Coaching made me a better boss

When I was hired as program director for Alber Enterprise Center in December 2011, I thought I knew how to be a manager and leader. After all, for two decades I studied the best authors – Drucker, Collins, Covey, Buckingham, Friedman and dozens more. I witnessed a myriad of management styles in private business and public education, and listened to their employees’ reactions, praise and complaints, then eventually began teaching leadership development courses. I knew the importance of listening, team building, problem solving, performance management and conflict resolution skills; especially their role in engaging employees and moving the organization forward. Yes, I felt confident in my abilities to lead my own team.

Well, I learned there is a difference between knowing and doing! My personal style of working entails rolling up my sleeves and digging in, taking full ownership of all details while visioning the future. My new team was great, helping me understand our center’s history with clients and excited about the opportunities to develop updated programs. After three years, we were holding our own but I knew we had so much more potential to make an impact. Sensing we had stalled, I found myself wondering about my abilities as a leader. Then a phone call from a certified coach transformed our team into a high speed powerhouse that doubled the number of delivered programs in six short months.

He called me in hopes of becoming one of our center’s educational partners; a partner in delivery of leadership training and coaching. I decided that the best way to assess his qualifications was to try him out on our team. He facilitated our strategic plan and provided follow-up coaching to help us implement our goals.

Coaching 2015-04-30What did the coach do for each of us?

  • Confidentially identified behaviors each team member wished to strengthen
  • Assessed our current level of skill in each of those behavioral areas
  • Assembled a plan of action for improvement
  • Monitored our progress through feedback and other objective means

I learned two key lessons during my coaching sessions that have helped take our center to a new level of performance:

  • Let go of the details and delegate them to others – stay focused on the big picture instead of getting “tangled in the weeds”
  • Empower others to take ownership of their jobs by using the coaching techniques I learned – listening more and speaking less, asking questions rather than directing, rewarding positive behavior and sharing successes as a team

This external (and objective) assessment not only made me a better leader and manager but has also elevated the performance of our organization and its members in the process.

(Submitted by Myra Wilson, MS, SPHR, Program Director, Alber Enterprise Center)
You want SUCCESS . . . We have SOLUTIONS!

Imagination: The Key to Making Positive Change in Groups, Organizations and Communities

What we forget about groups, organizations and communities is that they are human inventions just like moveable type, the steam engine, the automobile, the airplane and the atomic bomb. There is of course a huge difference between inventing a social system like an organization and creating an inanimate object like an automobile. The parts of an automobile do not have cognition. They can’t think. They don’t wonder if they are doing the right thing or doing the thing they have been asked to do correctly. They are not looking to be recognized for doing a good job or looking for a promotion and salary increase.

Humans, however, can and fortunately do think. Their thinking leads to meaning making, values, ethics and emotions. It is the human thinking and feeling that make organizing and all the good things that come from working together possible. At the same time human thinking and feelings make organizing enormously complex. The complex social arrangements created by humans since the beginning of time have led to our current way of life. Those complex social arrangements created by diverse people in different parts of the world lead to very different ways of living and working together. Those different ways should not scare or threaten us. Not all bridges are built the same, but they all have the same purpose.

Ideas 2015-04-23Obviously some of our social inventions for working together, resolving conflict, sharing resources and living together have not worked so well. We still settle some of our differences through violence, and there is still racism, prejudice and greed. There are far too many people who live in poverty, lack adequate food, water, education and medical care. However, looking at the facts we can see a decline in all these categories. In the area of hunger we now produce enough food to feed everyone in the world but not everyone has enough food, so we need to invent a new worldwide food distribution system. What we forget is that we invented the current worldwide food system and that the only thing that limits our ability to create something new is our imagination.

Everything that goes on in every group, organization and community is something that humans have invented and the only thing that limits our ability to create something better is our imagination. We forget that we are the inventors, and therefore we can reinvent anything that is not working. The interesting part is that research shows that the best way to reinvent a social process is to start studying what is currently working. That gives us a shared understanding of what is making organizing possible and allows us to imagine new and yet undiscovered organizational possibilities.

(Submitted by Chet Bowling, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, Community Development)
Note: Chet will be retiring from OSU Extension on April 30. We thank him for his many years of dedicated service to Community Development work and look forward to continuing our working relationship with him in the future.

