Conference insights

My conference was a success and I made it back with little incident.  I wrote last week about one of my ears getting clogged from travel - well I ended up with both ears plugged and while taking a decongestant has helps, my ears aren't completely unplugged yet.  I hate being sick and I am definitely ready to stop having it sound as if I'm underwater.

While at the conference, I learned a lot about myself - about how I look at/go about solving problems, the dos/don'ts of communicating with me, how to view conversations with staff, and what some of my possible "blind spots" might be (things I need to know about myself but might not be able to see when I'm in the middle of those situations).  Going back to work this week, I am hoping to remember some of the things I learned and apply them to the type of management style I inspire to embrace.  I know that I still have a lot to learn and am glad that the instructor said that she would like to keep in touch with me and one of fellow participants in the class asked if he could mentor me - which I agreed to.

I do feel a little bit refreshed after being away from work for a week but it does make me a little stressed about heading into work tomorrow.  Staff reached out to me via text/email while I was gone and it does make me wonder about some of the things that I might be walking into tomorrow.  I know that it is what it is but it does make me a little concerned.  Being away for a work conference I still feel compelled to check my work email several times a day, even though there is often nothing I can do from where I am.

One of the challenges from going to a work conference is finding the balance of the sharing of information when you go back to work.  I have to remember that even though there is some information that I'm going to want to share or new things that I'd like to implement that the other staff members didn't attend the conference so I can't overwhelm them with too much too fast.  I also need to find a way to let the staff know that yes, I gathered good information about myself and some of it I may not feel comfortable sharing with them and I think that's an okay thing.  Some of the information that was included in the booklet I received from answering the pre-coursework questions was scarily accurate and they don't necessarily need to be privy to that information.

Not only did I learn things about myself at this conference but I learned some tools that I am hoping will help make me a better manager.  In the two-day course I was in, we learned the importance of looking at staff at where they are in regards to each particular task - for example, they might be an "expert" when it comes to planning activities for teens but a "beginner" when it comes to planning activities for preschoolers - and they can't be seen as overall "experts" or "beginners."  Managers, and people in general, tend to look at staff as being overall "experts" or "beginners" and that not only leaves the manager frustrated but it also frustrates the staff.  I know that I have a bad habit of doing this more often than I should with my staff and I have felt on more than one occasion that my boss does it to me as well (think of it as also saying someone is an "A" student in everything because they usually get "A's;" okay, just because someone usually gets "A's" in English doesn't automatically grant them all "A's" in Political Science).

I also enjoyed spending time with my friend's family members.  Even though I went into the interactions with trepidation, I found myself enjoying meeting them.  In saying good-byes to both of them, they both told me that if I'm ever in the area again, I am supposed to look them up and I have a place to stay with them.  I was touched that after meeting them for such a short time that not only did they welcome me into their homes but the fact that they invited me back if I'm there again.  It was also wonderful to spend time with my friend again and it's sad that we probably won't see one another (unless something comes up) for another year.

Well my dear readers, I should probably bring this to a close so I can make sure I have everything together for going back to work tomorrow.  I should probably also take some more medication in the hopes my ears will completely unplug one of these days and I'll stop feeling as if I'm under water.  Thank you for joining me along my journey.  I hope you have the opportunity to embrace something as your own this upcoming week.  =)