Tag: career coach

Lessons from Calvin & Hobbes

Calvin and Hobbes were speaking more truth than they realized.  Research has shown that many leaders arrive at their positions as a result of organizational need, rather than a planned, career trajectory (Garza & Eddy, 2008; Inman, 2007; Klein & Salk, 2013). My own experience agrees with the research, and I know a myriad of people who are given leadership roles or provided with leadership opportunities for which they had no desire or plan. Often, this results in a leader who lacks leadership preparation and is left to figure it out on the job.  Research and evidence are great, but …

You’re the leader – Now What?

It’s not too late.  You can plan your own leadership development.  While you may find yourself in this position randomly, leadership is learned through the day-to-day practice of leading.  With intentional focus on your own development, you can grow your leadership skills every day.  With a few specific and intentional practices, you will be able to focus on leading today while growing your leadership skills for tomorrow.

ASSESS Your Skill Set – Take an honest look at what you know … and what you don’t know.  Leaders must know themselves before they can lead others.  Spend time assessing your strengths and areas needing growth.  Seek help from a coach or someone who can help you identify what skills should still be developed to propel your leadership.

REFLECT on Your Leadership Style – Reflect on who you want to be as a leader and what authentic leadership looks like on you.  Write your thoughts down in a journal or a blog or just scraps of paper, but put them down somewhere.  Getting your thoughts out of your head and onto paper makes them more real which is the first step toward achieving your leadership goals.

MOVE into Your Leadership Role – Lean in and embrace the position you’ve been given.  Crawling, walking, and running are all movement.  You will not grow as a leader until you fully take on the role and move within it.  You are gifted or you wouldn’t be there, so reach for it and move into this leadership opportunity with all you have.

Growth is one of the best things about being human.  We are built to learn and develop.  You may not have planned this part of your leadership journey, but you have arrived here and there is so much to discover.   

References:

Garza, R. & Eddy, P. (2008). In the middle: Career pathways of midlevel community college leaders. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 32, 793-811.

Inman, M. (2007). The journey to leadership: A study of how leader-academics in higher education learn to lead. University of Birmingham.

Klein, M. F., & Salk, R. J. (2013). Presidential succession planning: A qualitative study in private higher education. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 20(3), 335-345.

Leading from the Middle: Using Your Influence to Lead Others and Improve Your Own Position

“Leadership is a choice, not a position.” Stephen Covey

I once spent two months discussing, negotiating, talking about – ok arguing about – a title for my position.  I lost that argument.  For the next two years I learned to live with a title I didn’t like, and then I was promoted.  Until I truly understood that leadership did not depend upon a title or position, it was difficult for me to feel successful in leadership.  For many years, I tied my leadership value to my perceived achievement and the recognition of others.

I know differently now.

A title or position has nothing to do with leadership.  Leadership begins within and is demonstrated through actions.  Each of us has influence in whatever position we find ourselves, and the manner in which you use that influence impacts the lives of those around you and the life of your organization.  The truth is we all lead every day.  The problem is with our own view of leadership.  Who chooses the restaurant for dinner? Who makes the phone call to a sad friend?  Who is given the extra project at work because the boss knows it will be done? Who follows up to make sure the client is satisfied?  All these are the actions of a leader.  The leader understands what is needed and makes it happen.

Position isn’t everything but position can still be important.  How do you move yourself out of your current position and into a more senior leadership position?   There are a few things you can do to demonstrate leadership within your current role that might help you move into a new leadership role – one with a title you like.

Act with Integrity – Your character and integrity should be the place where your leadership begins.  Plus, even a person with no integrity respects a person who has it. 

Lead Well in All Places – Never look at a job or position as small or beneath you.  Embrace the position and give it all you have.  You will be rewarded.

Go the Extra Mile – In a recent article, Suzy Welch said if you want to get promoted, “you need to over-deliver.”  She’s right.  It’s also important that you give credit where credit is due – your team.  Over-delivering results is beneficial to your organization and crediting your team demonstrates your ability to lead.

