As a semester comes to an end

It is hard to believe that this semester is coming to a close already. It has gone by so fast. Not just this semester but this entire degree, but that is a whole other story! This is semester we were given the tools to be as good of a leader as we choose to be. We were not given a how to book, or specific directions but we were given the opportunity to find the leader within ourselves, and for that I consider the course a great success and a valuable experience. I find myself reflecting on in day to day life, and believe I will continue to do so as I move into a work environment.

This blog was a chance for me to reflect on what I learnt throughout the course, not to just reiterate the concepts or the daily discussions but to try and connect it to a deeper level and build my understanding of leadership. I believe I have achieved that here, I found this process very rewarding and hope to continue on with blogging after I graduate.

I watched a Ted Talk yesterday by Arianna Huffington, who discussed the value of sleep. Although this might not initially appear to relate back to leadership, I think it does in every possible way. Huffington said “The essence of leadership is being able to see the iceberg before it hits the Titanic.” What she is saying is maybe if you took the time to care for yourself, get a good nights sleep you will have the mind capacity to see what is a head and make better decisions. This idea summed up a lot of what we discussed in this class for me. Before you can be a great leader, you must lead yourself.

Although the idea of self leadership was the focus at the beginning of the course and not the end, it was what I connected back to throughout. It was the goal I set for myself from the beginning, to improve how I lead myself. I think I am working towards better self leadership, but I also think I it is a lifelong journey.

http://www.ted.com/talks/arianna_huffington_how_to_succeed_get_more_sleep

CREATE and Tourism Vancouver Island Pro-D Days

This week I was fortunate enough to attend two awesome events: CREATE and Tourism Vancouver Island (TVI)’s Pro-D Days. Both were awesome events and fantastic learning experiences. 

CREATE is a celebration of student research on campus, it was a chance for us all to share the hard work we have been doing and see what students from other programs were up to. I was very inspired seeing all the work people put into their research and the range of topics that were presented. It is so easy to become tied up in our immediate faculty that we forget about all the other amazing stuff going on. I think this is an important thing to keep in mind for all leaders. We must understand to not just look in our own field but across all fields to become the best at what we do. This comes back to what Geoff Godbey told us earlier in the semester — read everything, and be a life long learner. I think this also ties into innovation. How can we create the best, new and fantastic ideas if we do not have the capacity or scope to look beyond what is right in front of us? Innovation stems from exploring many outlets of information and developing a wide world view!

The very next day I made the journey to Tofino to attend the TVI’s Pro-D Days. This was an amazing event filled with industry leaders, this high level professionals from North to Central Island, ranging from hotel owners, professors, students, consultants, accounts to the CEO of Tourism Vancouver Island. The various speakers presented on topics such as Delivering the WOW, marketing with EQ, media relations, and the connection between tourism and population in rural communities. All speakers presented ideas on leading organization that was inspiring and exciting to hear as a young professional. Whether it be implementing the EQ (Explorer Quotient) into marketing strategies as Tourism Tofino has, or describing work environments that are truly empowering to their employees, we saw proof of what a successful leader of an organization looks like.

One example that was presented was West Jet, this is a company who is customer focused. Not just the external customer, but the internal they have created a work environment that inspires its staff to come to work and because of that is able to exceed customer expectations time and time again.  

Although these events pulled me away from the experience, I was able to connect them to the topics we have been discussing in class and offer what I believe to be a pretty fantastic substitution! 

Week 11 — A second look at Self-Leadership

This week Jenn Dorby brought in  Kalpna Mangat from Art of Living to show us a more holistic approach to leadership. Kalpna really brought home the idea that leadership is more approachable than we sometimes think, and the qualities we see in great leaders are all things which we too possess. Through Breathing exercise and yoga Kalpna helped give us strategies to lead ourselves through centring ourselves, living in the present and being self aware. 

I loved this class. I love yoga, and I do not do it nearly enough. Sometimes I need that reminded to take a minute to meditate and just stop to collect my thoughts. Every time I do a yoga class I feel like a new person. I feel grounded, relaxed and like I can take on the tasks in front of me, yet it is the first thing I drop when I get stressed out or busy. Yoga is a big part of general wellness which I try to incorporate into my life, but I have to say I have been failing at recently. This class let me reflect on that and try to come up with ways that I can work on my wellness. This all comes back to my goal I created for myself at the beginning of the semester. I wanted to work on my self leadership and I don’t think I have been meeting that goal. Whether it be the fact that I have other things going on in my life — preparing for a trip to Nepal, preparing to move out to my apartment and head up to Haida Gwaii for three months, or if the fact that I am graduating in three months is all I can think of, or I am just making excuses But I think it is time to take a closer look at my self and set some goals for the last month of the semester so I can go into a very busy summer with some habits or strategies in place to succeed.

