A Full Head, Heart, and Belly – Reflections on My Week of Leadership Development
My head is full. My heart is very full. And my belly is pretty full too. This is how I feel after an intense week of leadership development.
Last week, I spent my time at the Eaglewood Resort & Spa in Itasca, IL (just outside of Chicago) with 22 other Siemens leaders from around the world. It was such an honor to be included with such wonderful company. My peers came from Peru, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada, and the United States, and we gathered for an exclusive leadership development course.
It will take a while for me to fully digest my experience, but I wanted to share some of my initial thoughts:
- Teamwork can take you far. As part of the experience, I was put on a team with five other participants. We had the opportunity to work together on several assignments throughout the week, and I’m happy to say we were successful because we learned how to work together making the most of the different talents and skills we each brought with us.
- Being present is essential to get the most of our experiences and conversations. We spent a lot of time learning to listen, learning to be assertive, and learning to coach. These things are not effective if we are not fully engaged with others.
- Not everyone has my behavioral preferences and personality tendencies. I must learn to be aware of how others recharge and respond to situations. I must also learn to adapt my behaviors to lead more effectively.
- Getting feedback from others is crucial to helping me grow. Before I left, I had several people from my office give me feedback through a 360 degree feedback survey. I also received feedback from my teammates throughout the week. Receiving feedback from others isn’t always easy. It requires humility, open ears, and a willingness to analyze, adapt, and accept. The feedback I received was encouraging and eye-opening. It provided an opportunity to look in the mirror and discover more about me.
- Transparency opens the door to team growth. Within a few hours, my team shared aspects of our past that influenced our leadership and life up until this week. The stories shared led to more stories. The stories bonded us together in a way I hadn’t expected. By the end of the week, I not only had a team of colleagues – I had a team of friends and personal cheerleaders. I now have people in Brazil, Mexico, Canada, and the United States who I grew close to me. I know I’ll be able to connect with them when I have a leadership issue I need to navigate.
- My leadership will only get better when I let others lead. I have a natural tendency to take on more than I should. I fail to delegate and to pass off leadership to my team, because I want to make sure things are accomplished at my standard. If I don’t let others lead, I’m doing a disservice to them, to me, and to my company. As I head back to work today, I’ll be looking for ways to let others lead.
- I’m excited for the future of my company. In my 20+ years with the company, I have never experienced this type of training. I had the chance to rub shoulders with the up and coming leaders in the company, and they have so many great ideas which will propel our company forward into the future.
These thoughts only brush the surface of my experience last week. I left the week exhausted. I’ve spent a lot of time in silence since I left the resort on Friday afternoon. My head is full with ideas and questions related to how I will implement my learnings.
My heart is full, because I had the opportunity to dive fairly deep into the lives of several new friends. The coaches along with my colleagues left me feeling valued and accepted.
My belly is full, because they kept feeding us. Thankfully, I hit the fitness center four of the five mornings I was at the resort. This week I will get back into a more healthy and normal routine.
If you want to STRETCH your leadership, you need to invest your time and energy (and maybe some money) into yourself. This week was all about making that investment, and I’m so excited to move ahead with the new tools in my tool belt.