A521.9.4.RB_HansardCarey

Leadership that Participates:

As a leader, I expect to be interactive with the group I am working with. I believe that a leader should be willing to participate in the activities that s/he is asking the subordinates to do. In doing so, the leader commands much more respect from the people s/he is leading. That is not to say that the leader should not delegate tasks to members of the group; but the fact that the leader is willing to do what it takes to get the job done will show followers that the leader truly believes in the task and its importance.

Leadership that Connects:

            One thing that this class has taught me is that telling stories allows leaders to effectively connect with listeners. When a group of people is being gathered for some sort of announcement, they generally anticipate that the purpose will be stated and they will head back to their desks to consider what has just been said. When they hear stories, they develop a relationship with the storyteller and the story. If the storyteller tells an emotionally charged story, the listeners connect in a different way to the story. The teller has the ability to see the reaction of the audience’s faces and how the story is affecting them. He has the option to change the emphasis if the story or the way he is telling it to get the desired affect. I see that when I deliver news of change, telling a related story will make the change seem tolerable. Allowing questions from the audience will further allow me to connect with the individuals in the group. By encouraging this type of openness, new opportunities will also arise. I will appear approachable to others that I work with which will encourage conversation.

Leadership that includes beauty:

            I also see myself as the type of leader that will see the beauty and the good in what is out there. Much of our time at work is spent sitting at a desk in a cubicle doing our jobs. We do not get to see the joy in our jobs and how they affect people. For instance, in the job that I currently have it could be easy to sit at my desk day in and day out and train people without thought as to how it affects others. However, I choose to interact with the faculty I am training and find out more about them and their personalities. I enjoy seeing stories about the students who take EagleVision classes and hearing how it has had a positive affect on their lives and education. I hope to one day be able to share that with those I lead. Seeing the beauty in life makes everything worthwhile.

A521.8.4.RB_HansardCarey

            Striking up a conversation with someone I do not know is not something that I look forward to by any means. If I genuinely have something to ask them about, I feel slightly more comfortable. For example, I just returned from a trip to Boston. I am not a big city girl and found myself, standing with my husband, in places like the subway completely lost and in need of help. In every occasion, I approached people to ask if they were local. In a situation like that, I did not feel apprehensive about talking to these people. Maybe it was because I knew that once I had my information, the conversation would be over. I would no longer have to try to think of something else to say. However, if I am in a social situation like a party or large conference, I do not feel comfortable beginning or having conversations with strangers.

            The reasons for this, I think, are many. For instance, when I was younger, we attended private school and were always expected to behave, which included being quiet in church and the classroom. My mother has a similar personality to mine. She is reserved and keeps to herself most of the time. We spent a lot of time with her at my parents’ business where we were supposed to stay away from the customers and hang out in the back room. So I think that mindset translated into adolescence and adulthood. My father’s personality is completely opposite. He seems to be able to easily strike up conversations with others. My sister is more like my dad in that regard.

            If I am not in a social situation, I do not have a problem asserting myself.  If I am in the classroom teaching or presenting, as I was at the conference I just attended, I am able to take command of the conversation and communicate effectively with those around me.

            In the Messages text, there are several suggestions for striking up conversations with others. There are both verbal and non-verbal strategies that one can employ in order to alleviate anxiety in social situations and make it easier to talk with strangers. Leaning forward, making eye contact, smiling, and uncrossing your arms and legs are all non-verbal strategies that suggest you are open to conversation with others. These techniques make one appear friendly and approachable instead of closed off. They also suggest that touching the person you are speaking with is helpful. I am not sure that this technique would be well received by all, though. Some people do not like to be touched by those they do not know and touching them may actually cause them to shut down.

            Verbal suggestions for beginning a conversation include using icebreakers and humor, asking informational questions, and active listening. Discussing a current event or asking for information, like directions, will allow you to begin a conversation with someone. Asking the purpose of someone’s attendance at a particular event or where he/she is from will also lead to a more meaningful conversation. There are two different types of questions the author suggests. They are ritual questions, which seek an individual’s name, job, origin, etc, and informational questions, which are specific and result in answers about ones’ beliefs, feelings, etc… Finally, actively listening to the other person encourages conversation. When people see that you are genuinely interested in what they have to say, the conversation is more likely to progress and evolve. According to the authors, conversation is a combination of probing questions to others coupled with self-disclosure on the part of both.

