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Thoughts on Leadership

Leading others is one of the greatest honours (and greatest challenges) of my life. I dive into it daily with a mixture of anticipation, inspiration, vulnerability, fear, and hope. Our leaders matter. What we do as leaders matters greatly.

One of my greatest inspirations for leadership is Brene Brown, author of Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead (2012),  research professor, and thought leader about vulnerability and courage.

She gives voice to so many of us engaged in leadership who “enter the arena” with equal parts bravery and vulnerability. One (often) hidden aspect of leadership is the courage it takes to be vulnerable, to challenge assumptions, to create innovative solutions to ongoing problems, and to ultimately, lead people down paths we have not yet walked ourselves.

“If you don’t understand vulnerability, you cannot manage and lead people. If you’re not showing up vulnerably as a leader, you can’t expect anyone to follow you—period.” –Brene Brown

The challenge we have as leaders is to combine our vulnerability with a bravery to lead others, to care for them, to imagine a better future for our families and our communities, our corporations and institutions — our world. The stakes are (at times) high. The outcomes matter. That’s why, as leaders, we must be at the same time aware of our vulnerability and areas of weakness, and confident enough to imagine better paths ahead — and lead others down those paths.

“Is there anyone that does not need to navigate uncertainty and risk on a regular basis? To be alive is to be vulnerable; to be a leader is to be vulnerable every minute of the day. You don’t get to opt out.” — Brene Brown

We travel this journey together as we engage individually and collectively in our own leadership development.

A shout out to LDRS 500 Leadership Foundation students at TWU in Summer 2018 as we embark on this learning experience together.

Leadership Prof

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Bias in our Classrooms: Girls and Boys become Women and Men

Education is certainly one field where women are very active in leadership. However, research consistently shows that there still remains a common theme of gender bias within classrooms (taught by both women and men teachers).

This inherent bias continues to challenge so many of us as educators, who often have deeply-held values regarding equality of access and academic success for all learners, regardless of gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and other factors. Yet, despite these values, the experiences of students too often reflect an unconscious bias.

Einarsson and Granstrom (2010) who studied the interactions between students and their teachers through classroom observations, found a substantial difference in the attention given to students by their teachers.

“The classroom observations revealed that boys, in general, are given more attention than girls. However, male teachers increase the attention paid to girls when the pupils get older, while female teachers always give more attention to boys.” (Einarsson & Granstrom, 2010)

As an educator and leader within higher education, I believe that what happens in the university (or college) can change the world. Individual lives are shaped by education; families, companies, communities and nations are shaped by individuals. Therefore, what happens in our educational environments is critical to our future.

So what does this type of bias within our educational settings mean for our future families and companies and communities and nations? What does it mean for the children who experience this bias? And what does it mean for us as educators?

As Allyson Jule writes in her book, “Gender, participation and silence in the language classroom: Sh-shushing the girls” (2004):

“The classroom is a microcosm of society. Who counts here and why? The shushing of the girls is a complicated thing. We can’t solve it, but our awareness can make a great deal of difference here and this can affect the way we manage gender. If we as parents really see that gender is a big ‘card’ to play, and if we understand some of the ways it limits as well as propels people, then we can articulate this better to our children.” (Jule, 2004)

Because education plays such a critical role in opening opportunities for students, both today and in the future, our thinking about fundamental bias in teaching is a critical component of reflective teaching. Beginning with an awareness of how we, as educators, support students voices within the classroom is a start. For those of us who also hold leadership positions, we must also be reflective about creating spaces for the voices of others within our organizations, regardless of gender (or other factors).

 

Einarsson, C. & Granstrom, K. (2010). Gender-biased interaction in the classroom: The influence of gender and age in the relationship between teacher and pupil. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research. (46)2, pp. 117-127.

Julé, A. (2004). Gender, participation and silence in the language classroom: Sh-shushing the girls. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

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Who do you want to be?

