Career Development – 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.

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.

20th May 2024Emma Sykes No Comments

Job Crafting

Job crafting is something I came across at a LUBS Alumni session and I really liked it as a concept.

The idea is that everyone chooses to engage more with parts of their job that give them more satisfaction. Even two people with the same role will have executed it slightly differently. Giving people the scope to customise (within reason) their role to their strengths can increase job satisfaction.

An example might be two people working as receptionists, one is very sociable and finds value talking to people, bonding with colleagues over the front desk, and welcoming visitors. The other likes problem solving and is great at finding solutions for others. They are both valuable staff, and not only will they have job satisfaction from doing the things they excel at, the institution benefits as well.

My dad says about a job “if all of it was enjoyable, they wouldn’t pay you!” and of course there are always parts of a role that you might like less, or find more challenging. However allowing people to craft their role into something that is an even better fit for them, benefits them (improving retention) and benefits the institution by capitalising on each person’s strengths.

I don’t pretend to be an expert on Job Crafting but I may return to add more to this page in future. In the meantime, here’s a few links that might help your understanding:

If you have any experience or knowledge of job crafting that you’d like to share, please comment below.