College leaders are taking society into the future. Just how clear is your crystal ball?

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Thank you for completing the Blind Spots Quiz. Your individual report is compiled in the PDF attached below.As senior leaders, our work is never done - and that's OK! Our work is our play when we are being true to our aspirations. As we complete one phase of a journey, we are driven by purpose and compelled by aspiration to move forward.In a sense, eliminating blind spots is somewhat similar in that we are never done with seeking them out. Environments shift, we change, old blind spots reappear, and new ones are unveiled. We cannot allow blind spots to slowdown or derail progress in higher education. On the cusp of exponential changes brought on by technology, society is in need of guidance, education, and opportunities for lifelong learning.Where are you leading us? What blind spots might slow your progress? How can I support you?- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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Best wishes to creating a fantastic future, Linda (LJ) Johnson, Dr. B.A., M.Ed. LJ Executive Coaching LLC Coaching Today, Creating Tomorrow® <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ldjcoaching">linkedin.com/in/ldjcoaching</a>
Instructions: Click/touch on the answer below that you feel is the most relevant.
Leadership
Q1 of 8 How visionary and focused are you?
- I’m really struggling with this.
- I’m frustrated. Existing parameters keep me limited to focusing on the now rather than the future.
- My vision is 'future-focused' but to get us there, our strategic plan and tactics need work.
- I’m laser focused on long-term future success for the organization. I've got us well positioned for thriving in the future.

Q2 of 8 How strong and clear is your leadership voice and personal narrative?
- I'm struggling with crafting my narrative and strengthening my leadership voice.
- Aligning my leadership voice and personal narrative is frustrating. They're not quite aligned.
- My leadership voice is strong but needs to reach more people.
- My leadership voice IS my personal narrative. My STORY is authentic, compelling, and I can stand behind it.

Creativity
Q3 of 8 How developed is your creativity and ability to generate ideas?
- I haven’t really thought about this.
- I’m frustrated. New ideas are elusive or non-existent. New problems are tackled using old solutions.
- My creativity is fine, yet daily activities absorb most of my time, and my ideas never really get off the ground.
- My creativity is great. I’m connected to our stakeholders and welcome their ideas.

Q4 of 8 How conducive to innovation is your environment?
- I’m really struggling. What does this even mean?
- My environment is more likely to crush creativity and impede innovation.
- The environment is OK. It’s open and welcoming to innovation, but I could do a better job of tapping resources and inner talent.
- I'm really successful with this. Ideas (both mine and employees) lead to innovative solutions for a future-forward competitive edge.

Culture
Q5 of 8 Do you have the right people on your ship?
- I’m really struggling with this one.
- I’m surrounded by smart people, but it’s like herding cats. We're all going in different directions.
- I’m doing OK, but we’re not all aligned. There’s room for improvement in this area.
- I've got everyone I need. Communication is open and effective; I personally hear their ideas and receive their input. Everyone is in this together.

Q6 of 8 How is operating in an environment of transparency working out for you?
- Transparency is more of a problem than a benefit.
- Transparency is a 'have to' not a 'get to.' How much transparency is appropriate causes concern among most leaders in our organization.
- I'm transparent for the most part, but as an organization, we could improve.
- I'm great with this! We have mutual trust for each other and listen without judging.

Work/Life Integration
Q7 of 8 How do you feel when you get up in the morning to go to work?
- Just another day and/or I’m still tired.
- I'm always ready to get started, but I also know the day won't be long enough to get everything done.
- I enjoy what I am doing, yet motiving the people I lead can be draining.
- I can’t wait to get to work. I understand what I’m trying to achieve and so do the people who work with me.

Q8 of 8 How often do you take time for deep thinking and meaningful review?
- Are you kidding? There is no time for this!
- I do reflect on what is working - but not regularly or often.
- Usually once a week I take time for deep thinking or meaningful reflection, but more often would be better.
- It’s a daily practice for me. It helps me see new opportunities that evolve out of a constantly changing educational ecosystem.

