Journey Into Leadership

The insights gained by you in this leadership program will be a direct result of the commitment and effort that you put into it, and the connections of ideas and people you are able to make early on. At our request, we asked past participants to come up with a list of suggestions that might help future participants understand the importance of participating fully in this program.

• Be more open minded about what I could get from this class in better understanding myself, others, and interactions between.
• Do more of the reading ahead of time. My experience (when I was reading more) was enhanced.
• Understand that there is no good way to measure the loss of my leadership to the community should I decide not to fully and sincerely participate. When you start counting the ticks on the time meter stick, time lost off task from your regular job, you may question your faith in the program, your fellow participants and, above all, yourself. That's when you have to know why you are in the program and why the program exists and why so many wonderful people are in it with you.
• Find the time early in the program to read all the materials. Both books and the leadership manual are worth the time and effort to read and think through.
• Take advantage of the variety of resources. Go to ALL the sessions--even the ones you think you won't get much out of. They will surprise you! Read the session materials, books, and the workbook. They enhance each other in ways that you won't see coming! Learn from your fellow participants--during the sessions and from their reflection writings. You will be surrounded by amazing people who have more to share than you, or they, expect! Finally, challenge yourself... Be open-minded.... Disrupt your normal way of thinking....Give your best to your project.... Participate fully. If you don't, you'll miss out on an amazing resource, and so will the people around you.
• Make early connections with the other members in the Journey into Leadership program. A lot can be gained from the experiences of others.
• Get to know others in the group as soon as I could. Meet with them after the sessions or between sessions to debrief and share what we're learning to discover insights. Do this from the first session onward.
• Determine the amount of time needed to focus on program activities and "do them first" each week. A little time and attention goes a long way, as long as it happens on a regular basis. Make the commitment to the leadership program "a priority" and changes will happen in your life that you might least have expected.
• Talk with people not in the program about the Journey Into Leadership sessions. This would have helped better solidify the learning and allow me to share with others who may not think of themselves as leaders.
• I would dedicate more time and energy into reading, observing and journaling. The experience would have been even more wonderful. Unfortunately, our jobs do take us away from what we really want to do. But, I would definitely, make it a higher priority.
• Requested a coach. This helps to create a project that will have the greatest impact on one's own leadership.
• Read the books, and do the exercises in the manual.