Week 3: Model the Way (cont’d)
• Kouzes and Posner quote 11:
• “Commitment is strongest when based on
alignment with personal values.” (Kouzes and
Posner 2017, pg. 61)
• Our CEO has someone share a “Mission
Moment” at each Town Hall meeting. This is
based on a customer’s positive experience with
our company. We service military families so
many of the stories are very touching. This
brings us all to a place of alignment around
serving these customers with by fulfilling the
mission of the company. I always walk out of
these meetings with a renewed sense of pride
and commitment to the values.
TO DO LIST this week:
• Hand a Thank-You Note to Beth
• Bring in special snacks from Bahama Bucks for team (not
just donuts)
• Hand a Thank-You Note to Scott
• Hand a Thank-You Note to Lameka
Add a Quote here (from THUG NOTES or another Odyssey video)
relating to “Model the Way”:
“ Odysseus proves his strength by throwing the discus further
than anyone else.” (The Odysseus Animation, counter number
136).
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Triumvirate (Co-Mentoring Team) Quotes &
Reflections:

“He just thinks they are incompetent and doesn’t even try to help them.” (Triumvirate
Video, Counter number 29.17)

This quote is in relation to Assessment Question “J” - Ensures that people grow in their
jobs by learning new skills and developing themselves. Nayeli really spoke her true feelings
about the development that Odysseus showed to his men. He did not clarify their values or
help build their skills and made no attempt to understand them or work on them growing.

This is a bad example of this module’s themes of leadership. Odysseus did not gain a
shared vision with his men or affirm shared values. He treated them as objects and did not
work to make them better in any way. He did not forge unity, he forced it.

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 Week 4: Be the First to Trust (But Verify…)
• Kouzes and Posner quote 12:
“How you spend your time is the single clearest
indicator of what’s important to you” (Kouzes
and Posner 2017, pg. 75)
• Recently an ex-coworker jokingly told me that I
have no hobbies. I was a little offended by that
comment, so I later responded to her that my
hobbies include exceling at my career, caring for
my family and finishing my education. I
questioned internally if that made me boring but
this quote helped my put that into perspective. I
love going out and doing things as much as
anyone else but truly those things I mentioned
are the most important to me at this time in my
life. I need to be unafraid to say that to people.
 Kouzes and Posner quote 13:
 “Asking for feedback gives you a perspective
about yourself that only others can see.”
(Kouzes and Posner 2017, pg. 82)
 Recently my boss, Beth, asked me to provide
the names of 7 people that I have worked
with in the last 6 months to solicit feedback
from them about my performance. I have only
received one back so far and it said, “ Jamie
takes on much more than she is responsible
for so I am concerned this will lead to
burnout.” 3
 Week 4: Be the First to Trust
(But Verify…) (cont’d)
• Kouzes and Posner quote 14:
“Stories are a powerful tool for teaching people about what’s important and
what’s not. (Kouzes and Posner 2017, pg. 88)

I go back to the example of our CEO making sure we have the “Mission Moment”
in our meetings. Every time I think I am on the brink of throwing in the towel and
not caring about the work anymore, I go to one of these meetings. When the
people we are helping are showcased and I hear their stories and I feel the direct
connection, I realize that my purpose is bigger, and it pushes me to work harder
and remember that they are the reason we are doing what we do.

TO DO today (that is, in the FUTURE when you

are using your 12 Week Project):
1. Recognize Kent
2. Write Thank-You note to my mother, Brenda
for ALWAYS believing in me!
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Week 4: Be the First to Trust (But Verify…) (cont’d)

“Even someone as hard core as Odysseus, he ain’t always in the driver’s

seat.”(Homer’s Odyssey, Thug Notes, counter number 139).

I have found this to be true so many times. We can plan our lives as
meticulously as we want, and It does not always work out that way. There is a
higher power at play. My daughter was a WestPoint candidate in 2006 and I
thought her future was secured. She was injured and her entire life trajectory
was changed. In retrospect, I would not change it, but it made me realize that
no matter how much we plan and prepare, we are not always in the driver's
seat. It was probably a lesson I needed to learn.