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Overall Score results text for Column 1 - 0-40%
From your self-identified score, it appears you are struggling with many areas and could really use some help.Question for reflection: in your role as a leader, what is most rewarding to or for you?
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From your self-identified score, it appears a number of key areas are causing frustration and impeding progress. >> Of all of your strengths, which one do you find yourself relying on most frequently? >> Of all your talents, which one could you strengthen to make a significant difference in how your day unfolds?
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Based on your self-identified score, it appears you are doing OK in many areas but have not quite maximized potentials. Some gaps can be closed with individual effort, others may require the team to build a bridge. The results graph combined with the following comments and tips are intended to increase awareness. What else comes to mind as you ponder your self-assessment?, Slight shifts can yield significant improvements in results. What area would most benefit from your concentrated focus?
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From your self-identified score, it appears you are very successful in most areas. Well done!Organizations with environments that support creativity, new ideas, and Level III conversation find and seize the new opportunities that always emerge with change. What innovative ideas are waiting to surface on your watch? What assets are you counting on to add flexibility and expand capacity?
Call to Action for Everyone
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What blind spots may be clouding your future-forward vision?A clear personal narrative sets the stage for articulating your leadership narrative. Questions will arise during the process and blind spots often surface – awareness is a good thing, so be honest with yourself during the process. Challenges are to be expected but struggling for too long saps your energy and pulls you away from other areas that need your attention.How can I support you in eliminating current struggles and help you start moving future-forward again?Book a call and we’ll explore opportunities and possibilities together. This 15 minute introductory call is free via Zoom, WhatsApp, or Phone (long distance charges may apply.) <a href="https://calendly.com/ljcoaching">https://calendly.com/ljcoaching</a>
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What gaps need your immediate attention?Gaps between where we are and where we want to be can result in frustration and block our ability to see opportunities. While there may be many contributors to gaps, we can do something about personal blind spots and close gaps they may have created.Take a deep breath and relax!Then begin with a simple 3 step approach.<ol><li>Start with reviewing your personal narrative and then your leadership narrative. Do they align with the organization’s purpose?</li><li>What gap(s) appeared? Is the gap a fundamental challenge or one of attitude or one of thinking more globally?</li><li>Lastly, craft the STORY for sharing your leadership narrative. This is the compelling STORY of the future that evokes emotion and touches people's hearts. </li></ol>So, how can I support you in creating your compelling leadership narrative? Questions? Reach out and book a 15 minute introductory call - free via Zoom, Phone, or WhatsApp. <a href="https://calendly.com/ljcoaching">https://calendly.com/ljcoaching</a>
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What minor blind spots are you aware of today?Begin eliminating blind spots now and reduce unanticipated consequences. The higher education ecosystem is undergoing change that can throw us off course even when we’re laser focused on the future. Clarify your leadership narrative and future-forward aspiration for the organization. Wrap this in a compelling story that people will remember. Gaps will appear and this is actually a good thing. Awareness means you can choose to address any misalignments and begin closing gaps.How can I support your efforts in strengthening your organization?Book a call and we’ll explore opportunities and possibilities together. This 15 minute introductory call is free via Zoom, WhatsApp, or Phone (long distance charges may apply.) <a href="https://calendly.com/ljcoaching">https://calendly.com/ljcoaching</a>
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So what is next for you? For your people? Blind spots can wreak havoc when navigating in uncharted waters; yet, when the organization is listening and learning together, one person’s blind spot is minimized by another’s strength. --> How often does the organization do a self-check for blind spots?--> How can I support you in strengthening the DNA of your organization?Book a call and let's explore opportunities together. This 15 minute introductory call is free via Zoom, WhatsApp, or Phone (long distance charges may apply.) <a href="https://calendly.com/ljcoaching">https://calendly.com/ljcoaching</a>
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Visionary leadership is one part setting strategic direction and one part telling a STORY. PowerPoints show numbers, words, and results toward achieving goals. But, these do not touch people’s hearts. When you want to inspire people to embrace change, you and your managers must be the ones who tell the compelling STORY that resonates with people’s hearts and stirs emotions.TIP Get your STORY straight and jumpstart your leadership narrative with the following steps.<ul><li>Remember your personal wins and find patterns that always seem to work for you.</li><li>Create your narrative from the perspective of ‘get to’ rather than ‘have to.’ It's amazing how this carries into and throughout the STORY.</li><li>Create an aspiration that’s bigger than the vision. This becomes 'the purpose' people will want to help breathe life into.</li></ul>People want to belong and are attracted to contributing to a greater purpose – so give them what they want – a compelling story to which they contribute. Once you ‘get it,’ you'll live it by weaving the STORY into everything, everywhere.
