2024 – Emma Sykes

20th December 2024Emma Sykes No Comments

My Aurora Experience

Now that my time on the Aurora programme is over, and some time has passed, I wanted to look back over the whole experience. I have already written about the things I learned about during the sessions, so instead I wanted to reflect on some of the things I enjoyed (and some that I didn’t) about the program.

What did I enjoy about Aurora?

The opportunity to reflect

Undertaking the Aurora programme has given me an unprecedented opportunity to work on myself, to reflect and to take initiative in my career. I still don’t find the more introspective exercises easy, but even recognising that is something I’ve learned about myself.

Writing this blog has also allowed me to ponder some of the lessons I learned and build a deeper understanding. Reflection and evaluation often something that gets neglected when we are pressed for time, so seeing how useful it has been has made me more determined to include this in my work.

Meeting people on a similar journey

Not everyone wants to spend time considering their practice, or their career journey so it’s valuable to find people who are at the same point as me, have the same shared Aurora shorthand, and a willingness to develop. Even after the programme, seeing and talking to others who are also interested in their career helps prompt me with ideas and keeps me enthused.

Seeing good practice demonstrated

Some examples of good practice I saw demonstrated during the Aurora programme

Be upfront about my values, background, and interests to help connect with others. This is especially useful when starting working with new people, as it helps build trust and connection.
Compliment and thank others – this was especially noticeable in my Action Learning Set where my groupmates all mentioned something they had observed that was positive about the person. It was nice to receive but also was lovely to see people boosted by that bit of recognition.
Respecting others and speaking your truth – being able to listen to others and talk honestly about your experiences is vital in these divided times. Speaking up can also encourage others who might have felt alone previously.

The encouragement to be proactive

I’ve never been particularly driven in my career, and so have often felt a bit adrift. Aurora has shown that I don’t have to be overly ambitious to benefit from a more curated approach to my work. Seeing examples from other Aurorans and getting encouragement from them was really valuable. I feel more secure in my mid-level ambitions, taking small steps toward my modest personal development goals – without feeling overwhelmed.

What did I not enjoy about Aurora?

Gendered talk

There were a few times where there was mention of “masculine” vs “feminine” traits or things that men do vs women. This jarred with me somewhat. How traits are gendered socially is related to the time and society in which we exist and isn’t fixed or binary. We can use it as a shorthand for what we see in our society today, but we need to establish that they aren’t inherent. It would have been good to have had a clear message at the start of the programme that this is deeply subjective and is being used in Aurora simply as a shorthand.

Lack of acknowledgement of neurodiversity and disability

According to the conversations in the online chat, there were a lot of neurodiverse people in the cohort, but there was very little from the hosts or speakers of what that might mean in respect to leadership challenges. Aurora would definitely have benefitted from more neurodiverse or disabled speakers talking about their experiences in future.

Not enough time

I completely understand that there is a lot to get through in the Aurora programming, especially with under 5 hours in which to squeeze each session, but there were many moments where I would have loved more time to discuss and absorb the concepts that were presented to us. I felt it most keenly in the breakout rooms and certain sessions where we covered a number of theories in just a few minutes.

In summary

Despite these issues I am immensely grateful to the University of Leeds and to the team at Advance HE for for giving me the opportunity to take part in Aurora. The program has given me the chance to reflect not only on my own career, but also on the whole notion of leadership and what that means. As a result, I am more confident in my personal approach to work and career, and happier to consider myself a leader, despite not currently holding a formal leadership role.

Investing my time and focus on Aurora during the programme was so valuable, and having the opportunity to connect with Aurorans from across the University and the UK was a really affirming experience.

A few things that I enjoyed (and didn't) about the Aurora programme.

4th December 2024Emma Sykes No Comments

Lessons from my Aurora mentor

Conversations with my Aurora mentor are confidential, but here are a few things that I’ve learned through my meetings with her over the course of the programme.

