-wide success.
Sources
1.
Herminia Ibarra. 2018. Satya Nadella at Microsoft: Instilling a growth mindset.
2.
Anne Marie Chaker. 2023. “Seal it With a Handshake and a… Cold Plunge?” The Wall
Street Journal
3.
Frank D'Agostino, NASM, fitness nutrition specialist, personal trainer, and founder of
Hero X Health.
4.
Patrick Lencioni. 2002. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
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