Improving You and Your Organisation - Ryan Waight
Ryan Waight captured my interest from the moment he took the stage and explained about his presentation. His passion about his involvement in personal
development was not only evident in his spoken word and his “resume”, but also in his actions. His interaction with us was guided by a power point presentation showing only a few pictures, which for themself spoke a thousand words.
This presentation had a great mix of Ryan having centre stage, interacting with the audience, either on a one-to-one basis or in general with the whole group, and setting us a group task. The content of his presentation was interesting and applied to all of us in the room. For me the following key points stood out:
development was not only evident in his spoken word and his “resume”, but also in his actions. His interaction with us was guided by a power point presentation showing only a few pictures, which for themself spoke a thousand words.
This presentation had a great mix of Ryan having centre stage, interacting with the audience, either on a one-to-one basis or in general with the whole group, and setting us a group task. The content of his presentation was interesting and applied to all of us in the room. For me the following key points stood out:
Ryan based most of his presentation on discussing the importance of good attitude. He linked attitude to being pro-active, the first of ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ as described by Steven Covey. When you are pro-active you always try to improve on the situation, not only for yourself but also for your students and colleagues. Attitude in itself has three components: Chemistry (how you get along with people), Competence (what you can do) and Character (how you hold yourself). Attitude is one of the things, beside effort and what you do and say, that you can control. A positive attitude creates respect and opportunity and will attract positive people. As a person and a teacher it is important not to focus too much on the circle of control, as you may not have control over a lot of things. Changes in training package or student fees are often things we as teachers have no control over. However, as a pro-active teacher we can try to focus on those things we can change for the better – ensuring that our delivery contains innovative practices and authentic assessment all supported with clarity of learning outcomes and incremental teaching and learning (Flow Theory). While this will increase the circle of influence, being reactive and worrying over things we do not have any control over and as such cannot change will decrease the circle of influence and increase the circle of concern.
Letting the above sink in Ryan then linked that to ‘Personal Branding’ or what we represent or feel we stand for in our daily life. Our personal brand can be seen as our reputation, the way colleagues and students see us. If for example we would like to be seen as a holistic teacher, we should focus not only on the content we deliver and the assessment tasks students hand in, but also on the students themselves, how they learn and any feedback they may provide, but above all we first need to know where on our journey to become this teacher we are now. Although our experience is important, our actions and behaviours which determine our reputation, our brand, are more important, and we need to ensure that we can face up to the consequences of our actions. As an example Ryan mentioned McDonalds; this fast food chain was accused of being responsible for obesity in some people. As a consequence McDonalds introduced a healthier range of foods such as salads. Our brand can assist in students studying with us or staying away.
So what is my brand, how do I see myself, what do I stand for? The word I choose was ‘Inspire’ – as a teacher I hope to inspire my students to develop a love for the health industry (it does not have to be specifically in Allied Health Assistance), foster independence and lateral thinking, and develop a life-long love for learning. On the other side, students often inspire me with their life stories and their passion for what it is they do.
If I know what I stand for, what I believe in and as such what my brand is and what I hope others will value in me, I can build on this and fine tune it in the years to come. Whilst I already have my ‘Brand Word’ I now need
to reflect on the personal behaviours it will contain and any behavioural adjustment or changes I may need to make.
References:
Picture: Circle of control, Influence and Concern - http://jpnicols.com/2012/04/04/when-your-accountability-exceeds-your-authority-increase-your-influence/
Picture: Adopting a proactive focus - http://adjunctassistance.com/good-instructors/7-habits-highly-effective-instructors/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-college-adjuncts
Jayaratne, K.S.A (-). Practical Application of Aspiration as an Outcome Indicator in Extension Evaluation. Journal of Extension. Retrieved February 09, 2014 from http://www.joe.org/joe/2010april/tt1.php
Picture: Circle of control, Influence and Concern - http://jpnicols.com/2012/04/04/when-your-accountability-exceeds-your-authority-increase-your-influence/
Picture: Adopting a proactive focus - http://adjunctassistance.com/good-instructors/7-habits-highly-effective-instructors/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-college-adjuncts
Jayaratne, K.S.A (-). Practical Application of Aspiration as an Outcome Indicator in Extension Evaluation. Journal of Extension. Retrieved February 09, 2014 from http://www.joe.org/joe/2010april/tt1.php