New Year New You and Toxic Terrors

G’day G12!

I am down for the next two weeks to provide motivational advice, inspirational stories and thoughtful insights….or maybe just ramblings from an Aussie J

Over the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about my goals, probably brought about by the new year and that I love new years resolutions! For the first week of this year I was laid up in bed and when that quickly became boring I looked back on some of the APLP work, it made me realise what a productive time that was for us – how much work, thinking, research, community engagement, friendship occurred during that time. The greater the distance that grows between the now and APLP, the greater the appreciation I have of it and the greater the recognition that this was a privilege, a luxury almost to have a period of six months (for some longer) of time to consider your goals, your strengths, your weaknesses, explore those issues that you always wanted to research and never had time for. I look back with nostalgia at our time there, I glaze over the super small dorm rooms, the old dragon on reception, the never-ending orientation fortnight, the peeping tom – oh the memories! I don’t know whether my life will provide me with it, but I sincerely hope I get the chance to have a six month sabbatical in the future and reap the benefits in the years afterwards. For now I try to create the space in my days, weeks and months to think and reflect.

The last few months of 2015 were extremely challenging for me, I was dealing with some significant staffing issues, primarily caused by a middle-aged man in my team who was quite simply toxic. This man had been in the team for more than eight years. He was considered as the agency’s most experienced officer in coordinating Australian Government assistance for domestic and international disasters. And while he didn’t hold any qualifications as such, he was in fairness experienced and did hold a significant amount of corporate knowledge and was well liked and respected by some of his colleagues. However, he was not open to a much younger, female coming in and being his boss. I have dealt with being a young (female) boss on many occasions and so have developed strategies and a thick skin to work through it. Like all relationships at work (and in your personal life) we would have moments and periods of working well together and the atmosphere in the team would be positive and energetic. Over time I noticed that these periods were when he had got his own way on something (so I had comprised) or during or after the response to a major event (where research shows that people generally display cooperative behaviour and attitudes). And while the benefits lead a more positive environment within the team, they caused me to deeply analyse my behaviour, question my ability to lead and my commitment to what I thought were my set of morals or principles. It was a roller coaster, which was not only unstainable but disruptive to the direction I wanted to take the team and the changes I wanted to make. He was a road block to change within the team, if he did not agree with my decision he would rally the troops and bring them around to his approach and I would be lobbied by my own staff on an alternative approach – normally one that was ineffective, costly or unimaginative at best and further entrenched an old way of doing business. The effective on me over the last ten months was both physical and emotional. When you are in a workplace (of which you are the boss!) that makes you question some of the fundamentals about yourself, you should use that as an opportunity to self reflect and question some of your behaviours and attitudes and make those improvements where you need too – this I did. But when I started to realise that these opinions were not shared by my peers nor by the entire team, I started to see his behaviour for what it was – bullying. For those of you that work in any Government institute you will understand that it is incredibly difficult to fire permanent staff, they basically have to demonstrate gross negligence or behaviour – and like most bully’s he was smart enough to stay well under this line. After long negotiations, he has been moved to another agency for 12 months which he begun at the start of the year and I can not begin to tell you the relief that I feel, physically and emotionally, every day going into work. My energy and enthusiasm for work has dramatically increased and I am excited to be there again. It has been liberating and illuminating – while you should also take the opportunities to reflect on yourself (and your leadership) you

I would say that most of you may find this boring and for that I am sorry, but this is the first time I have actually really thought about this deeply or put my thoughts onto paper – it has been cathartic and for that I am thankful for your indulgence.

I will make the next post more exciting! 

P.S keep all the reunions across the world happening - so great to see! 

Canyons, Napping, and Outsight

Blogging here's a bit like yelling into a canyon - I think somebody should hear me, but I'm never really sure! Or maybe it's like journaling, and it's really for my own benefit. Anyway, a warm shout-out to those of you reading this.

