I've been wanting to wake up and jog every morning, but am just not rising early enough. I woke up 0715 today, and dashed to get ready. Class was to start at 0900hrs, and I still had a lot of reading to do. We also got some press from the Joe Bruno Statistics Class!

I did manage to flip thru the essential reading before dashing off to class. Today's presentation was on 'Heroes, Leaders, and Innovators'. I liked the fact that they had three faculty take turns presenting their respective viewpoints. Prof Durgee made the introductions, and Dr Baron spoke extensively, quoting from his book, and taking time for us to make us think on what leaders are all about.

The interesting thing was that there was plenty highlighted on what's expected of leaders, but strangely enough, there was no mention of the trait of humility. Two of us actually pointed that out to Dr Baron, and I later spoke to him about it. From my past experience with the Tatas in India, I knew for sure that humility does matter. Dr Baron had an interesting take on this. He told me it was culture specific. In the US, one might be perceived as less confident, if you're too humble. He served as a Professor in France, and he told me how a pompous title got him a lot more respect there, even though he was still the same person! I wasn't too sure about how this works, but remembering my experience in India, I wonder how the Tata Leadership keep their feet so firmly on the ground.

Later, we were introduced to Prof Abetti. He was born in Florence, Italy, and is handsomely proud of his lineage. I have NEVER been taught by an 85 year-old teacher with so much energy. He discussed the legendary Jack Welch, showing us two superb videos, one of the leader speaking to an HBS class just after he took over as CEO, and the other, just after he retired, this time speaking to students at the University of Michigan. Prof Abetti watched the videos with us often asking us to concentrate on the 'Here's the rich part'. These people really know what they want us to appreciate.

Statistics Boot Camp Day2 followed, and we headed to the Brunswick Greens. I have NEVER been to a golf course before, leave alone played the game. We actually had Larry from the Greens giving us an introductory lesson in golf. The basic terminology was introduced, tips on holding the club, teeing off, and the rules of the gentlemanly game. Best of all, there were golf carts to drive around. It couldn't have been better.

I had a blast sending golf balls all over the place, with my team-mates yelling 'fore' loudly as the balls took off in dangerous directions. Larry actually came over to give us some tips on the art of discussing business on a golfing green. It was amazing how much there was to learn.

At the end of play, we sat together discussing the upcoming presentation on today's experience - there's a whole list of questions that the former Army Officer and now Clinical Professor Dr TT wants to know from us. He's told us that we better have something entertaining, because he's planning to review our assignments on his flight to China on Friday.