 

 

 

Week 10

This week we did an interesting case study with John Predyk looking at innovative ways of income generation for VIU. It was a fun process to work though and really cool to consider new ways the university can make money. I found it fascinating that the different groups all had some ideas that were very similar, but each group had a few unique ideas that were really awesome! The majority of the ideas focused around food services which is not exactly surprising. Stemming from that class, and the work that John Predyk is doing with VIU I have been brewing with ideas of my future what I really want to achieve.

We were recently asked to create a five year plan of how we hope to progress in our careers and I was avoiding that assignment like no other.  I was terrified to try and articulate how I am going to reach my goals when I really have no idea what I want to do with my life. I know a few things which I have known for a while: I am extremely passionate about anything to do with the ocean and the wilderness of our province; I also strongly believe that tourism can be a driver of positive change, if used responsibly; I believe education is that way to do that. So where does that leave me? For many years I saw myself as working in a fishing lodge, whale watching or some sort of marine based business, but I really don’t have a drive to own my own business and the type of company I would want to work for would be too small to really reach the level I think I am capable of. 

Then it hit me. At about 2 am on a Friday night I was working on homework and thinking about the field school I went on last year (which I often do) with UNBC and Outer Shores Expeditions sailing in the Great Bear Rainforest, and I realized what I want to do. I want to connect tourism businesses with universities or high schools and help create B.C based field schools. I have travelled a fair amount, and no matter where I go I always come home and think wow I really live in the most beautiful place on earth. I want to share that and I want students from across the province to see what an amazing place they live in. I also believe that students, both young and old need to be immersed in nature in order to have any sort of connection that will build to caring for it in the future. So many field schools that schools offer are international with often seem to have a focus of foreign aid. Don’t get me wrong, I think international travel is an amazing experience and everyone should have the opportunity. But I also believe that before we try and save the rest of the world we should work on some of the problems we have at home, or at least be exposed to what is going on here enough to have a an educated view of our province. 

This is something that never crossed my mind two weeks ago and suddenly has become something I think about all of the time. I have no idea how this will work as a career, or how I can even start to achieve it, but I think if I put my innovation hat on I might just be able to come up with something. Perhaps a conversation with John might be in order! 

Week 9

I have been thinking a great deal about buy in this week and how it is to get. I am noticing this in various areas of my life — our leadership class, with both general members of the RTA, and the executive members of the RTA, the people I work with, its all around me and it is so hard to achieve. The RTA is the Recreation and Tourism Association at VIU, of which I am the Professional Development Coordinator. We have faced many issues with commitment levels and meeting deadlines and motivating each other. We were very sad to have our Chair step down, which we thought would boost everyone to get their act together, but even that only lasted temporarily. We are supposed to be a group of 10 students are committed to our program and building community within our faculty, yet even we cannot get to together enough to work successfully. If we don’t have buy in within ourselves how to we possibly expect the rest of our members and fellow students to come to events and activity participate with the group? I am starting to realize our group as a whole in very apathetic. I am not sure if it is because we are all preparing to graduate and have emotionally checked out of school ( I know I am guilty of this at times!), or what but I see the struggle teachers feel, I feel it too as I try to prepare events that only have two students show up!

So of course this must lead to the question Why? Why can we not achieve buy in? I really don’t know. I think in some instances it almost needs to start fresh, re-design what we are doing and go back to the beginning. But that is not easy to achieve and not always practical either.

I recently read Start With Why by Simon Sinek, this book, as I have mentioned on here before explores the “Golden Circle” and how in order to get followers and loyalty you must first start with why you are doing what you are doing and have a clear understanding of it. Only then, when you show why you are doing it, can you get loyal followers.

An example of an organization that I think is doing an amazing job of starting with why and building a following of loyal supporters is Y.A.N.A.. Y.A.N.A stands for you are not alone, it is a charity in the Comox Valley to assist local families who need to leave the community in order to get medical help for their children. They are a very active charity in the community, one who nearly every person from there knows. For the past seven years they have put on a dinner and auction. I have been fortunate enough to volunteer with them for the past seven years on the night of this event. This year the sales went online and they sold out in 17 minutes! They were able to raise $63 800 in one night! For a small town to support this year after year blows my mind and makes me so proud.

