Day: April 5, 2019

Many are familiar with Brene Brown’s work on vulnerability and authenticity. New York State 4-H Educators have been gobbling this up for the last year or two and sharing it with others via webinars and conference workshops. In Dare to Lead Brown takes us into our workplaces. This book helps us to be vulnerable at work and to lean into communication with our teams. Sometimes this communication can be receiving feedback that is challenging to hear. This work reminds us of the importance of challenging interactions and the growth that can happen if we open ourselves up to allow it. One piece I took away from the book is that clear is kind and unclear is unkind. If we are giving someone directions or feedback, we need to be as clear as possible. Sometimes it is difficult to give information in an honest, open, and direct way because we do not want to hurt people’s feeling or insult them. However, we are doing a disservice when we do not dig deep and share the truth as clearly as possible.

For those interested in aiming for behavioral change, there is a self-assessment. It visits the areas of Rumbling with Vulnerability, Living into Our Values, Braving Trust, and Learning to Rise. It would be a good tool to take as a pre and later as a post.

Susan Coyle is a 4-H Educator in Monroe County, and recipient of the 2018 ESP professional development scholarship.

I read Discovering Your True North, by Bill George, for a graduate course, High Performance Management. I am sure I would not have picked the book up off a shelf at the library and thought to read it on my free time. However, I really enjoyed the book and the information in it. Bill George is a former CEO of a large medical device company. While his frame for his workplace is much different than a Cooperative Extension Association, I found his writing relatable. I particularly appreciated the way that George keeps values at the center of work as well as his encouragement of mindfulness and affinity groups. The True North in the title is your values. He encourages discovering and understanding what your true north is and really sticking to honoring it in decisions and actions. It was also a great reminder that I need to continue to work on mindfulness and work-life balance. Lastly, he spoke of the importance of having a few trusted people that you can confide in.

This book comes with an online self-evaluation tool. It is recommended to take the assessment more than once as you journey to becoming an authentic leader. It cover five core areas and reflect if you are having success with change through self-awareness.

Susan Coyle is a 4-H Educator in Monroe County, and recipient of the 2018 ESP professional development scholarship.