CONTENT CURATION

The Minnesota Rising 2012 Un/Conference: Leveraging Expansive Leadership for Our Minnesota was held on Saturday, September 22, 2012 from 10:00AM – 4:30PM at DLR Group offices in Minneapolis, MN. Hosted by and for emerging leaders, the Un/Conference engaged emerging leaders across Minnesota in an energizing day of innovative learning and dialogue, skill-building, and network-building with their peers! See below for the content curated from the talented thinkers, doers, and presenters in the room that day.

.

11:00am Mentorship and the Emerging Professional

Desiree Culpitt and Julia Quanrud

The Minnesota Rising Un/Conference brought together a diverse set of mentors for the panel “Mentorship and the Emerging Professional.”  Panel guests included:

• Nancy Martel, Client Liaison at DLR Group
• Susan Schuster, Senior Community Affairs Consultant, Public and Health Affairs at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
• Ben Marcy, We-Make-It Man at Bedlam Theatre, Adjunct Professor at St. Kate’s, Leadership Specialist at University of Minnesota
• Marc Hosmer, Executive Director/CEO at Urban Boatbuilders, Non-Profit Services Program Assistant at Charities Review Council
• Consuelo Gutierrez-Crosby, Civic Leadership Program Coordinator at Macalester College Civic Engagement Center

Seated in a circle with participants, the panelists shared their ideas and experiences with mentorship and then exchanged questions and ideas with the audience.  Key insights included:

• Determine what kind of mentoring relationship you want. Mentor relationships can be formal or informal.  Informal mentorships lack the facilitator or program that establishes a formal mentorship; informal mentorships are about taking someone under your wing.  Formal mentorships have set goals, timelines, and outcomes.
  • If you have a formal mentorship opportunity, take it.  Opportunities are rare for formal mentorships.If you’re an informal mentor, it’s the responsibility of the mentee to manage the relationship.
  • Your boss is not your mentor.  You need to be able to show your weaknesses to a mentor, which isn’t always advisable with a boss.
• What do mentors get out of a mentoring relationship?
  • Mentorship is about paying it forward.  Mentors are looking to return on the investment others made in them.
  • Mentors value how the relationship helps them grow, as well as the new perspectives they gain from their mentee.
• Tips for finding a mentor:
  • Identify what you need in a mentor and look for a mentor who has that experience.
  • Network and conduct informational interviews to find your mentor.
  • Ask your boss for ideas on who could mentor you.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask people to mentor you.
• Alternative forms of mentorship:
  • Recently, some individuals have been seeking mentors that are significantly younger than themselves, turning traditional mentoring relationships on their head.
  • Form a group of peers at other companies to get together with and share concerns.
  • Get involved in a networking group or a coaching circle.
• Tricks for setting your mentorship up for success:
  • Read up on mentorship so that you have a knowledge base to inform what you need from the relationship.
  • Set goals and share them with your mentor.
  • Readjust and diversify your goals.
  • Self-advocacy and asking questions are critical mentee skills.
  • Trust is a two-way street.  A mentor and a mentee need to know their strengths and weeknesses and be ready to share them.
  • WIFM:  “What’s in if for me?”  Keep this acronym in mind when you have a mentor.  What is your mentor getting out of the experience?
  • Don’t let this concept get in the way of seeking a mentor, however.
  • Ask what you can do to help your mentor.  Bring your help to them.
  • When you look good, you make your mentor look good.
  • Sometimes, though, a mentor may see those benefits only with time and reflection.  It’s an investment.
  • Mentors should be good listeners and ask the mentee questions.
  • When the mentor listens, they should avoid judgment.  A good mentor is also reliable and flexible.

Recommended reading:

• The Leader Who Had No Titles: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in Life by Robin Sharma
• Leaders of Today and Tomorrow (LOTT) Fellows Program, a formal mentorship program for college-aged and emerging professional women through the League of Women Voters.  Applications due October 12.
• The Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota can help you find a mentor program (both youth and adult opportunities).  More information here.
• The Amherst H. Wilder Foundation hosts Neighborhood Leadership Programs.  More information here.

.

11:00am Getting Your Idea Off the Ground!

Allison Holland

Check out her prezi on “Getting Your Idea Off the Ground!“

.

11:00am Meaningful Engagement in Social Change – Choosing and Getting Involved with a Nonprofit

Lynette Dumalag, Katie Imholte, Katie Tharp, Stephanie Payne

See the presentation online at Issuu!

.

2:00pm From Hero to Host: Leading in complexity

Rinal Ray and Leah Lundquist 

From Hero to Host:
Leading through conversations that matter

Rinal Ray & Leah
Lundquist

September 22, 2012

RESOURCES

“Leadership in the Age of Complexity.” by Margaret Wheatley
and Deborah Frieze. 2010. <http://berkana.org/berkana_articles/leadership-in-the-age-of-complexity/>

Dave Snowden explains the Cynefin Framework, a way to reframe the context in order to
determine the best problem-solving approach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7oz366X0-8

A video from an Art of Hosting training sponsored by
InCommons in Minnesota describes the 4-Fold
Practice, the conceptual foundation for the many participatory methods that
are considered “hosting” practices: http://vimeo.com/40051233

Art of Hosting Steward Tuesday Ryan-Hart explaining the Chaordic Path: http://vimeo.com/23211004

The concept of Divergence/Convergence
in group process acted out by participants in a January 2012 University of
Minnesota Art of Hosting training: http://youtu.be/vuMUzEaOqhE

“The Art of Powerful Questions: Catalyzing Insight,
Innovation and Action.” By Eric Vogt, Juanita Brown & David Isaacs. 2009. http://www.scribd.com/doc/18675626/Art-of-Powerful-Questions

To learn more about Art
of Hosting:

Art of Hosting is a practice of looking for the deep patterns around groups that work and creating meetings where people can do their best work together.  Practically, it is a fusion of some very powerful participatory facilitation tools and practices (appreciative inquiry, world café, proaction café, open space technology, and circle practice).  Used together, they are a flexible way to help people lead and help groups move into connection and deep conversation and action fast. It has come from a group of practitioners who were looking for ways to support the people they were working with to work at the boundary of connection and innovation.

Public site: http://www.artofhosting.org

International Community of Practice Online
Community: http://artofhosting.ning.com/

 

.

2:00pm Professional Success is as Easy as P.I.E.
Al Coleman

See his presentation online at Issuu!

.

2:00pm So, You Want that Promotion? How to Use Management Theory for Success
Sarah Morris

See her presentation online at Issuu!