If you're taking this course, chances are you're a thinker and do around the globe. But life by its very nature, will be very different for each and every one of you. I've used the materials in this course and the templates contained within this workbook to work with Yale students across Executive MBA at the School of Management, master students at the Yale School of the Environment, World Fellows from the Jackson School, Yale College and more. In workshops, speaking engagements and other forums, I've managed to meet students from many institutions outside Yale. Outside lecturing, I've used and still use the tools with one-on-one coaching and group facilitation with founders, CEOs, executive directors, boards, as well as rising talent coming through in the private sector, public sector, non-profit, faith-based institutions and more. In addition to rising talent, I've also worked with retiring talents who are considering the next moves with at least another chapter or two in mind. In just one group setting, we identified 18 different time zones once. I'm hoping you feel just as welcome if you are from a country other than the USA where Yale is based in New Haven, Connecticut. The hard to place accident you're hearing is from Edinburgh, Scotland, mixed with some of the influences I've picked up from living in other places. I do hope you bring where ever you are from and have lived to this course. You might think I've captured a bit of your experience and story by mentioning you in one of the groups above or just as exciting for me, you may feel that you haven't yet been mentioned in there, and I need to update the list once you complete the course. As mentioned in the course introduction, I have found over the years the materials to be simple but a strong and structured scaffolding. It can let you make small tweaks to your life for the ground level or at a high floor or it can help you raise to the ground and build afresh. I'm excited to hear your stories and we might even be able to chat live for an interview, but more on that to follow. Hopefully, this course and workbook have caught you at the right time, a founder or senior level executive, busy with the demands of your organization, but sensing you need to make time for professional development or perhaps you've completed one chapter of life or career and looking for a new start and have some discretionary time for learning. Perhaps you're spread thin at work or life, looking for ways to maximize your time and advance in your career, but can only squeeze in this course after work and non-work demands uniquely combining for you at the stage you're at. Wherever you're at in your life or career, I want you to know this course can be for you if you're curious and wanted to be. The information and resources to follow are designed to be practical and applicable across sectors, disciplines, life stages and cultures. Though I'm always interested to learn how we can improve to make it better or fix a problem if your lived experience does not feel cared for. You might skip over certain lessons to target areas of particular interest to you or you might decide to repeat certain lessons to get the most out of the exercises, or even return two exercises at a later date to further clarify and refine your responses. With that in mind, let's take a look at some of the tools and resources that will help you navigate the course and make it practical for you. First, as you get started on the modules, you'll notice a visual navigation cue. This visual cue is size and location-based, depending on the module self, team or system. Self is the smallest circle to the bottom or to the left, growing to the team in the middle, to the system at the top or the right. Color-coded to help you know which of the four Ps we're working on, purpose, priorities, potential, or progress. This effectively makes 12 subsections over the three modules but you will find that there is some additional tools and materials that help you in real life jump the layers, if you will, as you move from a leader to operating within the context of a team, to working alongside others to improve a system. If at any point you're curious about where a discussion or material fits into the larger connected leadership framework you can take a quick look at the cue and get an idea of where you are in the course, what you've covered, and what's yet to come. You'll notice we keep to a consistent color scheme for the connected leadership framework throughout the course. If colors are difficult for you to differentiate purpose always first and tall, then priorities then potential finally, progress. This has some logic to the sequence that you will discover in the course itself. On the colors we originally inherited them when discovering the best rope to tell the story visually how the fibers are interwoven, and the overall strength of leadership is governed by the weakest, most frayed fiber. But they're just right too for how I think of them. You'll notice that the purpose part of the connected leadership framework appears in red. The color red in this case, I think, reflects well the color of the heart. May also reflect a stop here first. An urgency of addressing purpose before other aspects of the framework. Priorities appears in green. I like how this is the color of the go light to devote time to these activities that you really care about and that have flowed from your purpose. Potential appears in blue. For me, this represents the blue-sky thinking, the lookout to the horizon where your path meets the sky and a place for you then visualize what it's like to reach there. Then progress appears in purple. I like how this color is a secondary color and a mix of the heart of purpose and the blue sky goal-setting of potential. In progress we are keeping on track to our goals while remaining true to our purpose. It's also the color of the logo for the small company, I started to look at these opportunities to enable others to really maximize their time for highest and best use for themselves and others time for good. This consistent navigation hopefully keeps you centered and clear where you are at all times on the course. If you're not confused by the structure at any point, it leaves your brain as free as possible to get caught up in a good way, thinking about how the tools can be applied to your life and situation. This navigation is also central to how the connected leadership workbook is organized, your companion for your entire time here on the course. It contains all the templates we cover, as well as some blank pages for reflections and notes on readings as you progress, you'll notice the file is available in different formats. Please pick the one that works best for you and your learning style. Some of you might want to type directly into slides, whether PowerPoint, Google slides or other. While others might prefer to print out the workbook and then use pen and paper. There is also a PDF format for those that can import it to a tablet like iPad, or MacBook or other, and use a pen there. Personally, I do recommend using a pen, either paper or screen, as in my experience and of those I've coached and taught, it's difficult to beat a pen in hand for helping turn your mental gears. Plus when you're finished, you have a tangible copy created at a certain point in time that you can pin anywhere or refer back to at a later date, whatever you choose, be sure it's something you can and will want to work with regularly since most lessons include at least one workbook exercise. You'll also want to use a format that will allow you to save your work and access it later on. Keeping your password handy will help you complete future workbook exercises since they build off one another and engage with lessons where we reflect on your responses. If all goes well, you will be referring back to your responses and refreshing your answers and approaches long after you complete the course. I frequently quote Heraclitus, "No one stands in the same river twice because it's not the same river and it's not the same person." The workbook has sections that correspond to the self, team and system levels and the four Ps of connected leadership purpose, priorities, potential, and progress. You'll also find at the back, a duplicate version of each of the exercise pages. You can use these pages if at a later date you'd like to repeat any of the exercises. I have my copy of the workbook right next to me as I speak to you now and I hope it proves as useful for you as it has for me and my coachees and students. Lastly, if you have improvements to suggest to make it even more useful, please do get in touch.
