The amount of change at Penn State is daunting. However, change needs to be accompanied by positivity, encouragement, efficient and effective communication, and the data necessary to show why the change is needed, how the change will be effective, and the plan to continue the change into the future.

I try to apply concepts such as appreciative inquiry to projects, team meetings, etc. And I will often encourage my colleagues to focus on what we are doing right, rather than what we are doing wrong.

Steph Flanagan’s session today helped to continue to reinforce my thoughts on specifically how we/I could do better.

So my last blog was about getting drained as a leader… and protecting yourself from that. Well, it was fitting that I then went on a few month hiatus from blogging. No excuses, despite my bi-weekly reminder (set up because I could feel that I was wearing thin), I just clicked ignore and never got back to it.

Here I am now. I’m planning to re-focus my efforts in not only blogging for my requirement, but in also responding to a few of my peers. This blog was to hold myself accountable, as I would expect any good leader to do.

Striving to be a good/great leader… Here’s to not allowing my PSEL priorities to take a backseat for the rest of the program. And here’s to keeping myself rested, fresh, and available to others.

I recently read some blogs about how leaders need to ensure they are not being drained. I’ve heard this often when stereotypically applied to mothers. A mother should not allow the needs of the rest of the family drain her too much, because then she has nothing left to give. The same holds true for being a passenger on an airplane. “In the event the oxygen masks are needed, please put on your own mask before helping others.” The last example I have on this is during a mass casualty event, people with medical training are told to ensure their own safety first. It makes sense when you think that those who can save others can have a greater impact if they are safe.

Aside from extreme, life and death circumstances, the principle holds true. A leader cannot help others if they themselves are drained. So what drains a leader? For me it is often the same things that drain all people. These things may be a lack of work-life balance, lack of joy in what someone is spending a majority of their time on, or it could be a toxic work/home environment. Regardless of what drains a leader, he/she must guard against these situations. He or she should also know what fills them back up. Having the emotional intelligence to gauge where the meter is — is also extremely important.

Over the past several years, we’ve heard a lot about changes, change management, and change fatigue. I have always been passionate about the people side of change. Specifically, I think about how I can assist in enacting a positive change environment. What can I do to help show others the benefits of an upcoming change? (and accept what we cannot control)

I’m interested in others’ thoughts on how leaders manage change. What would you do as a leader? What can we do better at Penn State? Which levels of leaders have done a good job or have areas that could be improved?

As I expected my ratings of myself were slightly lower than that of my peers and supervisor….our own worst critics.

When I picked my peers, I chose a few people from past challenging relationships. I wanted to see if things I have put in place to improve the frustrations with workload have had a positive impact on our relationship. Based on my mean scores and comments, I was happy to see that my effort do seem to have facilitated improvements.

I was surprised at how highly my supervisor rated nearly every aspect. She is very open with me and I know she values my skills, but I thought it was great to see, that when quantified, how much confidence she has in my actions and abilities.

I’m excited to delve deeper into the comments. It’s a goal of mine to take this feedback and create plans for improvement, but also to find ways to utilize my strengths to help build others up.

Many of us emerging leaders are currently, will be, or have been in the transition from individual contributor to manager. What does that really mean for us?

In one area it means making the change from gathering feedback for ourselves, given to us by others—to giving more feedback to others. How often to you tell someone they are valued, that you appreciate them, that their contributions matter? Which people are you telling that to? A great leader makes a daily effort to being grateful and appreciative of all levels around them (the person who cleans the bathroom, someone who works with or for that leader, the leaders’ leaders and mentors)