Oct
29
I had the good fortune to attend the Johnson Center’s CEO 601: Advanced Leadership course last week as both a staff member and a participant. CEO 601 is a unique offering for nonprofit leaders that provides an opportunity for participants to focus on leadership skills and spend time in self-reflection.
While it would be easy enough to list the activities and highlight some of the discussions, I would find it difficult to describe the positive energy, the sharing, and the overall learning that took place during those three days. The activities were not unique or radically profound; in fact I had done several of them on more than one occasion. But I had never before come away with such a clear plan of action or sense of commitment. I found the entire process had great meaning for me; one exercise in particular.
An assessment of the six roles that we play in our everyday lives; personal, couple, family, friends, work, and community, revealed a tremendous disparity between how I wanted to prioritize my time and how I was actually choosing to spend my days. I find great satisfaction and value in the work that I do, but how did it become such a huge piece of the pie chart? This lack of balance has been causing a lot of stress in my life - both at home and at work. I’m excited about putting into action the plan I created on our final day of CEO 601.
In our discussion of the next generation of leaders, I think this exercise brings some important considerations to the forefront. I think nonprofit leaders in particular, because of their passion for the causes that they champion, have fuzzier boundaries between their personal and professional lives than their for-profit counterparts. Regardless of generation, an honest assessment of our boundaries and priorities will go a long way to creating more effective leadership (existing and future) for our sector.
Written by: Jane Kreha
Oct
17
This week at the Johnson Center we are hosting the annual CEO 601: Advanced Leadership workshop, which offers the critical support that nonprofit leaders need to remain focused on mission. The 3-day workshop helps CEOs to enhance leadership skills and explore areas for personal growth and renewal.
This year, Tadd Owens from Inner Action Organizational Consulting, is facilitating. He will be presenting on the Cycle of Renewal, The Breakthrough Principal, and Balancing the Roles and Activities of Your Life & Work, among other things.
Tadd gives some suggestions about work and life balance:
- Invest in meaningful activities and minimize activities that do not add meaning to your life.
- Pursue personal fulfillment through selected roles and avoid getting used to and consumed by roles that have little to do with your sense of purpose.
To help achieve balance, Tadd suggests making a pie chart of your life, featuring the six human systems. The six human systems are:
- Personal - The care and feeding of yourself
- Couple - The fun intimate contact, and management of an ongoing relationship
- Family - Your caring connections with children, parents, and extended family members
- Friends - Your caring connections with close friends and other acquaintances
- Work - Your job, career, or volunteer efforts
- Community - Your involvement in community organizations and activities
Examine how you have scheduled yourself into these six human systems during the past few months and years by illustrating in your pie chart how much energy you put into the six identified areas. Are you pleased with what you see?
Written by Tera Wozniak
Oct
11
Generation Q?
Filed Under Generational Dynamics | Leave a Comment
After reading the opinion article Generation Q, I became slightly frustrated at the fact that the next generation of leaders are being chastised for our lack of “real activism” and settled demeanors. Generation Q, is otherwise known as Generation Quiet.
This is not the first time I have been a part of a discussion that details the shortcomings of our generation. We lack courage, we don’t know real lobbying and activism, and we don’t know struggle. All these reasons plus our “addiction” to technology are said to have hindered us in developing leadership qualities.
Leadership comes in different forms, and it baffles me how our current forms of leadership are viewed unacceptable. Blogging, campus organizations and small campus rallies just don’t satisfy the generations who came before us or qualify as leadership. Why can’t generations before us accept that we ARE leaders, just non-tradtional leaders. We are leaders of the new school. Leaders in the past have tackled issues of inequality and racism in a radical and vocal way. However, issues like these are still very real. Perhaps it is not that our generation is quiet, but that we have recognized past approaches did not work, thus we are starting with a new approach and fresh eyes.
Have any of these critics marched in the streets to protest the ludicrous war in Iraq? Have they been vocal and unaccepting of the government’s looming financial deficit? I think the answer is NO! True leaders lead by example. Who are our examples? Where is our JFK? Who do we follow? Where do we gain our skill sets from? Are our facebook crusades not good enough? So we don’t march nationally and make the 6 p.m. news, but the marches and rallies that we have on small campuses and street corners go unrewarded and overlooked.
Why can’t those who criticize us just accept that our leadership style is not like theirs? Our style of leadership is to touch and/or change one mind at a time, then the masses will follow. Being loud doesn’t necesarrily mean you are being heard. However, being strategic in your approach is guaranteed visibility and success.
A great example of old and new leadership coming together is the current nationally recognized Jena 6 case. Young and old leaders put their leadership styles together to protest for a common cause. The internet, youtube clips, blogs, facebook groups, and online petitions were tools used to help move a mass of people who were furious about an issue and demanded justice and answers. Each generation did what they knew how to do best.
Instead of pulling and straining harder on the disconnection between the old and new styles of leadership why don’t we combine the two and make an impact that is truly powerful.
Besides, is quiet how you really want to describe this generation of leaders:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6coHJp1Aj0]
–JRB
