Category: LDRS500 (Page 1 of 5)

https://create.twu.ca/achsahs-springs/2018/07/04/drawing-to-a-close-unit-10-learning-activity-1/

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all of your blog posts throughout this course! Sometimes we go through life not knowing how our words and actions silently impact others and I wanted to take a moment to let you know that your genuine and honest reflections have inspired me and also comforted me on this journey.   I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know you a little bit better through your posts and feel like we would have a lot to talk about over a cup of coffee!

I especially connected with your comment about becoming more intentional about supporting women in your workplace. I too, was stunned to realize my own unconscious biases in this area and after interviewing 3 different women in my school district, I began to realize just how much of a glass ceiling still exists today.  There is much to be done in this area. I recently completed reading Sheryl Sandberg’s book called Lean In and highly recommend it. She openly and honestly discusses gender bias and how women sometimes unknowingly sabotage themselves by feeling guilty or unworthy to sit at the conference room table. I could relate to many points in her book and feel like I am more aware than ever of blatant gender bias that I had overlooked due to ignorance. Here is a link to a compelling article by Forbes online that discusses 10 Things that Sheryl Sandberg gets right in her book.   I want to be more cognizant of my actions moving forward. I also want to help support and build other women in my organization up and help them receive the recognition their contributions deserve that are often overlooked.  For the sake of my children, my students and our future generations, I really want to make a difference. Recognizing my own biases and my own self imposed restrictions was definitely a start in the right direction and I am excited about the possibilities to come!

References

Adams, S. (2013, Mar. 4). 10 Things Sheryl Sandberg gets exactly right in “Lean In”. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/03/04/10-things-sheryl-sandberg-gets-exactly-right-in-lean-in/#741607947ada

Sandberg, S. (2013). Lean in: Women, work, and the will to lead (First edition.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

https://create.twu.ca/lewaahmed/2018/07/02/ldrs-500-unit-9-learning-activity-2/

I appreciated all of the information that you have shared about how Walmart over the years has successfully adapted to the ever changing technological environment while simultaneously sustaining their vision and goal of remaining a retail giant.

I completely agreed with your point of how fascinated and blown away people from the 9th century would have been to learn about airplanes and other technological advances. It is also true that just as massive innovative changes and procedures will continue to happen in the years to come that we currently are unable to even fathom. It is difficult to have foresight when there are constantly new things being discovered and created. It is even more difficult to have foresight that will be sustainable and allow for even more growth.

www.bettertodayclub.com

What I have learned from this course and one related quote that is meaningful to me…

I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of this course. I have walked away a different person than when I started. I have learned how to become a better learner, a better listener and a better human being.  At the start of this course, as we read Northouse (2019), I identified myself as having more of the traits of transformational leadership than servant leadership, however, due to my awareness of what I am still lacking, I am working on combining the two. One area in particular that I need to work on when it comes to servant leadership is helping other adults and colleagues grow and succeed.  Doing this with my students is second nature to me, however, I need to continue this practice outside of the four walls of the classroom and bring it into all areas.  Another area that I am going to focus on more when it comes to servant leadership is creating value for the community. I want to consciously give back.

A quote that affected me profoundly both professionally and personally comes from Mary Pickford in Watson’s (1988) Light From Many Lamps. 

Today is a new day. You will get out of it just what you put into it. If you have made mistakes, even serious mistakes, there is always another chance for you. And supposing you have tried and failed again and again,  you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call “failure” is not the falling down, but the staying down. ~ Mary Pickford

Watson (1988, p.158)

I think it is so important to acknowledge that as human beings we all make mistakes and we will all fall down at some point. None of us are immune to mistakes. Failure is not as Mary Pickford says, falling down, nor making mistakes. I love that we all have the opportunity for a fresh start, despite the number of times we have tried. As a parent of teenage son who is struggling to find his way and who has had a rough year, I appreciate this advice. I am grateful for forgiveness, for second chances, for fresh starts and for unconditional love. I am grateful for Jesus and our Heavenly Father who set this example for us.

What 2 course learnings have impacted my practice…

I have developed an even bigger appreciation for the importance of taking the time to meaningfully listen to others. What I looked forward to the most in this course was reading the Light From Many Lamps posts as they shared a special insight into each person’s experience and leadership journey.  These posts in particular enabled us to learn from each other’s perspectives and to see things from a new lens. I loved the willingness to share and the vulnerability that brought us closer together as a group.  I felt inspired, motivated, encouraged and comforted. Not only were we learning from each other, but we were also learning from those who have walked the path before us.  William Ogdon, Frederic Loomis, Robert Browning, Abraham Lincoln, William Osler, Franklin Roosevelt, Thomas Carlyle, Mary Pickford, Shakespeare, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Confucius  … the list goes on.  I found myself sharing these stories with my co-workers, my students and my own children.  By interweaving them into my daily life, they opened the door for further discussion and contemplation and discovery. This is something that I wish to continue, to seek out inspirational readings and to share them with others so that I can continue to learn and grow. All too often, we try and hide our struggles and only publically share our successes because we worry about appearing weak or incompetent in front of our peers  … however, it is through these struggles that we all grow the most.

