As the work examining civic leadership continues for the YALI fellows at the University of Delaware, we are doing all we can for us to get better and not to be bitter. As leaders, we should always be ready to make the difference in this indifferent world for Africa.
The morning session on Tuesday started with a presentation entitled “Your Leadership Journey,” which was given by Kathy Corbitt, director of employee development and well-being at UD’s Human Resources Office, and Dr. Michelle Parent, associate professor and interim chair for the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences. The speakers displayed how effective collaborative leadership is a transition that is very challenging for most people. Becoming a leader is a career change that has a lot of complexity—managing human dynamics can become uncomfortable with ambiguity—so letting go of direct control of a job you have so much affection for becomes a huge thing and building a network of people can be a big responsibility for both new and old leaders. The session looked at the transitions of a leader from been a “doer” to becoming the person leading at team. Additionally, we looked at the transition and importance the new role can play in a leader’s life. The session also looked at leadership differences, which offered many insights and inspirations.
The afternoon session was led by the same presenters, and the topic was “Communicating For Leadership Success.” In this session, the personal and practical needs of successful leadership were examined. Our presenters stressed that personal needs are the needs of every staff member that they bring into the office space, that practical needs are the basic needs of the office, and that these things are expected to be adequately addressed for the organization to meet its objectives. These facts showed that leaders should be open-minded, seek for clarity on anything they do not understand, develop and be open to new ideas, involve all in finding a way to reach agreements on new ideas, and finally, close sessions with an agreement. If these processes are carefully practiced, you can develop staff esteem, empathize with staff members, improve staff involvement, share the opinion of every staff member, and support each other as the team work’s to achieve better results. The use of a “discussion planner” was discussed, and its benefits were clearly showcased, as the approach a leader used will help resolve any challenges in an organization. The “Situation, Task, Action and Result” (STAR) model is one of the leading feedback processes that can be used to get the timely, balanced, and specific feedback needed for efficiency in an organization.
As we finished Tuesday’s lecture series, I concluded that we all, as leaders of our various organizations, need to be guided by these words: “Winners don’t quit, and quitters don’t win.” Therefore, as we are in the process of influencing others towards a positive change, we should always keep this simple rule in mind: It’s about you, and it’s not about you.