Reflections from GWALA Cohort 2 Fellows

Blog from Casey Burgat, Director of the Legislative Affairs Program, Graduate School of Political Management

GWALA Cohort 2

A letter to a new GWALA fellow

Dear Cohort III fellow:

Congratulations on being nominated to this wonderful crew! I have no doubt that your calendars are bursting with job duties, but you should be extremely excited about adding GWALA-related meetings to your packed schedules. Not only does the academy help you work through an important project in your department, you will gain valuable insight about yourself as a person and a leader. This will be time well spent.

Before you begin your journey with GWALA, I humbly submit a few of my thoughts as I reflect back on my time with cohort II. Ignore them at your leisure!

1. The pre-work is important work. Between each session you will be given “pre-work” that focuses on a specific leadership lesson, skill, or way of thinking. It may be to take self-assessment, read an article, or watch a few video clips of the goods and bads of different leaders. Do everything you can to carve out time to commit to these asks, and don’t wait until the last minute to check the boxes. Not only will they help you think critically about your leadership style, they will help focus discussions in your next cohort meeting.
2. The guest speakers are phenomenal. GWU has some of the most talented, professional, and accomplished leaders you can imagine. Being fairly new to the University, I had no idea certain programs or divisions were out there, let alone led by such impressive scholars, researchers, and leaders. Their talks are humble, honest, and wise. Hearing from our colleagues, especially those who went through the academy themselves, was a true highlight for me.
3. Your fellow fellows are the real deal. GWU is a huge university. We – myself included – are too often laser focused on our own jobs, programs, and people, and miss out on interacting with the seriously accomplished people doing great work all over the place. Make sure you take advantage of this rare opportunity to learn about the other fellows, their work, and what amazing things they are attempting to accomplish. You’ll be blown away. And despite our diversity in expertise and projects, I was consistently surprised at the similarities in our leadership challenges. Get to know the other fellows – you’ll be happy you did!

Congratulations again, and please feel free to contact me anytime for any reason. Good luck!