Be open to opportunities

Career paths can be quite serendipitous and sometimes we find our way to leadership through unexpected routes. Not having a concrete plan isn’t necessarily going to prevent you from progressing, as I had feared at the start of the programme. It can even leave you open to opportunities that you may not have seen if you were laser-focused on a specific goal.

Seeing is believing

Sometimes you need to see others taking steps into roles or positions that you may not have known existed. I think this is very applicable for me, as understanding the role/team that I’m applying for is important for me to take that step.

Conversations lead to opportunities

Conversations with others in your organisation (including with those more senior than yourself) might help you learn about things that can help your development. Being open with others about what sort of experiences you’re looking for, means when they hear about a relevant opportunity, they’re more likely to mention it to you.

Leadership is a pathway

Leadership is a ongoing journey not a destination, one that evolves as we move through it, shaped by our experiences. Even in the last few months, circumstances have shifted which could impact on what opportunities I might see in the near future. Recognising that it will continue to evolve, and reflecting and mapping how things are for me now, could help me be more resilient and inform how I might lead in future.

Recognise and comment

This was something modelled by my mentor that I’d like to emulate myself. When I’d made an thoughtful comment or been proactive in my learning, she would comment on it positively. Whilst I felt a little awkward being complimented, it was really nice to hear what I was doing well. It is something I’ll try and do myself when working with others.

There’s no requirement for my mentor and I to stay in touch now that Aurora is over, but she has very kindly agreed to continue to meet with me every 3 months. We’ve already had our first post-Aurora session and I’ve been excited to talked to her about things that I’ve already implemented in my work life. She’s encouraged me to make the most of some opportunities and I’ve been able to ask her about things that she’s been working on too.

The Aurora mentor experience has been a positive one for me, and I’ve been lucky to have someone who’s been willing to engage, listen, and support me in expanding my career horizons.

26th November 2024Emma Sykes No Comments

Bringing our whole self to work

We all have different facets to our personality that we bring to different areas of our life. In Day 6 of the Aurora course, one facilitator suggested that we should be trying to bring our whole selves to work. I saw this as an extension of being authentic and embracing our differences and can appreciate how that builds a better workplace,

Strength in Diversity

Just like the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”, having a variety of strengths across a team means that it is stronger and more resilient. With a diverse talent pool any individual weaknesses can be covered by other people, and allow for a wider skills set across the whole team.

If part of the team excels in business as usual (BAU) tasks, and part of the team excels in generating new ideas, you should get the benefit of BAU done well, but improvements being made where appropriate. In a team like mine that does technical support we typically have some members who have better knowledge of a system than others. By running technical explanations by non-system-expert colleagues we ensure that the customers are communicated with more effectively – helping the team by combining our strengths and viewpoints.

Bringing our whole selves to work might also free us to use skills in our workplace that we picked up elsewhere. I’ve used skills at work that I picked up in my time on a sports club committee which have made me and my team stronger.

Quality in Diversity

As leaders, seeking a diverse range of inputs can also improve the quality of the outcomes that we’re delivering. We should be considering differences in gender, race, culture, disability etc, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because by doing so we are creating something better for everyone.

For example, ensuring written teaching materials can be accessed in audio format is required to accommodate those with a visual impairment. However this is not just a benefit to people with disabilities. Audio format may also work for a part time student who can listen to the content at the gym, or for a parent who is nursing their child, or simply for someone who learns better that way. If this was an accommodation only available to those with a registered disability, then we’d all miss out.

When people speak up about their diverse viewpoints, we can learn and adapt and make our environment a better place for all.

Community in Diversity

If we embrace the diverse aspects of ourselves and exhibit them authentically at work, we will hopefully encourage others to be more authentic too. There is no homogenous “ideal” of a co-worker or leader, so the more variety we exhibit, the more diverse our world looks, and the less people feel like they have to conform.

By being more open about our interests or our thoughts we also encourage connections that help build a community. Workplaces with a stronger sense of community have better employee satisfaction, retention and work, and less burnout than those without.

