Blog from Allison Sylvetsky, Associate Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Milken Institute School of Public Health
Participating in GWALA has been a wonderful and enriching personal and professional experience and I will continue to apply concepts and skills from GWALA in my current role and throughout my career.
The opportunity to participate in GWALA came at an ideal time; I had just begun my current role as Vice Chair in the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences (EXNS) and I was ecstatic about the opportunity to work collaboratively with my Chair and EXNS colleagues to support faculty, staff, and students across the Department. EXNS has been my professional home for over a decade and there has been tremendous growth in the Department over this period. I was particularly excited about the opportunity to lead a Departmental initiative, informed by a recent EXNS retreat, to increase the visibility of work in the Department, spanning cutting edge research, teaching excellence, community impact, and professional service.
After discussions with the EXNS Chair and seeking feedback from faculty and staff in the Department, I led a small working group to develop a social media presence on LinkedIn, proposed a new seminar format to facilitate internal collaboration, and initiated a collaborative and iterative process to update the 10-years outdated Research page on the website, all of which were met with enthusiasm across the Department. It was clear that the need to update the website was a shared priority, and I was grateful that one of my EXNS colleagues volunteered to contribute her expertise in concept mapping to visually represent the different areas of expertise and their interconnections. The collaborative and iterative process included soliciting input from faculty and staff at several stages and assembling another small working group, with a diversity of priorities and perspectives, to ensure that the areas identified reflected EXNS as a whole.
Throughout this process, there were many opportunities to practice leadership skills discussed throughout GWALA. First, vision-setting (GWALA Session 1) was top of mind; the current website reflected the EXNS Department 10 years ago, yet the Department had evolved tremendously. This led to a fundamental question: Was our mission and vision the same as 10 years ago? Beginning to answer this question presented an opportunity to bring faculty and staff together to brainstorm what our mission and vision are and how to best communicate them. While this remains a work in progress and requires more dedicated time for strategic planning, identifying and agreeing upon what is most important to the Department requires all stakeholders to value collective success and presents its own set of challenges.
Another leadership skill fundamental to this process was decision-making (GWALA Session 2). As an inherently “people-pleasing” person, it can be difficult to accept that consensus is not always possible and that some stakeholders may not be happy regardless of the decision made. GWALA reiterated the importance of transparency in decision-making; throughout the process of identifying and communicating the Department’s collective areas of expertise, all stakeholders were encouraged to provide input at several stages of the process, though of course, levels of engagement varied.
As the academic year and aforementioned process progressed, being intentional about practicing the leadership skills covered in GWALA became particularly critical. The EXNS Chair, who was not only an exceptional colleague, friend, and mentor, but also an exceptional leader, announced she was leaving GW. Almost overnight, the dynamics in the Department changed, which has presented the most significant leadership challenge of my career to date, and one which I am still in the process of navigating. The first questions I asked myself were “why did this shift in dynamics happen?” and “what can I do to address this shift?” and “to what extent is it possible to unify the Department around common goals during a time of transition and uncertainty?” ” While I may unfortunately not yet be able to comprehensively answer those questions, I quickly recognized that emotional intelligence (GWALA Session 5), and particularly, self-awareness, social awareness, and relationship management skills, as well as conflict management skills (GWALA session 4), were paramount. I also came to appreciate that leadership requires a significant amount of restraint and a willingness to put your own emotions aside in order to be an effective leader and work on your colleagues’ behalf. This is especially critical when managing conflicts and complex faculty dynamics.
While not explicitly covered in GWALA, I have also come to deeply value, now more than ever, the importance of identifying trusted mentors to support you as an effective leader. I am lucky to have several outstanding mentors, who are also masterful leaders and wonderful people. I have learned the importance of seeking guidance, being vulnerable, proceeding cautiously, and thoughtfully considering the outcomes of different decisions before deciding on a course of action.
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in GWALA. My leadership journey is only just beginning and I look forward to continuing to develop my leadership skills and engage with GWALA throughout my career.