It had me clarify that my strengths and interests lie closer to leadership rather than management. The blue sky/horizon viewpoint sits better (with more challenge, excitement attached to it) in my viewfinder. As an idealist I am interested in dreaming and working backwards, aiming to reach high and then mixing that in with just how high is possible without wobbling too much.
Another point I responded to was the thought that "everyone is a leader". While I have always believed and acknowledged that, attending this course has 'allowed' (dunno why I had to give myself permission?) me to use the word lead more frequently. An example is where a colleague called me 'as a friend'/off the record wanting some input on a timetable glitch. He was supposed to be team teaching with another but the other lecturer had been timetabled somewhere else at the same time. This meant there was a large student lecturer ratio in a highly technical class. He was feeling overloaded, unsupported and stressed and wanted to advice re what to do. He had experienced some communication problems with tech staff supporting the course and felt totally overwhelmed. He is a conscientious lecturer who was worried about not doing as good a job as he usually does. After a long conversation, we discussed that he had lots of options, one of which included leading the next steps on this. This might mean presenting a plan to the HoS to enable more support in this course, he could talk to the tech staff and work out a more integrated plan, he could cut down some of the assessment load by assessing a different way... I also offered to talk to the HoS from a T&L perspective as this type of timetabling (in my opinion) is detrimental to students' learning and shouldn't happen - or at least a plan of support for the solo lecturer needed to be put in place to before this tipping point was reached. Result: the lecturer chose to lead the solution to this, he talked to HoS, techs and rejigged some of the class. I also mentioned, very casually, to HoS that I was aware a staff member was feeling stressed around this timetabling issue. The issue was solved/lead by a less direct approach - a while ago I would have felt the need to jump in to support this member of staff in a much less subtle way (guns blazing - well not quite - and probably would have been seen to be overly critical).
Learning from this: while I acknowledge and subscribe to direct communication wherever possible, facilitating a member of staff to lead in his own solution was both effective and rewarding (for all). I still have an issue with timetabling staff in two places at once, but will broach that at a later stage, when necessary. I think I'm learning to pick my moments and not to try to solve everything at once - see below - it can wait.
Leaders with whom I've worked/admired/aspired to..
what qualities have you responded to?
JB - assertive, challenging, interested in the individual/my development
MS - tough, rigorous, supportive
LC - creative approach, funny, supportive
PS - straight forward, critical, good sense of humour
KK - honest, clear communicator, interested in the individual, knows her stuff
The leader I'd like to be:
inspirational/forward thinking, interested in the individual, focussed on people, adaptable, challenging, supportive, creative, clear communicator, trusted, informed, open to new ideas
Notes from Kate:
Always be part of the solution
Listen/watch make sure people think you've listened
it can wait (esp if it's heated)
Find a quote that encapsulates my thinking around leadership and the leader I'd like to be. Not quite there yet, but these are a beginning:
No matter what job you're in, you'll only be successful if you can "make things happen."
Mindtools.com newsletter 205 Make it Happen!
James Manktelow and Rachel Thompson
"There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened."
Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman
"Initiative is doing the right thing without being told."
- Victor Hugo, French writer
Pondering...
Having initiative is an important element/attribute for me. The thing I need to figure out better is how to fully utilise my initiative where there may be barriers... Questions: are these actual barriers or perceived barriers? Isn't leadership about doing it anyway?
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