Leading Change and DR. GRAC

This week Nathan Ward spoke to us about leading change and taught us the steps to lead change through the acronym DR. GRAC. It stand for Desired Results, Guidelines, Resources, Accountability, and Consequences. When Nathan taught us these steps I thought of my uncle who recently took over El Azteca, our family Mexican restaurant, and how he went about leading change. He definitely had a vision for El Azteca. He changed changed the organization of the menu, added choices to the menu, completely redecorated the inside and outside of the restaurant, and put people in different positions. This didn't happen all at once, but it was his goal or desired result at the beginning. Next, he set employees guidelines and deadlines for when a certain change would happen. For example, he first tackled the menu and the new foods. After that he worked on painting and redecorating. He set deadlines for when he would finish and then he moved forward. Next, my uncle assessed his resources. He has a friend from LA that he brought from him to Utah. He takes care of the finances and checks. He used and organized human, financial, technical, and organizational resources. My uncle measures progress and accomplishment by often asking costumers about how like the food. He also has received feedback from newspapers and other food critics about the quality of the food. Finally, the way that he knows whether or not he is achieving his goal is by the amount of people and revenue that El Azteca gets. All in all, I thought DR. GRAC made a lot of sense. 

We also learned 8 steps of leading change in our lab that I thought was super helpful and I plan to use with my family when I move back home this spring and summer. First, one should create a sense of urgency, then pull together the guiding team. Next, develop the change vision and strategy and communicate it to others for understanding. Fifth, empower others to act and sixth, produce short-term wins. Don't let up and create a new culture. I want to talk to my parents about planning and having fhe and family fun night more regularly. My guiding team will include my parents, since they are the ones with most influence in our home. With them, we can come up with a plan and strategy. I've already been reading up on it and have some ideas for how it could work. I'm still working on the rest of the plan, but I feel real strongly about it. I'm planning on writing my final paper on how I'm going to implement this change. I know that it is important for my family, especially since I'll be moving out again next fall and my sister might as well.

Ethical Leadership

This week's lecture was one of the best! Major John Curtis came to speak to us about ethical leadership and shared some meaningful examples of ethical leadership in his own life. He outlined several principles that helped me learn what ethical leadership really is:

• The degree of difficulty of doing the right thing increases as time increases.
• The consequences of doing the right thing is never as bad as we fear.
• People respect those who tell the truth
• Trust is the oil of business machinery
• Attributes that separate great leaders from good leaders
• Doing what you say you're going to do when you say you're going to do it
• Help people share ownership of the problem
• Do the right thing when it's hard: valiant living
• Decide today what is important

These points made total sense to  me and apply not only to leadership, but to life in general. For example, it makes perfect sense to say that trust is the oil of relationship machinery. Ultimately, the reason that those who live these qualities are great leaders is because the principles are righteous. The Lord blesses us for having integrity and for doing the right thing in every part of our life. Ethical leadership is one perhaps most important kinds of leadership there is. 

 

How does this apply to being a Gospel Doctrine teacher?

In order to have the Spirit I need to be honest in my personal life and in what I teach my class. The Spirit is so so important when teaching the Gospel. Also, Matt and I have to trust each other. When he says that he will prepare the lesson, I completely trust that he will because he always does. The same is visa-versa. Thirdly, I think that who I am outside of class is just as important as who I am in class. I not only teach during the Sunday School hour, but I am an example, whether for good or bad, in everything I do. Being honest and trustworthy outside of class matters a lot when I stand up to teach people about being honest and trustworthy. Doing  my personal scripture study everyday matters a lot when I stand up to teach people about doing their personal scripture study everyday. Lastly, when I live valiantly no matter what circumstances I am put in I can live with confidence in who I am. This confidence reflects in the way I teach.

What Kind of Leader Are You?

