Life, they say, is one big choice. It is said that for every corresponding action to any situation, a decision is made. Newton’s Law of Action and Reaction states that “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” To me, Day 2 of the 2010 LTS focused primarily on decisions.

The day started off with a short activity, entitled, “The Last Five Passengers”. The most difficult thing about our task was having to weigh people we did not even know, and having to judge whether they should live or die based on some vague synopses of who they were. I personally would not want to be put in a real life situation similar to that. After doing the activity, I now believe that no single person deserves to live or to die or to be removed from a group, as each and everyone has something to contribute to them, in order to move towards success.

The next activity was a game involving teamwork, listening skills and mental awareness or alertness. At first, our team misinterpreted the instructions which resulted in us looking like chickens with our heads cut off. After finally understanding the instructions, we got our footing and made constant improvements, coming in second. I think if we had only got the instructions right on the first time, and had more time to strategize in the beginning, we might have had more confidence in ourselves.

Project proposal, planning, and presentation were perhaps the highlight of the day. Having ample experience in business planning, action planning and technical writing, I did not find it completely new to me. Still, the experience was all about working with other people, learning from your mistakes and striving to make the right decisions all the way in order to achieve the right results.

Leadership, like itself, is one big decision. It is a decision that is the result of many smaller decisions, which shape who we are. In the end, it it is who we are today – a product of our past decisions – that determines our tomorrow. Teamwork in itself is a decision – a choice to let go of or own selves and find it again – in others.