ASAE Young Professional Leadership Academy reflections (Part 2)

Being in the leadership academy gives you exposure at ASAE. At most meetings I attended, the ASAE young professional leadership academy was mentioned publicly, intriguing other young professionals and seasoned professionals who were enthusiastic that ASAE supported such a program, something, which I was often reminded of on a frequent basis, that wasn't available when the seasoned professionals were learning the ropes. Additional exposure included the opportunity to dive deep into a research project (future post) and present at the 2010 ASAE Annual Meeting. I did just that and can't wait to share these experiences.

How has my leadership style grown and changed since participating in this program? Here are a few of my takeaways from this program on leadership. A leader...
- maintains integrity and company values in times of success and times of trouble, times when in the spotlight and in private
- builds a great network of individuals and confidants to exchange ideas and build a sounding board
- recognizes the contributions of others and seeks creative opportunities through financial and non financial incentives to do so
- creates an environment where collaboration is second nature, not operating in a silo
- embodies the mission, vision, and values of the organization
- walks the walk and talks the talk

I can't wait to share my journey of leadership as I try to write more frequently on this blog. I hope that you'll share your lessons learned, stories, and life experiences.

Next week - a look at my group project research offering perspective and insights into the generation y's actions in the workplace.

ASAE Day 1 of Learning

I have the awesome opportunity to attend the ASAE and the Center for Association Leadership Annual Meeting. This is the Mecca of association meetings that provides the opportunity for networking, learning, and everything associations. 
 
Today's general session keynote speaker was Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic. Coincidentally, I sat next to him on the plane from MSP to LAX last night and had a wonderful conversation. His talk focused on leadership, obviously, but said that everyone is a leader, not just the senior staff or the CEO. I will also provide you with a few bullet points of his talk
- the industrial way of work is DEAD. Command and control is DEAD, and if it isn't at your organization, it should be
- Put the org ahead of your interests 
- Choose the correct leaders for substance, quality and integrity
- Be true to your life story. 
- Values of the organization should be the same around the world. 

The only learning lab that I attended was a discussion of the results from an ASAE survey titled "The Decision to Learn". Here's a few tidbits to share
- respondents stated that access to professional education programs is important! 
- when responding on a 5-point Likert scale with 1 being low and 5 being high physician healthcare executives prefer to learn from Practicioners! (4.63 out of 5) 
- the biggest barrier to learning is travel and fees, including lack of support from employer. 
- millennials want to increase competence in job and are more likely to be motivated by a pay raise
- millenials perceived different barriers to learning including the inability of disposable income to pay their own way, don't have the time to devote to learning, and state that their employer doesn't recognize benefits of professional education (I wonder if that is because millenials want education outside of their core responsibilities)
- learners don't like tests or quizzes.

I hope that you found this useful. I will write another post tomorrow sharing my takeaways. 

How I Work

I was recently out at dinner with a co-worker and some colleagues when the co-worker said semi-jokingly about me "He's so tech savvy. He's got his iPhone, two monitors, and keeps up with Facebook and Twitter. It must be a generational thing."

I'm happy to share that I use technology to my advantage and multitask like you wouldn't believe. You'll see me reading PC Magazine or Mac World looking for a few additional tips and tricks to improve my efficiency. My love of, and ease of use with technology, may be a generational characteristic, but should I really be called out as a token Gen Y'er just because I have a smart phone and engage in social media? I don't mind being praised for being productive and effective, but I'm not fond of others in my generation that will be held to the same, or higher, standard that don't embrace technology like I do. Take my wife for example; she is just fine using Internet Explorer instead of FireFox or Google Chrome, using one monitor for our home computer instead of two, and would rather talk on the phone than video chat with me while I'm traveling.

In short, don't lump generation y into a category just because we are more facile with technology. Allow us to work with you and share our love of efficiency and technology with you. Who knows, you might see some instant rewards.

'til next time ~ Tom