            I am not sure that I will ever consider myself to be a chatty Kathy, nor will I ever be able to work a room with ease; however, the strategies suggested by the book give me tips to use the next time I find myself in a room full of strangers and no cell phone!

A521.7.4.RB_HansardCarey

I have many knowledge sharing stories to choose from having been a high school teacher for many years. For example, I would assign my students a topic where they would have to tell me what they used to do when they were little. Many of them would start out the story (in Spanish) by saying, “When I was a kid….” The funny thing about this is that they did not equate the Spanish word for child, niño, with kid and they would always look up the word in the dictionary. The first time it happened, I did not understand why, but now, every time I see it, it makes me laugh and I know exactly what the issue is. When you look up “kid” in a Spanish/English dictionary, you will probably get the word cabrito which actually means baby goat. My students did not use the term kid to refer to goats, so they had no idea that there was another meaning for it. It was always funny to me….even funnier once they figured out what they were saying, “When I was a baby goat, I used to watch a lot of t.v.”!

                However, the main focus of my reflection will be a story about learning how to use an Apple computer. Until I started working here at Embry-Riddle, I had never been exposed to a Mac. I knew nothing about the way it worked and assumed that it was like a PC. So when I received one for work purposes, I was totally lost! Nothing looked like it was supposed to to me. The techies that I work with were all telling me what a superior product the Mac was. I spent a lot of time trying to figure things out on my own…and I mean a lot! I would try to download something from the internet and not be able to actually use the software. I did not know why. Looking back, I was also using the computer in an inefficient manner, even when I finally thought I had figured out how to do something. I have been using other Apple products, the iPod, iPad, and iTouch, but this was totally different to me.

                Finally, one of my coworkers, who I have now affectionately named The Mac Daddy, started to give me tips on how to do things on the Mac. He explained to me that in order to actually be able to use things that I was downloading, I had to drag (some of) them into the Applications folder. Who knew? He also explained that I did not have to keep minimizing the programs I had open to navigate between them. The Mac has a built in finder that allows you to switch applications quickly and easily. Even when using EagleVision there are differences. For instance, an instructor I was working with used a tool in EagleVision called Appshare. This is a feature that allows instructors to share their desktops with students in the session. While in the Appshare, instructors are supposed to have a toolbar that allows them to keep in contact with their students. However, I did not see one on his computer. I could not for the life of me figure out why. Evidently, the Appshare toolbar minimizes on a Mac and has to be selected once the instructor is sharing his desktop in order to appear. Settings are also changed differently when using a Mac with EagleVision. Since my coworker has shared his knowledge about Macs with me, I can now easily walk faculty members through things like activating audible alerts. Without his help, I would still be spending countless hours feeling my way around.

                Although I know that I still have a lot to learn, I feel much more comfortable now than I did even six months ago. What’s even better is that now, I can share my knowledge with others and help them the way my colleague helped me.

A521.6.3.RB_HansardCarey

            In my organization, I work in a high-performing team. My team is focused on providing support and feedback for new EagleVision instructors on their first evening of class. Each of us is tasked with supporting a certain number of instructors in the first week of a new term. We are available to them in case they have forgotten how to do something or just need a little extra support getting the session set up before class starts.

            Our supervisor helps us when we need it. He also provides us with comp time to make up for the time that we spend after hours supporting new faculty. Many of the team members work from the office, but there are others that are able to work from home with workstations that the university provides. We are all expected to provide assistance to the instructors as needed; however, we generally go above and beyond by following up the next day with any campuses that had technical difficulties the night before or passing on questions regarding certain issues to specific teammates to be answered.

            We have all grown throughout our time working together. We have learned a lot about our campuses, instructors, and even the technology that we work with. We are willing to help each other out when necessary and we all realize the importance of accomplishing our goals.