I used to be a little confused about leadership styles and when to use different ones so I was glad that this week I learned about four different styles of leadership. They depend on how relationship and task oriented you are as a leader and also on the maturity and commitment level of the followers. 1) Directing-uses one way communication, low relationship, high task. Leader has the final say. Followers are immature and not very committed. I've seen and used directive leadership in marching band. As the drum major of the marching band I called out commands and the band members were expected to follow. It was very one way communication and I relationship was low with my peers. I think that I had to use this type of leadership in that case because the maturity and commitment level was not high. I didn't really like using this type of leadership. I know that it's necessary sometimes, but I felt like I wasn't very nice when I was commanding and distant. 2) Coaching-more two way communication, high relationship and also high task. Followers are committed, but immature. "Let's talk, then coach decides." When I think of coaching I think of my friend Nils who taught me how to play tennis. He expected a lot of me, but we were great friends too. He was very encouraging, but gave lots of suggestions for how to improve at the same time. I felt like this was a good way of leading because I was immature in playing tennis, but committed to learning it. 3) Supporting- high relationship, low directive. The members are mature and committed. Basically the leader says, "I'm here to help you. I'll be here with you the whole time." Let's talk and followers decide. I was once on a Stake Dance Committee lead by Sister Gren. As a group we picked the theme, what decorations we wanted, and what food we would have. Sister Gren would go buy what we needed and them we put it together. She listened and let us talk control. She was a supportive leader. 4) Delegating-low relationship, low task, where one simply delegates and doesn't allow the followers to do what they've been asked. Followers are mature and somewhat committed. Followers decide. I've used delegating in group projects. We got together and I assigned each person a topic to research. They sent me their information and I put it into a slide show. I wasn't super involved in what they were doing, but they did what they were asked.

What kind of leadership style do I use when I teach? Definitely not directive-I don't just tell people to make comments and participate. No, it's a lot of two-way communication. I would say that their isn't a totally perfect fit, but that the leadership style that I use is a mix between supportive and delegating. I would say that I use the supportive more though. Last time I taught I asked the class to pick someone who they thought was the strongest person in the class. They got to talk for a moment and pick. That person came and helped me. They generally make comments without me asking and I see how I learn from and expand on what they say. We work together. I ask a lot of questions for them to answer. 

Well, I've learned a ton this week!

The R.A.C.E. is On!

Follow-up from last week: I didn't get on groovshark to listen to music at all this week. I did get on facebook a couple of times, but I made sure that it was after I have done my homework. I think I'll keep on doing it this way.


R.A.C.E. is an acronym for research, action plan, carry out, and evaluation. I feel like this is vital to my leadership role as a Gospel Doctrine teacher. I go through each step every time I give the lesson. Research includes printing out the lesson, reading and studying the assigned scriptures, and reading and studying the lesson material.


Next I make an action plan. There is always way too much material in the lesson than we can possibly have meaningful discussions about in class so I have to decide what will be most relevant to the class members. Also part of action plan is knowing what direction I see the lesson going, what I'll say and point out about certain verses of scripture, what questions I will ask, and what activities or object lessons I will use. The action plan also consists of prayer and the Spirit because both of these are needed to teach the Gospel.


One thing I want to mention-I've noticed that Saturday is the hardest day for me to study the scriptures. Perhaps it's because there is not structure to the day. I also think it's because Satan doesn't want to me prepare spiritually for the next day-Sunday. Part of being an effective Gospel Doctrine teacher is regularly doing personal scripture study-not the scriptures that will be taught in class. I am making a goal to read scriptures that first thing I do Saturday morning.


The next part of R.A.C.E is carry out-do it! For me this part comes on Sunday at about 1:30pm. I give the lesson, we have discussions, and if I have prepared adequately and have gained a personal testimony of the doctrine that I am teaching then the lesson usually goes well. It never goes the way I exactly plan it, but that is expected. In sum, I give the lesson the best way I know how-of course trying to implement the public speaking skills I learned a couple of weeks ago.


Lastly, I evaluate. How do I evaluate how well the lesson went? There are a couple of things that I look at. First, I can feel it. I can feel when the Spirit is there. Next, usually I can tell that class members are learning and having a good experience when they participate by making comments, and answering/asking questions. Thirdly, I know that it is going well when I feel comfortable being myself as I teach. Fourthly, I can talk to Matt about the lesson and we can collaborate on how to better meet the needs of the class members.


R.A.C.E is a great tool and I want to make a goal to take more time to evaluate after the lesson is over.

