LeaderMOOC: Week 4 Communicating

A week has passed since the Influencing module of LeaderMOOC. Though I'm not sure I've tried using any of the influencing techniques, I have started to expand my network. I started by joining the League of Women Voters, a women's nonprofit with a local chapter. According to a few folks who know the group, the group skews older, but is always looking for new members. Within a few days of registering, I received a welcome packet and found out I can join the educational committee, which sounds like a good fit for me. Unfortunately, their next meeting is while I'm out of town, but hopefully I can catch them when I get back.

The theme for Week 4 is Communicating. We talked a lot about communicating criticisms and also about the coaching method. I've actually been very intrigued about coaching. Many training programs seem like ways to get money from people, so I was interested to see the method in practice.

This week's assignment is: Think beyond the questions you replied to in the discussion forums. Consider what aspect of communication you learned about this week can help you, and what personal goal you would like to achieve as a result of what you learned about communication and leadership.

My response is: 

1. The leadership communication technique or approach I found most valuable was the Situation, Behavior, Impact (SBI) technique. Not a week after I watched the video, I started implementing this technique. It's been very useful in communicating an issue that I'm unsure how to resolve. I don't supervise anyone, but I have still found it useful in working with others because it sets up a way to solve the issue. Additionally, I've thought quite a bit about how I've handled issues in the past and how I could have handled them better by using this technique.

2. My one simple goal is to begin/continue to practice this technique or approach by thinking out the SBI technique before handling a situation. By consciously deciding how to deal with the situation, I can better guarantee that I will make a positive change. I think it can be hard to step back and give yourself enough time to plan a response, but in the long run, it will be worth it. The challenge will be in giving myself enough time to develop an SBI response to a situation/behavior, but still responding in a timely manner. Hopefully, after implementing this technique several times, the process will become more streamlined in my head.

This upcoming week's module is Learning Agility, which sounds fairly exciting. Looking forward to my next assignment!

LeaderMOOC: Week 3 Influencing

As I'm going through this MOOC, I'll be using my blog as a place to turn in my assignments. Week 3 is all about influencing. The most fun for me was a cool workbook they gave out to us to find out more about our networks - I shared it with a coworker who thought it was super fun. I also enjoyed looking at my LinkedIn Map, which showed how my connections are connected. The assignment for Week 3 is: Think beyond the questions you replied to in the discussion forums. Consider why influencing matters to you personally, and what personal goal you would like to achieve as a result of this week’s discovery.

Here is my response:

1. My take-away from learning about my own personal network is it is currently very diverse, but I need to improve my network in some key areas. Much of my network has come from geographic locations or jobs. If I'm no longer in that geographic location, it's unlikely I'll need to reach out them for work in the near future. I'll stay in touch with those folks, but I need to expand my network into areas where I see my future headed. For example, I should join some women's groups which will have folks of similar interests. I am also interested in online learning, so I'll need to reach out to folks who might be involved in that field or have skills I want to develop.

2. My one simple goal for using influence more effectively is to broaden my leadership styles. Currently I use rationalizing and negotiating on a frequent basis. I probably use rationalizing because I enjoy working with data and understanding why things are based on actual evidence. Negotiating comes naturally to me as I'm a bit of a peacemaker - wanting everyone to be happy, which, depending on the situation can be good or bad. I'd like to experiment with inspiring as I'm in the nonprofit field and many folks use inspiring influence to make a point. I have a friend and colleague who is incredibly talented at bridging and I'd like to learn from her. Asserting will definitely be the most difficult for me, being that I like everyone to be happy. However, I think some of my ideas are worth asserting!

LeaderMOOC: Leader Mindset

It's week three of the LeaderMOOC, but we've only received grades for up to week 1 (includes week 0). Many folks are still trying to figure out the peer review function and those who are just dipping in and out are holding up the process a bit. So far my Week 0 & 1 submissions have only been graded twice (each submission is graded three times). The organizers of the MOOC will be grading any that have not yet been graded yet.

Week 1 Leader Mindset Submission:
For this week's assignment we were asked:  

Consider why leadership matters to you, personally, why you want to become known for your leadership skills, and what you hope to accomplish. Also what leadership model or role model most inspires you? You can link to an image as part of your answer if you like. What's one simple goal that can help you get there?

In response, I wrote:

1) Leadership matters to me because I want to accomplish a Ph.D. and create a non-profit for young women interested in leadership. I want to become a leader for these young women to see an example of a successful woman in leadership. I also want to use my leadership skills to develop a curriculum of afterschool programs for middle & high school students to know that women can be leaders and learn how to become leaders themselves.

 2) The leadership model or role model that inspires me is the flock of geese and I chose this model or person because I think that leadership can be shared effectively by multiple people. In fact, a group of students I work with select a different leader for their committee each month based on their availability to meet and interest in leading. One simple goal that will bring me closer to this model is to provide opportunities for women in the meetup group that I run to take turns leading projects that best fit their abilities and goals. I want to reach out to these women to find out if what they're currently doing fits with their goals and abilities and reassign projects based on that. 

The first response includes a somewhat far off goal... trying to convince myself that I can even do another graduate program has been tough, but I know I'm smart enough and capable.

Here were the comments from the folks that graded my assignment:
I can feel your desire and passion around empowering women. I also like the goal of letting others lead. All the best to you :-)

Your vision is large in scope yet focused on individuals and small groups. This has remarkable potential.

If I was flattered by the comments of my last submission, I am blown away by these responses. The fact that someone said "This has remarkable potential," I'm overwhelmed. A complete stranger thinks my ideas are worthwhile and can make an impact. Really excited for my next steps in life!

How to Learn All the Things

A couple things of significance happened this week, already, and it's only Wednesday. First, I taught a class on Online Learning. Second, I realized I will never learn all the things. I'm pretty sure the first event is connected to the second.

Creating an Online Learning Curriculum
This event was a follow-up to my much praised Online Learning 101 class, which introduced about 12 women to the options in online learning. The Online Learning Curriculum class had about 6 people total, and eventually devolved into the Online Learning 101 class, as most of the folks who requested the follow-up class did not attend. 

The event was fine in that I introduced another group of women to the possibilities of online learning. However, I've led the horse to water, but it sounds like no one has had a drop to drink. I'm considering a few options for encouraging online learning participation, including a MOOC study group or even weekly meetings for those taking online courses. I do hope the women who joined my class will take up at least one online class!

As it turns out, I can be an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I'll Never Learn All the Things
In essence, this class was about how to learn all the things. The internet is vast and full of a multitude of information and now we have many options for learning that were not available even 10 years ago. However, I'm seeing that time is infinite, but I am not. As much as I'd like to learn all the things, it's just never going to happen.

So what happens now? Do I cry about how I'll never be a NASA astronaut or learn to play guitar? Probably not, but there are certainly some goals that seem impossible - learning another language fluently, learning to dance, picking up some coding skills, writing a novel. 

At this point, it's time to prioritize. Obviously, I want to focus on some skills that will help at work and some skills that will help with future plans. On the other hand, I'd certainly like to do some fun classes. I've found that classes I'm really enjoying and are of personal interest to me, I'm more likely to "find the time" to participate (sorry Statistics One). 

What's Next?
Next steps are to list out those things I want to learn, triage those things, and make a plan (online learning curriculum perhaps?). Sometimes it feels like post-grad school is just a bit too unorganized for my tastes. Perhaps it's time to think hard about that 5, 10, 20 year plan.