The biggest learning outcome I have had from this course is understanding better the important role that servant leaders have in not just helping to create a vision and culture but in sustaining it.  I know that I still have a long way to go when it comes to being a better transformational servant leader, however, I feel much better equipped in my understanding of what the role entails.  I try very hard to intentionally practice being sensitive to others well being, to help conceptualize a sustainable vision, to have humility, to put others first before myself, to always behave ethically (how would I feel if this was on the 6 o’clock news), to make decisions that benefit the whole community (not just myself or my students), and to empower others.

References

Northouse, P.G. (2019). Leadership: Theory & Practice (8th ed). Sage Publications.

Watson, L.E. (1988). Light from Many Lamps, (1st Fireside Edition). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Please note that for this assignment, I separately interviewed 3 women from my school district who are all at different points on their leadership journeys. Only one of them has agreed to have her name and title published in this blog. I have received permission from our Professor to leave the other women as anonymous.  I have included  excerpts from all of their answers as part of this blog post because I believe that what they have to share is extremely valuable.

It is interesting to note that there are far more females than males in the teaching profession in our district, yet, males by far outnumber females in district leadership roles. This is especially noticeable at the high school level. Why is this? Do males predominately enter education to become administrators and pursue leadership roles or is it just a fluke?

The first woman I interviewed was at the beginning of her journey as a school administrator in the role of Principal of an elementary school.  The second woman I interviewed is a retired Principal and the third woman is Dawne Tomlinson, Director of Instruction and former proud high school principal.

@dawnetomlinson
Twitter

Dawne’s story is extremely interesting, as she was the very first woman principal of  the very first high school built in our District. The hallways are lined with old portraits of moustached male principals and at the end of the row is a framed picture of a smiling and beaming Dawne.  Another male principal replaced her when she moved into her position at the school board office last year.

When asked what was the most challenging aspect of being a female leader the answers were synonymous with each other.  Every single woman that I interviewed talked about the difficulty of finding balance between home life and work. They each mentioned that everyone always talks about the need for ‘balance’ but ‘balance’ is actually a myth.  Each one of them mentioned the huge amount of guilt that they felt because they were unable to give 100% and ended up not doing anything perfectly.  If they gave 100% to work, then they were missing out on dinner at home or their child’s recital. If they gave 100% at home, then they were unable to answer that angry parent’s email or deal with the massive amount of paperwork that was piling up on their desks. They felt it was very difficult to do anything as well as they would have liked.  They mentioned that many of their male counterparts went out for drinks on Friday nights while they were busy rushing to Costco to get their groceries and racing home to make dinner for their families.  They all agreed that it is hard because they all want to do a good job in a world that is dominated by men. At the end of the day, the woman is still the primary caregiver of kids and women are trying to work in a world that has more expectations of your time.  The favourite meeting time for male principals is breakfast which is really hard when you have little kids. We are not yet at a place where we recognize that there isn’t an even division of responsibilities. So, women live their lives in guilt because they aren’t fully present for anyone or anything. They are pulled in multiple directions that their male counterparts don’t experience to the same extent.

Some excerpts from the interviews when asked about the biggest challenge they face or faced:

• “It’s daunting to walk into a room filled with male principals and I have had to learn to walk in with confidence knowing that I have the knowledge to do the job. I stayed quiet a lot in the beginning and felt that I had to earn my seat at the table. I only spoke when I felt it was essential and when I had something necessary to add to the conversation.”
• “My first leadership role was department head in a high school. At that time, the challenge I had was of not being taken seriously. I found that I was under greater scrutiny to prove myself than my male counterparts. My age at that time was also a challenge, as the more experienced female department heads were also skeptical. It did not help that I was good looking. The assumption right away was that I did not have the intelligence to be in leadership. I also faced jealousy from other women. Snide comments, sarcastic references and subtle and unsubtle comments were not unusual. I developed a thick skin fast.”
• “A lot of times, dads have come in to speak to the principal and they look right past me and automatically assume my male vice-principal is the principal.”
• “When I became principal of an elementary school, I found I really had to act the role. If I knew it was an important parent meeting, I dressed the part. Power suit and exuded confidence. The fathers of students would be skeptical. Handshakes were deliberately firm. On one occasion when I had made an unpopular decision, the dad posted on Facebook a rude sexual comment. I think women leaders are more prone to receive insults like that.”