I mentioned in my last post that I was having a lot of fun working with the APLP team at the East-West Center, and promised to write about that. Among the many fun bits, here are three:

ONE: My colleagues can be pretty inspiring. Christina and I co-directed APLP this year (G15!) and working with her was something akin to sharpening pencils: we were always seeking the finer point of what we were designing and delivering, and this process generally felt really good. There's great pleasure in spending the time to get things right (or right enough). In these first weeks of January, Christina and I are reviewing the first semester of G15, and the sharpening continues. I hope to always have co-workers who are as focused, open, and funny as Christina. Hoping the same for all of us, in fact. Seek out people like this!  

TWO: APLPers can be pretty inspiring. When we were all together in G12, I had a sense that our diversity was unique and that we were learning a lot because of it. Now, as an instructor, I see it very clearly. There are few places where adults from such varied backgrounds come together and forge common learnings and outcomes. It takes a lot of patience and discipline on the part of all (or most) involved. Watching successive groups struggle to create a shared identity that is flexible enough for everyone's differences is energizing. It makes my small part of it seem worthwhile, and makes me want to do better.

THREE: The Japanese Garden. This past year, I discovered its great napping opportunities. Not sure why it took me so long.

Regardless of the fun - I do still miss you all in APLP-land, and wish there were a way to bring you back for a visit.

Cheers - Gretchen

PS - Read this article recently about how we as leaders (or anyone wishing to make change) must intentionally make ourselves uncomfortable by taking action outside of our core areas. Acting beyond our "comfort zones" can help us gain new learning and skills (what the author calls "outsight") through action. In fact, that is one thing that working with EWC - and having to get up in front of a class and deliver - has provided me: multiple opportunities to feel uncomfortable, and perhaps develop outsight. Have you had similar experiences lately?

See the article here: http://www.strategy-business.com/article/00319

How it should end...

Two Gretchens (really!) hike Innstidalur - hot springs are still 7 hours away...

Aloha G12!

Last year, at the height of (my) summer, I went to Iceland with some friends to run a half-marathon at midnight. The race ended at some hot springs, and we all got in for a midnight steam bath. All races should end this way!

The next day, we went on an epic hike, which also ended at some hot springs. We spent three hours lazing about in very hot water, every so often getting out to cool off in some very cold snow-melt. All hikes should end this way!

On the way to the airport for our flight back to Boston, we stopped once more at some hot springs, for one last bath at the well-known tourist place called the Blue Lagoon. It's filled with blueish-white clay that everyone rubs all over their skin as they sip cocktails. It's quite a sight: all sorts of people, completely covered in clay, walking through the steamy water, with sunglasses on and drinks in their hands. All vacations should end this way!

In a year filled with a ton of travel and a fair amount of adventure, Iceland competes for "top adventure" with snorkeling in jellyfish-infested waters in the Gulf of Oman, and - just a few weeks ago - participating in a Native American sweat lodge ceremony in the mountains of North Carolina. (The jellyfish stung, however, and the sweat lodge was extremely hot - I got burned.)

My niece and me on Christmas Eve

And so once again we are at the start of a new year, full of adventure-potential. Once again, I'll divide my year roughly in half between Boston (where my family is) and Hawaii (where my job is). In between, I'm considering walking the Camino de Santiago - a pilgrimage route in northern Spain. It's been on my mind for well over a decade, and this may be the year! Or, it may not be. Regardless, the best parts of life continue to be spending time with family and friends, new and old. Hope to see some of you this year, too!

(Also - it continues to be a lot of fun working with new generations of APLP - I'll share a bit more about that in the next post.)

My warmest wishes for good health and much love in the new year,

Gretchen

Happy New Year to you all

Hello G12

Greeting from Myanmar  and I do hope all of us could pass a great time with great experiences after our G12 life during these 3 years. 

For Myanmar, 2015 become special and historic. Landslide victory of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her party National League for Democracy in the election was clear message for change. We all wish to see many dreams and aspiration which reflected this result come through in 2016 and years ahead. 

Now is a really transition time for us as there is a dawn for real development with full of opportunities, challenges and excitement. I do hope to improve more on my adaptive leadership skills from the situation with lots of uncertainty and rapid change.  And  I feel that I am very lucky to be part of this transition and will try to support the best for this development.  

From Nang Seng

Yangon, Myanmar

January 4, 2016