Last week, I completed an instructor certification class for the National Fire Academy (NFA) to facilitate leadership development classes to newly-appointed supervisors in the fire service nationwide, beginning in 2018.
While it is inspirational to learn new methods of adult learning and facilitation from talented NFA instructors, this class reminded me that mastering soft skills is not easy, especially when your vocational focus is on mastering hard or technical skills, such as those in the fire service. It is usually because one masters hard skills proficiently that one is promoted to supervise and lead others toward that technical mastery. Mastering soft skills in Leadership in Supervision must be accomplished for success in a new leadership role.
Soft skills are defined by Wikipedia as "a combination of people skills, social skills, communication skills, character traits, attitudes, career attributes, social intelligence and emotional intelligence...that enable people to effectively navigate their environment, work well with others, perform well, and achieve their goals with complementing hard skills."
The key to successful learning and implementation of soft skills is understanding yourself, your teammates and your environment to create an environment of growth and effective communication. I am honored to have the opportunity to facilitate this valuable learning to our nation's fire service personnel!
I haven't thought much about experiencing sexual harassment since the early 90's, I had repressed the memories, but last week's volume of online posts of #MeToo made me think about it and process it all over again. I was particularly moved after I saw a post from my cousin, who lives and works as a lawyer in California and is a wonderful man/father/husband, saying that these posts made him reflect on how he has said/done nothing when witnessing words and actions that should have been questioned, that he will now be more mindful of "being better." Then I remembered in detail what had happened to me...
In the early 1990's, my first job out of college was as an Executive Assistant in an international business/education initiative in Washington, D.C. My work was praised often and I worked days and evenings at networking events with my (male) boss to gain corporate and political support to grow the initiative. One evening after a networking event, my boss insisted on driving me to my car for my own safety and made an unwelcome advance. I asked him to stop and I felt fortunate that he did. The next day, everything I did at work was not good enough, I could see that he was punishing me. I asked if we could put it behind us and he agreed, but his negativity continued and I decided that I had to leave a job that I loved. I went to tell my co-workers that I had to leave, even though I enjoyed working with them, but I did not tell them what had happened, I was too embarrassed. One male co-worker asked me to speak privately with him and asked if my boss had done anything to cause me leaving, reassuring me that he was a lawyer and would keep my comments confidential. I told him what had happened and he told me that he had suspected it and told me that my boss would only hire young females for my position and they ALL left within a very short time of starting -- none of them would say why. My co-worker asked me to file a complaint with the District of Columbia, offering to help me, attending the deposition and helping me find another job immediately. With so much support, I did file a sexual harassment claim.
Within a few months after I left, I was relieved to find out that my former boss was found guilty of his predatory behavior and was fired from his job. I was proud that I had stopped the cycle so that no one else could be his victim, but when I communicated this to people that I knew well and respected, they advised me to not speak of it so that I would not be viewed as "a victim." I had the support and courage to face my aggressor to save others, but society would still look down upon me?
This experience affected me profoundly -- I have focused in my career of over 25 years to change negative societal norms. I am running my own business to help others "be better" by encouraging individuals to grow as positive team members and change leaders. I witnessed first-hand that it only takes one person to start change for the positive.
Last week I became certified as a RightPath Facilitator in Atlanta, Georgia. After learning my own RightPath profiles and completing senior leadership training a few years ago, I realized my own strengths and struggles based on my hard-wired behaviors, as well as, my passion to help others understand theirs to utilize their strengths, work on their struggles and follow their passion. I founded Rogers Consulting to give customized training and consulting to individuals and their organizations, to help them improve themselves as leaders and team members, which helps organizations flourish through understanding and developing their people.
RightPath Resources has developed online behavior profiles, Path4 and Path6 (validated with academic research by the University of Georgia), and facilitator training to train in their effective use in leadership development, team-building and effective hiring to match people to jobs that capitalize on their strengths. I can create a customized training session by signing up individuals to complete the online profiles before meeting as a team, then organizing a training session that explains the individual profiles and relates different profiles in your organization for effective team-building and interaction.
To further develop leadership skills, RightPath created the LQ360 Assessment to document insights from managers, direct reports and peers in a report of individual leadership effectiveness in the categories of Results, Relationships, Developing Others, Emotional Intelligence and Trust. As a RightPath Facilitator, I can conduct a workshop or individual coaching sessions to help individuals understand the report, then create and implement a Leadership Development Plan.
Please contact me for more information or to answer any questions about your training needs.
