Leadership Week 6: One Vision!

 

Me! 

My final paper is 10 pages long, so instead, I offer a glimpse of my vision board, along with the text from my presentation:

I developed my vision board focusing on specific takeaways to move forward in 2021.

My first takeaway was in our first chapter, that leadership has a moral dimension. I want to refine my moral compass and keep it in place for every leadership opportunity.

My second takeaway is to believe in the strength and power of servant leadership. During our reflections, I found this may be the leadership quality that closely aligns with my own attitudes and beliefs. But, because it’s not reflected in the more stereotypical leadership idea of a “girl boss,” I didn’t value this in myself. My example is in making over 400 masks during the pandemic. At the time, I just thought of it as helping out, I didn’t recognize that as a leadership quality. Now I do.

My biggest challenge going forward will probably be embracing adaptive leadership. I am in a position of managing projects, not people. The pandemic has proven that I am capable of adaptive leadership, even if I have to be creative about it, like rewarding disciplined attention in my sixth grader with a hot dog.

From followership and team leadership, I realize I want to be a part of the solution. Nothing is more energizing than being on a positive team that gets things done. While so many people were complaining, it was a relief to be on the team that was adapting, using best practices, looking for a new answer.

But there are things within myself that need change. In several of my assessments, I was told I must LISTEN. Be more open to other’s thoughts and ideas. Because of previous toxic work environments, I sometimes have a hard time adapting to team work and contributions from others. I need to bring these skills into my career. If I’ve learned anything from followership, it’s a relief to share the work.

And to make these changes, celebrate my tenacity to make things happen. Completing the Leadership certificate will be a very positive step personally and professionally.

For inspiration, ask myself: What would Scott Hamilton do? I love him as a skater, but his career off ice is just as fascinating. I have reread his biography numerous times, and in researching him for my leadership lesson, I was drawn to his other two books, The Great Eight and Finish First. He kicks off one of his books with the chapter: Know Your Purpose.

And finally, put leadership skills into practice, whatever the situation. This information is too good to just think of as the A needed to pass the course, this information is applicable to all aspects of life, personally and professionally.

Leadership Week 5: Teamwork

Special teams make everything easier. 

Today was not the right day to ask me about team assessments! Unto every life a little rain must fall; today was not my best day for team dynamics.

I did DISC two years ago for a team exercise in my department, and was surprised to find I was only one of two (out of 26) that was an IS. I felt like a fluffy cheerleader, as all the Ds and Ss in the department looked at me critically. One person asked “is this why you’re like happy all the time?” The tone was not complimentary. I was crushed.

Taking it two years later, it looks like I’m more of an SI now, but same difference. I’m grappling with the concept that being supportive, empathetic, and a good listener while projecting enthusiasm and optimism is perceived as weak or fluffy. I’m necessary, aren’t I?

I wanted to celebrate my old team at Michigan Bulb as some of the best team experiences of my career. Even today, we often remark “That team was special.”

What characteristics did the old advertising department demonstrate for the best of team effectiveness? (Northouse, 2019)

Clear, elevating goal: Because of the sheer work coming out of our department for the many mailings we did, personal agendas and power issues took a back seat to getting the job done.

Results driven: Production managers stayed on top of the writers, who collaborated with the designers to ensure jobs made it to the printer on time so we didn’t miss a mailing date. Everyone knew what they had to do to contribute to the project.

Competent team members: I hate the analogy of the cogs in the machine, but if one cog is missing a connection, that can throw an operation in jeopardy. I’ve worked with a lot of great people, and I’ve also worked with people who would rather do crossword puzzles rather than MOVE. THE. JOB. ALONG.

Unified commitment: our department took a great deal of pride in responding to the wants and needs of the marketing department’s plans. Not only did that include great copy from us, but great layouts from the designers, and hustle by the production managers. When one shined, we all shone; when we misspelled “attracts butterflies” as “attacks butterflies,” we shared the shame on the oops board.

Collaborative climate: Probably my favorite characteristic. I was on many great brainstorming teams, that developed new and interesting ways to sell fruit trees, promote planting season, advertise new lily varieties, and develop compelling stories for our monthly subscribers. There was mutual respect, lots of laughter, and many times the craziest ideas gave way to the winner.

Standards of excellence: There was a process of routing the books and brochures within our department for editing and proofreading that led to very few mistakes leaving our department. Rare was the instance when a route would come back from marketing with a corrected text error.

External support and recognition: Darrell, the creative supervisor, was gracious and generous with his praise and elevated those of us on his team when a job was well done. Principled leadership: there was a balance in the department, where the VP of advertising more or less stayed out of our way and let us do our thing; only when there was a crisis did he intervene. Instead, he allowed his production manager, design manager, and copy manager take care of the subgroups.

Leadership Week 4: Ethics in Leadership

Outdoors at Rosa Parks. Don't worry, I discuss skating in this post. 

Evaluating my score on the Followership assessment, I was found to be an Exemplary Follower, high in independent thinking and active engagement. I agree with the statement that I am “actively engaged, using talent for the benefit of the organization... function from intrinsic motivation and a selfless commitment to both the leader and the organization.”