Not at any cost

There is risk associated with “being authentic” and “bringing our whole selves to work” so we have to appreciate that when considering what we or others disclose at work. Not all workplaces are safe spaces. Even where it’s not deliberate, information that we reveal can be used to pigeon-hole or disadvantage. As leaders we should question our internal biases, and be sensitive to situations where others are disadvantaged because they have revealed something about who they are.

Some people don’t have the energy or inclination to invest greatly in their work lives. Forcing people to engage authentically when they aren’t interested or where it would require too much effort isn’t conducive to a community. An authentic workplace has to be something that is encouraged, rather than inflicted.

13th November 2024Emma Sykes 2 Comments

Becoming “A Speaker”

If you’re in the University of Leeds 2025 Aurora cohort and are coming to my blog on the back of the talk I gave today, then hello! 👋 I hope you found it useful. Thank you for listening and for your thoughtful questions afterwards.

After the Aurora programme finished, I wasn’t intending on speaking about my experience. I felt that I didn’t have much progress to report, so no one would be interested in what it had been like for me. However a conversation with my mentor made me reflect on something I’d done at work in a new light, and helped me recognise that whilst the changes that come from Aurora might not always be big and showy, they still need to be talked about.

I decided to “bite the bullet” and volunteer and the talk was earlier today. I feel like it went well so here are a few things that I believe helped me deliver something that I was proud of.

To script or not to script

I am easily distracted and prone to rambling, so having a script really helped. I practiced it lots, but still read from it and ad-libbed a few bits where something occurred to me. If I sounded “natural” it was because I’d written it in the way that I speak, and talked it through many times.

With a script I was able make sure I covered everything I wanted to talk about, and have the reassurance that if my train of thought had been de-railed, I had something to get me back on track.

If I want to push myself, what would I do next time? There may be cases where I’m not online and having two A4 sheets to read isn’t really feasible. I think jumping directly to unscripted would make me more nervous in my delivery and more likely to ramble. Instead I could try writing a rough script initially, then narrowing it down to a few bullet point prompts so I’m not so reliant on reading it word for word.

In person vs online

I find online presenting much easier than in person. I prefer being interviewed online, deliver monthly training through MS Teams and I am confident with technology so it comes quite easily to me. So when I discovered that the Aurora session I was speaking at would be online I was delighted!

For me, distractions are much worse in person. Often you’re in a new space, with new background noises, and as people are looking at me, I worry about fidgeting or my posture. Having the control of my space, wearing headphones and not having to worry about my presence is really helpful to me.

I made sure that I was reasonably presentable (brushed my hair and put on a smart jumper), that my set-up was working (notifications muted and notes open on screen) and that I had a glass of water. I told my co-working husband that I was presenting and not to be disturbed. I even took off my activity-tracker wristband so it didn’t distract me. These small things made me feel more in control of my environment and more confident on the day.

If I want to push myself, what would I do next time? If I was asked to do an in-person presentation I’d want to visit the room beforehand. I’d wear something comfortable but smart to give me a boost psychologically. I’d also want to be more practiced, so I could manage with just a few bullet points on hand in case I ran off course.

One Aurora suggestion that my fellow speaker employed at an event recently was speaking to just one person in the audience, and I think that would help me from being distracted by a host of new faces.

Story telling inspiration

I actually wrote the main structure of my script very quickly (within a day or two), as I had a spark of inspiration and ran with it. Whilst I didn’t consciously think about it in terms of story-telling, looking back, I can see that I used a narrative arc of being reluctant to speak, then realising why it was important to do so. This gave me a framework to hang my key points in a way that made logical sense to the listener.

What would I do if I wasn’t inspired? I could look more closely at the points I wanted to make to see if there was a theme, then think about what narrative arcs could be used to link them. Perhaps starting in confusion and moving into clarity, inaction into action or reluctance into reassurance.

