Summary of 2014 Sabbatical Experience

Well, I am now wrapping up my Summer 2014 Sabbatical Experience, and I will return to regular work at Franklin this coming Monday. This has been a wonderful opportunity for me, something I have dreamed of doing for a long time. I am confident that this experience will be a pivotal point in my career - it has opened up many great opportunities for personal learning and professional growth. I've blogged throughout the sabbatical - below are blog posts on my sabbatical.

Travel

• Plans for travel to Utah
• Traveling to Utah from Ohio
• Yellowstone National Park
• Traveling from Utah back to Ohio

Hiking and Running

• Running and Physical Therapy
• Running In Logan
• 2014 Bear Lake Half Marathon
• Hiking in Dry Canyon
• Finishing a Marathon

Self-Reflection and Writing

• Writing at the Library
• Visualizing My Personal Values
• Principles of Positive Team Interaction
• My Leadership Values

Visiting Scholarship at USU - Teaching Support in Higher Education

• First Day at USU
• Top Services in Centers for Teaching Excellence
• Ideal Methods for Evaluating Teaching Effectiveness
• Keynote Address at Utah Instructional Design Summit

I Reached All Sabbatical Goals
At the beginning of this experience, I committed to my leadership at Franklin University that I would (a) write 2-3 scholarly articles, (b) visit Utah State University as a visiting scholar, and (c) apply to become a certified performance technologist. I am happy to say that I have completed each of these objectives, and I have learned a great deal in the process.

I Reached All Personal Goals
In my first blog post about the sabbatical, I also wrote that I wanted to (a) revisit my personal goals, (b) spend time with family, (c) run a marathon, and (d) broaden my knowledge. I can say with some satisfaction that I have been able to do each of these, as well. I have strengthened my goals, have run a half-marathon and a marathon, have spent a great deal of time with the members of my family who live in Utah, and have have read many books that have broadened my perspective.

I am very grateful to the leadership at Franklin University for giving me this opportunity. I have learned so much through my work at Franklin, and I will always be grateful for the opportunities I have received. This was an outstanding opportunity to extend my professional knowledge and experiences, travel, read, write, and spend time with my family. Thanks again to the leadership at Franklin for making this experience a possibility and for supporting me as I have moved forward in my goals. And thanks to my coworkers at Franklin who took over my responsibilities while I was gone. I could not have done this work without them!

My Leadership Values

I have been thinking lately about what I believe good leaders value and what they do to lead effectively. To me, I believe it all comes down to having values or principles and adhering to those principles. I've put together what I feel is important to me as I work to influence others - here are my top 11 (though there certainly are more). I have written these as affirmative statements of action to infuse a sense of positive energy into the values. I do not pretend that I am perfect in each of these, only that I aspire to make them part of my life.

1. Vision – I constantly envision my future and the future of my organization.  I continuously set goals and work with others to help them see what is possible.
2. Proactive – I am proactive. I take responsibility for my life and my work. I am fully responsible for myself and I direct my actions toward goal achievement.
3. Optimism – I exercise optimism. I am confident that my efforts now will influence what happens in the future.
4. Decide Intelligently – I gather data and rely on the expertise of others when making decisions. When a decision is made, I move forward with confidence and energy.
5. Learn – I am continually learning. I constantly upgrade my knowledge and skills and am continually developing myself. I foster and encourage an environment of continual growth and learning within my organization.
6. Change – I proactively change myself and my organization to adapt and grow toward a positive future.
7. Respect – I am respectful. I always show concern, respect, and compassion for everyone I work with. I do not favor one group or individual, and I am kind to everyone I meet.
8. Recognize – I recognize the contributions of others. I seek out opportunities to praise others for the hard work and diligent efforts.
9. Balance – I find balance in my life. I work to enjoy physical, spiritual, mental and social health, and I promote this balance with the people I work with.
10. Humility – I employ the habits of humility. I respect the expertise of those I work with and constantly seek new knowledge.
11. Composure – I maintain my composure under difficult circumstances. I am in control of my emotions and maintain a positive, controlled manner in all my work.

I believe that many of these values are a part of who I am, and I certainly hope to continually improve in these areas. 

Visualizing my Values

I recently took part in an emotional intelligence assessment tool designed by 6 Seconds to help me determine my emotional intelligence strengths and weaknesses. The test was relatively painless, and I found that I have strengths in the following areas of Emotional Intelligence:

• Exercise Intrinsic Motivation - I have internal drive and motivation that moves me forward.
• Exercise Optimism - I believe that my efforts now can influence what happens in the future.
• Pursue Noble Goals - I am goal-oriented - my long-term goals shape my decisions and actions.

I think I already intuitively knew that I had some of these strengths, and it was helpful to have them validated and emphasized. It is easier to benefit from something if you can name and focus on it.

Creating My Personal Compass
I followed up on my results with with Tracey Austin, an extremely well-credentialed, experienced coach at Franklin University. In our coaching session, he suggested that I create an image that shows my "True North Star," something that helps me to maintain focus on what is truly important to me. I decided to call it my Personal Compass. 

My Personal Compass for a successful life.

Explaining the Compass
I am not completely satisfied with it, but I think the "compass" above captures most of what is important to me. My purpose is to achieve success, the inner circle. I define success as godliness and the aspiration to become godly. Godliness in action is obedience to God and service to the people around me. I certainly do not assert that I am a godly person, but I try to work toward that ideal - I do all I can to live the life of a follower of Christ.

The middle circle indicates the four areas of my life in which success is critical: myself, my family, my church, and my employer. I have set standards of living for each of these areas, and I constantly set goals and work toward success in each. I believe that if I am diligent and true to these priorities, they will point me to a successful, happy life.

The outer circle represents my values, or the means through which success should be achieved. To be successful, I endeavor to dream and envision my desired future, I work hard to reach my goals, persist in my efforts, achieve successes, create opportunities for myself and others, believe in God and in myself, serve the people around me, and always have fun in my work.

I think the image captures my values and priorities - I will probably adjust it as time goes on. At some point, I'll frame the image in my office so that I can refer to it daily. Thanks to 6 Seconds and to Tracey for helping me become more self-aware and move forward in my goals!