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We are experiencing a great deal of change in higher education. New opportunities are waiting to be discovered that are perfect for you and your organization. And, there is no reason to miss out when you increase awareness, flexibility, capability, and capacity - both for yourself and the organization.Today's successful leaders choose to encourage employees to join in finding unique opportunities and solutions. Their employees choose to support their leader and choose to actively engage in moving the organization forward. How do leaders accomplish this? It all begins with a crystal-clear personal narrative, a compelling leadership narrative, and an authentic leadership voice.TIP Seek feed-forward input from a trusted partner regarding your leadership narrative and voice.<ul><li>Which of the two resonates with your people?</li><li>Which resonates more strongly with you? </li><li>Mindfully choose words for your narrative and keep your leadership voice consistently focused on the larger future-forward purpose.</li></ul>Be bold, be creative, be resourceful - and don't go it alone.
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New opportunities appear quickly and often fade away just as fast without strategies in place to seize them and then execute. Being aware of this challenge is a great starting point for eliminating blind spots. TIP Save Time and Money Create a strategic plan for exploring new opportunities and reach more people.<ul><li>Establish an environment where stakeholders at all levels feel free to share new ideas.</li><li>Use your strong leadership voice in concert with a compelling narrative.</li><li>Expand this strategy to managers, and they will deliver your message more accurately.</li></ul>
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You and your team are perfectly positioned to expand mental capacities and organizational capabilities.TIP<ul><li>Use this quiz as conversation starter with others.</li><li>Exercise innate creativity to generate more ideas.</li><li>Use Level III conversations with both internal and external stakeholders to expand co-creative results even further.</li></ul>What is the one thing you are most focused on for your team’s next step?
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We’re all born with innate creativity, but most of us have not practiced using it since we were young children. More practice yields access to more ideas.TIP Re-energize your innate creativity with an easy win: increase awareness*. <ul><li>Begin with one minute a day, one day at a time.</li><li>Set a timer for 1 minute and then place it to the side.</li><li>Now STOP ‘doing,' take a deep breath in, and then exhale slowly.</li><li>Now be still. What seeps into your senses that you did not notice before? </li></ul>The exercise will increase your awareness and begin to strengthen access to your innate creativity.*Hint Are you inside or outside? Is it hot, cold, humid, dry, windy, calm? What do you hear, see, feel, smell, sense?Focus on just one sense and really pay attention. Your stillness will allow the environment to penetrate your protective sensory-overload barrier (like not hearing the fan from a heater or air conditioner, or not feeling the smoothness of a cup).
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When under pressure, we reach for tried and true solutions from previous experiences. Unfortunately, old solutions seldom fix new problems. We unwittingly apply temporary patches, and then we become frustrated when unintended consequences appear later.Who can afford to lose time, money, and energy?TIP Take time-outs so ideas can flow. You hold the keys; you are the model. Creative solutions evolve when we provide an environment that allows what we already know to be true to re-arrange itself in new ways or to blend with new ideas.<ul><li>Pause,</li><li>take time to relax, and</li><li>make reflection a priority.</li></ul>
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Creating an environment where ideas are welcomed and freely shared supports a climate conducive to innovation. We should keep in mind that innovative solutions are often accidental; for example, Post-It notes, Super Glue, Velcro, and microwave ovens. What would we do without them? What blocks your employees’ creativity? What's slowing down idea sharing across all departments and through all levels of the organization?TIP At your next few meetings, check the focus of metrics and progress reports. Do they highlight: revenue hits and misses OR innovation and purpose hits and misses?The distinction may seem subtle, but the ramifications are immense.
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Awesome percentage! Organizations with strong connections to individual innate creativity are just beginning to surface in higher education. The increased awareness that always accompanies creativity is particularly supportive to those with future-forward purpose.<ul></ul>TIP Clear, authentic, and appropriately framed responses to three ‘WHAT’ questions will make a difference in people's perception of your creativity.<ul><li>What is compelling about your leadership narrative that touches the hearts of others?</li><li>What new trend have you found in the Higher Education Ocean of Opportunity?</li><li>What is your newest idea for energizing your team?</li></ul>
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We look to our people to contribute their knowledge and ideas toward ensuring the long-term financial sustainability of the organization. While that is not the reason our employees come to work, their contributions and engagement in their work can make or break the survival of the organization.When senior leaders and managers all tell compelling leadership narratives that support the organization’s STORY, their employees that do belong on the ship will work enthusiastically toward future-forward endeavors.TIP<ul><li>Clarify your leadership narrative to ensure your people know who you are and what you will defend.</li><li>Embrace diverse perspectives and let employees at all levels know their input has value.</li><li>When discussing progress, focus on authentic transparency of purpose. Key metrics remain important, but future-forward goals are what engage the hearts of your people.</li></ul>
