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Thank you Dr. Betts. This course has taught me so much, more importantly it has taught me how to not compartmentalize knowledge but how to collaborate my thinking. I was amazed to be able to prepare a writing assignment that allowed me to be combine principles of my first love (psychology) with principles of leadership. This moment of collaboration forever changed me.

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Einstein said, "Education is not the learning of facts , but the training of the mind to think" and this course has thought me to think and process differently.

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Sometimes we have to stop dancing and go to the balcony and take a view from there

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To be an effective leader there are core components one must encompass to bring about effective change during times of transition.  The core components were not easily identifiable to me, but after mixing and matching, choosing what worked, and identifying what did not work I was able to compose my personal theory of change. My framework is includes appreciation and respect, thriving for knowledge, common sense, remaining transparent and the creation of new leaders. It is my belief the aforementioned components will travel across organizations, situations as well as globally.

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I have come to the conclusion the following core components   consistently guide my thinking and behavior as a leader: showing appreciation and respect, thriving for knowledge, using common sense, remaining transparent and the creation of more leaders.

Appreciation and respect

A change leader must have a genuine respect and appreciation for others. Stewart (2009) states this so very well: “A good manager is someone…with a wide knowledge of the world and an even better knowledge of the way people work; someone who knows how to treat people with respect”.

Thriving for knowledge

When employees and managers are given the opportunity to interact and build upon each other strengths it has the ability to be an optimal learning experience for the organization. Many of us live and work very well within our comfort zone. We tend to show little interest in things that do not immediately affect us but once we get a view of systems outside of our small circle and learn from others, our thinking changes (Senge, Smith, Kruschwitz, Laur, & Schley, 2010). Constant learning is optimal for everyone in an organization.

Using common sense

​Keeping it simple can be as easy looking at how many times a day we make decisions based on our natural abilities. According to Fullan (2009) leadership has to be returned to its natural habitat-what do people do every day and how can what can be done to improve upon it. We don’t have to always reinvent the wheel sometimes we just have to go with what we already know.

Remaining transparent

​Leaders need to be open with their employees, giving them information on the who, what, when, where and why. In the language of Fullan (2009) “…climate is crucial. Norms thatencourage and value critical feedback from all team members, especially from those with less status, are essential”.

Creating more leaders

Leaders should provide an environment where learning on the job and fostering growth are focal points. Heifetz, Grashow and Linsky (2009) believes, “Building a leadership pipeline is essential to long-term adaptability because the key bottleneck to growth is so often the quantity and quality of leadership available in the organization”.

The five principles mentioned provide a foundation for my newly created theory of change. As a leader I had not given much thought to what guides my thoughts and behaviors but putting it on paper has allowed for self-exploration.

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Fullan (2008) suggest the following six secrets that will empower a leader and help them to thrive:

1. Love your employers: Having a genuine love for employees allows a leader to show an interest and investment in their employees.

2. Connect peers with purpose: When employees are given the opportunity to interact and build upon each other strengths it has the ability to be an optimal learning experience for the organization

3. Capacity Building Prevails: We cannot manage through fear or intimidation, employees develop more from positive pressure and learning from failures

4. Learning is the work: Leaders should provide an environment where learning on the job is the focal point.

5. Transparency Rules: Leaders need to open with their employees, giving employees information on the who, what, when, where and why.

6. Systems Learn: Leaders focus on developing other leaders that move around in various positions within the organization. They should advise and be integrative when information given instead of choosing one over the other.

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I was so sure I was meant to been the field of psychology but I decided after working in the higher education for the past 12 years, I would give education a try. I have completely fallen in love with the content from this course. This course has changed my life and I mean for the better. Every opportunity that allows for the use of content from this course, I use it and I feel confident when doing so.