Staying in touch key to continued learning

By Shari Bishop Bowes

It’s a concern shared by many who take the time to invest in personal and professional development. Will commitments you make in a leadership program become ingrained, remembered, reinforced, once you have returned back to the busy routine of work and life?

Eleven participants in the June 2009 Building Personal Leadership program at The Banff Centre found that staying connected, through emails and conference calls, helped them to reinforce key learnings and commitments they made to themselves following the program.

Denise Exton, associate commissioner of community services for Strathcona County, based in Sherwood Park, Alberta, was one of the regular contributors on calls that took place with the group every other month.

“The biggest fear is that you’re not going to keep up with what you’ve learned,” said Exton, who has stayed in touch one-on-one with her learning partner from the program, and also takes advantage of optional post-program personal coaching through Leadership Development at The Banff Centre.

Exton said the group met every other month by telephone, with no particular agenda other than to discover how the group members are applying what they have learned, and how they are living up to commitments they made to themselves in the program.

A key focus of Building Personal Leadership is the importance of work-life balance, so it was no surprise that the group found itself at one point giving support to a fellow participant who was having a particular struggle in this area.

This member of the group, Exton said, had been going through a difficult time with both a family health issue, and a problem with a supervisor in their workplace.

The individual was encouraged to turn to the activity they’d said most helped them deal with stress – playing music.  “Music was the most important thing for this person, and they had dropped it,” Exton said.

The next time the group convened, they were glad to hear the individual had revived  their enjoyment of music, which helped them cope with their family and work challenges.

Exton, who has been true to her own promise to take a Spanish class to add balance to her life, believes staying connected to the group allowed her to return to what she learned in Building Personal Leadership.

“I would say I’ve gotten more out of it, for me, than I’ve contributed.”

Another pair of participants, who met while attending the September 2009 session of Building Personal Leadership, has made a point of keeping in touch to offer encouragement in their personal and professional lives.

Stephen Wrentmore, a theatre director and consultant in creativity and learning in the UK, forged a strong connection with Lenore McMillan, manager of special projects at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.

“I think I have found a partnership with Lenore that has been very constructive,” said Wrentmore. “My relationship with Lenore has been both self-supporting and generous at the same time.”

Wrentmore said his calls and emails with McMillan have allowed them both to reflect on their personal learning, their deeply held beliefs, and what they are each trying to achieve personally and professionally.

In the months that followed the Building Personal Leadership program, Wrentmore offered his encouragement to McMillan as she prepared to return to The Banff Centre to take a week’s residency in the Leighton Artists’ Colony, where she hoped to return to her personal artistic practise.

McMillan, who now keeps her art supplies close at hand, said she is not surprised that such strong, supportive relationships are forged at The Banff Centre.

“Everyone was just so supportive. I think by the second day we had all really bonded.”

The next Building Personal Leadership program is scheduled for February 20-25. Contact us to learn more about full calendar of leadership development programs.

Shari Bishop Bowes is marketing officer for Leadership Development