Carrie is a sergeant in the Army; she has a husband, John, and two children, Maureen and Lisa (14-year-old twins). Because Carrie has been in the Army for 19 years, her family is very familiar with life on an Army base. After two tours of duty and a Bronze Star, Carrie plans on retiring soon and realizes she needs a degree to supplement her Army experience to help catapult her second career. John works at the post hospital and is very supportive of Carrie's decision to continue her education.

Before joining the Army, Carrie dropped out of high school and earned a GED to enlist. Poor grades, a lack of focus, and an inconsistent support system plagued Carrie's high school years. The Army provided Carrie a sense of discipline and a tendency to overachieve; now she is a model soldier and an inspiration to her family.

Over the course of this session, you will learn ways to help Carrie develop success strategies for taking online classes while focusing on her end goal (a career) and living her life. Remember that Carrie is managing the stress of potential deployment, pending retirement, being a positive role model for her teenage daughters, and maintaining a strong marriage-all while mastering school.

Assignment:

Details: Carrie was invited to speak at a local women's group annual conference about women who lead effective teams. Carrie has had great success in motivating and engaging her unit; however, she has never made a presentation to a group of civilians. Provide suggestions for Carrie as she develops her presentation and make sure to cover the following:

An explanation of three elements of group dynamics
Real-world examples of overcoming challenges of working in a team
How the strengths of all individuals can be leveraged for the good of the team