Tag Archives: Learning

What’s Your October Learning

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This month of October, on a National basis, is about Learning in business as well as remembering our heritage. Polish American, Italian American, Hispanic Heritage and German Heritage all celebrate their ancestry background this month.

It’s also National Cyber Security Awareness Month https://www.boozallen.com/c/insight/thought-leadership/booz-allen-kicks-off-national-cybersecurity-awareness-month-2017.html and National Women’s Small Business Month https://www.nwbc.gov/news/10-million-strong-october-council-celebrates-national-women%E2%80%99s-small-business-month. The Balance website hosts an extensive list for you to choose a favorite event: https://www.thebalance.com/october-is-national-month-calendar-3514993

Here in Chicago, events during the year have all led to the celebration of Chicago Ideas Week http://chicagoideas.com from October 16th through October 22. As an example, Professor Marcelo Gleiser, Director the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement at Dartmouth College spoke at a Symposium on the Future of Intelligence: Human, Machine and Extraterrestrial, sponsored by Chicago Ideas. He asked the question, “Are we engineering our own destruction through technology when we speak about artificial intelligence?” It’s an ethical and scientific dilemma because our intelligence is really about how we move from our present world to the future, including all that’s dark and dangerous, to creating a future that is just and equitable for all society.

As mentioned earlier, this month of October celebrates who we are as a society because all that we have around us places us in a state of constant Learning from the daily occurrences in our lives, both personally and in business. Within the past 30 days of our lives we have experienced or witnessed more tragedy in the USA, than was ever presented before, in non-war time. We mourn all those who left this earth and keep the survivors in our good thoughts for recovery.

Earlier this week, I attended an online Webinar where like-minded people shared their views about our profession and how we can Learn from one another’s experiences. It is because of that discussion that I would like to share with you some ideas for change management in your career. I prepared the format this week and it is based on a business presentation, hosted by the University of Chicago back in 2001. It’s pretty straight forward and timely in today’s environment. Here it is:

As you Choose Who You Want to be Known As during this Learning month, consider how the survivors demonstrated their strength of character and became the best examples of USA humanity for us all.

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive and Career Management Coach
http://www.wordpress.com/disclosures
http://creativecommons.org/by-nc-sa

 

Vulnerability

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VulnerabilityJustAheadGogle110313

It’s not often that we speak about vulnerability in our private lives.   We tend to look to the experts around us to assess and manage the risks we may be exposed to in our neighborhoods, our communities and the world at large.   Our governments strive to keep order for the common good and our well being.  Yet, Vulnerability is an attribute we may not apply to ourselves.  Speaking positively, we are, have been and will continue to be vulnerable.  It’s how we learn about ourselves.

Staff within the Federal Government (at fs.fed.us) describe Vulnerability this way:

FSFedUSGoogle110313vulnerabilityandvaluesWhat’s the exposure if we pursue this strategy?  How are we ready because we’ve taken into account our sensitivities?  Will our contemplated action(s)  be in keeping with our value system?

Adjustment goes hand in hand with being vulnerable as demonstrated by the following graph from a Peace Corps worker named Bailey:

Baileyspeacecorpexperiencejuly2012fromGoogle110313Choosing to become vulnerable allows you to work though and learn about yourself in ways you had not considered before.  If you drew your last few months of activities, what would your graph look like?  How often did you consider yourself to be Vulnerable?  What sensitivities did you realize you had by letting go of a habit, or by learning something new?  

A well-known International Coaching Expert, Brené Brown describes Vulnerability as follows:

BreneBrownquoteofthedaydotcomfromGoogle110313

Very recently, I attended a two-day Coaching Seminar on cultural competency.   I participated in a brief exercise to understand and recognize Vulnerability.  It was an enlightening experience.  So please enjoy your activities during this first full week of November as You Choose Who You Want to be Known As.

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Career Management Coach and Change Agent