Gifted to Lead Session 2

Session 2 was titled "Navigating Your Leadership World". It covered self awareness, communication and managing power. My notes are all over the place from this session - almost every bit of free space had something written on it.
Self awareness - I need to be clear on who God made me to be; know how I have been gifted and use these gifts wherever I am; embrace my uniqueness; become comfortable with my brokenness; understand who I am and who I am not which will make saying yes to the right things and no to the wrong things easier; carve out my own path.
Communication/Managing Power - Find my "voice" which is my style and it comes from my core beliefs - something Bill Hybel calls "Holy Discontent"; speak up and be heard; give myself permission to make mistakes (tough for a perfectionist) so that I don't hold myself back; know my conflict style (avoid at all costs) * need to work on this*; own and collaborate power to energize teams; my team needs my voice; be prepared, be spiritual but be real; . Nancy O. sums it up from her book this way - " a women leader must develop the muscle of talking back from an inner core of strongly held values and beliefs, and a willingness to face her fears and even harness her anger in order to communicate with clarity, logic and passion."
In this session Nancy O mentioned that we each needed to find a word that would motivate and inspire us, to keep us going when things got tough. Her word was "flourish", she posted this in her office next to the team's mission statement. I am still looking for my word.
Some phrases that I need to incorporate into my life in order to become a better leader - "I am sorry", "I made a mistake", "I dropped the ball", "I need your help", and "I don't know, what do you think".
Things I will be working on - I will fight hard to be the leader God called me to be and remember that the heart of my leadership is God's vision and my gifts are from Him. I will try to better understand my brokenness, and I want to find "my word".

Posted in: on Monday, October 20, 2008 at at 6:41 PM 1 comments  

Gifted to Lead Session 1

On Monday, I had the opportunity to attend a conference at Willowcreek Community Church. This conference was "Gifted to Lead" featuring Nancy Beach and Nancy Ortberg. This was an interactive forum for women in leadership. (for us introverts interactive meant I had to talk to other people!) Session One was called "Growing up a Leader". Nancy B talked about her defining moments as a leader and obstacles she has had to overcome.

Some of my take-a-way notes:

* girls are labeled as "bossy" where boys are labeled as "assertive"

* I need to allow room for my gifts to be used

* I need to be better at receiving criticism in order to allow growth

* more than 50% of church attendees are women and we can't afford not to let them use their gifts.

The interactive part of this session I was to journal about and then share 2 of my defining moments and an obstacle I needed to overcome. One defining moment was to come from my childhood, and one from later in life.

My first defining moment was listening to my mom complain that growing up she only had two choices for a career - either become a teacher or a nurse. (she became a nurse) I thought this was odd, I didn't see or understand the reasoning behind why a woman couldn't be anything she wanted to be. I took this moment to decide I wasn't going to let gender decide what I was when I grew up. ( ironically I became a nurse too but I am in management) In my journalling I wondered if the reason my mom was so angry and critical of me was that she saw something in me that she wished she had??

My second defining moment occurred on a Friday evening after service was over. I had been serving as an usher for several months at the Friday Night service. (back when a crowded night had more than 65 attendees!) Rod asked to talk to me for a few minutes. Unfortunately, I can't recall his exact words, but he mentioned that although some churches felt women didn't belong in certain leadership positions, he felt that I had leadership potential, and would I consider leading the ushers. He went onto mention that he asked another to lead who was still thinking about it, and Rod felt that I might be better suited.

I left that night thinking why can't women lead? Women should be able to do anything they were gifted to do. I was also stunned that someone saw leadership qualities in me. I didn't consider myself a leader (although I was bossy as a child). I didn't jump at that opportunity to lead, but eventually I stepped up and have never looked back with regret.

At the end of session one I had the following insight- I need to bring out the leadership gifts of those I lead by finding tools to use during my meetings to learn about the gifts my direct reports have.

Stay tuned for insights from the other sessions!

Posted in: on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at at 8:05 PM 3 comments  

Chicago

This weekend I will be traveling to Chicago to attend a conference at Willowcreek. Although I have been to Willow/Chicago before, I have not had the opportunity to enjoy the city. My Google search has given me some info on the city - largest city by population Illinois; its a center of finance, industry and culture. I will have an afternoon to be a tourist and have been asking friends, family and coworkers what they suggest I go see/do.
Most common answers:
1. Retail Therapy on Michigan Ave.
2. Museums
3. Navy Pier
4. Exhibition Park
Suggestions are welcome!

Posted in: on Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at at 7:08 PM 1 comments  

Being a Woman in Leadership

I am currently reading Gifted to Lead by Nancy Beach. I wanted to read this before attending her conference on Monday in Chicago. Normally I like to finish the book, then blog about it; however I was struck by the chapter on finding your leadership style and voice, and needed to mull it over. Since the Summit I have been wrestling with the direction LIT should be going. The points Nancy made about leadership style and voice got me thinking that I need to work on defining my style. Nancy mentioned that during an interview it was pointed out to her that she had different communication styles based on the audience. Thinking about my voice and style I realized that I have different styles depending upon whether I am at work or church.

It was much easier to define my leadership style and voice in my paying leadership job, then my volunteer leadership job. In my paying job, I have a job description, as do my direct reports. Expectations are very clear and there is daily feedback as well as an annual review. My direct reports know that I would never ask them to do something I am not willing to do myself (Bill Hybels refers to this concept as "Speed of the Leader, Speed of the Team) ; they know that I will stand by their decisions and support them if they acted with the best intentions for the patient; I know just enough about their personal lives so they know I care, but not so much involved that I can't council them on an area that needs improvement; I never eat lunch with them in order to give them a space to be themselves with their coworkers/friends; I allow them flexibility with their schedules and they in turn give extra when necessary; we have affectionate nicknames for each other and an environment that is fun despite the serious nature of medicine; they know very well that if expectations are not met, there are consequences.

I have been able to develop this style by trial and error, as well as great mentoring from an awesome manager. Nancy puts it this way - I learned what it meant to be myself and be willing to express myself authentically.

Although I have been volunteering for about the same amount of time as I have been in my paying job, I feel my volunteer style/voice is not quite as defined. I see now, after reading some of Nancy's book, that I followed what my predecessors did, rather than forge my own path as the leader of LIT. Nancy suggests listening to my life and listening to God and blending those to create my style.
I am sure my fellow leaders will be gracious enough over the next few months as I "trial and error" some new ways of doing things!




Posted in: on Saturday, October 4, 2008 at at 2:42 PM 0 comments  

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