MOR Insight

It is a fundamental principle that leadership in today’s higher education environment must be collective, concurrent, and collaborative.  To make that happen, campuses need to create, nurture, and sustain communities in which leaders at all levels can be successful. On day three of the 2013 MOR IT Leaders conference, the morning session focused on building and sustaining leadership communities. Stanford University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Minnesota each described their approach to building these vitally important community environments.  

Sarah Le Roy, vice president of Talent at Linkage is the author of today’s Tuesday Reading, “Share Your Leadership Vision One Shell at a Time” <http://mylinkage.com/blog/sharpen-your-leadership-vision/>.  In the essay she tells the story of “shelling” with her eight year-old daughter.  As they walked along the beach, Le Roy noted (to herself) that she consistently found better shells than her daughter.

All of this year’s conference attendees and all MOR staff members were invited to complete a personal assessment tool called the Strength Deployment Inventory, or SDI for short. It was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the sometimes messy business of engaging with other people who *gasp!* don’t see things exactly as we do. Susan Washburn, SDI certified MOR coach and workshop leader, managed the process and guided us all in interpreting the results.

In “The True Story of Amazing Customer Service From – GASP! – an Airline”, Barbara Apple Sullivan, CEO and managing partner of Sullivan, a brand engagement firm based in New York City, retells the experience she had when she lost her passport in Paris, trying to return to the States on Delta Airlines.

Today, 18 members of MOR converged on Chicago in preparation of MOR’s 6^th annual IT Leaders Conference. This year’s theme, “The Leadership Challenge of Disruptive Change,” marks the fifth consecutive year that the conference has focused on change. According to Jim Bruce, one of the founders of the IT Leaders Program and a longtime program leader and coach, MOR keeps revisiting the topic because dramatic change keeps coming. This year in particular has seen breathtaking changes, notably the arrival of MOOCs in a big way, including the launch of EdX.

Making progress toward a goal increases motivation and performance.  In today’s reading, “3 Motivational Mind Tricks Designed to Power Progress” <http://www.fastcompany.com/3012545/dialed/3-motivational-mind-tricks-designed-to-power-progress>, Janet Choi, Chief Creative Officer of iDoneThis, provides advice on how we can use our mind to power further progress.

The Tuesday Reading for today “Feeling Appreciated?  Why It Can Make All The Difference” <http://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2013/05/16/feeling-appreciated-why-it-can-make-all-the-difference/> comes from the pen of Margie Warrell, author, leadership coach, and keynote speaker.  Warrell focuses on empowering people to live and lead with greater courage.  This essay first appeared in Forbes.

Watch an online learning module of Jim Bruce on the topic of delivering results.

The essay for today’s Tuesday Reading, “5 Ways To Calm ‘Feedback Fires’” <http://www.forbes.com/sites/joefolkman/2013/05/27/5-ways-to-calm-feedback-fires-what-we-can-learn-from-celebrity-meltdowns/>, first appeared in Forbes and comes from the pen of Joseph Folkman.  Folkman is a

Today’s Reading is “The One Conversational Tool That Will Make You Better At Absolutely Everything” <http://www.fastcompany.com/3003945/one-conversational-tool-will-make-you-better-absolutely-everything> from the pen of Shane Snow, a New York City-based technology writer and co-founder of Contently.com.  The article first appeared in Fast Company.