On our Linkedin profiles we are asked to describe ourselves in a few words. In fact, in all our social media platforms, we create a “profile” – somehow trying to capture (in just a few words, mind you!) the essence of who we are.

So, who are you? Who do you want to be?

Today I am inspired by this quote from Coco Chanel, the French fashion designer who, in addition to her successful career, somehow also manages to offer such succinct and poetic truths that she is often quoted. I am sure some of you know more about her than I — but I do know there is truth to this statement, attributed to her:

“How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something, but to be someone.” – Coco Chanel

Our mornings (and afternoons and evenings and sleep-deprived nights) are often filled with a long to-do list, which runs like a long-running binge-watching Netflix series that never seems to run out of new episodes. I must: Prepare for the meeting. Write a strategic plan. Pick up contact solution. Schedule a doctor’s appointment. Unload the dishwasher. Load the dishwasher. (How did the sink get full of dishes again?) Review the budget. Prepare a report. Answer a bazillion emails. Send a bazillion more.

What if we changed the focus? What if we thought less about what we have to do today and more about who we want to be today, as Chanel suggests? What if, instead of focusing on our to-do lists, we focused on taking a deep breath in. And out. What if we focused on making a “meaningful contribution to humanity” as Adriene Mishler of Yoga with Adriene said at the end of “Yoga Morning Fresh”?

“When we take time to fill our cup we can then allow it to overflow so we can help others find a meaningful contribution to humanity. But there’s no pressure to do that in a day. So, just do your best and find what feels good. Deep breath in. Long breath out.”

— Adriene Mishler of Yoga with Adriene

What if we began our days with the intention to experience and create beauty in this world of ours? What if we paid attention to the needs and hopes of those with whom we connect?

What cares would we lose if we decided, today, to be:

  • Loving
  • Focused
  • Authentic
  • Vulnerable
  • Inspirational
  • Hopeful

Would we get just as much done? Would we make a meaningful contribution to humanity? Would we create a world that is safer and more beautiful for all of us?

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What if your morning routine included an oasis of beauty and inspiration?

Every now and then I run across an article titled something like: “What successful CEOs do before breakfast” or “The top five things high-performing leaders do before 5 am.”

I don’t know about you, but what I’m doing before 5 am (or 6 am for that matter) is sleeping. And what I’m doing in the morning (after pushing the snooze on my alarm too many times) is running around frantically trying to remember how to make breakfast and lunches in the fog that is the early morning.

For those of you who are a bit more like me and a bit less like the 5 am over-achievers, here is one habit I have developed to begin my work day with the intention to create beauty, be authentic, and inspire those with whom I connect.

If at all possible, I squeeze in an invigorating morning walk (while listening to a thought-provoking or inspiring podcast — often Happier by Gretchen Rubin or the NPR Ted Radio Hour) which is a wonderful oasis between morning craziness and diving into work.

Then, when I sit down at my desk and wait for my computer to start up, I open the top drawer of my desk where I have arranged some beautiful aromatherapy hand cream (aptly named “focus“), a daily gratitude book with mesmerizing National Geographic photos and inspiring quotes on topics like beauty and wisdom, and a beautiful planner I recently purchased (after years of using online calendars).

While my computer starts up, I set up my streaming music, inhale deeply to breathe in the scent of my hand cream, take a moment to gaze at an inspiring photo and take in the deep thoughts of the day, sip my coffee, and then open up my planner to begin my day. This routine makes me excited to sit down at my desk, appeals to all my senses, and helps begin the day with beauty and hope.

What if you created an oasis of beauty and inspiration in your morning routine?

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Why grit matters so much in graduate learning

Graduate education is challenging. At this stage of the journey, there is always a whole lot of life going on and it can be hard to find the time for scholarly reading and thinking. Within this context, when you are asked to “dive deeper,” integrate more of the readings into your work, and stretch yourself, it can be challenging.