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Insert a Qualitative 360-Degree Question Here:
• “In your recent team meetings, to what extent Beth actively listened when communicating with
you? Give an example or two.”

• I was excited when I got a new leader who claimed she was very interested in our development. I
realized quickly that she had an agenda to follow and did not have time for listening. She appears
to be listening and even writes down follow up items. When we meet again, we have to start at
square one in our development conversations. I understand she is busy, but it also makes me
realize that I am on my own in my development.

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 Week 5: Inspire and Create Vision
• Kouzes and Posner quote 15:

“You have to step back and ask yourself, What is

my burning passion? What gets me up in the
morning? What’s grabbed hold of me and won’t Add ’l Quote 5, on Capt. Cook:
let go?” (Kouzes and Posner 2017, pg. 105) “Cook’s skill at managing the men under him is well
documented, much less heralded is his talent at
I have been really struggling with this for a while. I
have always worked at jobs that feel more like managing those above him.” (Horwitz 2003, pg. 316)
something I have to do instead of what I want to
do. My boss, Beth, suggested recently that I join a
mentor group in another part of our company so I
can learn about some other options that this
company has to offer. I also talked with my ASU
counselor who suggested I join some networking
groups through the school. Both of them listened
to my thoughts and helped me to figure out a
path forward so I can work to find a work passion.

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 Week 5: Inspire and Create Vision (cont’d)
Kouzes and Posner quote 16:

Quote 6, regarding Capt. Cook, which relates to

“Being mindful of others and your
environment is vital, and a growing
number of leaders and organizations
trust in the power of mindfulness.”
(Kouzes and Posner 2017, pg. 101)
“Inspire … Vision”:
“Ambition leads me not only further than any
other man has been before me, but as far as I
think it possible for man to go.” (Horwitz 2003,
pg. 219)

The Vice President in my organization, Heather, recently

instituted gratitude meetings, Meeting Free Friday
Afternoons and a lunch series about mindfulness. We are
being taught what mindfulness is and how to achieve it.
This has been coupled with reminders about taking our
paid time off and work/life balance.
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Week 5: Inspire and Create Vision (cont’d)
Add’l Quote 7, on Capt. Cook:
Whereas there is reason to imagine that a Continent or Land of great extent, may be
found.” (Horwitz 2003, pg 16)

Captain Cook shared vision with this statement. He wanted his crew and followers to be
excited about the possibilities of what they might find, and he was imagining the
possibilities. The CEO of my company does a great job of sharing his vision using aids in our
monthly meetings. He also wants all of us to understand his vision and join him, but we are
always welcome to healthy challenge his vision if we have concerns.

TO DO today
1. Complete a personal development
training class.
2. Send a thank you note to my mentor.
3. Call my mother and thank her for
supporting my educational goals.
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_____________________________
Week 6: Look to Help Others(cont’d)
Add’l Quote on Capt. Cook (Horwitz’s Blue Latitudes):
A born sceptic, he prized fact over fantasy throughout his
career, becoming a master of what the historian, Daniel
Boorstin terms “negative discovery” – the uncovering of
what is not there.” (Horwitz 2003, pg 134)

This reminds us that Capt. Cook was very good at “enlisting others” with his genuine
speak and his sharing of vision. My boss, Beth, this week was caught off guard when an
announcement was made to our team that she was not aware was public yet. She
pulled us into a quick positive communication meeting to ask about our feelings
around the situation. She also shared her vision about transparency with the team. This
actually really helped me in my thrust with Beth. She is knew so I have had very few
experiences with her so far but I thought this was a great example of “Enlisting Others.”
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Insert
Within thealast
Qualitative 360-Degree
week, how often has Question
Beth celebrated “small Here:
wins” with you or your colleagues?
Please give an example of two.“

There have been quite a few examples where Beth has actively shared “small wins” with us. She
created a group slack channel and has been using that as a positive communication tool. Friday, She
communicated that a co worker and I passed an audit with no findings. The day before, she posted
congratulations to another team member who was able to gain a risk accept instead of an actual
“finding.”

This has really helped the team to celebrate with each other and show appreciation and
congratulations. It is also a nice feeling when you see that you are recognized.

