Leading Edge Masthead
Photograph of Ujima Donalson

A message from Ujima Donalson
Assistant Vice President,
Total Talent Management

Welcome to the holiday season! I truly believe it’s the most wonderful time of the year. However, as leaders it’s imperative that we’re aware of emotional minefields, potential triggers and tensions that may be brought on by the season so that we can be more responsive to our team and alert to any problems or hardships.

In this festive season, we may sometimes find ourselves or others on edge. Some of us welcome the holidays with open arms and total glee, but for many, this can be a demanding time of year, fraught with travel plans, hosting in-laws, juggling childcare, end-of-year work projects and other stressors, and the holidays can also trigger deep emotions for those who have lost loved ones or have painful memories. Read More


Photograph of crowd from above

Operationalizing our DEI values
Ujima Donalson, Assistant Vice President,
Total Talent Management

When President Ana Mari Cauce launched the Race & Equity Initiative in 2015, she galvanized many of us to better educate and organize ourselves. In fact, she charged us to take “personal responsibility for the culture of our campus and the institutional challenges we need to address.” Over the past several years, I believe there’s been a sea change in our lexicon and level of awareness across the University. That said, we are hardly at the mountaintop. The need still exists and the work has not stopped; it has evolved.

Across Total Talent Management, we are now turning our attention to operationalizing our diversity, equity and inclusion values, and by that I mean we are looking deep into our practices and systems in order to effect real and lasting change. Read More


Photograph of Temo Madrigal-Sanchez

Welcome Day: Introducing an enriched onboarding experience
Témo X. Madrigal-Sanchez, Onboarding Specialist, Professional & Organizational Development

In 2018, staff across UW Human Resources joined forces to combine new employee and benefits orientations into a half-day workshop called Welcome Day. We have now taken the next step, and starting in 2020, Welcome Day will offer a full day of activities that combines multiple required trainings ― new employee orientation, benefits orientation, and addressing discrimination and harassment ― with a new diversity module and resource fair. This expanded Welcome Day offers a “one-stop shopping” orientation facilitated by a dynamic group of individuals from across UWHR. Read more


Photograph of Catherine Bachy

The clarity of no; the power of yes
Catherine Bachy, Organizational Excellence Partner

The start of a new academic year inspires a flurry of retreat planning and strategy meetings for many units and schools. One of the academic leaders I assisted in strategic meeting design earlier this fall conveyed how important it was for her and her executive team to get very clear about their purpose and goals for the school. We need to know what we are saying yes to and when we can say no. This was music to my ears as she was describing a common experience for many leaders.

Although we may not think of it in quite this way, strategic planning requires the ability to say no as well as the understanding of to what we can we say no. “No” can be necessary to acquire clarity around each powerful “yes” that moves our purpose and goals forward. Unfortunately, it can be easy to find honorable reasons to keep adding just one more priority or project, and this culminates in diluted impact and unsustainable organizations. Read more


POE presents succession planning workshops. Join Keya Burks, organizational excellence partner with POD’s Partnership for Organizational Excellence (POE), for a free 90-minute workshop on succession planning that utilizes the Succession Planning Toolkit developed by UW Human Resources. Register now for the upcoming February 18 workshop.

SLP 20/20. The coming year marks the twentieth anniversary of the award-winning Strategic Leadership Program. SLP alumni should stay tuned for events and activities that celebrate this anniversary and the transformative power of learning and development!


Learning Lab Image

It’s your choice: The Learning Lab

Earlier this year we introduced The Learning Lab, a self-directed online learning experience with short video courses, ebooks, audio summaries and other formats. For 2020, we are offering different subscription packages at a lower rate:

  • Business Skills & Productivity (annual subscription $150)
  • Leadership Development Program (annual subscription $150)
  • Office 365 (annual subscription $100)

You can also opt for the complete package — all three of the collections above — for an annual subscription of $225.

Curious what The Learning Lab has to offer? Check out the 12 Days of The Learning Lab. This special promotion offers a $25 subscription that runs through Dec. 24. During that time, you will have complete and unlimited access — great for fitting in some learning and development and giving The Learning Lab a trial run!

THIS NEWSLETTER WAS SENT BY:
Professional & Organizational Development, Box 354962, Seattle, WA 98195-4962
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