September 2009 - First MLDP Participants
Pictured, left to right:[front row]Reed Boeger ’10, Mark Heller ’10, Imani Brown ’10, Kelly Bogaert ’10, Rebecca Goldberg ’10, Katy Briggs ’10, Caitlin Fowler ’10, Nichole Davis ’10, Julianne Begay ’10, Terra Branson ’10, Abbe Sokol ’10.
[back row]Nate McNamara ’10, Jude Chiy ’10, Brendan McVeigh ’10, James Wang ’10, Nathan Bruschi ’10, Andrew Ferrera ’10, Taylor Stevenson ’10, Sam Edandison ’10, Robert Zbeda ’10, Adam Halpern-Leistner ’10, Steven Cheng ’10, James Doolin ’10, David Imamura ’10, Ned Kenney ‘10
Missing from photo: Elizabeth Klinger ’10. Alex Rivadeneira ‘10
Dr. Elizabeth Winslow (Dartmouth ‘83) of Tuck Business School hosted the first session of the newly implemented Management and Leadership Development Program (MLDP) Wednesday, September 23rd. This was a combined sessions between Rocky Leadership Fellows (RLF) and MLDP where Dr. Winslow asked students “What makes a good leader?” During the session students were asked to describe and draw their leadership experience. They also compiled a list of qualities they saw other leaders possess. After examining their own experience participants were asked to examine current leadership theory and find areas in which they are strong and weak, drawing upon the reading about emotional intelligence and its role in successful leadership.
Dr. Winslow explained that “There are a lot of ways to measure and exercise leadership.” Her explanation of leadership theory included a progression of how leadership has been studied historically, different leadership theories, types of leadership, and examples of different leadership styles. Winslow used some of the examples of students’ leadership experiences to further cement her examples of leadership theory and application. Winslow’s take away message for students was “it [leadership] involves people and achieving a result…it requires excellence in a lot of spheres.” She asked participants to be cognizant of their own abilities and actions, so that they can begin to focus on the areas where their leadership can be improved.
“Writing in the Workplace: Understanding the Collective Context” [September 30, 2009]
Julie Kalish, Dartmouth Class of 1991 and currently a lecturer in both Dartmouth's Institute for Writing and Rhetoric and Vermont Law School's Legal Writing Department, facilitated a session called “Writing in the Workplace: Understanding the Collective Context” on September 30, 2009. In her time with MLDP students, Kalish not only reinforced the need for strong writing skills in professional settings, but also led exercises aimed at developing these skills. According to Kalish, students underestimate the extent to which employers value good writing skills, and as such do not master the clarity, concision, and “correctness” that are hallmarks of good writing.
In line with today’s modern workplace, where email continues to encroach on the territory of fax machines and snail mail, Kalish’s exercises were especially geared toward developing proficiency in email composition. From a “big picture” focus on paragraph structure and clear and concise sentences, Kalish’s lesson progressed to more detail-oriented (but equally important) ideas, such as the need for a proper electronic sign-off, avoiding the passive voice, and the folly of gratuitous exclamation point use. One student remarked that Kalish’s session “Should be done again for other students”: as bright as Dartmouth students may be, everyone could learn a thing or two about navigating the pitfalls of the corporate world.
The October 5, 2009 special session, “Time and Stress Management”, was led by Kari Jo Grant, the Health Education Coordinator in the Health Resources Office at Dick’s House. Grant, who is also a peer advisor to three student groups—Eating Disorder Peer Advisors, Peer Education Action Corps, and the Sexperts—is certainly no stranger to the stress and chaos intrinsic to the existence of a Dartmouth student, and she came armed to the teeth with techniques and exercises aimed at combating stress.
Before expounding on these stress relief and time management approaches, however, Grant spent her first hour with MLDP students talking through what stress and anxiety are, exactly—and how we bring them upon ourselves unnecessarily. Once the group had established a baseline understanding of the emotions, physiology, and behavior at play, Grant facilitated multiple meditation and deep breathing exercises. Grant left students with wisdom they could easily incorporate into their daily behaviors. A good example of this practical, real-world approach was communicated by a student reflecting on the session the next day: “I’ll be budgeting time better (I've already put time for lunch in my iCal).”
Kate Hilton ’99, of the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University, hosted a session Wednesday, October 7, 2009 on communicating with others using narratives. Hilton began the session with a version of her personal narrative about her experience at Dartmouth and how it has shaped her work and passion now. Immediately following her story she asked students to find the structure of a public narrative. Hilton explained, “Each story should include a plot, several choices, one or more challenges, outcomes, and a moral.” Students learned there are three areas that public narratives can cover; self, us, and now. Hilton mentioned that stories could include all or a combination of just two areas.
Hilton asked students to think of their own narrative, and asked them to tell a story of self, while keeping in mind the structure the group discovered. Students practiced in small groups to develop their public narrative, followed by an example given by James Wang ’10. The group went on to coach each other and further discover important components of the public narrative. Hilton encouraged students to think about the group they were speaking to, to create a collective us. Hilton claimed, “Creating a collective us will help motivate others to join you.” Throughout the night MLDP students told their story three times and listened to numerous others. Hilton encouraged students to continue telling public narratives, explaining that it is a “practice in leadership to motivate other to take action.”
