Becoming a leader

This is my fifth years working for this medical insurance company. I am the second FTE (full-time employee) in my functional group within a very small IT organization, whose primary function was to oversee a out-souring firm that has managed the company's IT operations for 40 years. When my predecessor left shortly after I joined, I anchored this group solely for a couple of years until when the management decided to bring in 75% of IT work in-house, I started building up the team to consist of 5 FTE and 3 contractors now.

It has become very obvious that I am a leader without a fancy executive title, which I don't really care about. However, since the company sets a goal of promoting 65% of managerial position from within, I am identified as an ideal candidate. So, here I am, going to classes so to acquire more management and leadership skills

"Becoming a Leader" is taught by Gustavo Rabin, Managing Partner and Founder of Sapience Silicon Valley at Stanford Continuing Studies. It's interesting as it focuses on identifying participant's growing edge, the areas where each person can focus on and improve. All the participants completed an online leadership profile and the results were discussed anonymously in the class. I was surprised to learn that my leadership profile is very consistent with my personality type.

Mr. Rabin also discussed a 5-step effective conflict resolution technique, four stages in changes, why the role of leader is to reduce follower's fear and increase their passion on the goal and mission, and the conversion meter. He also had a quest speaker, Kristine Schaefer, principal of Loma Communications, in the afternoon session. I learned about global listening, the power of influence through communications, digital thinking or binary thinking. The group exercises were intriguing as they reflected the dynamic of human interactions and the pattern of behaviors.

Overall it's an interesting workshop with active interactions between instructors and participants. It makes me thinking of what does it mean to be a leader, either professionally or personally. However, I was greatly troubled by a few individuals whose idea of leader is that someone who is superior than the followers. I disagreed with this notion and voiced my concern. I fell it's condescending when one man thinks that he is superior than his fellow human beings.

Life-long learning is one of the things that I can't live without, regardless whether I have a fancy big title or not, attending good workshop like this one certainly helps me grow as a person.