VIDEO OF THE MONTH: "A Guide to Collaborative Leadership"
What's the difference between heroes and leaders? In this insightful talk, Lorna Davis explains how our idolization of heroes is holding us back from solving big problems — and shows why we need "radical interdependence" to make real change happen.
ARTICLE OF THE MONTH: "How to Start the New Year as Your Best Self"
With the beginning of the New Year, many of us are already plotting our resolutions.
But while there’s nothing wrong with making goals for the New Year, the fact is that resolutions are notoriously difficult to keep. This is because the act of setting resolutions is extremely easy, but keeping them requires a lot of work—
more than we’re usually prepared to put in. As a result, our resolutions tend to fall by the wayside and before long we’re back to our old habits.
If you’re looking to put your best foot forward this year and start the year off as your best self, there is still hope! Setting resolutions for the New Year should be about big-picture thinking, and setting goals that are realistic, and in line with your overarching goals. In many ways, it’s not so much about changing who you are, but rather improving upon what you already have. It’s about doing some pruning and taking away—as well as adding in—in ways that will help you grow and succeed.
With this in mind let’s take a look at a few things that you can do to start this New Year off right.
Assess Your Previous Year
You don’t have to start from scratch to make your year count. Life is a gradual journey, and your resolutions should be too. Start by taking stock of your previous year—both your successes and disappointments. See what you have learned, how you have grown, and what areas of your life have had the greatest impact. Ask yourself what areas you’d like to improve, but take the time to recognize where you’ve come from.
"Turn The Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders" by L. David Marquet -Book Reviewed by TLP Cohort #6 Member
I have just about 20 years in t he military and have always operated in the "top down" manner. After reading this book, I realized that this way is not always the best way to get a job done.
This book redefines the word "leader" in so many ways. The struggles of being a new leader and trying to get a foothold on the employees to respect you and respect themselves in the workforce. I personally can relate to the struggles that the Commander in this book had to deal with, from discipline to competence, and even respect.
"How to Simplify Your New Year's Resolution with This One-Word Method" by Emily Davis
The 2010's have been nothing short of monumental. From technological advancements and changes in societal dynamics to the state of the planet, the years have been challenging and shifting our ideals about who we are and who we want to be.
On a global scale, the impact of the last 10 years has been massive, but it affected people on a personal level too. Every single one of us has been swayed by the multitude of events in the past years. As we head into a the next decade, we get to ask ourselves what we want the next years to look like.
Before making a New Year's Resolution, take some time to reflect.
Trying to project the future can definitely seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. So often, at the end of the year, we get stuck in the whole New Year’s Resolution cycle.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to say that making a New Year’s resolution is a bad thing. Its great! But the cycle is that we don’t truly acknowledge who we are when we make them and who we want to be by following them through.
A Message from the T2 Center's Executive Director, Donna Shea
Happy New Year from all of us at the T2 Center. May 2020 bring happiness, new achievements and a lot of inspirations in your life. We hope you will continue to find inspiration in the articles we provide in the Leadership Lessons newsletters.
This is the time to consider goals for 2020. Last year I asked you to consider developing three (3) goals for your professional development. This year, I am going to ask you to consider how you will be developing your crew? I've always been a fan of setting goals at the beginning of each year because it provides a wonderful opportunity to reflect and focus on self-improvement.
This year, I would suggest meeting with your employees to discuss their long term professional development goals, ask them to provide a few goals to you and then consider how you could provide an opportunity to help them reach those goals (coaching, training, technical resources, inclusion on an internal input team for new equipment, etc.).
Feel free to contact me (donna.shea@uconn.edu) if you would like to share any of your ideas and discuss.
Look forward to working with you in 2020.
All the best,
Donna
"When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new."
-Dalai Lama
2020 Training Opportunities
NOW AVAILABLE
We will continue to update the schedule with dates and locations, so check in with us regularly.
