So, it’s been awhile since I last blogged.  The past month and a half has been insanely hectic at work.  We have been working hard to produce the FY18 financial statements for the University while working alongside the auditors, all to meet an October 12 deadline.  Barring any top-level comments from the audit partner, I think we are finally in good shape.  I must admit that PSEL activities took a back seat during this time, but I did manage to sneak in a few of the executive group interviews with Rich Bundy, Steve Dunham, Neil Sharkey, and most recently, Tom Poole.  All were very interesting and had some good stories to tell.  There were some very different leadership “philosophies” among the different leaders, so it was interesting to compare their approaches.  I look forward to breathing again at work, and hopefully focusing a bit more back on PSEL as we come into these final months.

Throughout the summer I have been able to practice my elevator speech on several occasions.   I always tailor the speech based on the audience.  At a meet and greet event for the Controller’s Office, I was able to make the speech more detailed/technical as most people I talked to had some basic knowledge of accounting.  However, at events such as family reunions and picnics/parties, where the audience was people outside of work with no accounting background, I kept the speech at a higher, more general, level.  It’s nice to have a general template for the speech, and I have found it easy to adjust it based on the audience.

Last week our small group met to plan for our group presentation in September.  It was a good brainstorming session, and we developed a general direction for our topic, which is “How could a leader demonstrate ethical leadership and encourage ethical behavior at Penn State?”  We are all taking on a section of the presentation and are re-grouping next week to put it all together.

Starting April 1, my supervisor transitioned to the SIMBA project, and I have taken over her management responsibilities  (mostly – the assistant manager and I are now “co-managing” the department).  The timing of this change was perfect, since it coincides with the PSEL program.  I have been able to put a lot of thought into how I manage the department and interact with my colleagues that I may not have thought about if I wasn’t in PSEL.  Something my manager passed along to me is that management is managing processes, while leadership is managing people.  This may not hold true in every instance, but is definitely an interesting view that I often think about in my new role.

For another one of my independent studies, I read the book “Crucial Conversations” by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Rob McMillan, and Al Switzler.  I felt that this was a good read with some interesting tips on how to defuse tense situations, both professionally and personally.  As with the majority of the leadership books I have read, I came away with the feeling that most of the information in the book was common sense.  For me, the most important take-aways from these books is to just be more aware of emotions and behaviors of yourself and others.  Being aware can bring about small changes that will eventually lead to improved leadership capabilities.

Las week I completed my third interview with David Gray, Senior Vice President for Finance & Business.  David stressed the importance of teamwork and collaboration – using everyone’s input to shape your vision.  This hit home for me since this was a key element of my leadership philosophy statement.  If you get buy-in from your entire team by involving them in the decision-making process, you should have no issues motivating them to work towards goals.

David also noted that one of the most important skills to have as a leader is effective communication.  You need to be able to clearly articulate your vision, or you won’t be able to build trust with your team.  I also believe this to be critical aspect of leadership because sometimes you only have one chance to make an impression on people, so it needs to be a good one!

I really enjoyed the seminar yesterday.  I think confidence in public speaking is the main area I need to work on as part of PSEL.  There were a lot of good tips, plus some required speaking opportunities.  As nervous as I get for these, I feel that the more I do, the easier they will become.  I like the idea of Toastmasters, but I haven’t been able to find the time to make it to a meeting yet.  Hopefully I’ll be able to check it out at some point.

I see confidence while speaking as one of the key aspects of leadership presence.  For all of those people who don’t interact with you on a day-to-day basis, speaking engagements may provide the only impression they have of you.

On a recent trip to the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, DE, I picked up a leadership book that I used for one of my PSEL independent studies, “Off-centered Leadership: The Dogfish Head Guide to Motivation, Collaboration & Smart Growth” by Sam Calagione, the founder of the brewery.  This was an interesting read that kept my attention since it related to the beer industry.  The book was primarily focused on Sam’s transition from entrepreneur (where he controlled everything and made all of the decisions) to leader (where he learned to collaborate with his leadership team to expand the business).  There was nothing ground-breaking in the book, but it was an interesting angle on the development of leadership skills.

I’m not going to lie, I had some trouble with the first part of the seminar yesterday.  Maurie Kelly was a solid presenter and did a great job getting participation from the group (which I’ll touch on later), but I felt like so much of the material was redundant.  A lot of the values of a good leader were discussed during our Introductory Session.  Part of the problem may also have been that this came after I completed the self-reflection activities, which focused on these values as well.

I also struggle in this type of class setting.  I’m fine with audience participation and it often sparks great discussion, which I get a lot out of through listening.  However, I don’t like when instructors randomly call on people.  Not everyone has something to say!  The thing I hate the most is when a quote or other statement is shared, and then people are randomly called on to share their thoughts on it.  I love that people have ideas and want to share, but for me personally, I can’t come up with expressive ideas to share on the spot.  If I had the quote prior to class, and had some time to reflect on it, I could probably come up with something worth sharing, but I can’t do it on the spot.  Maybe this is something I can work on throughout PSEL…I don’t know, I haven’t decided if I should put my focus here or not.

I really enjoyed the second part of the seminar.  It was great hearing from past participants for their insights on what to focus on and what to try and challenge ourselves with.  In fact, the reason I am blogging right now is to give it another chance.  It’s early, but I’ve just been checking the box with the blogging at this point, I haven’t been getting anything out of it.  I’m now motivated to put more effort into it (at least for the time being)!  I also may try to do more than the required 3 interviews, as I have found them incredibly insightful so far.

Earlier this week, I completed my second interview with Mary Lou Ortiz, University Budget Officer.  This was a fun interview.  Mary Lou is new to the University like me, so we share a lot of the same passion for updating old processes.  In fact, she has been through two financial system implementations in her prior two roles (the first at Princeton, the second at Rutgers) and is now a co-sponsor on the SIMBA project.  A lot of the interview focused on change management and motivating staff to embrace (or at least accept) change.

Mary Lou also discussed her progression into leadership roles.  Prior to attaining that first true leadership position, she still tried to incorporate leadership values into her everyday work: building relationships, active listening, and always being approachable.  She thinks these attributes, and being able to convey them, gave her an edge when interviewing for a Vice Chancellor position.  I strive to incorporate these qualities into my everyday work as well, as it makes for a more welcoming, stress-free, and fun environment.  Looking forward to the next interview!