Learnin’…By Reflecting on 2015… Continued

Click here to return to Blog Post Intro

Learnin’

About 15 months ago, I shared one of my strengths, according to Gallup’s StrengthsFinder: Learner.  Check out my post, which focused on 20 years of learning at NASA.

This year, I continued to learn, as I love to read books on life & leadership.  As I mention in my “S.M.I.L.E. As You Shoot for the Stars!” article, several years back, a leader suggested that I take notes on leadership lessons from everything I read.  That’s part of the reason I was able to start this blog (with more than 10 years of lessons from leadership books recorded!).  In 2013, I started using Evernote to gather my notes.  In 2015, I catalogued notes from the following books (many of which will appear as Book Summaries in my blog at some point in the future): 

January

• Fruit of the Spirit Bible Studies:  Love & Building Healthy Relationships by Peter Scazzero (1991)
• The Leadership Lessons of Jesus by Bob Briner & Ray Pritchard (2008)
• Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders by L. David Marquet (2013)
• Mission Drift: The Unspoken Crisis Facing Leaders, Charities, and Churches by Peter Greer & Chris Horst (2014)

February

• Make Today Count by John Maxwell (2004)
• Launching a Leadership Revolution by Chris Brady & Orrin Woodward (2013)

March

• Leading from the Lockers by John C. Maxwell (2001)
• Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Leadership II by Ken Blanchard, Patricia Zigarmi, Drea Zigarmi (2013)
• Fruit at Work: Mixing Christian Virtues with Business by Chris Evans (2012)

April

• 7 Men and the Secret of Their Greatness by Eric Metaxas (2013)
• The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: King Solomon’s Secrets to Success, Wealth, and Happiness by Steven K. Scott (2006)
• The Succession Principle: How Leaders Make Leaders by David L. McKenna (2014)
• Exercise Every Day: 32 Tactics for Building the Exercise Habit (Even If You Hate Working Out) by S.J. Scott (3/20/2015)
• Sync or Swim by Gary Chapman, Paul White, and Harold Myra (2014)

May

• The Matheny Manifesto: A Young Manager’s Old-School Views on Success in Sports and Life by Mike Matheny & Jerry B. Jenkins (2015)
• The Next Level: What Insiders Know about Executive Success by Scott Eblin (2006)

June

• Soul Keeping:  Caring for the Most Important Part of You by John Ortberg (2014)
• The Catalyst Leader: 8 Essentials for Becoming a Change Maker by Brad Lomenick (2013)

July

• Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead by Laszlo Bock (2015)
• A Team of Leaders: Empowering Every Member to Take Ownership, Demonstrate Initiative, and Deliver Results by Paul Gustavson & Stewart Liff (2014)

August

• How the Best Leaders Lead: Proven Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Yourself and Others by Brian Tracy (2010)
• Mookie: Life, Baseball, and the ’86 Mets by Mookie Wilson with Erik Sherman (2014)

September

• Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader by Linda A. Hill & Kent Lineback (2011)
• The Hero Leader by Dr. Stephen R. Graves (2014)

October

• Leadership Sustainability: Seven Disciplines to Achieve the Changes Great Leaders Know They Must Make by Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood (2013)
• H3 Leadership: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle. by Brad Lomenick (2015)
• Intentional Living: Choosing a Life That Matters by John C. Maxwell (2015)
• Managing Me: Why Some Leaders Build a Remarkable Legacy and Others Sadly Crumble by Dr. Stephen R. Graves (2013)

November

• Dare Mighty Things: Mapping the Challenges of Leadership for Christian Women by Halee Gray Scott (2014)
• Leadership (Collins Business Secrets) by Michael Heath (2009)

December

• The Serving Leader: 5 Powerful Actions that will Transform Your Team, Your Business, and Your Community by Ken Jennings and John Stahl-Wert (2003)
• Courageous Leadership: Field-Tested Strategy for the 360° Leader by Bill Hybels (2002)
• Daddin’: The Verb of Being A Dad by Dion McInnis (2010)

Lovin’

With a 2015 theme of “Love”, I started the year off by studying this fruit of the spirit (check out my January 10th post).

Since I started blogging in late-2013 (during the Federal Government shutdown), my strategy was to blog twice per week plus produce a weekly newsletter.  However, early this year between increased commitments at work, church, and family, I needed to scale back.  From February through the end of the year, I moved to weekly posts and bi-weekly newsletters…and spent less time on the computer and more time lovin’ the family! 

Leadin’

Out of This World Leadership

In March, I worked with Jeanie Corte of Corte Art for a Logo that I could use for both Business Cards and presentations: 

Over Spring Break, I was a guest lecturer at our Former Pastor Robert Creech’s Baylor Truett Seminary Class on Leadership.  It was the first time I delivered my presentation on “Out of This World Leadership:  How the Fruit of the Spirit Helps You Shoot for the Stars.”  I appreciated the interaction with the seminary students and their feedback on the first time I made the presentation.

Later, I made a contribution to Mark Griffin’s College to Career book and received a copy of the book late in the year.

In September, I was invited to present for a workshop at CareNet’s 40th Conference in San Diego.  Again, I presented my “Out of This World Leadership” talk and received rave reviews from the attendees!