Preparation time

From the day I volunteered, I had three weeks to prepare. Whilst I wrote the bulk of my script quickly, I chose to take a break from it for a few days, before revisiting it to re-read then edit it. I did this several times which allowed me to come back to it each time with fresh eyes. I also used Microsoft’s Read Aloud feature to read my words back to me to check they made sense. Having longer might have been less helpful as I might have over-edited, or begun to pick it apart.

I met with the meeting organiser the week before, which allowed me and my fellow speaker to confirm that we didn’t have too much overlap, agree speaking order and work out presentation slides. This gave enough time to make final tweaks and reassured me that I was covering the right things.

What would I do if I had less time to prepare? With less time I’d still find it important to write notes, but they’d likely be bullet points of key things. I’d probably have to dispense with forcing a story-telling element (if it didn’t come naturally) and just think about making sure I make sense to the audience. Outside of the content, I’d prioritise things that would help me feel more in control and less distracted, like being comfortable in my clothes and clearing time immediately beforehand to go through my notes one last time and not be rushed.

See the opportunity

One more thing that I believe contributed to my talk going well was that I recognised this as an opportunity. I wouldn’t have enjoyed the process so much if I’d have been forced into giving a talk, or if I couldn’t have learned anything from doing so. I knew that all the attendees were Aurorans, and in a similar position to me, so I figured that they would have wanted me to do well, and not to be nervous. With a supportive audience and a topic I was enthusiastic about, it was the perfect opportunity to practice my presentation skills and push myself out of my comfort zone. I felt so energised afterwards!

And finally…

Thanks again to all of the 2025 Cohort of Aurorans who reacted or posted kind words on Teams and reached out to me afterwards. You’ve made me “a speaker” and I hope that your Aurora experience is a positive one. Who knows? You might be the one volunteering to talk next year!

25th September 2024Emma Sykes No Comments

Aurora Day 8 – Action Learning Sets

Our final online Aurora session was a self-organised Action Learning Set (ALS) that we arranged with our previous group from Aurora Day 4. We had to do some rearranging of the date and for various reasons only three of the original group could take part. This was a shame, but we all agreed that three should be the minimum to use this technique as it meant that the questioners could still take turns.

Pros and Cons of Action Learning Sets

Reflecting on the process of ALS, it does push you to think outside of your existing way of thinking and helps you address points of view that you hadn’t already considered. However it is not useful when we are so engrained in our own thinking that we can’t even picture the outside view. In these cases I’d suggest that it is more helpful to take a step outside the ALS process and switch to a more conventional discussion.

One of the other issues I’ve found with ALS that I have struggled to take accurate notes whilst also talking and thinking about the questions I’ve been asked. I’m not sure that I’d be able to summarise everything we discussed afterwards even with 10 minutes of reflection time. I would be uncomfortable about recording the session but that is probably the only way I can accurately capture everything.

What next?

Whilst I see the limitations of the technique, I’m happy to continue using the approach to see how it develops over time. After all – I’ve only done it twice! Our group has agreed to meet again at the end of August so we can keep up the contact and the momentum now that the Aurora programme has finished.

Update from September 2024

Whilst our ALS did try and arrange a follow up session in late August, it wasn’t possible to get enough people together due to leave and other commitments. I will try and reach out to people later in the year, as the start-of-term rush dies down. If that doesn’t work, I plan to reach out on the Aurora Connect network to see if anyone else is interesting in joining a group.

13th August 2024Emma Sykes No Comments

Aurora Day 7 – Your Future in HE

For the penultimate Aurora session, the Northern cohort met in person for the first time. As our final facilitator-led session it really felt like the end of the Aurora programme. We met in the Queens hotel in Leeds and it was quite an experience being in such a big space with so many people. There was definitely a buzz and an energy that I don’t think you could have created online.

A large conference room with high ceilings and ornate arches and architraves is host to the Aurora session. Many women sit at tables, facing the platform where a speaker is talking, with a backdrop reading Aurora and an illustration of women's faces.

