I particularly liked the interview with Rosabeth Moss Kanler and how confidence plays in to how you set, engage, and achieve goals. Confidence can wax and wane with a myriad of factors in someone’s life, but the trick is that when confidence wanes that we find ways to not get sucked in to it and lose momentum and vision. She mentioned optimism, hope, and activity as the three main antidotes to combat confidence lulls that pull us away from achieving our goals. Setting up small, attainable tasks to be completed can provide the pick-me-up needed to continue towards the longer term goal. I find my goal-setting struggle linked primarily to focus and endurance since I can identify several major goals to pursue but lack the resources to pursue all of them simultaneously. Though the lesson had some good suggestions on how to prioritize goals, I am wondering if there are other suggestions out there, or perhaps practical applications of prioritizing goals (?).

I think that too many emails can be a waste of time. I work with some great motivating individuals. However, they send too many emails. I think that not everything needs to be said when thought of and emails can sometimes be a avenue for some to purge their thoughts. Instead taking note of thoughts, ideas and concerns to then be later discussed in the many meetings that are scheduled within the management team is a more effective use of everyones time. This is one of many reasons meetings are scheduled to discuss specific goals and topics from an agenda. When you organize yourself to hold on to the thoughts to be discussed in a scheduled appropriate setting then emails can be minimized and everyone involved can be apart of the discussion synchronously. I also think that within a department reminder emails should be designated by one person to minimize mulitple emails to the same individuals. Your direct reports stop the communication lines when too many emails can be overwhelming and take too much time.

I am entering a middle management position or the first time in a large company in lieu of another position in the same company. It was interesting how reflective this course was of my own analytical process when choosing between the different positions. In regards to the "new attitude" of corporations, is there any reading that can be suggested to better understand what is going on at higher levels? Alot of confusion is rampant locally, but most of that is due to miscommunication, which has led to a feeling of dissent amongst my colleagues.

i have found that most crisis will show itslef early as something small, assuming its not a natural disaster but more operational, and if not caught early will grow into a monster of a crisis.

I never knew goals were that complex, there's definitely a method to the madness.

Is it possible to be over prepared for a crisis? If so what should be the cut off point when setting up a preparation plan?

I felt that this training was focused more on corporate leadership, rather than setting goals for yourself as an 'underling'. However, the tips and tricks within it are very helpful for increasing productivity day to day. The SMART worksheets have already given me ideas on how to prioritize tasks at the beginning of the day. I will be able to bring my goals to my supervisor, have them visible on paper and discuss the value of the specific goals I set for myself. Learning how to better to focus, prioritize and evaluate these goals will help me in all areas of my life. Are there any other team members (rather than team leaders) participating in this training? Did you feel that this training gave you a good starting point on being able to accurately voice your goals and participate in your teams goals effectively?

When in a management position you must be the leader. Do things correctly and your work and that of others will be good.

What are everyone's thoughts on how you properly discuss your future career aspirations with your supervisor/manager? I've found more than once in past positions that although your boss will tell you that your career advancement is very important to them, it actually comes across in their non-verbal cues and reactions that they see these type discussions as examples of disloyalty or that you're basically telling them that you want to lose them as a supervisor. Any tips or suggestions that have worked for anyone?

After going through the information in this course I am curious how is it I can put some of these processes into practice with a department of approximately 10 people. Particularly with concern to a possible future crisis being fueled by an unhappy staff member.

Cultural values could cause stress in the workplace if they are in conflict with other employees. How can we reduce stress and tension within a muliculturally diverse organizational structure?

This course gave me a lot of ideas like what to do when you are stressed. I have also learned how to relax and how to break out the negetive stress.

What are some constructive ways to ask your direct supervisor your strenghts/areas of improvement without he or she thinking you are looking for another job?

The hardest thing for me regarding stress management is keeping my personal stress at home. I know bringing it to work with me probably lowers my productivity, which is unfortunate for my workplace because my stress has very little to do with work. I am continuing to work on leaving my worries at home in the morning, and staying work focused at work!

Understand that your boss is busy but you need to be keep them informed of difficulty projects or tasks.

Know when to listen to your boss. Every question does not require an answer.

In the corporate world there may be many different levels of supervisors for a department/project. In a perfect world, we should primarily have to answer to our immediate supervisor. To who's style of management do we adjust? To whom are we most answerable?

Understanding one's boss can be a difficult endeavor. If an organization employed the Myers Briggs Personalty Type Indicator, one could better maneuver through the complexity of human understanding.

It is important to set the example for students. It's best to be on time and not involve yourself in irrelevant conversation to the topic.

I remmber having a manger who took the entire day worrying about how well decorate the office was as appose to the bigger things that needed attention. what she use to do is delegate all the work and she span time cleaning rearranging when we had hous keeping who came in to clean and rearrange. I feel they are many managers who focus to much on little things instead of whats really important.