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Being surrounded by smart people is a huge advantage when they want to be on the same ship with you. Once they join your crew, working in a culture of transparency provides the foundation that creates a sense of stability and security. Leaders who mindfully foster a sense of belonging reap the benefit of stoking employee engagement.By modeling desired behaviors, leaders signal to others what is expected to achieve incredible results. Their employees, in turn, trust their leader will keep them on course to a successful future – everyone wants to be a part of the winning team!So, how do leaders accomplish this? They are consistently transparent in modeling:<ul><li>who they are,</li><li>what they believe in,</li><li>what they are willing to defend, and</li><li>they hold others accountable in a respectful and mindful manner.</li></ul>A leadership narrative wraps all of this together. When your leadership narrative is clear, aligned with the organization's mega transformative aspiration, and authentic, you'll increase the active engagement of employees and improve their connection to purpose driven results.TIP Wrap your narrative in a compelling STORY to provide memorable context for stakeholders. A compelling leadership narrative saves time and money – people remember the point and unintended consequences from miscommunication are eliminated.
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An environment of authentic transparency begins with us. With compelling leadership narratives aligned, we create a safety net for our people. When we clearly articulate our aspirations and what we will defend, we attract the right people.This willingness to be transparent supports the feeling of belonging to a larger purpose and a ‘we-centric’ environment conducive to innovating.TIP Transparency applies to all members of the organization – this is something employees often overlook.To quickly raise employee comfort levels with personal transparency, encourage leaders to:<ul><li>actively support development of each employee’s personal narrative, and</li><li>provide opportunities to explore how each employee’s personal aspiration aligns with the college’s mega-transformative aspiration.</li></ul>
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Succession management may be a key to keeping experienced leaders moving forward while managers progress into leadership positions, yet having the right people to develop is paramount.As Jim Collins pointed out, “the purpose of a compensation system should not be to get the right behaviors from the wrong people, but to get the right people on the bus in the first place, and to keep them there.”TIP Ensure managers at all levels have a clear personal narrative prior to developing their leadership narrative.Save time and money – hire the right people the first time around and ensure their personal narratives align with the organization's mega-transformative aspiration.
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When each day blends into the next with no markers of celebration, we tend to lose our energy and excitement. This is a strong indicator that we’ve been ‘in the weeds’ for too long and calls for a personal pause to re-evaluate, define, and clarify work/life integration. Forget the concept of work/life balance – it’s outdated, unattainable, and therefore inappropriate for thriving in the 21st century. Instead, shift perspective to one of integration. This will align you with the ebb and flow of today’s global connectedness, complexity, and thinking – and you’ll increase personal flexibility to flow with change.TIP Develop a Personal Roadmap* to help focus on personal wins.<ul><li>Celebrate your strengths associated with each win.</li><li>Shift your personal viewing lens often and discover perspectives new to you.</li><li>Keep a vigilant lookout for blind spots and take action when you find them.</li><li>Every day, pause for 1 min to reflect and think. At the end of the week, treat yourself to 10 minutes of reflection and celebration of wins. </li></ul>*Bonus Free template with no further obligations available.
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How we feel when we first start our day establishes a framework for our entire day. Our attitude and clarity of future-forward purpose are significant influencers to what we assign high priority and to our day unfolding positively.TIP<ul><li>Be crystal clear on your personal purpose. This is what keeps you moving forward during the ebb and flow of work and life.</li><li>Pause 1 minute a day, every day to reflect. Commit to this small yet game changing step. Keep a small notebook nearby to jot down any ideas.</li></ul>
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When our personal and organizational purposes align, we’re energized and our passion is fueled!TIP Slow down to go faster. Walk with your people. Get to know their purposes, their aspirations, and listen to their ideas. The benefits of mindfully slowing down are many, and<ul><li>you'll be an excellent model for being transparent, creating a sharing environment, and encouraging deep thinking;</li><li>you'll have a better understanding of employee motivation; and</li><li>you'll have improved clarity for a compelling leadership narrative.</li></ul>
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Focusing on the positives and celebrating successes breathes hope and spirit into an organization's DNA. The same holds true for our lives outside of work. When our leadership narrative supports our personal narrative, we keep our confidence intact when making the really tough decisions.TIP Create and live by team agreements, rules of engagement, and a clear decision-making process to build and reinforce team cohesion.
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Overall Current Percentage
Creation note: Change "40" to the number of total points available in this quiz. Remember each question is worth a total of 4 points.

E.g. Total of 6 questions is 4x6 = "24". Total of 8 questions is 4x8 = "32". etc

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Final Details