The event included a panel Q&A and several presentations that we then took back to our table for further (albeit brief) discussions. Some of the things that struck me as interesting from this day included:

We’re just starting our leadership journey

There was a definite emphasis on how we can keep up the momentum that we’ve generated through doing Aurora, continuing to be reflective and self-aware, as well as proactively managing our career.

One suggestion I particularly liked was that we make a note of our “light-bulb moments”. I took that to mean not allowing points of learning or self-awareness to slide by. Noting and then reflecting on them will allow us to build a better understanding of ourselves, and our environment.

Build a support network

Aurora has helped us make some connections with other Aurorans, and our mentors, but how can we continue to seek out new contacts and build a support network as we progress? I was struck by how this needs to be an active conscious process, and will change and evolve as we move through our career.

I’m planning on staying involved in the Aurora networks both at Leeds and from Advance HE, and remaining in contact with my Action Learning Set and my Mentor. However I need to think about what I’m looking to develop next and who I might be able to engage to help me.

We ARE the future

We’re all able to help shape the future that we want to see. As we progress and hopefully take on positions of leadership we should be using that opportunity to help promote a more equitable workplace. Be the change we want to see, and work to break down the obstacles we had to face ourselves.

Even with no conventional power we can still promote this. It might look like amplifying the voices of other women or people from minority groups in meetings, encouraging colleagues to apply for leadership roles, or taking on a mentor role ourselves.

And finally: Is there even such a thing as Leadership?

One of the Panel members Professor Linda Evans presented herself as leadership-agnostic and I thought it was an interesting viewpoint.

The suggestion is that leadership is a process, and doesn’t present as the few exerting control over the many, in a single direction. Influencing happens both ways, which means we are all leaders and can all exert influence. It doesn’t just happen through grand actions, but can often go without noticing, through micro gestures.

I really enjoyed the day. It was lovely to feel the energy of the Aurorans in the room and end the programme on a high.

I’d like to thank my table for really engaging with the work that we were tasked with, although I’d have loved to chat to you all for much longer!

Eight women sat at a round table smiling at the camera. They are all wearing turquoise Aurora lanyards. They are in a busy room filled with similar tables. Water bottles and notepads scatter the table.

1st August 2024Emma Sykes No Comments

Aurora Day 6 – Adaptive Leadership

In the last of the facilitator-led online sessions, the introduction by Vajaya Nath reiterated that Aurora should not be about changing us as women, but rather about giving us an understanding of our space in leadership. She also mentioned the upcoming election and that we may wish to do what we can, within our power, to build the society that we want to see.

I made a lot of notes on this session, but it was quite “bitty” in that there were lots of concepts that I felt didn’t clearly lead from one to the other. I felt like the Adaptive Leadership title was a sort of catch-all that meant it was somewhat ill-defined by the end. Again I imagine this was due to time limitations and the vastness of the topic.

Barbara Bassa and Rachel Witton co-delivered the session and started by talking about their background, key values and interests. This helped build an understanding of where they were coming from, and for allowing me to connect where these intersected with my own interests, and values. They also encouraged us to bring our whole selves to our working environment, including things not typically part of our work approaches. We should be trying to use all the tools and identities that are available to us as only we have our unique combination and those differences are key to a varied and balanced workspace.

Adaptive Leadership

I definitely felt like I needed to do much more reading on this to understand the concepts more clearly, but our speakers presented this as a more accessible (and effective) form of leadership. Adaptive leadership (as I understand it from this session) is differentiated from formalised and top-down traditional structures. It is a more social, collective process without a small number of specific individuals holding all the power.

I looked into a summary of Adaptive Leadership and found this:

According to Heifetz, the adaptive leadership process has three stages:

Observing events and patterns.

Interpreting and developing hypotheses.

Designing interventions.

These steps are iterative, so once you’ve completed them all, you repeat the process and refine your observations, interpretations and interventions until you’re satisfied with the solution.
https://www.mindtools.com/a9irp3t/adaptive-leadership

Adaptive leadership utilises a collective purpose to tackle specific types of tough challenges.