Then there’s the suggestion in ways to improve my style. Some I already do, like being a group encourager – this is one of the reasons I have earned the nickname “prom queen,” I even have the club jacket to prove it. Also, one of my most consistent best practices is to be part of the solution, and not the problem. I do see another one of my weaknesses cropping up though, focus on listening before offering suggestions. I wonder if my eagerness to come up with the solution prevents me from listening to others. Something to think about…

Moving on to chapter 13 and Ethics, and I don’t know what to think of my scores. I score a 3 for Duty, 2 for Virtue and Justice, and 1 each for Utilitarian, Caring, and Egoism. The assessment states “comparing your scores can give you a sense of what is important to you when addressing an ethical concern.” The best thing I can tell you about my answers was, it depends! I answered the best I could with the information I had, and my thought process yesterday. If I were to retake it today, I can see the needle moving towards virtue or justice. If I were in a bad mood, I might just look out for #1 and score high on egoism.

Is that how slippery ethics can be?

Looking at suggestions to improve may make my personal style a little clearer. For duty, taking emotion out of the equation is a trait I should work on. For virtue, comparing the values with the decision and my personal values is kind of an eye-opening concept to explore. And for justice, seeking guidance while listening to others to come to the fairest and most just decision.

For ethical leadership in practice, I will use my experience as a figure skating judge.

Respect others. A test panel is composed of three judges evaluating a set of skills the skater performs against an accepted standard for that level, pre-preliminary through senior. Competitions panels of 3-9 rank a group of skaters based on performances. As a panel, we must have similar values, attitudes, and beliefs to establish those standards in skating. Most importantly, we must respect the skater’s talents, and respect the expertise of the panel.

Serve others. As unpaid volunteers, we aren’t in it for the paycheck. We judge because we love the sport. And we are in it for the long haul: US Figure Skating annually publishes service awards for officials that have served the sport 25, 50, even 60 years.

Shows justice. In order to become a judge, you have to trial for a minimum of two years. This is to determine if your evaluations are fair and just. Is your evaluation accurate to the execution? Are your marks based on anything other than the performance you just saw?

Manifests honesty. I once judged a skater I knew well at a competition. She fell several times and I placed her low. Club members were outraged that I failed to ‘prop’ her up. But because I was honest, I made it possible for the skater to reveal the truth: she was hiding injuries caused by a rapid growth spurt and finally confessed this to her mother and her coach.

Builds community. Bonded by our duty and shared history, as well as respect for one another, our community of judges are a tight knit group.

 
Ethical leadership matters in figure skating, because without it, there would be a loss of credibility and trust in the governing structures nationally and internationally. To this day, we work in the shadow of the 2002 Olympic scandal, when members of two judging panels were caught trading placements in one discipline for the other. The scandal is one of the reasons I became a judge, and the desire to serve my sport while being fair and just are reasons to stay.

Leadership Week 3: Leadership Challenges and Solutions

So this happened. Allow me the delusion that Paul McCartney sent me a valentine, luv. 

I've been hard at work, and haven't been posting! Since not too much is happening up at the cottage, I've been focusing on my class, and cannot believe it's almost over. I'm excited that I have a perfect score so far of 220/220, but I'm anxious that 700 points towards my final grade have yet to be recorded!

Here's my paper for week 3:

In our text, we learn a servant leader is defined as one who is attentive to the concerns of followers, empathizes, and nurtures. They are ethical and lead in a way that serves the greater good of the organization, community, and society at large. (Northouse, 2019)

I evaluated the responses on the two surveys for the Servant Leader, and honestly, not surprised by the results. As someone who has made a career in nonprofit and volunteer work, qualities such as emotional healing, community value, empowerment, helping others grow, putting others first, and ethics is in my comfort zone. Of all the leadership styles we have learned, this may be the closest to how I would define my style and who I am.

I’m feeling a little more apprehensive about adaptive leadership. Our text defines an adaptive leader as someone who engages in activities that mobilize, motivate, organize, orient, and focus the attention of others. (Northouse, 2019) I don’t see myself as a boss lady; but what do others believe? I solicited coworkers to fill the assessments. What did I learn?

I scored high in areas where I analyze situations and reflect, a.k.a., get on the balcony. I also scored high as one who regulates distress by tackling difficult problems or reducing stress in others. The last area I scored well in was protecting leadership voices. I’m glad to know coworkers feel I am a team player that listens.

I scored moderately ok where the questions were looking towards someone in a position of authority: adaptive challenge, disciplined attention, and giving the work back to the people. Er, I AM the people. I am not given elephants to tackle. In my position, the relationship I have with these coworkers is one of collaboration, not authority. My best interpretation on ways to improve in these areas is to share the burden in conflicts instead of taking it on myself, maintain focus to complete jobs successfully and on time, and take charge in finding a possible solution to present to my supervisor when problems arise.

A current leadership challenge I am facing is managing a new project with a new client while adhering to the university’s reduced-print rules. It would be an asset to use adaptive leadership, becoming the leader who looks for solutions to resolve the issues. (Northouse, 2019)

For this project, I met with LT, who was looking to replace an outdated, bulky publication. There is sentimental value in the publication, but allocations to produce the piece have grown smaller in terms of time, talent, and budget. The solution is to create something leaner that maintains its sentimental value.

First, look at the big picture. I needed to project manage, and step away to see all the moving parts that need to be included, and assess everyone’s role in producing the piece.

Second, analyze what is needed. I need to communicate clearly with LT, share that with my team, and manage production. Today, I hashed out with SA the general idea of what the piece should look like, and orchestrated our group meeting on Tuesday.

Next, direct the project, stay productive, and not stress out! Tomorrow, I will create a document containing all the content. That means some information, including some “sacred cows” will be sacrificed, especially when you are cutting 60 pages down to eight.

Maintain discipline attention: work on that project schedule to stay on time!

Within the schedule, give the graphic designers and writers the time to do what they do best, and let them problem solve within the project.

And finally, listen and be open to ideas within the group. This is a new project, and creative people need the room to create.