In graduate work, most of us, at some point think things like: This is too hard. How do they expect me to think/read/write like this? Lots of people are just fine without their grad degrees; this is optional; why am I doing this?

Graduate education is challenging. Learning generally is. You are being challenged to think and grow and read and write in new ways. You are becoming scholar practitioners — the very best kind. The kind who can think in new ways, adapt research you read to your own context, and lead your disciplines and organizations and communities and nations to solve problems that continue to challenge our world.

At the very foundation, I believe in learning and I believe in students — in your ability to learn and grow and think in new and different ways. It will take some determination. It may be harder than you expected. But in the end, the ability to think like a scholar in your professional context will be invaluable.

In the words of one of this decade’s most inspiring authors and thought leaders, if you persist, you’ll be able to say this:

 “I won’t just have a job; I’ll have a calling. I’ll challenge myself every day. When I get knocked down, I’ll get back up. I may not be the smartest person in the room, but I’ll strive to be the grittiest” (Duckworth, 2016, p. xv ).

Here’s to you — with all your brains and imagination and challenges and overwhelm and talent and life and opportunity and grit. Here’s to your grit.

Leadership Prof

Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit: The power of passion and perseverance. Simon & Schuster: New York.

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The importance of practice (none of us knows how to do things, until we do)

Last year, on a long family roadtrip, I discovered that Shonda Rhimes, writer of Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and Scandal,  is also the author of the inspirational book Year of Yes: How to dance it out, stand in the sun, and be your own self. Rhimes has become a bit of a personal hero of mine — often capturing the challenges of everyday life in such a creative, poetic, and matter-of-fact way that — in the middle of an entertaining story — you realize you have just heard great wisdom.

One of the stories that always sticks with me is a conversation between Dr. Burke and Dr. Yang regarding a mentor to Burke – an accomplished violinist who’s life Burke was trying to save.

It says something important about life. And learning.

Burke: There was an interview that Eugene gave.  I saved it.  I taped it to my bathroom mirror.  He said that he wasn’t the most talented student at music school, but he said what he lacked in natural ability he made up for in discipline.  He practiced.  All the time.  All the time he practiced.  I wasn’t like you, I wasn’t the most talented student in school, I wasn’t the brightest, but I was the best.  

Yang: You practiced.

Burke: I practiced

Grey’s Anatomy, Blues for Sister Someone (Season 2, Episode 23)

Rhimes, S. (2015): Year of yes: How to dance it out, stand in the sun, and be your own person. Simon & Schuster: New York.

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Uncovering play: What if we played more Rock Band?

As I imagine and live out my days, I’m often astounded by the intersections of ideas — how learning assessment and leadership development and teaching and playing and creativity and fear and risk and failure and vulnerability and bravery are all necessary parts of the university experience — for both learners and teachers (who are also and always learners as well).

Today I’m inspired (as I often am) by Gretchen Rubin’s thoughts on the intersections between work and play.

“.. conditions matter tremendously. Work that might be enjoyable in some circumstances becomes hideous drudgery in other circumstances” — Gretchen Rubin.

What if we focused more on the “play” aspects of learning — the exciting process of discovering new ideas, the creativity of imagining worlds where the impossible is possible, and the invigorating power of exploration — and discovering the mysteries that lay just around the bend?

What if, as this NPR Ted Radio Hour suggests, we played more “Rock Band” and had fewer committee meetings? Would we unleash our potential for innovation in some new and fresh way? Would we still be taken seriously in the world of academia? Would it matter?

 

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Who do you want to follow?

I often wonder which leadership strength is greater — the ability to offer a compelling vision, or the art of guiding a group in the process of creating, together, a shared vision.

Valencia College in Orlando, FL is the home to several transformation leaders — and a compelling cause. And Valencia’s success in improving student learning and success has garnered national attention for several decades. This article highlights the power of “big ideas” (aka, a “cause with charisma”) in inspiring people at all levels of the organization to work harder and achieve great things than most think possible.