Monday, March 10, 2025

Hello Leader.

One important ingredient in leadership is networking and interacting with others. Through exposure to professional development, mentorship, shared experiences and feedback, we get to improve not just awareness of what’s going on around us, but also our own self-awareness. This month we highlight a few opportunities for connecting with others on their own leadership journeys.

Discounted Tickets for the 2025 LeadingBetter™ Summit 

We are pleased to be able to offer an exclusive discount code for virtual tickets to the 2025 LeadingBetter™ Summit. Speakers include Daniel Roth, LinkedIn VP & Editor-in-Chief, and Amy Gallo, Harvard Business Review contributor and author of Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People). This year’s summit is Wed. April 9, 2025 | 8:30am - 5:00pm ET.  To register, visit the summit website and use the code IOWA at checkout.

Coming Soon for New or Aspiring Leaders 

The Iowa Academic Leadership Academy (IALA) is designed to assist new or aspiring leaders (e.g., DEOs, program directors, associate deans) in making a successful transition to these key campus leadership roles. Competency-based content will be delivered via small cohorts and tailored mentoring. There will also be an opportunity to meet and learn from key institutional leaders. Nominations for participation in the cohort must be submitted through collegiate deans and associate deans for faculty. Call for nominations will be sent late April/early May.                                

Faculty Leadership Initiative 

The Faculty Leadership Initiative provides funding assistance for faculty to attend nationally recognized academic leadership development and external coaching programs, like the NCFDD Faculty Success Program - a 10-week virtual program helping non-tenure, tenure-track, and tenured faculty with the skills necessary to increase research and writing productivity while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. (Please email faculty@uiowa.edu by March 28 to receive the discounted rate for NCFDD.)

COACH'S CORNER

According to Dr. David Altman in his Center for Creative Leadership article, 4 Sure-Fire Ways to Boost Your Self-Awareness, “Research has repeatedly found that leader effectiveness is constrained or amplified by self-awareness, and it varies based on how well leaders understand themselves, how others view them, and how they navigate the resulting interactions.” While it can be challenging to honestly own both your strengths and your weaknesses, this self-awareness can super-charge your other leadership skills.

There are four facets to leadership self-awareness:

  • Wisdom: good leaders continue to reflect on and gain perspective on their experiences which becomes both litmus test and useful lesson
  • Identity: made up of given identity (characteristics like nationality, age, etc.), chosen identity, (characteristics you can control like occupations, hobbies, political affiliation) and core identity (uniquely yours – beliefs, values, behaviors).
  • Reputation: what others think of you as a leader, which greatly impacts communication and influence with others
  • Brand: aspirational, how you’d like to be perceived – should communicate clearly your unique strengths

By combining self-awareness with meaningful and varied interactions with others, leaders can help create a positive, productive, and supportive organizational culture.