University Baptist Church (UBC) Student Leadership Academy

Late last year, our Associate Pastor for Student Ministries approached me about starting a Leadership Development Program for High School students at our church.  I was excited about the opportunity for a few reasons:  (1) it clearly aligned with my personal mission, “to be a leader wherever I am and improve leadership wherever I go”; (2) it aligned with my S.H.A.P.E. (spiritual gifts; heart; abilities; personality; and experiences); and (3) I was not involved in another church ministry…for the first time in a long time, I had margin!

So, I developed a proposal that we discussed with the High School teachers and leadership, and we kicked off University Baptist Church’s inaugural Student Leadership Academy in 2015.  I’m pleased to note that 7 of the 10 High Schoolers who started the program will graduate…and I’m excited about 2016 when we plan to roll out a new & improved version!

The Academy included the following:

• 3 Workshops that I designed & delivered during the Weekend Bible Study hour, focusing on Personal Effectiveness and Leadership Fundamentals (using materials from John Maxwell) as well as Leading Beyond UBC (using my “Out of This World Leadership: How the Fruit of the Spirit Helps You Shoot for the Stars”)
• 9-Month Mentoring Program, where I provided adults with monthly questions to ask their assigned students; and I provided students with monthly questions to ask their younger student protégés.
• Speed Mentoring Event, where our Senior Adults (PrimeTimers) imparted wisdom to our students, as they discussed different Proverbs
• Leadership Speakers in the Spring (Lisa Holbrook, a 15-year Manager with IBM and current Division Director for State Representative John Davis) and the Fall (Scott Prochazka, President & CEO of CenterPoint Energy)

Our Graduation Ceremony for this inaugural class is scheduled for Sunday, January 10th.

Christian Leadership Alliance

My relationship with the Christian Leadership Alliance continued to grow this year.  In April, I presented a Workshop at their annual conference in Dallas that I was able to attend with my brother, Blake.

My workshop focused on “Teamwork: Collaborating to Hire & Develop Staff.”  Here was the descriptor:  “Like selecting Astronauts for NASA, many organizations use a variety of perspectives to evaluate candidates. Using Ecclesiastes 4:12 as a framework, this workshop focuses on the need for teamwork and collaboration in hiring and developing your staff. After attending this workshop, you will be able to apply:  1) Tools to assess and enhance teamwork in your organization, 2) Suggested hiring process, utilizing several different perspectives, and 3) A framework that produces effective development plans for every staff member.”

Also at the Conference, I participated on a panel to discuss CLA’s Outcomes Mentoring Network.  Over the course of the year, I had a great mentoring relationship with Cindy Hopkins from CareNet, and we were able to share our experiences with the 1,200 conference attendees.  My quote, “Who is on your Mount Rushmore of Mentors?” was even tweeted out during the event!

In the Summer, the CLA Outcomes Magazine published my article on “Building Winners: Five steps for targeted staff development.”

Finally, in November, I was invited to consider becoming a Leader2Leader Facilitator for a peer advisory group of C-level non-profit executives.  Following the training in Denver, I determined that it was not time to pursue this particular opportunity; and I shared it with a friend and colleague, who may be the one to get a Leader2Leader group started in Houston.

The Day Job…

In January, I was named Acting Director of Human Resources for NASA’s Johnson Space Center.  Just before Thanksgiving (while on a camping trip at Brazos Bend State Park), I learned that Dr. Ellen Ochoa selected me as the 5th HR Director at JSC.  Our HR Office has a reputation for excellence, as each HR Director has come from within the organization.  Late this year, I honored the previous HR Directors with their pictures and legacies on the wall of our office suite.  

In preparing for the HR Director interview, I thought a lot about our HR Office and the future.  In a note I shared with my team, I wanted to convey the following to the selection panel:

• Passion:  While my laid-back, calm leadership style can be a strength with the team, I recognize that every strength has a shadow side.  In fact, others could perceive that I don’t care about the outcome of this decision.  Fact is, I was very invested in the panel’s decision, and I’m very passionate about our HR team and our future…and I wanted to ensure the panel understood that!
• Preparation:  As I conveyed to the panel, I’ve been preparing for this role for the last 25 years.  As a Sophomore in college, I completed my first Co-op tour with the Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) Regional Personnel Office in Dallas as a GS-3 (we don’t even have GS-3s at NASA!).  I then worked for HHS in Washington, DC (as a GS-4). From those experiences, I learned that I needed a graduate degree, so I pursued a Master’s in HR.  During grad school, I conducted a survey of Federal HR Offices in Texas and landed a Graduate Co-op opportunity at NASA in Houston.  For the next 10 years, I served as a HR Rep.  Over the last 10 years, I’ve served in leadership roles, culminating in the last year as Acting HR Director, so I feel well-prepared to step in to this role.
• Possibilities:  I have great confidence in our team and know our future is bright.  I wanted to be sure the panel took that away as well…

Let me end with a quote I recently read from The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner.  They advised leaders “to remain humble and unassuming – to always remain open and full of wonder.”  As a “Learner” (from StrengthsFinder), that resonates with me.  I aim to continue to learn and grow as a leader, and I welcome your feedback, advice, suggestions, and input on how to do that best to serve leaders who shoot for the stars!