Keynote
The keynote this morning was incredibly inspiring. Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action and Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t, spoke with us about leadership and why some organizations thrive, and others fail.
Session 1
First off – I got to meet Patti! So that was awesome – we led the charge on searching for session 1, eating lunch, and attending session 1.5.
I had intended to attend Your Brain on Creativity: The Secrets to Making Creativity Work for Your Business, but couldn’t for the life of me find the exhibitor’s session! And I wasn’t the only one. Ah well. It gave me time to wander around the expo and pick up some materials.
The next session I wanted to attend, 10 Practical Principles for Creating Impactful E-Learning, was full…so we stumbled across the hall to sit in on What Caused it? Techniques to Isolate the Effects of Your Programs, with Patti Phillips.
Results are important, but my mind does not work well when confronted with Return on Investment (ROI) speak. Initially, my pants were confused off. She explained the ROI process, identifying some guiding principles and results-based solutions. Techniques were provided to isolate the effects of programs, which seem very comparable to techniques used in most academic research (using control groups, trends, input, etc.).
Full disclosure: I had to leave the session – there was too much math, and there were other sessions that were more closely aligned to my business.
Session 1.5
I ducked into How to Boost Your Career Well-Being with Beth Cabrera, and came in just in time for a 2-minute meditation…MUCH more therapeutic than doing math. Phew! The first portion was about mindfulness, and how to incorporate it within your career. The next part was about gratitude – intentionally looking for what is good and taking note of it.
She had us write down three good things:
- Hiking the mountains in Breckenridge, and getting to share that experience with people I care about
- Meeting new people within the e-learning industry
- Finding a session that’s more closely aligned to my career and personal interests.
She explained that an organization had individuals do this (writing down good things), for 3 weeks, and noticed increases in levels of gratitude and happiness. She discusses how doing this activity can help reprogram your brain to intentionally scan the environment for good things. You can easily change the tone of a meeting by starting a meeting going around the table to talk about one thing they’re excited about. It sets the tone for gratitude.
If we create a culture of gratitude, individuals will become more successful, because they will be surrounded by positivity. Looking at a situation like grocery shopping, you can look at the negative of having to go to the grocery store (the act of shopping), but you can reframe the situation by appreciating that you have the ability to go to the grocery store, and have the money to purchase healthy food.
She talked about strengths – focusing on our strengths allows us to become happier, feel more successful, and have a sense of meaning and authenticity – you’re doing what you naturally do best. You will be more efficient, and it’s good for overall performance.
Strength spotting:
- Enjoyment – We love doing things we enjoy doing
- Ease – Something is natural to do and comes to you with ease
- Energy – What we do energizes us
- Advocate – Push yourself to use your strengths more
Once you figure out what your strengths are, and save them for when you don’t have as much energy (e.g. after lunch, when you’re usually more tired).
Locate complementary partners. Find people who have strengths that complement your strengths, and partner with them to create extraordinary organizations.
Recognize the impact you make. If you didn’t wake up each day, people would be missing out on what you offer! Understand your importance, even if you feel small in a very large world. To recognize impact, complete the following:
- Task:
- Who Does This Help?
- Who does This Help?
Essentially, you will be able to see the larger landscape of who you’re helping by doing task x/y/z
Modify tasks or change interactions to use your strengths to best help others to make their lives better/easier.
Session 2
The final session I attended today was Women in Learning Leadership: Lessons From the Field. I like listening to others talk about their experiences, and this session had an all-star panel: Cammy Bean, Jane Bozarth, Trina Rimmer, Koreen Pagano, and Pooja Jaisingh.
This session began with each panelist identify themselves and their learning backgrounds. All panelists are all heavily weighted in technology. Cammy asked the audience “how many of you feel imposter syndrome?,” which was a great question, because I know I certainly feel that way sometimes – it kind of ties back to the last session, and the concept recognizing your impact. There are many days when I feel unsuccessful, and unqualified, but on many stages I’m overqualified and even considered an expert. It makes me truly realize that I am a successful woman, and I really need to recognize the impact I have on my clients and readers.
Many panelists spoke about exhaustion, sacrifice, and being taken seriously. I can definitely empathize with these feelings. My first year of business was incredibly exhausting, and I sacrificed a lot of my social life when I was doing my graduate studies, writing books, and starting my own business. Being taken seriously is something I still struggle with – when I first started out in Instructional Design at a corporate gig, I found it hard to get clients to take me seriously, but I think this was less because of me and more because of them and the hierarchy. Now that I run my own business, my clients take me seriously, because if they don’t, then what’s the point of working with me?
Pooja identified a huge challenge: staying on top of the latest technologies. As learning leaders, there’s added pressure to stay on top of the latest technologies, and because technology is constantly evolving, it can be exhausting to stay on top of technology!
When looking for a mentor/boss/ally, most panelists don’t want to be told what to do, they need more of a guidance-based motivation to do the task at hand. Not directions. They look for managers that aren’t looking to take the easy way out, are straight forward, and who want to make progress. Great managers are those who enable you to become your best self (professionally or independently).
When interviewing, women tend to hide portions of their personal lives (e.g. having children or being afraid to ask for the compensation they deserve), but it’s important to be upfront, and if the organization doesn’t support you or want to pay what you’re worth, is it an organization you really want to work for?
You want to work with people who look up to you, not people you need to prove yourself to. – Koreen Pagano
Overall impression: This was a great panel session, and I certainly think that many of the experiences discussed can also be applied to men, so the panel wasn’t only of interest for women – it’s a shame that more men weren’t in attendance (but shout out to all those who were!).
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