Ohio Sea Grant and Lake Erie Nature & Science Center continue long-time partnership in Northeast Ohio

What covers nearly 10,000 square miles, many of them comprising parts of eight Ohio counties in northern Ohio? In addition to creating a natural land/water boundary of over 310 miles in length, Lake Erie is a key focus area for Ohio Sea Grant and the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center (located in Bay Village, Cuyahoga County).

“The partnership between the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center and Ohio Sea Grant has been alive and well for nearly 30 years and continues to be an important relationship for a Center so close to Lake Erie,” says Darci Sanders, The Center’s Director of Education. “The expertise of Sea Grant staff is the perfect match to increase the effectiveness and efficacy of programming provided by our own talented staff.”

Lake Erie Day #2 2015-04-16

Photo: Ohio Sea Grant

Ohio Sea Grant’s focus on research, education and outreach for the Lake Erie region is a great fit for the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center, which offers high-quality nature, environmental and science experiences through school field trips, preschool, family, scouting and planetarium programs, nature hikes, and a variety of exhibits connected to its expansive wildlife rehabilitation program.

The Center’s staff and Ohio Sea Grant are working on hands-on informal science information sessions for 2015 that will feature experts on a variety of Lake Erie topics. Most recently, they hosted a workshop for faculty from Cleveland and Columbus that provided information, curriculum and supplies for teaching about aquatic invasive species in the classroom.

Family Fishing Day 2015-04-16

Photo: Ohio Sea Grant

On May 17, Family Fishing Day, children ages 6 and up and their families can enjoy a morning learning the basics of how to cast, where to fish and what kind of fish they’ll catch in Lake Erie. May 23 is Lake Erie Day, part of the Year of Clean Water Celebration, where visitors can celebrate all things Lake Erie. Ohio Sea Grant staff will be on hand to offer their expertise and interactive activities on aquatic invasive species, harmful algal blooms, boating and water recreation, beach safety, Lake Erie water snakes and more.

For more information, please contact Ohio Sea Grant Extension Educator, Sarah Orlando.

CD coordinates Emergency Preparedness Initiative

Duck Creek 2015-04-09

Photo: mariettatimes.com

It is late June, 1998. Warm moist air has collided with cool air to develop a frontal boundary creating thunderstorms covering much of Southeast Ohio. The frontal boundary system stalls and its resulting storms produce a foot or more of rain over four days that floods the banks of Duck Creek,  a 30-mile long tributary that flows through Noble and Washington Counties. Families are forced to wait on rooftops for rescue by helicopter, waters reach the tops of utility poles, and nearly all the homes in one small town are destroyed. All told, this localized flooding caused five deaths and an estimated $20 million in property damage.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAs a result of this devastation, local officials, agencies and residents began an initiative to establish a flood warning system for Duck Creek. After several years of research and evaluation, a system consisting of various stream and rain gauges, computer monitoring equipment, transmitters and associated enclosures was designed. In 2012, installation was complete and the system became operational. This system provides real-time data for the National Weather Service and can be accessed via USGS website. This information aids emergency management personnel in making emergency preparedness decisions. The $376,000 project is expected to produce a benefit in avoided property damage of $131,260 annually over 50 years; a total impact of over $6.5 million.

Ohio State University Extension coordinated this collaborative project that included U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, United States Geological Survey, Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, state and county Emergency Management Agencies, and Noble and Washington Counties. This decade-long project illustrates the role Extension can plays in strengthening communities and the environment.

(Submitted by Darlene Lukshin, Program Specialist, Washington County and Buckeye Hills EERA)

Research informs organizational sustainability

Photo: en.wikipedia.org

Photo: en.wikipedia.org

Why are some organizations able to thrive and grow while others are in a seemingly constant struggle to survive? One reason is an intentional focus on sustainability. Last year OSU Extension Community Development professionals focused efforts on COSI, an organization dedicated to fun, hands-on science exploration since 1964. Of particular interest was the science museum visitors’ “willingness-to-pay” for the products and services offered by the 50-year-old organization.

The project compared COSI’s existing fee structure with other similar organizations taking into account location, visitor profile and museum services. It also analyzed potential changes to the COSI fee structure using survey data from non-member visitors to COSI.

In the end, the effort yielded recommendations to the organization that were informed by research-based data; data of critical importance for informing strategies for continued organizational growth and sustainability. View the “Willingness to Pay Study.”

For more information, please contact Nancy Bowen (Associate Professor and Extension Field Specialist, Community Economics) or David Civittolo (Associate Professor and Extension Field Specialist, Community Economics).