Adaptive challenges

Some issues aren’t supposed to be addressed with these adaptive techniques but how we know if this is a an adaptive challenge? In the session, non-adaptive challenges were described as technical, and whilst both may be complex or critically important, they can be described differently.

Technical Challenges

Known solutions.
Available expertise.
Procedures and structures are already in place.

Adaptive Challenges

Can only be addressed through changes in peoples attitudes, habits, etc.
Moving beyond expertise and existing authority.
Decide what to keep, what to get rid of, and what new ways to work.

Tools Of Adaptive Leadership

There were some tips on how we can gather information on a situation to help diagnose and resolve adaptive challenges that need addressing. These are continuous processes that we can use at any stage.

Balcony vs Dancefloor

From the balcony we can get distance from what’s happening and see it in it’s wider context. Observing all aspects of the big picture allows us to see patterns and themes more clearly.

On the dancefloor we become part of the action – we can engage with people who are directly impacted and being up close with the issue allows us to understand it better. We also get more diverse stories and clarity on challenges.

To my mind, this approach complements what I know of Continuous Improvement methodology. Taking a local problem, then giving those who are closest involved the opportunity and tools to take a step back and view it from the balcony. They then suggest small, iterative changes, based on the understanding they bring from the dancefloor.

With this technique we can ensure we’re getting both the hands-on detail and the bigger picture.

Head and Heart Check-in

If we’re going to challenge the status quo, and risk our political capital at work by doing so, then it’s advisable to check-in with ourselves to be sure that we’re not missing any clues.

As well as logically assessing the issue with our “head” (intelligence) we can also check-in with our “heart” (intuition) to ensure we’re not missing anything. We can observe our own feelings for an indicator – how do I feel about this? Am I having an emotional response that might be disguised as something else? If so, what does that tell me about the situation?

We can also do a check-in at a Social/Organisational level. Just like we might run a practical process by a colleague, we could instead ask others for feedback on how they feel about an upcoming change. Or we may see spontaneous emotional responses coming from colleagues that suggest that we might need to give people reassurance or more information, or even amend our approach.

Success

One of the other aspects of adaptive leadership that I liked was the idea that rather than throwing out everything and rebuilding from scratch, we take more considered approach.

Preserving what’s essential, discarding or rearranging what no longer serves the current needs are ways that we can enable a thriving environment. If we clearly communicate this, and involve people in picking out what needs to change, it can help us get buy-in for change.

Exploring Adaptive leadership

There were three elements that we were asked to take away with us about how we continue our Adaptive Leadership journey and I think that these are the same for our more general career paths too.

Don’t do it alone – Being alone can make you vulnerable, so where possible seek out allies with a common purpose.
Resist the leap to action – Often we’re pushed to do something, but take the time to consider and diagnose the issue first. Make sure you’re taking the right actions.
Live life as a leadership laboratory – Experiment and be playful. Don’t aim for perfection – change and iterate.

2nd July 2024Emma Sykes No Comments

Using Linktree for Networking – Part 1

A speaker at a conference I attended recently gave her Linktree address at the end of her presentation and I saw how useful it was in summarising your key links and contact points.

I had seen Linktree being used by businesses, but never by individuals in a professional capacity. I find LinkedIn to be be a bit unwieldy and overblown for what I need it for – making contacts and sharing useful links, so it was an appealing solution.

Inspired by this, and by trying to be more proactive in my networking, I decided to set up a Linktree account to take along to the in-person Aurora session. I thought that this would allow me to share a simple link with people I met, that would point them to my contacts and content.

Creating the Linktr.ee Account

I logged into Linktr.ee and found my FirstnameSurname as my Linktree address had been taken by some other user. Instead I added my middle initial between my Firstname and Surname and set up my account as linktr.ee/emmahsykes. My initial appears already on my work email address and felt like it was a more professional option than a nickname or a number.

