I’ve been on a two-year journey to develop my leadership skills. I’ve come pretty far in my career as a multimedia person. I know a lot about how things work, how to start a project, and how to get a project done. I never really considered myself the type to look for more leadership work because I enjoy doing the work so much.
A couple years ago, in my role at Labor & Industries as a lead, I had the opportunity to oversee and guide a developmental job assignment staff who was working with us for a year. And this is the part where I’d like to say I did such a good job it inspired me to seek the next opportunity. However, that is not true. I was fine, but just fine. I knew there were things I could do better, should do better, and wanted to do better.
So, I started seeking out opportunities. I wanted to see what I could do to develop myself while still being able to do the work I love to do. Labor & Industries offers a leadership development course called Capstone that I applied to and managed to get in. It’s an agency-wide course that lets in 15 or so students per year and goes through some intense development training. Day one felt like I was in over my head, but I made a rule for myself: no matter what, lean in. Lean in to the discomfort. Contribute something every day. Make an effort to take something away from whatever we were learning.
I loved it. I felt empowered and excited to make an impact. Since then, I’ve utilized what I’ve been taught in a myriad of ways. But the two biggest lessons I came away with were 1) I can always learn more and 2) who I am as a leader. Up to that point, I always thought that leadership was a step-by-step guide on what to do. Turns out, anyone can lead from anywhere if they have the right intent. So, rather than trying to be the “perfect” leader, I started trying to focus on what makes me an effective leader.
Since Capstone, I’ve taken other leadership development trainings including a class offered at SPSCC by Robert Jeffries. I’ve also stepped into the role of trainer for a mandatory agency training about respectful workplace environments. I don’t directly oversee staff at this point in my career, but I offer guidance to several staff who work in multimedia and help to make us the best department we can be.
So, yeah, still have more to go on my leadership journey, but I am immensely proud of the work I’ve done and continue to do.