Putting it into Practice

As I reflected on what has transpired over the past several weeks, I wanted to revisit the essay that I had prepared in hopes of being selected for this wonderful leadership opportunity.  Here is my original objective from that essay:

“My ultimate objective is to improve the impact of my team on the customers they serve.  To accomplish this, I want to invest in my team and motivate them with a strategic plan they align with and support that enables their success.  The result will hopefully result in an evolution of my team to deliver high quality service.”

Over the past several weeks I have taken the opportunity to share with my team what I have learned and the tools that were introduced to us during the first workshop.  After sharing my experiences we began to discuss how some of these basic things might apply to all.  I kept going back to the philosophy that there are opportunities to lead in every position.  It took a few minutes for everyone to see what I meant by this, but it became apparent as I talked through some examples.  Outside of our normal bi-weekly meetings, we have established individual coaching and feedback sessions that will enable me to work closely with my direct reports and to develop opportunities for improvement and advancement.  My hope is to empower them to engage more frequently and provide them the opportunity to lead.  Not only will this help them personally and professionally, but it will create opportunities for me as well.

In addition to focusing on coaching, I have been working on establishing key goals for myself and putting things into practice to allow me to obtain my goals.  The most important piece for me is repetition.  Get it on the calendar and don’t deviate from it. 

Here are some of the practices that I have put into place:

• Spend 30 minutes every Monday morning planning the week
• Set aside 1 hour a week for strategic planning
• Delegate – I keep going back to the phrase that I heard from Susan at our first workshop, “How many things are we doing daily that we are being overpaid.”  I began by identifying all the activities that I do today, and then put them into buckets. I then decided which of these activities could or should be delegated.  This is an area that I have seen improvements in already.            

As I look back at my career here at the university, one of the greatest joys is to see your team be successful and to be acknowledged for a job well done.