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Week 7: Challenge the Process
Add’l Quote 11, from Virginia Woolf, speaking of the importance of A
ROOM OF ONE’S OWN, such as her experience at the British Library,
or of founding a university:

“I thought how unpleasant it is to be locked out; and I thought how it is worse perhaps to
be locked in; and, thinking of the safety and prosperity of the one sex and of the poverty
and insecurity of the other and of the effect of tradition and of the lack of tradition upon
the mind of a writer….” (Woolf 1928, Pg.7)

This comment reminds me of a time about 10 years ago when I had to do lineman training as a cross
department effort to learn other jobs. Rodrigo, a supervisor in that department told me that women
should not be able to sign up for the training because we lack the skills needed to do the job. I completed
the training and did not persue a job in that department because I was worried that many of the men
would have similar attitudes. This was an example of being locked into a stereotype by someone of the
opposite sex.

TO DO (in a future…) today:

1. Challenge the Process by reading an article about salary gaps
between men and women.
2. Challenge the Process by viewing one current contract for gaps.
_________________________ 12
Week 7: Challenge the Process (cont’d)
Add’l Quote 12, specifically from EITHER Virginia Woolf’s discussion of “JUDITH” or her experience at
“OXBRIDGE”:

“… I could not help thinking, as I looked at the works of Shakespeare on the shelf, that … it would have been
impossible, completely and entirely, for any woman to have written the plays of Shakespeare in the age of
Shakespeare.(Woolf 1928, pg. 8)

Historically, the company I work for has had mostly male executives. Our diversity manager, Carolyn, had a meeting with our
organization a few months ago and talked about how they are working to change this. She encouraged women to put in for
jobs that were a stretch and also encouraged us to reach out to women in IT and ask them to apply to our company. She is
trying to shift the dynamics of the company along with the CEO and gave us confidence that we would be looked at equally in
open positions.

• Kouzes and Posner quote 19

:
“Meeting new challenges always requires things to be TO DO today (…a future today):
different than they currently are. You can’t respond 1. Challenge the Process by reading “The
Source of Self-Regard” by Toni Morrison
with the same old solutions.” (Kouzes and Posner 2017, 2. Challenge the Process by viewing the
pg. 148) Video “Embracing Diversity.”
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 Week 7: Challenge the Process (cont’d)

Add’l Quote 13, from Arnold van Gennep:

“The basic procedure is always the same, however, for either a company or an individual:
they must stop, wait, go through a transitional period, enter, be incorporated. The
particular rites may include actual contact (e.g., a slap, a handclasp), exchanging gifts of
food or valuables, eating, drinking, smoking a pipe together, sacrificing animals,
sprinkling water or blood, anointing, being attached to each other, being covered
together, or sitting on the same seat.” (Van Gennep 1961, Page 28)

An example in my life of a Rite of Passage was when I joined my current company. I did
the prep and waiting and then went through the transition which was the employee
initiation training and then became an employee. The contract between the company
and myself was the rite of passage.

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Week 8: Taking Risks (cont’d)

Add’l Quote 16, from Arnold van Gennep:

It is to act and to cease, to wait and rest, and then to begin acting again,
but in a different way. And there are always new thresholds to cross…. ”
(Van Gennep 1961, Page 189

I will use myself in this example. My educational journey is a rite of

passage for me. All the work I am putting into my schooling is step one.
Graduation will be my ceremony and then I will be a graduate. I will
them be in the family of graduates and alumni and will be able to
partake in the activities that are afforded to them.

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Insert a Qualitative 360-Degree Question Here:
• “In your recent team meetings, to what extent has Robert actively listened when communicating with you?
Give an example or two.”

• In the most recent team meeting, Robert, who is sometimes combative, actively listened and then reiterated
my comments with understanding showing me that he heard what I said and confirmed his understanding.

• Another example of Robert actively listening in a team meeting is when he was communicating something to
our boss and he used the wording, “To Jamie’s point,” which let her know that he valued my opinion and
also let me know he was listening and taking my message to heart.

• I used this question because I know that active listening is something that I sometimes struggle with, so I am
making an active effort to listen and use what I am learning from others instead of overtalking them or
interrupting.

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