To me, this is a prime example of an organization who has a clear and consistent WHY — to help child from Comox get the medical help they need, and have succeeded in not only getting buy in, but getting loyal followers

Week 7

This week I was lucky enough to meet with Erin Heeney, a graduate of the Masters of Sustainable Leisure Management program at VIU. Erin sat down with me to discuss her views on leadership and innovation. In her eyes, it nearly all comes down to communication, accountability and having the right people on your team. Erin discussed how communication is the backbone of leadership and clear verbal and non verbal communication one of the most important factors in building a relationship and trust with followers. In terms of accountability, Erin points out that in order to be a good leader, you must walk the talk. You must have ownership for your tea, and lead yourself first. 

 

This week we were also fortunate enough to have Geoffry Godbey speak in our class. This is a man who most people studying tourism have referenced countless times, so meeting him and having him speak in our class was a pretty cool experience. He spoke a lot to the value of being a life long learner, and the value of communication. He suggests to read indiscriminately, read anything and everything that is available — regardless of whether it is in your field. 

Not surprising communication skills appear to be a major factor in nearly every person offering on advice in leadership, or career advancement. I have always felt more comfortable in written communication. I don’t think I am a great writer — I am horrible at spelling and know my grammar could use work, but I find with verbal communication I have a very difficult time articulating my thoughts and getting the point across that I want to make. Hearing speakers like Godbey or Erin Heeney and any other speaker I have seen at events like the Vancouver Island Leadership Conference have inspired to work harder at my verbal communication. I think participating in toastmasters would be really beneficial to me, to aid in my ability to feel comfortable speaking in public. 

February 15

I think sometimes what it means to be a leader is putting aside your own insecurities, your own self doubt, your own hang ups and putting yourself out there in a vulnerable position for the world to see. The following to videos are examples of what I think demonstrate great leadership.

The first is Ellen Page’s speech at yesterday’s Time to THRIVE conference. I believe her speech was empowering and took tremendous courage.

The second, is a close friend Jolleen Dick. This woman is someone who I genuinely believe could change the world. Whether it is implementing a street market entirely on her own, participating with passion in her community, or addressing what needs to be fixed around her and holding others accountable. Jolleen created this video as a response to a letter posted that affects her, and her community. She speaks the truth she was raised to know and does so in an eloquent way.

Both videos demonstrate strong women telling their story in an inspiring way.

Week 5

This week we were asked to self reflect, as we began to move towards the end of our section on self leadership. First with an assignment to write our own eulogy. I found this a strange assignment and something I brushed off to begin with. While I do not have a proper eulogy written perhaps some things I would like to be remembered for at the end of my life:

A passion for travel, the outdoors and the ocean

A strong love for family

A dedicated, passionate person who was committed to giving her best at all endeavours 

A loyal, caring and supportive friend

I think that at the end of my life the things I want people to reflect on are the qualities I had as a person, not the job I did, but the way I lived my life. The qualities I listed above are things that I on some level already posses, and on some hope to in the future. The more I reflect on this assignment I understand the idea of how it forces us to look at what we want our lives in the end. In a way it is another form of goal setting I guess. 

Our second task was to reflect on the past four years and how we have changed. I have changed so much in the past four years, it sometimes shocks me. Although yes, I am still the same person on the inside my self confidence and self awareness has grown exponentially. At the start of my degree I really had no idea who I wanted to be, I was so shy and insecure I could barely answer a question in class, let alone do a presentation, now I feel I can do both fairly confidently. I have come to understand what I believe in, and am not ashamed to share that or put myself out there. I find it funny, how we come to school for an education, and although I will take with me certain skills and knowledge from classes, I think that is low on the list of what my degree has given me. 

Dance vs. Power Point

In his Tedtalk, John Bohannon looks at dance as a medium of explanation vs. powerpoint. I think this idea is an innovation way to enhance that arts and would definitely make more a more engaging experience for audience members at presentations. His concept of ‘Dance your PHD’, stood out to me perhaps because I have a background in dance, but also because I enjoy seeing new ways to challenging our education system. This is a very fascinating way to bridge creativity with academia.

An example of innovation

When I first saw this video, I was amazed. I have always knocked homeschooling, feeling that kids need to be exposed to other children and people rather than sitting at home with their parents everyday. I have come to realize, this is a very close-minded view, and a home school education can take a variety of forms. In the case of Logan LaPlante’s education it is clearly working, and offering not only a pretty cool alternative to the traditional school system, it is helping to develop a kid that most definitely an innovative leader.