Leadership Roadtrip - Part 1
A couple weeks back I wrote about how considering going back to school to get a masters has been pretty frustrating due to what I sense is a lack of progressive, accessible options in the fields I’m interested in locally. I also know that I’m more of an experiential learner than a classroom or studying type.
I’ve determined that until I can figure that part out, if it can ever be figured out, that I’ll go on the road to meet and shadow influential leaders in a variety of organizations. For me, this is an exciting way of learning and a way that I can invest my time and money pursuing my own development in exciting ways.
Tomorrow I leave for Baltimore, MD, global headquarters of World Relief to spend a couple of days with CEO, Stephan Bauman, VP of Programs, Dan Brose, and other members of their leadership team. I’ve been fortunate to meet them several times over the past couple of years and even ride bikes across the country with them this summer.
I’m looking forward to interacting them in their professional environment and I hope to walk away with insights in these three main areas along with whatever this experience has for me.
- Big Picture view of WR & the org structure of an NGO.
- How do you prioritize the various initiatives, countries, and how you handle the tension that creates among staff domestically and internationally?
- How do you foster an environment of innovation and initiative with a staff of your size and the fragmented/disconnected nature of it due to being spread out across the world?
I’m not sure how I’m going to document this process yet, but my goal is to document this interaction along with others that I spend time with over the next year. I look forward to passing on whatever wisdom I feel is important enough to share.