            We share the same values, as well. We believe in providing quality service to our instructors. We also believe that our responsibility doesn’t end with supporting them on their first night but continues after that with following up with any issues that we notice during the session.  If we did not have common values it would be very difficult to work together successfully. Because we all share goals and values, we are able to provide quality support to our faculty members and campuses. If one of us does not know how to solve a problem, other members of the team step in to help so that the values that we all stand for are upheld.

            In the Denning text, four patterns of working together were identified. Work groups work on the same project, have defined roles for each member, and all report to the same supervisor. Teams share goals, coordinate their activities to accomplish their goals, share responsibility for performance, and have appropriate management and resources. Communities share common interests, practices, and values. Finally, networks are groups of people who maintain contact with each other because they believe that there is some benefit to staying in touch.

            An example of a network that comes to mind would be LinkedIn. I have had many colleagues over the years tell me that I needed to join LinkedIn. I have not done so until this class. I have not really seen the benefit of this type of network yet. I suppose that if I were in the corporate world I would be more in tune with the benefits of this network. The people that I have linked with via this network are all people who are my friends or current colleagues. I do not go on the site frequently to look for people. After I joined for class, I looked for people who I wanted to link to and many of them told me that they never check this site themselves. This has been a negative experience for me and I am not sure that I will continue to monitor this network once the class requirement is over. There is nothing that I can do to influence this outcome. I could go on the site frequently to keep up with others, but I do not see any benefit to this at this time.

            I have already mentioned a positive experience that I have had with one of these groups. My support and feedback team works great together and I am happy to have them as my colleagues. I have learned a lot from all of them and we work together well to accomplish our goals. To influence the outcome, I will continue to do my part and work with my colleagues looking for ways to improve what we already do well.

A521.5.8.RB_HansardCarey

           It is my job and goal to provide quality customer service and training to the instructors who are going through the EagleVision training and certification process. However, sometimes, in order to adhere to the value of providing students with quality instructors, this value becomes harder to uphold. Although one might think that these values relate to each other, they can occasionally conflict and create issues for all involved.

Our process is clearly detailed in several documents that are available to all Worldwide faculty and staff prior to being scheduled to teach an EagleVision class. However, what often happens is that neither Directors of Academics nor instructors take the time to read about what is involved. Although one does not have to be an IT expert in order to use EagleVision, a certain level of technical aptitude is certainly helpful. Strangely enough, we have instructors who are rocket scientists, but do not know how to use Blackboard. We also have instructors who do not have basic windows management skills. What these instructors do have to offer, though, is brilliance in a particular field such as aeronautics or ergonomics. They are wonderful instructors, but they do not have computer skills.

For example, this past term, we had an instructor who was unable to pass the pre-training quiz in the three attempts we provide. The instructor contacted us numerous times in the days leading up to his live training trying to figure out how to navigate through Blackboard and be able to pass the quiz. Ultimately, he did not pass after his third attempt. My colleague contacted the Director of Academics to tell him that the course would have to be changed to face-to-face and the DA was not happy. He tried to blame us for having a “defective quiz”. When we analyzed the instructor’s answers, we noticed that he missed the same questions again and again. The director asked my colleague if the instructor could retake the quiz. He explained to the director that the instructor was able to view which questions he missed so that he could review the study materials. Evidently, the instructor was not aware of this; so he was given a fourth chance at the quiz. Once again, however, he did not pass. The instructor and the Director of Academics were both upset at us and felt like we were not providing quality service to them, when, in fact, it was simply a clashing of values; a very qualified instructor who is not technologically savvy.

This is not something that happens frequently but, when it does, it is upsetting for all involved. The values that we all hold are equally important to the university. It is essential that we work together to put the right people up for this kind of training so that we have instructors who are successful on all fronts. 