I was tempted to add something to reference the University of Leeds in there, but whilst I can’t see myself leaving, I didn’t want to lock myself in place. I also kept it separate from the name I use on my social media accounts, not because that name is too silly or or inappropriate, but because I like to keep my personal and professional accounts separate.

I found it really easy to set up and customise without a guide, although as a disclaimer – I’m a confident tech user. There is a help site with a step by step guide on how to get started with Linktree, for those who might need it. I chose a free account, but it was clear what paying for an upgraded plan would offer you.

Preparing for the event

Thinking forward to the Aurora event, I created a few links that I thought may be useful on the day. I thought about questions I’d been asked in the past and things I wanted to share with other Aurorans.

Under a header About Me, I added my email address under Contact for Aurorans so people could download my address to their contacts easily and would be more encouraged to reach out.

I had links to this Aurora Blog in case it got brought up in the session, and my LinkedIn page for those who wanted to connect.

Under Other Links I added a link to the University of Leeds Aurora page and the Advance HE page, in case someone asked about Aurora more generally.

Finally I added a link to Ask A Manager a wonderful (albeit American) site giving useful advice to work problems, including those in leadership or management positions. I’d mentioned this a few times at Aurora sessions and hoped others would find it useful.

What happened next?

Anticlimactically, I didn’t use my Linktree link at the Aurora in-person event. It was such a packed day, with limited time for general networking so there wasn’t an opportunity. I met some lovely people on my table, who I chatted with and exchanged contacts with, but there wasn’t a need for me to share my details in that way. Rather than force it, I’ve squirrelled it away for another time, and will update this blog with a Part 2 when I’ve used it.

Stay tuned to find out more!

2nd July 2024Emma Sykes No Comments

Capital at Work

I came across political capital as a work-based concept on the Ask a Manager site. Also called social capital, it suggests that we all have a metaphorical “bank” of good will with our colleagues. One of the commenters on that site phrased it like this:

“You build social or political capital by building relationships and establishing a good reputation and track record for yourself. This type of capital is your reputation, credibility, and value to the organization, which translates into influence and power to change things.

If you are a star employee, you build up lots of capital. So if there are things you want to see changed — whether for yourself, or on behalf of others — you can ‘spend’ that capital by advocating for change. And there’s a good chance that change will happen because the organization wants to keep you happy, or even because people think, ‘If Star suggested it, it must be a good idea.’ On the other hand, if you never get your work done, you’ll be seen as complaining. Even if you’re a star employee, if you argue about every little thing, you’re exceeding your capital and you may start to be seen as a troublemaker. For most of us, we need to pick our battles and decide how to spend our capital.”
CM – Ask a Manager comments section – 20 March 2020

It is a useful concept for understanding some of the hidden politics of the workplace. I’m sure I’ll come back to this at some point, but here are a few initial thoughts on how to build and how to spend your capital.

Building your Capital

You can build capital by generally being a trust-worthy and likeable co-worker:

Do what you promise, or communicate in good time if you can’t deliver.
Only say yes to what you can manage.
Say thank you and acknowledge good work.
Engage with colleagues respectfully

Even when things don’t go to plan, you can help mitigate that by being proactive, acknowledging the problem and trying to fix it. Going above and beyond occasionally may look good, but don’t over-do it as it can start to have the opposite effect.

Good ways to spend your capital

Advocating for others – especially those in minority or disenfranchised groups who don’t always get heard. They can also find it harder to build capital due to prejudice.
Suggesting improvements to working practices.
Challenging poor behaviours.

Social/political capital in the workplace is important at all levels, but especially if you don’t have much influence traditionally (through job title or position). Recruiting colleagues with more capital to join you in proposing a change may get you more traction than trying alone.

Read more on Social Capital on Wikipedia.

29th May 2024Emma Sykes No Comments

Aurora Day 5 – Politics and Influence

Whilst the content for the fifth Aurora session was interesting I didn’t feel that I grasped the content particularly well as we were going through. I think this was possibly a pacing issue, as I frequently felt like as soon as a concept was introduced we were on to the next before I’d had the chance to note things down or even fully appreciate the idea. A fellow Auroran said she felt like it could have easily been presented as two full day sessions and I’m inclined to agree!