Nearly sixty students, including sixteen MLDP participants, attended two Interview Skills MLDP Special Sessions at the Rockefeller Center co-sponsored by Career Services. During the sessions, Rodrigo Ramirez and Skip Sturman gave an hour long presentation on how to have a successful interview with prospective employers. During the presentations randomly selected students were asked to find answers to some of the hardest interview questions, like “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” Ramirez encouraged students “to find a weakness with a positive spin.” Presenters advised students on what to wear to an interview, how to approach an uncomfortable question, how to prepare for an interview, and what the typical post-interview procedures are. Following the sessions students were able to ask individual questions based on experiences and concerns.
These MLDP special sessions were co-hosted with the Rockefeller Center Student Discussion Groups AGORA (Friday, October 9 session) and VoxMasters (Monday, October 12 session). Find out more about the Center's Student Discussion Groups.
The Management and Leadership Development Program had three very special guests Wednesday, October 14th. Mr. and Mrs. Corrigan visited the Rockefeller Center to see some of the programs in which their generous gift supports. MLDP participants also had the honor to hear from Professor John Garvey of the Pierce Law Center in Concord, NH. With nearly 30 years of experience as a practicing mediator, there are not many who are better than Professor Garvey.
First, Mr. Garvey reviewed the theory of problem solving, decision making and negotiation. Garvey explained that everything was connected and involved in the decision making process. He described the details of the process further saying “In problem solving, first you must confront the problem, start looking at possible solutions, then with the best information available you make a decision.” The remainder of the session revolved around the completion of the last step. Garvey assured participants that this is where mediation gets convoluted. Students were asked to practice the five steps of negotiation proposed by William Ury when more than one party is involved in the decision making. The steps were simple and Garvey provided an opportunity for students to practice by using a personal problem or situation. Students were asked to break into groups of three and report back to the group what some of the underlying themes were. During the simulation students were asked to look at the argument as a big picture. Afterward, students had to make both sides of the argument, then play a mediator to work to reframe the discussion and negotiate a compromise. At the end of the group discussion Garvey left the students with these words, “Problem solving and negotiation should not be difficult, it should not happen to you, it should be intentional and you should prepare.”
MLDP students participated in special session, Saturday, October 17, that without a doubt will help them in future endeavors in any workplace. Michael Belinsky ‘08 and Natayla Shulga ’07 walked students through some of Excel’s more advanced techniques with a worksheet designed and given to students using data collected about themselves through a pre-session survey. Students found that learning advanced functions, keyboard shortcuts, and several mathematical formulas were the most important parts of the session to take away. The added bonus was that each student was able to take the workbook with them, allowing them to practice and refresh the skills taught during the session.
Following the Excel session, Alex Rivadeneira ’10, hosted a “How to…” session for PowerPoint presentations. Rivadeneira gave students examples of good and bad presentations, warned students against wordy slides, distracting animations, and generic clipart. Students learned to manipulate pictures to create watermarks, headers, and images that suit particular presentations. Again, students were able to follow the presentation from behind their own PCs and keep the final project. Before concluding Rivadeneira shared a handout with students to reinforce what a good presentation should include and what it should leave behind.
Skip Sturman from Dartmouth College’s Career Services provided students with examples of resumes and fielded questions from students preparing for internships, post-graduate studies and recruitment. Describing yourself and your experiences in a resume can be a difficult task, but Sturman explained the “do’s and don’ts” of resume building. Students learned how to change the format of a resume to allow for the most space and reminded them to use short sentences beginning with active verbs. Sturman also encouraged students to study and research their employer and the job description so that they can tailor each resume accordingly. Sturman provided all students with pages of handouts to help them design their own resumes and remind them of the information he presented during the session.
This MLDP special session was co-hosted with the Rockefeller Center Student Discussion Group First Year Forum. You can find more information about Rockefeller Center Student Discussion Groups here.
Liz Augusto ‘01, Dartmouth College’s Associate Director of the Collis Center for Student Involvement, asked MLDP participants to reflect about their individual thought processes. Throughout the session students engaged in activities that required collaborative thinking and analysis of two different problems. However, the session began with a simple question, “What is critical thinking?” The varying answers that followed were interesting, including “questioning preconceived information,” “breaking down a problem,” and “not always using a set process.” Agosto used the student’s examples to explain the eight elements of problem solving. The elements are steps in the process to be used when making a collaborative decision. Agosto offered a quick way to get through the eight elements when working with a large group. Her solution was to use a SWOT analysis. This analysis can be done with a group to discover strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
The remainder of the session was spent challenging students to use the skills just learned through group work. Participants were divided into two groups and given fifteen minutes to building the tallest free-standing tower. Following the exercise students were asked about how they went through the eight elements and where they could improve. One point students walked away with was never to “assume limits that did not exist.” Agosto ended the session with several ideas and processes regarding thinking critically, but reminded students that, “All thinking should be critical thinking.”
