Week 4 (Part IV): June 27th

Wed, 27 Jun 2018 12:03:33 GMT

1. Part IV is all about leading leaders. Think back on all of your professional experiences. Who is the best leader that you’ve ever worked with? What made them so great? How did they inspire people to want to follow them?

2. Mentoring can be a large piece of working in higher education. What are some ways that you’ve felt you have been an excellent mentor, and what are 1-2 ways you would like to improve your mentorship?

3. When you are stressed or overwhelmed by your leadership roles, what are some ways that you recharge yourself?

4. What is the best piece of advice, or words or wisdom that someone has shared with you about being a leader? How has it helped you in your current or past leadership roles?

Wed, 27 Jun 2018 22:36:37 GMT

3. I love the quote on page 202, "Some good managers believe it is a badge of honor to be tired and stressed, as it is an indicator of how hard they are working. Meanwhile, the exceptional leader is like organized lightning, with both a calming presence and an intensity that raises the whole energy of the situations they engage." Similar to the previous chapter where those who fight fires tend to be the ones who receive the spotlight, those leaders who make a show of always working seem to be the ones people think of as the most effective leaders. However, as the book points out, leaders who do not take care of themselves cannot hope to lead with their best potential. It is important to block out time for activities that energize yourself so you can give back to the team.

Page 201 begins a list of 4 suggestions to master ownership of your energy levels. When looking at this list, I found that I typically did number 1 and 4- doing things that energize you and give yourself the gift of empty spaces. For me, I get my energy back through walking dogs with the local animal shelter and reading books for fun. These times for me are put onto my calendar and are treated as a priority in my life in order to give me balance. However, these energy builders I have created all take place outside of the work hours. I currently don't have many during the work day strategies, as suggested in points 2 and 3. Moving forward, I will try to implement more of the second suggestion to give myself more energy breaks during the actual work day. Currently, my office space is located behind the front desk at our Community Center. While this gives me a lot of access to students, it can also be something that drains a lot of my extroverted energy for the day as I constantly hear student conversations or get asked questions by the student working the desk. This upcoming year, I plan to keep my office door closed during some hours of the day, such as when I am working on projects, in order to give myself a break from what can eat up a lot of my energy.