Network Continuously – Leadership is about influence and networking allows you to build influence.  Building strategic relationships is beneficial to you, your team, and your organization.

Stay Away from the Drama – Most senior leaders don’t have the time or desire to participate in the office drama.  You shouldn’t either. 

A title doesn’t make you a leader.  But, if you lead well in the smaller positions, you just might find yourself wearing a new title – the one you really want.

Reflections on Becoming Dr. Karavedas – No. 9

It’s been an incredibly busy six months. My days and weeks have been filled with reading, writing and more reading, more writing. But, I’ve also finished all my coursework, written the first three chapters of my dissertation, defended my study proposal, passed both quality review and IRB, secured and confirmed several interviews for my research, and will conduct my first interviews next week. I have to tell you, it’s exhilarating!

I’m not a doctor yet, but I am well on my way.

Most days I march forward and approach each aspect of this doctoral journey with eager anticipation, but I freely admit there are other days I am scared to death. During the days full of fear, I ask myself “what am I afraid of; who am I afraid of.” The truth is I’m afraid of a lot of things. I am afraid I won’t be able to gather the data, people won’t want to be interviewed, I won’t interview well, I won’t get the data I need, I’ll write a bad dissertation, won’t finish on time, and I won’t graduate. My greatest fear…that I will spend my time and money on earning a degree that I wouldn’t be able to use – it will all be wasted.

Brene’ Brown (one of my favorite authors) writes “daring greatly is being brave and afraid every minute of the day at the exact same time.” To be great, we must dare greatly. Greatness doesn’t happen without facing the mountain and climbing it. On this doctoral journey, I see my doubts and fears, but I don’t let them stop me. I don’t let the voices of others – or the ones inside my head – stop me. Each day, I commit to doing one thing that moves me toward my goal – one more thing each day. Step by step, the dream WILL become reality. In the words of another one of my favorite authors, Jo Saxton,

“I’m just a girl who decided to go for it!”

 

Books I Recommend:
Daring Greatly by Brene’ Brown
The Dream of You by Jo Saxton

It’s All Been Said Before

I mentioned several weeks ago that I was planning to revamp the format of the Dr. Karavedas blog. Some time ago, it became clear to me that much of what I want to say feels as if it’s already been said … because it has! There are many, many great leaders in the world – most of whom have had much to say about leadership. Covey, Maxwell, Welch, Collins – they’ve all written amazing insights into leadership. Bass, Greenleaf, Kouzes and Posner have expanded entire theoretical frameworks on leadership.  What is this doctoral student going to write about leadership that hasn’t been said already? This is the place I found myself. It isn’t writer’s block. It isn’t imposter syndrome. It is simply the realization that it’s all been said before.

Then it came to me – say it again. You see, I love a good quote. I don’t even mind a cliché or two. I am the person who stands in line at Pieology and reads the wall – all of it. There’s a reason that quotes are quotable. If there wasn’t truth in the words, they wouldn’t be repeated. It doesn’t matter that it’s been said before; some truth is worth repeating. That’s what I’m going to do.

For each new blog, I will choose one of my favorite leadership quotes and explain what it means to me. I encourage you to leave comments providing your interpretation as well. A lot can be learned from other leaders, and we will learn together from these leaders – in their own words. Together, we can take this journey toward developing our own leadership style and becoming great leaders to those we lead.

Dr. K is Going Away … But Just for a Little While

Dr. K is going away …. but just for a short time.

I’ve been away for quite a little while already. The holidays came upon us and were quickly followed by the next stage of my journey toward becoming Dr. K. I’ve entered the world of “Prospectus.” It’s a strange and wonderful place that offers an enormous amount of reading, a fair amount of writing, and very little sleep. It’s part of the journey, and I have embraced it wholeheartedly.

I’m excited to announce that I’ve decided to revamp the content this blog just a bit. I will still post occasional Reflections through my dissertation defense. However, I have a new idea that I will share with you as soon as it’s fully developed. In the meantime, Dr. K is taking a little hiatus. I may post the occasional Reflection as seems appropriate, but look for a full return somewhere around late March or early April.