Keely Ayres, Senior Production Manager of the Hopkins Center, led a special MLDP session on October 27, 2009—“Event Planning”—which gave students a sense of the work needed to successfully orchestrate an event. Ayres covered the four major steps of event management: first, needs must be assessed, goals must be developed, and objectives must be established; second, concrete plans and logistics must be finalized; third, publicity and fundraising efforts must be carried out; and finally, after the event, comes reflection through the use of checklists and evaluations.
Ayres brought these ideas to life in describing the challenges she faced in helping to plan the Democratic Primary Debate in the Hopkins Center in September 2007. The set designer had delivered plans that called for equipment that would spill over into the first row, and it was Ayres’ responsibility to ensure the set was redesigned, on a slightly smaller scale, in time for the debate. One major lesson reinforced through Ayres’ presentation was the need for anticipation: asking the right questions, paying attention to the most salient potential problem areas, holding people accountable for hard deliverables on a consistent basis—these are all approaches the most successful event planners embrace, and Ayres is certainly no exception.
MLDP participants had the opportunity to discuss some of the most difficult and sensitive situations in the workplace on Wednesday October 28, 2009 during Diversity in the Workplace: It’s Personal. Presenters, Gabrielle Lucke of the Institute of Diversity and Equity and Sylvia Spears, Dartmouth College’s Acting Dean of the College, answered students’ questions like Rebecca Goldberg’s, “What do you do when a colleague makes an inappropriate remark?” Understanding cultural competence was the underlying theme of the evening. Spears and Lucke began the evening with an activity that asked students to write down assumptions about the two presenters. Then they each gave a short piece of their personal narrative and asked students how close their assumptions were to the truth. This activity was to help students begin to think about their personal cultural competence and assumptions made based on previous experiences.
Later in the session students were asked to take the Human Capital Assessment. This survey is used by institutions to measure individuals’ cultural competency in terms of diversity awareness, attitude, knowledge, skills, and experience. As an assessment tool students were asked to think about the areas where they may not be as culturally competent as they could be. The point that Lucke left with everyone at the end of the night was, “The key element [to strengthening cultural competence] is to know who you are and what you bring.” At the end of the night students were asked to record what areas of cultural competency they would like to work on and list a few goals in which to do just that.
Many MLDP participants confessed Wednesday, November 4, 2009 that they had sat through boring, unproductive meetings. However, thanks to Karen Liot Hill’s presentation on effective facilitation they will not make the mistake others have. Hill’s past experience as Lebanon’s mayor enabled her to give first-hand experience stories and field difficult questions. In fact, throughout Hill’s presentation, “Facilitation-Putting an End to Boring Meetings,” students remained engaged, asking questions and giving suggestions to other students for situational “What ifs.”
The night began with students sharing one word they associated with meeting; words like “collaborative,” “communication,” and “table” were common among participants. Hill continued her presentation defining the roles of both facilitator and meeting member, politely reminding students that technically a meeting belongs to the group and they too are responsible for the life of a meeting. Hill highlighted the importance of setting each meeting up with a greeting and explanation of purpose. She encouraged participants to think of the meeting as diamond, starting narrow (stating purpose), widening the scope (brainstorming), and narrowing again (voting). While explaining the process of facilitation, Hill provided helpful tips to maintain order, to prevent bullying and to assess the feelings during the meeting. Hill asked students to put their new skills to use immediately in two ways. First, she asked students to share a bad meeting experience and what they could have done to change the outcome. Second, six students participated in a fishbowl exercise to show how a meeting can quickly spin out of control and the different types of individuals can influence a group. Then the entire group was asked to reflect on the simulation and explain how things could have gone differently. Hill left the group encouraging them to “lead ethically” and reflect on the eight facilitation tools they learned during throughout the night.
“Systems thinking is cyclical in nature, we must train ourselves to think in this manner because our education teaches us to thinking linearly,” said Marty Jacobs ‘82, Systems In Sync President. Jacobs led the MLDP session on Wednesday November 11, 2009 on strategic planning and systems thinking. Students began the night testing their systems thinking skills with a balloon exercise. Students found the exercise to be challenging despite the simple directions to keep the balloon in the air, when a weighted balloon was introduced to the system. Jacobs summarized the exercise as a teaching tool to help students remember that the best laid plans can be interrupted with a smallest change.
Following the exercise, Jacobs guided students through the theory of systems thinking and the strategic planning process. Jacobs explained the six steps of the strategic planning process. The process begins with a vision, followed by a field analysis to identify the source of the “presented systems.” Jacobs explains this can be the most difficult part of the process aside from the implementation and evaluation of the program, because gathering data on the issues can be laborious and time consuming. However, it is the most essential part to creating a successful strategic plan. The last steps include brainstorming, setting goals, developing action steps, implementing and evaluating the plan. Once students were familiar with the steps, they were asked to take some of their peers’ ideas and work through the strategic planning process to develop the idea further. Following the break out activity, students talked about their experience with the planning process. Jim Doolin said he learned that, “Visions are really important for an organization.” Others claimed the session allowed for them to work through some of their own plans and the feedback was helpful in creating new ideas to implement their plan.
