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: So Why Would Anyone Want to Be Led By You?

One of the MOOCs (massive open online courses) I'm enrolled in right now is LeaderMOOC on canvas.net. Canvas offers some pretty excellent courses, anything from Sustainable Energy Innovation to Society, Science, Survival: Lesson's from AMC's The Walking Dead. I highly recommend checking them out in addition to sites like coursera.org or edx.org.

In LeaderMOOC, we're learning about ourselves as leaders. Rather than giving us a mold that you're supposed to somehow fit into, LeaderMOOC has us examine ourselves. Each lesson focuses on becoming self-aware, which in turn, will make us understand how we can lead. 

So Why Would Anyone Want to Be Led By You?
The first assignment was to answer the question: So why would anyone want to be led by you? A bit of a heavy question to start with, but after a few videos on collaborative leadership, I felt comfortable answering. My answer below:

I thought a lot about my own leadership style within an organization where I am the president and final decision-maker.

You would want to be led by me because:

1. I think about the whole process/system rather than just the end result, considering your time, my time and the impact it will make on our organization.
2. I delegate with meaningful tasks. Having been an intern doing mostly data entry, I think about the types of assignments I would want or would be useful to your progress and what needs to be done.
3. I make informed decisions based on research and discussions with people involved in the process. I make it a point to hear many voices, including dissenting ideas. 

I felt really comfortable with this answer and thought it conveyed my ideas well. The first peer-reviewer said: "Carolyn, It is apparent that you have the ability to hold both a micro and macro view which is very unique and a great quality to have in a leader."

I have to say I was flattered by this comment, mostly because that's what I hope to achieve through my leadership style. Having been the lowest in an organization and now the highest in albeit a small organization, I hope that I've learned to see big picture and details.

Unfortunately, the second reviewer was not as kind: Based on your response to #2-are your decisions about what to delegate based on what you think others need, or are you actively engaging them in the process and finding what they really/want need?

I agree this was a valid question as I did not make that clear in my response. I think I was thinking a lot more of myself in that "follower" position rather than as the "leader." The change of perspectives is confusing. However, I'm not sure that validated a 0 on whether the reviewer would want to be led by me. Particularly since there's not much constructive criticism on why this person wouldn't want to be led by me. Perhaps I just don't take criticism well. Something to work on during this process.