When asked what they do to help meet or deal with the challenges they face…

• “Current role feels less guilty as my kids are older so I have more flexibility in my job. Same amount of hours but less urgencies to deal with. I try to be more mindful of delegating and trying to use the team more instead of just single handedly trying to do it all.”
• “Have created a G-Summit for Girls in Secondary which is a support group for women in leadership roles within secondary schools. It’s not about the role of women in leadership but about supporting women who are in leadership roles surrounded by males. It’s fun! We have a lot of laughs!”
• “It’s important for females to support each other and stop being competitive. I encourage others to live their truths and to praise each other!”
• “Hired a housekeeper and put structures in place so that I can be home for dinner each night. I’ve also dedicated time to spend with my husband.”

When asked what advice they would have for women in leadership…

• “Women need to be present, to take chances and step out of their comfort zones.  You need to show up or else you risk missing out. Relationships are huge! Be willing to ‘lean in’ and sit at the table.”
• “Focus on the gifts that you bring to the table because they will become noticed. Build relationships with males. Be yourself. Don’t allow yourself to be branded as a woman. Leave the labelling behind you! Speak up when you have an important idea to share. Don’t share just for the sake of talking. Don’t monopolize the conversation. The people who stand out and have been seen, have been really thoughtful and speak only when they have something to ADD to the conversation.”
• “Gender imbalances can happen in cycles. People gravitate to people who are like them. Men in positions of hiring leaders gravitate towards people who are like them. I don’t think it’s intentional who you gravitate towards. It’s hard for a system to see that and to notice a gender imbalance. Balance brings better dynamics to a group of leaders.”
• “Street cred is so important. If you can take on the tough challenges and be successful you get street credit with the males. People will respect the work that you have done.”
• “My advice is to go into leadership for the right reasons. If it is because you want others to think highly of you, forget it. If it is because you know you can make a positive contribution, you might be on the right track. It’s not the money! I would encourage women to think hard and not go into this lightly. It will affect your family, your health and your mental well-being.”
• “I think the glass ceiling is still there. One only has to look at how many women there are in positions of power and politics. And there is the question, ‘Is it worth it?’ ‘Why do we do it?'”

I greatly admire each of these women that I interviewed. I appreciated their candid honesty about the challenges of their roles and their experiences along the way. Each of these women are strong and courageous in their trail blazing.  As a school district, we are expected to promote inclusivity and to celebrate diversity and differences. While, I honestly don’t think it’s intentional on the part of the males in educational leadership that females tend to face far different challenges than their male counterparts, there is still some work to be done around gender inclusivity.  The interviews raised a lot of questions for me and left me pondering. While the women were willing to be interviewed and were very gracious about sharing their stories, they still requested to remain anonymous. How can we start to create change if we aren’t transparent? There is obviously a need for support, and women are supporting women through the creation of the G Summit Group, but how can we also get men on board too?  One of the women that I interviewed shared that someone once asked her “How does your husband feel about you taking on this role?”  She shared that she couldn’t honestly imagine a man being asked the same question. Why do people continue to ask these kinds of gender inequality questions?  Breaking new ground is never easy and is tough work, even for those who have been at it awhile.  I was left with this for now… “I went into administration because I knew I could contribute in a positive manner and influence adults to look at education in a way that would benefit children. I try to stay positive but I also look for affirmation that I am on the right track. Most of the time I just keep going and ignore the folks who are negative. Often it is their issue.”

Remington Typewriter Ad Image from Pinterest

It’s hard to believe now, but not that long ago, most businesses used typewriters for correspondence and paper mail to communicate with other organizations.  Invoices were handprinted or typed using carbon paper to make multiple copies.  File systems were all manual and involved lots and lots of paper.  Product orders were placed by telephone (like the Sears catalogue) or in person.  When you called an organization, you spoke to a human being and didn’t have to listen to a kajillion options just to have your call transferred to another automated system.

Jack Malgeri (2010), John Smart (2013) and Jack Ma (2016) all  discuss and share the importance of organizational foresight and the need for companies to continually look forward in order to improve their product and their services. Malgeri (2010) defines foresight as “the ability to develop and maintain a forward looking perspective and to anticipate emerging opportunities and problems by continually scanning the environment for trends and new developments” (p.39).  Jack Ma (2016) when discussing keys to success in the video clip, stated that companies who are currently successful today, are because they demonstrated foresight years earlier by “knowing what the problems are and identifying problems as opportunities.”  One area in particular that requires a tremendous amount of foresight is technology and being able to predict what the future trends will be. As mentioned by John Smart (2015), we now have smart cars, smart cities, smart networks, automation, robotics, wrist phones and google glasses.  Businesses and organizations need to be able to forecast the next best thing in order to stay successful in this ever changing environment.

