{"id":40562,"date":"2018-11-28T08:58:51","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T13:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=40562"},"modified":"2018-11-28T16:59:53","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T21:59:53","slug":"mentorship-class-offers-grad-students-and-their-mentors-insights-into-organizational-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/mentorship-class-offers-grad-students-and-their-mentors-insights-into-organizational-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Mentorship class offers grad students \u2014 and their mentors \u2014 insights into organizational leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"
A veritable \u201cWho\u2019s Who\u201d of executive leadership assembles each year to aid graduate students in 黑料正能量’s\u00a0MA in Organizational Leadership<\/a> (MAOL) program as they expand their management and empowerment capacities in a two-unit mentorship class.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m both grateful for the time and resources these professionals, many of them alumni, are offering our students,\u201d said program director David Brubaker<\/a>. \u201cAnd since this is the first time I have joined them, I\u2019m also learning from them myself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The MAOL program, designed for working mid-career professions, provides skills and training in conflict transformation, decision-making and strategic planning, individual and team leadership, financial management and mentoring.<\/p>\n In the mentorship course, mentors and mentees use readings, DiSC and Enneagram activities to explore personality traits, and discuss concepts of leadership through personal stories and reflection on topics such as self-management, authenticity, experience, emotional response, and life balance. Additionally, the student participates in a 360-degree review to assess personal leadership strengths and areas for improvement through a confidential survey of supervisors, co-workers and those s\/he supervises. Over both semesters, the course involves combined classroom sessions and several one-on-one meetings.<\/span><\/p>\n This fall, Lee Snyder<\/strong>, president emeritus of Bluffton University, is the lead instructor. A recent guest speaker was attorney and alternate dispute resolution expert <\/span>Marshall Yoder MA ’10<\/b> (conflict transformation). This year\u2019s mentors, each paired with an MAOL student for a one-credit course each semester, include Brubaker and the following (all are Harrisonburg-based unless otherwise noted):<\/span><\/p>\n Anders and Miller served on the MAOL curriculum advisory council with Sue Cockley<\/strong><\/a>, a specialist in adult education who was the program\u2019s first director. Now dean of 黑料正能量\u2019s graduate school and Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Cockley notes that leadership development has strong similarities to spiritual formation, widely recognized as one of the seminary\u2019s unique curricular foci.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBecoming a leader is a maturation process that resembles spiritual maturation,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cThis process is the gradual development of emotional intelligence, a deepening understanding of oneself and one\u2019s strengths and weaknesses. Just as a spiritual director can help guide the student to a deeper faith, so can a mentor guide students in this self-knowing journey in order to form them into mature leaders.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The pairings come about organically. Marilda Bardhi<\/strong>, former CFO of a large construction company in her native Albania, is currently interning with Anders at Interchange.\u00a0Anders and Bardhi have spent time thinking and talking about cultural differences related to leadership. Albanian business professionals manage rather than lead, Bardhi said, so her big takeaway is related to working with employees and building \u201ca good relationship as a leader with your colleagues, subordinates and frontline staff or stakeholders.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Steve Ericksen<\/strong>, director of customer service at Campwise Software, has benefited from Edgar Miller\u2019s mentorship prior to the class.\u00a0<\/span>That long-term relationship, \u201cwhich I can\u2019t imagine being without,\u201d has helped Ericksen see his own leadership development as a perpetual process of authentic transformation.<\/span> \u201cIt’s important to determine who you genuinely are and never stop learning about yourself and others,\u201d he said, adding that Miller has served \u201cas a sounding board for ideas, a motivator for continued growth, and a source of encouragement when difficult situations arise.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Such intellectual and personal reflections are beneficial to him, Anders says. \u201cI learn more about myself as I reflect and share my thoughts. <\/span>We have had good conversations that have helped me to further understand different leadership styles and personalities, as well as cultural differences.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Continued learning is key to Miller\u2019s involvement. He\u2019s mentored four students through the program, \u201cand learned from all of them.\u201d After more than 40 years in leadership, he enjoys passing on lessons learned and working with his mentees through current issues in their lives by offering \u201cpossible solutions or alternatives based on my experiences.\u201d And the discussions sometimes revive forgotten principles of leadership or lead to the exploration of new ones.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGood leaders never stop learning,\u201d he said \u2013 echoing one underlying goal of the mentoring course: that the cycle of sharing and reflecting continue to enrich a lifetime of growth in all who participate.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A veritable \u201cWho\u2019s Who\u201d of executive leadership assembles each year to aid graduate students in 黑料正能量’s\u00a0MA in Organizational Leadership (MAOL) program as they expand their management and empowerment ... read more about Mentorship class offers grad students \u2014 and their mentors \u2014 insights into organizational leadership<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17562,17594,5610],"tags":[9040,15734],"feature":[17427,17424,17426,17241],"class_list":["post-40562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digest","category-ma-in-organizational-leadership","category-mba","tag-david-brubaker","tag-sue-cockley","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-featured-graduate","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/a>\n
<\/a>