I am a part of two long-term leadership training programs right now and I am exhausted with all the information I am receiving. Although the information is aligned and is working well to give me a broader view of leadership and DEI, I am having difficulty keeping up with all the materials and actions. It has been a great time for me to use the important vs. immediate methodology and try to hammer on the delegation action items I am working on. At the same time, I had three sick kids this past week and ended up working remotely, which is rare for me nowadays, so I have been able to take the time to reflect on the programs and how best to approach internalizing and integrating the information.
Firstly, the approach to the two programs is very different. On the one hand, we have a ten-week program that includes weekly asynchronous work and synchronous meetings to discuss the week’s content and build onto it. On the other, we have a year-long program with monthly meetups (currently hybrid, but originally all in-person) with content presented during and between each meetup for asynchronous learning. I am beginning Week 5 and Month 5, respectively.
Secondly, I mentioned above that the content is aligned, but in no way presented in the same way. For the weekly program, each week has around ten chapters of content, presented largely in video lecture form with an additional activity workbook to shift learning into action. For the monthly, the content is largely reading that supplements the content in a workbook, followed by goals and action items set by each individual early in the program based on a 360 review of self-selected supervisor, peers, and reports.
As a good example of the alignment, we can discuss the idea of Influence. The table below notes the areas of influence discussed in each program and I present how I believe they align with each other.
Notes:
| Weekly | Monthly |
|---|---|
| Bargaining | Bargaining-Expressive |
| Coercion | Directive |
| Common Vision | Shared View of the Future |
| Empowerment | Building Goodwill |
| Impact Management | Inspirational Impact |
| Interpersonal Awareness | Bargaining-Receptive |
| Logical Persuasion | Logic |
| Organizational Awareness | Political Savvy |
| Relationship Building | Relationships |
| Modeling | |
| Empowerment | Consulting |
In each of the above, we can see the alignment, but likely also see differences in how the ideas are approached. Take for instance, the idea of Coercion/Directive:
There are similar juxtapositions, but I will only mention one other: Modeling. It exists as the sole point without a match in the table and I believe it is because it is the other side of a number of things and the least active of the list. The definition provided for Modeling is as follows:
How you behave is one way to influence the actions of other individuals. Your mood, energy, and example serve as a model for others. It can teach a new behavior, influence the frequency of a previously learned behavior, or increase the frequency of a similar behavior.
I call this passive because it takes active engagement from the other people who witness the model. I could see this aligning as the reverse of almost all of those listed in the weekly program.
The example provides a lot of specific information about these two programs, which I think both conflates and informs my approach to juggling these two programs at the moment. There are definitely things to learn from both of them and their alignment allows me to learn it and share between the two. If I am being honest, this has been my approach to everything in my life from a young age, democratization of information through access to or sharing of knowledge.
In the end, it is going to undoubtedly be the combination of the two programs that will allow me to get through them both without continuously living in this state of exhaustion.
Posted: May 9, 2022
In 2022, I am participating in two leadership training programs. This should be a social experience, so I am writing about it. Check out the full list of posts in the series here.