Companies who can forecast technological changes that empower and enable their clients usually experience great success, such as Amazon or Apple . Technology now allows me to place my grocery order online and receive it all while sitting on my couch and wearing my pj’s. It allows me, at my own convenience to buy and ship Christmas and birthday gifts for friends and family without having to leave the comfort of my home.  It allows me to be able to instantly contact others through social media at all hours of the day and to expand my personal learning network. It allows me to video conference with people on the other side of the globe, to book my holidays, to correspond, to quickly and easily share information and files, to store information that I can retrieve from anywhere at anytime by the touch of a few buttons. It allows me to pay my bills, renew my library books, sign up for classes, attend school, watch how to videos, learn a new language and research lesson plans. I can receive  the news in real time, track my steps and calories, program my Roomba to vacuum (I wish I had one!), and check in on my dog (and even throw her a treat) while away from home.

Cars that drive themselves Image courtesy of www.forbes.com

My car is capable of parking itself,  warns me of unsafe lane changes and will apply the brakes for me when in cruise control.  Technology also enables me to cross the border more quickly through the use of eye scanners and can give me a full DNA and health report simply by providing a swab of saliva.  Robotics can enable surgeons to perform complicated surgeries and police to diffuse bombs. The list goes on and on.

Not all technology is helpful though especially when it comes to customer service. There is nothing more frustrating when you would like verbal customer service help and you can only initially speak to an automated telephone system or you are redirected to another part of the world with a bad connection and/or communication is difficult due to language barriers (Mobile phone and internet/tv companies are great examples of this).

Misrepresentation of Products www.buzzfeed.com

There is also the risk of product misrepresentation when using companies such as Amazon to order online. How a product looks in a picture or is described isn’t always what arrives in your mailbox. Technology allows for product and people manipulation through the use of photoshopping, so it becomes harder and harder to know where the real person ends and the unrealistic photoshopped fake person begins. Photoshopping does a terrible disservice to our young people and sends a message that they should be constantly working towards  achieving what is essentially the unattainable body/face. Another risk factor of technology lies with the protection of information shared. Cyber-hacking is a real threat now and suddenly our paper copies seem much safer and more protected in an age of information sharing and data tracking. Canada’s Simplii Financial (of which I am a customer) is an example of a recent hack and online threat where  customers found themselves suddenly helpless as accounts were depleted of their funds. In education, Google Classroom is simple and easy to use, however, our School District has now banned its use due to the location of Google’s servers being outside Canada and therefore outside of Canada’s laws and protections.

However, there are Canadian companies like MyBlueprint that show incredible organizational foresight by incorporating technological advances but also retaining integral services like being able to talk to a human being. MyBlueprint was founded in 2005 as a research project in a family’s basement and has grown today to serving over 300 plus school districts, 4000 schools and 600,000 students. They are committed to excellent customer service, providing innovative educational lessons and creating a platform for students to create portfolios to showcase learning. In the short time since I was introduced to MyBlueprint, the company has continued to evolve and grow their product.  Just like Jack Ma (2016) discusses in his video about success, MyBlueprint was created as an opportunity to address a problem and a lack of services/products  that existed in education.  The company is constantly updating and improving their product by incorporating  changes to the provincial education curriculums and by asking for feedback from their end users (students and teachers) on improving formatting to make it more user friendly and engaging.  As Canadian Universities seek ways to look at the whole student as opposed to just transcripts, MyBlueprint provides a safe environment for students to share their information and portfolios that better represent who they are and what they have to offer.

As consumers, we need to be aware of not just the rewards but also the risks of using technology offered by organizations today. It is our responsibility to become informed and knowledgable. When is the last time you read the legal service agreement for Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? Are you aware of which companies you choose to do business with online whose contractual fine print enables them to sell your information to third parties or track your data and purchases? Do you blindly click yes to proceed without reading the fine print? Perhaps, its time we do a little bit of research on how our mouse clicks can both help and hinder us.

References

Ma, J. ( 23 June 2016). Keys to success. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WjHZ5wLe6w

Malgeri, J. (2010). Organizational foresight and stewardship. Public Manager, 39(4), 39.

Smart, J. (July 2013). Leadership of technology change. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhdWqLNUJns