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I think I encourage staff to be creative. At Christmas we had a Deck the Halls not Your Co Worker competition. We have two hallways and each hall decorated with a theme. I had judges come in and judge and the winners got prizes. We had people from other departments come and see what we did. If was a lot of fun and help build our teams.

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My goal is to figure out my staff strengths. I have only been here a year so I am still learning about everyone.

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I want to do the staff gifts for me and then I want to have the staff do and see what they see in each other.

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working on delegating will take some work! wondering how that will take shape. wondering how I will feel stepping away from a task.

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I will work on delegating. Sometimes I feel ownership in some work, and it is difficult to turn it over to someone who is unfamiliar with it.

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One of my most visible strengths (at least to me) is my ability to nurture staff strengths. I notice when a staff member accomplishes something that has been difficult, especially if I share the same struggle!

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As a strategy, I will let them take more control of their classrooms and as teachers. When there is a problem in their relationship I will have a ear to listen and ask them to take control on how to resolve the problem.

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One goal that I have for myself is to delegate more staff ownership. We have many opportunities at our center where the staff have the opportunity to take ownership of their classrooms or their own relationships within their classrooms. But as a leadership I do try to take control of the situation and 'fix it'.

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As a leader, I work hard to help nurture staff strengths through letting them take control where they feel comfortable and excel.

We also have a very diverse staff! I make sure that every single staff member feels included and valued everyday through positive encouragement,

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I would like to work on highlighting my staff's strengths more. I try to display positivity and show appreciation. I think I could reflect a bit more on the strengths they each bring to our team and how to strengthen areas that could use some improvement. I would also like to incorporate more frequent shout outs to be staff in hopes of increasing their positivity and confidence.

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I need to do a better job with explaining and perhaps using a visual with steps, expectations, and goals

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I encourage staff creativity and nurture staff strengths

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Delegating can be a challenge for me, with certain things. With timelines, etc. it is easier for me to just do it because I get frustrated when I have to redo something because then it takes time down the road away from my schedule.

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I can definitely work on delegating - always use the excuse of "it's just easier to do it myself". And I can do a better job of demonstrating that I value staff diversity. I don't know that I necessarily show that, and not sure the best ways to.

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I try to model and encourage positivity and optimism - always looking at the flip side! Also encourage staff creativity - I don't have all the answers so always looking for others input.

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One strategy would be to spend more time on observation and then ask "what do you think would be the right answer" rather than making suggestions to solve problems.

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After contemplation, I find that I could/should be more proactive in nurturing staff strengths and helping them to find confidence in themselves.

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Mostly I make every effort to maintain a middle ground in almost all these DERLS items. I tend to be a mediator in most interactions and rarely find myself in a position to "lead" in these areas as I dont have any direct reports. That being said, I do try to focus on staff's strengths when I interact with them.

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Iris B.  Oops!  I put my strategy in the goals column.  Would you mind reading again that for my response. Thanks. 

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Iris B.  Oops!  I put my strategy in the goals column.  Would you mind reading again that for my response. Thanks. 

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Iris B.  Many of our staff work remotely.  The result for our mental health agency is that we are often sharing what should be a common vision and mission - more remotely.

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Iris B.  Many of our staff work remotely.  The result for our mental health agency is that we are often sharing what should be a common vision and mission - more remotely.

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A strategy could be to schedule collaborate staff meetings. The meeting could be in-house. I thought of asking the staff to play a game - bring one of their ideas or "visions" on how the agency, or program, or issue could change or thrive. And as a group, we could evaluate the ideas and incorporate some into our programming. Another strategy is to meet with those who strongly disagree - so no one feels left-out, but everyone feels valued.

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Iris B.  It is easier for me to share my weaknesses than it is for me to share my strengths.  (I'm work on on that!)  

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Iris B.  It is easier for me to share my weaknesses than it is for me to share my strengths.  (I'm work on on that!)  

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I do nurture the strengths the staff displays and encourage their creativity. We accomplish this through regular supervision and during staff meetings.

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I believe our team has a shared understanding of our vision and mission for our work, which is wonderful, but within that, I would also like to promote "many right ways" to achieve the same outcome. One actionable step towards my goal of demonstrating that I value staff diversity could be to delegate tasks that would provide staff members autonomy in how they approach the task.

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While I very much value staff diversity, as I reflected on this assignment, I am not sure I have always done a good job of conveying that to our team. My goal is to be more intentional about this.