A521.5.5.RB_HansardCarey

In the Denning text, there are three basic ethical components mentioned. They are: trust, loyalty, and solidarity. These are components are recognized throughout the university that I work for. Trust is something that I believe most humans would like to feel towards others. In the environment that I currently work in, we all trust each other a great deal. We have demonstrated this consistently in ways such as telling someone else on the team something in confidence. We also know that we can assign tasks to others that will be accomplished in a professional manner. For example, when I train a new faculty member, that individual is then provided with support on his/her first night of class using EagleVision from someone in my department. If I cannot be there to do it myself, I know that one of my teammates will be there. I can also trust that my teammate will support that faculty member in a professional manner and not be judgmental if the person makes mistakes. On the other hand, the faculty that I train trust in me to create materials that are easy to follow and teach them everything that they need to know to successfully conduct a class using EagleVision.

Loyalty towards co-workers and the organization is also a value held university-wide.  Benefits that the university offers to employees strengthen this feeling of loyalty. The majority of people that work for this organization are content here and, therefore, feel a sense of loyalty because of it. They speak positively about the university when they are out in public and believe in the overall goals of the organization. Within specific departments, the loyalty continues to fellow co-workers. Working with people on a daily basis and getting to know them on a personal level creates a personal sense of loyalty. I feel as though my colleagues will stand up for me and support me should the need arise and I would do the same for them.

The last ethical value, solidarity, is tightly related to the first two. If you trust someone and feel that they are loyal to you, solidarity is something that will naturally follow. I know that there have been a few times when I did not necessarily agree with the direction someone in my department as following professionally. However, because I trust those people, I supported them and helped them cultivate their ideas.

These values are already aligned with the values of the individuals in the organization. At least in my department, these ethical values are subconsciously relied upon every day. We all expect the others to trust us and be loyal to those within the department. Because of this, we have created solidarity within our organization that ultimately leads to higher levels of achievement as a group.  

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         After taking the values assessment, I see that many of the values that I rank the highest actually have more to do with personal happiness rather than reasons that are professionally related. Two of the values that are the most important to me were stability and security and balance between home life and work. These are things that I have valued ever since I had children. I want to make sure that I can provide for them through their college years and I usually try to play it safe in my career so that I can achieve this stability. That is not to say that I have not taken risks, but I definitely have tried to do my best so that I was an asset to the organization I was working for. At the same time, my children and family are more important to me than anything and I want to be sure that I have a balance between my job and my family’s needs. I want to be there for my kids’ games and performances and I also want to make sure that if my parents or husband need me to be there for them that I can do that. The job that I have now allows for me to have some flexibility with my schedule and be there for the important events in my family’s lives. I have struggled with the stability and security aspect of my job. I was a high school teacher for 18 years and have only been in my current position for about a year and a half. I had tenure and did not have to worry about losing my position in my previous job. However, I was not happy anymore and that was weighing heavily on my mind on a daily basis. Recently, there have been many changes in my department that have left many people feeling uneasy and wondering about the future. At the same time, there are several people working for my organization who have worked there for over 15 years and so I tell myself that counts for something.

         The other values that stood out to me were about the importance of teamwork and groups, self-respect and pride in my work, and respect, recognition, and being valued. I like working with others in my workplace. I do not want to be so isolated. As a teacher, although children constantly surrounded me, I was isolated from my peers and colleagues. The environment I am in now allows for sharing of ideas, collaboration on projects, and a feeling of belonging within the group.

         As I mentioned earlier, I make every effort to do a good job not only because I want others to see my value in the organization, but also because I take pride in the products that I put out there for my customers. I respect myself and want respect from others as well. It is not necessary to have constant recognition for what I do, but it is nice to know that someone else, especially my supervisors, know that I am doing quality work within the organization. In the department that I work in, recognition is an integral part of life. The CTO holds monthly meetings and has an agenda item for accolades. Throughout the month, she collects emails and personal notes that have been written to or about employees for the great work they have done. She shares those notes with the staff at every meeting. This time is especially important to employees because they are assured that she knows about the good things they are doing.

         Overall I believe that the organization that I work for does align with the values that I hold. Employees are not going to find every value that they hold dear embodied in one organization, but when you find one that is close, don’t’ leave!