A busy workload meant that it took a while before I could revisit my (sparse) notes and the slides. In fact, I’m writing this out of work hours but I’m pleased that I’ve managed to do so as I’m finding it has allowed me to better grasp some of the key topics.

Again, this isn’t a full document of the day, but a few topics that I felt were interesting to me:

The point of politics

In order to make a difference in our areas of work, we need to understand how things get done where we are. In some cases there are explicit processes that we can use, but often there are other elements that are less obvious that might be blockers, or shortcuts to the outcome we want to achieve. Ideally these would all be documented, but realistically we need to develop a sense of the politics in our institution to help us navigate these opaque mazes.

Woods and Weeds – a short hand

The Four Metaphors of Organisational Politics (Jarrett) are the Woods, the High Ground, the Weeds and the Rocks, referring to different positions (organisational or individual) and power sources (formal or informal). These can give us a shorthand for the sort of dynamics at play with decisions that we want to progress, and help us find ways through the political landscape.

One thing I particularly liked with this model was the view that no position was inherently good or bad. For example in the High Ground, an institution having a defined series of committees is great in some respects – people know what to expect and that there is due process to consider things carefully. However if this process prevents action from being taken in a timely manner, and people are attempting to bypass it, then it is actually a barrier. The position isn’t the problem, it’s how it’s used.

Emotional Intelligence

This could have been a whole day session on it’s own, but essentially, Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a skill that allows us to be more influential in the workplace. It’s partly about understanding and regulating our own emotions, but also understanding others and adapting to accommodate them. A key takeaway was that we can improve our aptitude in EI, but sadly there wasn’t time to discuss in detail much about the ways we could do this, or what it means for neurodiverse people. I think there is definitely more reading I can do in this area to help me understand my own strengths and weaknesses better.

Guest Speaker – Jo Martin

Jo Martin had some really great, practical tips for getting people in positions of influence to look favourably on your work. One of my favourites was finding a way to link your work to a specific project or an organisational objective that the person is invested in. Another was when you get feedback on a document, try adding the names of the contributors as an amendment history, so that you can demonstrate the buy-in that you already have had on it. She also had some tips which were essentially good storytelling – giving punchy messages, using simple but powerful graphics, and tailoring to your audience and what they’re going to react to most.

Credibility

Credibility was identified as another factor in how successful a leader you might be. We were encouraged to think about the ways in which we were more or less credible in the workplace. Credibility builds capital which allows us to have more sway with our colleagues. Being reliable, consistent and capable, managing our workloads, communicating clearly, and interacting well with others are all ways that we do this.

Sometimes we may find that our colleagues perceive us differently from how we see ourselves and we need to work to build our credibility with them. One of the ways we can do this is to ensure that our achievements are made known to people – Invisibility doesn’t build credibility.

Networking

The day 5 presenter Vajaya Nath told us that she has a “panel” of people in her life that she uses to help her fill in gaps in her knowledge. She has a young person, a predictor (looking at emergent topics), a critic, and others. She suggested that having a range of people, from cheerleaders to challengers, can help us understand more viewpoints and better equip us to successfully navigate the politics in our workplaces.

For situations where more “cold” networking is required, the suggestion akin to a dance card appealed to me. You identify a few people who will be at an event that you want to speak to, and perhaps reach out to them in advance to say that you’d like to connect. You can also think of some topics that would be beneficial to discuss and go prepared.

What next?

Usually writing these posts is a great way for me to organise my thoughts and absorb the messages from the Aurora sessions, however I think the sheer volume of the ideas has made this difficult this time. My next step will be to take three of the topics: Credibility, Emotional Intelligence, and Networking and work out how I’m going to reflect on these separately. I might do some more reading and then work out where my own strengths and weaknesses are in each area. Then come up with some ideas on where I can improve, and where I can capitalise. I’ll let you know how I get on!