Until then…

Reflections on Becoming Dr. Karavedas – No. 5

Year One is in the books. All coursework is finished, signature assignments completed, and articles read. I am officially a second-year doctoral student. I have to admit – I’ve loved every minute of it. In fact, I wonder why I waited so long to get started. Of course, there are several practical reasons why it took me over six years to send in that admission application – time and money to just name two. But, that’s in the past now, just like year one.

As I reflect back on year one, I see growth and it makes me smile.

First, I am finding my professional voice.  I’m learning to speak as the expert.  As students, we are all being challenged to find our voice as the expert in the field.  There might have been an attitude of “fake it until you make it” when I began this program.  However, it is becoming clear, I don’t have to fake it.

I AM the expert!

My examination of literature and experiences allowed me to grow as a leader in my field.  My understanding of leadership, mentoring, higher education, and talent management has surpassed my expectations.

I can’t examine my growth as a professional without evaluating my personal growth as well. This is a doctoral program in Organizational Leadership with an emphasis in Transformational Change. I am finding that the transformational change isn’t only professional. I am personally changing as well. I am becoming more self-aware. I am aware of the way my actions affect those around me, including those I lead. I am also learning to listen – and listen well. Listening well is critical to good decision-making (look for a blog on that soon).

Year one is done. It’s been an amazing year of growth and learning. Bring on Year Two!

I Can See Clearly Now

I am a woman of a certain age – an age that requires glasses for close work.  It’s interesting to realize you need a little assistance with something you’ve been doing quite well for years.  Humbling, yes.  Essential, also yes. Fortunately, I have accepted the fact that I’d rather see than not see and now own several pairs of very stylish eyewear.

The information about my eyesight is pertinent to another recent revelation.  I found that when I put on my glasses and look in the mirror, I am able to see my flaws much more clearly.  There they are – big as life itself.  Once I recovered from the shock of seeing myself much more clearly, I immediately thought, “how long has that been there?”  The imperfections I see so clearly may have been evident to others for quite some time.

As leaders, we can be blind to our leadership flaws because our eyesight has grown tired over the years.  We no longer see as sharply as we once had.  We can grow complacent within the daily routine.  We aren’t doing anything wrong, but we aren’t doing a lot of things right either.  We spend a little more time in our offices than we should.  Our conversations are a little less constructive than they once were.  And, most important, we haven’t invested the time developing those followers as we once did.  We aren’t seeing clearly.

Our leadership glasses sharpen our vision and bring the picture into focus. Look closely now.  You may see opportunities to…

  • Motivate your team to hang in there with a difficult project
  • Encourage a junior employee to step forward into leadership
  • Collaborate with others to find new ways to be innovative
  • Inspire your team to move from mediocrity to greatness

Put on your leadership glasses and take a closer look.  What do you see?

Reflections on Becoming Dr. Karavedas – No. 1

It Begins…

Today’s the day! I’m headed to my first Immersion Conference to be “immersed” in the process of becoming Dr. Karavedas. I’m finally doing it – taking the first step on this journey. Ready or not, here I go.

So what is Immersion? I’m not really sure what to expect. I know I’ll be meeting my other cohort members. Again, I’m not sure what to expect. I assume they’ll be younger than me. In fact, I assume most of the people in the program will be younger than me. After all, this is Career #3 for me.

We’ve been asked to bring a presentation revealing our top core values to the first cohort group meeting. It’s interesting that we start our very first meeting with this –

I don’t know any of you, but I’m going to reveal to all of you the most important things in my life.

I mean, I don’t typically reveal my innermost thoughts to someone until I’ve known them at least a day.

On the other hand, I find it encouraging that the program begins with our values. After all, that really is the best place to start. What do I value? What is most important to me?  These values will shape the type of leader I will become through this leadership program. My values define the person Dr. Karavedas really is, with or without letters behind the name. Continue reading “Reflections on Becoming Dr. Karavedas – No. 1”