Penultimate – reflection and influence

Hot damn I finally got a swim.

By the end of the day to day my team, team sky, was pretty burnt out so Andrew, Abbey, Yasna and I plus a couple of others did the pools. There are three. We should all probably have been working but we probably aren't ever going to get the chance to talk and swim at the same time again.

Three very interesting (for me) and different sessions today

• Carrie Regenstein of Carnegie Mellon - took us through successful influencing.
• Marnie Hughes-Warrington of ANU - gave us a tour de-force of what a great presentation can be. Passionate, direct and inspiring. It covered a Deuputy Vice-Chancellor's view of senior managers issues and design principles for a modern university. She also answered some curly questions from the attendees.
• Judy Stokker provided a building block for all attendees - how to actively manage your career.

The Caudit cocktail - thanks to
Nimrod / Karina and team green

Active and Reflect have been two common themes that have run through this week for me. I've been going to the Yoga sessions every morning at 6:25. I've never been before and this morning I found it particularly challenging. In many respects it has reflected the day I end up having. Today Yoga was attended by a modest number (lots of folks were at the pub the night before). We did a large number of downward facing dog, don't worry if you don't know what that is, suffice to say it is as hard as some of the self reflective work we did today with Carrie and Judy.

Intentional could substitute for active. In our Yoga we're expected to be graceful and intentional. In the material Carrie and Judy provided they outlined how being intentional in our careers, and in how we manage those above and below us is made easier by us making what we do look effortless.

I've been a tour guide, and it strikes me that the same intentional approach applies there. Your clients/staff/boss expects you to provide consistency and support no matter what the request. Being intentional about what you say, do, and how you react to these requests makes you more trusted. The virtuous spiral then begins to grow, the more you're trusted the more you're intentional actions, use of emotional intelligence, personal self knowledge become part of the work landscape, the more your clients/staff/boss relies on you.

Marnie Hughes-Warrington is the pinnacle of this virtuous spiral, leader in her academic field and leader of her aspect of her institution. For me her presentation showed me that she had also mastered that art, to the point where like your voice or the words you write you're able to influence others with it at will.

The great thing about today was that, I think, we (the attendees) have all begun to see that while some have innate skills in certain areas no-one is rounded and that most skills can be improved. The key to realising my (your) potential is to

• make time to reflect, on experiences feelings and your future.
• actively make choices about what to do with your reflective discoveries.

More on this after I've had a sleep.

Dorje

PS Thanks to Karina for the photos in this post one from a morning walk and one from last night :-)

CAUDIT Leadership Institute - the morning after