Thursday, September 15, 2011

Guest post - Susan Holt



Leadership has been on my mind quite a bit lately. I started a new role a few weeks ago and have been thinking about what kind of leadership my new organization needs, and where my style fits and diverges from those needs. I’ve been thinking about how to start, and re-reading “The First 90 Days” by Michael Watkins, a great book for first-time managers and new CEOs alike.

Even before my first day on this job, I’ve observed and benefited from the leadership approach of my new boss, Chairman of the NB Business Council and Sunny Corner Enterprises CEO Gordie Lavoie. I firmly believe the days leading up to and following a new employee’s start can really influence their long-term success. As Watkins would say, accelerating transition and development to “expedite everyone” helps make organizations better, faster, stronger.

Gordie has taken a very thoughtful approach to supporting my lead-up to day 1 and preparation for the weeks beyond. He has been in touch regularly, connecting me with those who can fulfill my administrative needs (payroll, etc) and initiating the planning process for my first 90 days on the job. He’s been clear and specific about his expectations but has also recognized my strengths and style, creating the space for me to set the course I see fit, while providing careful advice. Finally, Gordie has generously offered encouragement and positive reinforcement for my initial actions, both small and large.

In short, while I know Gordie is extremely busy with his day job, he has shown a commitment to both the Business Council and me by providing strong, intentional leadership during a critical time.

I’m sure as we further develop our working relationship, the frequency and nature of our communications will change, and the balance between Chair and CEO will reach an appropriate equilibrium. But for now, I’m grateful that he has recognized this transition as one deserving of his attention and skill. I’ve learned from him already and expect to continue doing so as my new leadership role unfolds.

Can you think of a transition you’ve been through when strong leadership made a difference? I would love to learn about it in the blog comments!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Summer student summary of the summer.


Quick, find me in this picture!

I wish I could have fit another word starting with s into that title.

This week is officially my last week as the 21inc summer student. Tomorrow? My last day as the summer student. Gasp! That means it’s time for a summer employment blog post. I found it easier to write this in point form as there was a few different topics I wanted to write about.

Three topics I would like to touch on regarding my summer employment:

1) Worth and value in employment. I don’t know about you, but in my teens (and slightly beyond that) I worked in the food service industry. If you have ever had a job at a fast food place, you know that people tend to come and go. Even though I would go to my place of employment and put in the same amount of effort I would for any other job, I never really felt like I was particularly appreciated for my effort. I didn’t feel like I was of particular value to my employers (Because in their minds, I was just another employee, and employees come and go and can be easily replaced.) At 21inc this summer, I was not only told that I was of worth to the organization but I was shown as much by the projects I was given and the reception to work that I’d done. My opinion is of value, which was shown to me by the fact that Tim would often ask for my opinion on things he was working on (Even if it didn’t have anything to do with what I was working on or design.) I think part of that is due to the fact that I love what I do, but that’s another story. Up until now I didn’t see my own value as an employee/graphic designer because it’d been drilled into my head with years of food service that I was disposable as an employee.

2) Social and economic development, social innovation, politics and public policy. Up until I started working at 21inc these were topics that I did not know much about. I would not say that I’m now an expert on any of those subjects, but they were ones that would come up often in office conversation and it was something that I found quite interesting. Up until now my conversations with people generally involved the ‘hey-how’s-it-going’ type questions, talk about entertainment, and the occasional debate on a philosophical question (If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it still make a sound?) For some reason politics and current events (and particularly, what was going on the province) were never topics that came up. But now when people talk about these topics I at least listen (Sometimes I feel like I don’t know enough to express an opinion) because it’s actually a lot more interesting to me than I thought it would be.

3) Learning experiences. From the beginning Tim said that he wanted me to take any opportunity to learn something new that would help me be a better designer or help my portfolio. In my time at 21inc I’ve done two print design projects. I’m a graphic designer but my training is for screen based graphic design. Some aspects of print design were touched on at school so I still felt like I knew what I was doing, but it was still a big learning experience. Another big thing I learned was about communication – Things like explaining software to someone who doesn’t know as much about it, about the importance of including notes on what things I’m aware that need to be fixed on draft documents, asking for a second opinion, and so on and so forth. And using the phone instead email. I learned about work plans and project outlines, and planning projects. Tim would also frequently encourage me to think a little deeper about why I was designing something, and the purpose of it, and how I should integrate all those things together. And to think about how we (21inc) communicate ourselves to the general public. It’s not that I didn’t think before I started here, I just did not give those aspects of design a lot of thought. And those are very important aspects of designing anything (Which they don’t emphasize as much in school, I find)

On top of all the greatness that I have already mentioned, this was also a really fun job. I got to do something I loved, and I worked with awesome people and an awesome organization. There was never a dull moment in the office.