Yesterday's Lesson

I taught a lesson yesterday and really tried to implement the public speaking skills that we learned. I started the lesson with an attention grabber. I began, "Who here owns a backpack?" Everyone raised their hands because every student has a backpack. I made remarked on how heavy our backpacks can sometimes be and in fact that a backpack is a physical burden. Then we did an activity with a backpack and rocks. Our lesson was about how the Lord invites us to come unto him and take his yoke upon us because His burden is light and easy. I asked someone to help be the scribe and we listed some things on the board. There was a lot of participation and I felt the Spirit. The last ten or so minutes we read the story of Mary anointing Christ's feet. I felt strongly about what I was teaching and I could see people's eyes start to water. My eyes swelled with tears. I concluded with my testimony. We had all been spiritually fed.

As far as time management goes, I did okay last week except that I forgot to do this blog before midnight on Saturday, but at least I could tell you about how the lesson went on Sunday. I learned what I basically knew before. I use my time well when I study at school and I don't when I am at my apartment or are on facebook. I use my planner every more fervently and have set some important goals for this week. One of my goals for this week is to work and study for the important, but not urgent things-like my Book of Mormon and Pearl of Great Price tests next week. I also I have a goal to do the big things first before getting on facebook or listening to grooveshark. The analogy about the rocks and sand in a jar really made sense to me. 

Follow Up and Public Speaking

My goal was to set up a time to meet with Matt, the other Gospel Doctrine teacher in my ward, to talk about our class, goals, and how we can be more effective. Matt and I are meeting Sunday morning before church to go over a class theme that we want to present to the class this Sunday.

I learned some good stuff about public speaking from Diona M. Wilson. First off-what a spunky, fun lady! I loved her enthusiasm and cheerful attitude! I really enjoyed the then tips for public speakers that she taught. She said that we need to know our audience by doing some audience analysis. My class is full of BYU students who live at Wyview. Most of them, if not all, are in a low income situation. Their lives are mostly comprised of class, homework, friends, roommates, BYU activities, and callings. They live busy lives and sometimes get little sleep. Relationships with the Lord and friends, having fun, and doing well in school are among some of their priorities. Some current events in their community: Jimmer and the BYU Basketball team, Midterms, but mostly Jimmer. Each of them are talented in their own way, have a desire to excel, have fun, and be accepted.  

Something else that I learned was to never start a talk or lesson with "Today, I'm going to talk to you about...." There should always be a great grab-a story, an impressive fact, a current event, an activity, etc. I need to think more creatively about a grab for starting the lesson in Sunday School. Usually the lesson gives an "Attention Activity," but I can come up with something more attention grabbing for college students.

Public speaking is a huge part of my leadership role and this was very helpful.

The Opposite of Dysfunction in Class

This week in the combined lab we learned about the dysfunctions of a team (in my case a Gospel Doctrine class). The dysfunctions:

1. Absence of Trust
2. Fear of Conflict
3. Lack of Commitment
4. Avoidance of Accountability
5. Inattention to Results

The opposite of the dysfunctions:

1. Trust
2. Positive Conflict
3. Commitment
4. Accountability
5. Attention to Results

I am not the only Gospel Doctrine teacher. Matt and I switch off teaching every other week. We are a team. For Matt and I trust is one of the more important characteristics of our teamwork. At the beginning of the semester we got together and talked about a theme for the class and talked about our strengths and weaknesses in teaching and handling the class, and offered each other some feedback. On a handout that we received from lab this week identifies some of the characteristics of a trusting team as "asking for help, asking questions and accepting input, give each other the benefit of the doubt, taking risks in offering feedback, appreciating and taping into another's skills or experiences, and look forward to meetings/groups work." I'm making a goal to do these things with Matt at least twice a month. It'll be good to talk with Matt more about what we can do to reach specific class members and bring the Spirit more into our class. We can also help each other as we talk about certain teaching techniques that worked for us and others that didn't. Also, I'm grateful that I trust Matt in that if it's his week to prepare the lesson, then I know that it will get done and I don't have to worry about it. I know he feels the same with me. We also support and trust each other by making comments when each other is teaching. 

Goal for this week: talk with Matt about having a regular time to talk about the class and what we can do to be more effective.