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I feel like our agency as a whole is really good at nurturing the strengths of staff members and that is something that feels very natural to me personally, as well. I have also worked hard to create a shared vision and mission with my team. I have a positive outlook on life and try to model optimism for others through my words and actions.

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In order to be able to delegate jobs in the classroom I need to be able to communicate clearly what the classroom expectations are. A way to do this would be to create a document that has a the jobs and expectations broken down, and next to them write the initials of the person responsible next to them. That way that document can be referred too and it also holds accountability and promotes ownership of the classroom.

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I need to delegate to encourage staff ownership.

I need to model and encourage positivity and optimism.

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I nurture staff strengths.

I encourage staff creativity.

I demonstrate that I value staff diversity.

I create a common vision and mission w/staff.

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To become more comfortable with giving compliments, I need to start within myself and work on my own internal beliefs. Each morning, I plan to say a few good things about myself in the mirror. Once I have mastered that, I am going to write each staff members names down and write some positive things about them personally and about their work/work ethic. 

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To become more comfortable with giving compliments, I need to start within myself and work on my own internal beliefs. Each morning, I plan to say a few good things about myself in the mirror. Once I have mastered that, I am going to write each staff members names down and write some positive things about them personally and about their work/work ethic. 

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I want to nurture my staff's strengths more than I do. I recognize that words of affirmation do not come easy to me as I can get uncomfortable when I am complimented, so I need to be more intentional about recognizing and praising my staff more on an individual basis.

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I delegate to encourage staff ownership.

I model and encourage positivity and optimism.

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I plan to notice the little accomplishments of staff and point them out in the way that feels comfortable to them.  In this way I feel that I can build ownership by building self esteem and empowerment.  Noticing and celebrating. 

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I plan to notice the little accomplishments of staff and point them out in the way that feels comfortable to them.  In this way I feel that I can build ownership by building self esteem and empowerment.  Noticing and celebrating. 

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My goal is to work on delegating so that staff take ownership of their own goals.  

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My goal is to work on delegating so that staff take ownership of their own goals.  

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I model and encourage positivity even if I don't always feel that way. 

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I model and encourage positivity even if I don't always feel that way. 

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I plan to encourage staff by recognizing their "gifts" and efforts.  I have sent individual notes to each staff member letting them know I appreciate the work they do, and it seems to have lifted spirits already!

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I plan to encourage staff by recognizing their "gifts" and efforts.  I have sent individual notes to each staff member letting them know I appreciate the work they do, and it seems to have lifted spirits already!

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I want to encourage staff ownership.  When staff own their work, they take pride in themselves and the small steps mean a lot.

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I want to encourage staff ownership.  When staff own their work, they take pride in themselves and the small steps mean a lot.

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I model and encourage positivity and OPTIMISM. No matter how full your glass is, you can always fill it up.

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Staff gifts - successful delegation requires that we share tasks that excite people to use their gifts to problem solve and innovate.

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Intentionally delegate to encourage staff ownership - plus it helps build capacity for succession planning, breaks down silos, sparks creativity . . . .

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Nurture staff strengths

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I will focus and build on the strengths (gifts) of the team.

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There has to be a middle ground between micromanaging and monitoring that things get done! My goal is to find the middle ground.

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I have a positive outlook. I believe positivity makes a difference in how I see myself and others. I believe starting your day with a positive mental message sets you up to have a good day.

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I know the strategy "Staff Gifts" is intended for a different item on the DERLS, but I think it could be beneficial for delegating to encourage ownership as well, because when you really stop and think about people's strengths, then you can focus on helping them use those strengths.

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I would like to work on delegating to encourage staff ownership. It is difficult to find the right balance of allowing freedom and also holding people to standards. It is hard (especially in Head Start) not to get too micromanage-y!

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One of my strengths is modeling and encouraging positivity. I think I am pretty good about acknowledging the problems while still being solution focused. Most of the time.

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After you have completed the Internal Beliefs portion of the DERLS, please use this space to share some of what you have discovered! Share your STRENGTHS, GOALS, and possible STRATEGIES. We are excited to see what you have to say. Photos are welcomed!! We can also use this space to "like" and "comment" on posts from fellow leaders.

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Click on the plus sign in the appropriate column (strengths, goals, strategies). Put your name as the "Subject" and then type your entry into the message space. Be sure to click the "Publish" button! Want to upload a photo? Click on the first icon under the "Subject" section to do so.