AWL Alumni Spotlight

What did you learn about yourself as a leader?
What I really learned in this space is that it's okay to be uncomfortable. It's okay to not have the right things to say, and it's okay to not solve a problem for someone. You can just be the person there who’s helping them think about the questions to lead them to the right solution. A lot of us like to just solve a problem for people, as opposed to helping them process through it. And that's one of the main things I’ve learning in how to be a leader - changing the way I do things. It's a practice.

How did your learning in AWL open opportunities for you to create impact?
I was having this conversation just the other day. There's a challenge we're going through at work. I took away that I succeeded in this particular situation, because although it's a tough situation, it's not fun and it was very emotional for some of us, someone said at the end, “I don't understand how at the end of all these things, you can always find something positive about where we're heading.”

Being in AWL sessions - they're not delightful, you don't want to have those conversations - but you come out the other side thinking, “What have we learned? How are we going to do this better? And how can we succeed together going forward?” I don't know if I was that strong of a leader before - when I came across challenges it was more of a fight. And at the end of the fight, someone wins, someone loses and you go back to your corners and you all hope to not have to do that again. Now, I try to live in a space where it's not a fight; it's an opportunity. When something goes wrong, we all need to correct it. And we're all going to need to move forward. What did you learn? How do you not do something the same way next time? Or even if you do, how did you learn that time? So it's more of a continuous education program for yourself.

Tell us about your experience with your learning partner. What did you learn? What is the benefit of a learning partner in this AWL space?
I don't know how Bloombase ends up matching us all up to be honest, but it seemed perfect. They know something we don't. I don't know what that magic is…

In the AWL cohort, you're going to have someone that through your journey is your learning partner and you meet back up with them. You do your debriefings with them. If you've had some quiet time, then you reflect and share. You do mix up from time to time who you share with, which is good. So you'll trade partners from time to time, but you always come back to that home. And even though I participated in this experience three years ago, my learning partner and I still get together. We still can call each other. We do not work for the same organization. Your learning partner is someone that you can confide in at that moment and go deeper… it's been really powerful.