Key Takeaways for growth
Key takeaways for professional growth to make "everything awesome"
Desire to Grow
I have spent over a decade working in higher education, most recently moving to Colorado in 2017 to join the CU Boulder community as a staff member. I am currently employed as a Senior HR IT Business Analyst in the Office of Information Technology, focusing on leading enterprise software implementations and business process improvement initiatives within the Department of Human Resources. My role requires me to be both tactical and strategic in my approach — in addition to providing value through traditional requirements gathering and project planning and execution activities, I must also understand the organizational landscape to recommend solutions for increasingly complex issues and generate the buy-in necessary to enable change.
My goal in pursuing a graduate degree was to feed my love for learning and grow the additional skills towards my career goals. This course has fueled a foundational understanding and appreciation of effective leadership within an organization and reinforced an ongoing commitment to my professional growth and development. This assignment tasked us with exploring an inspiring leader. The goal was to think critically about how they bring value to their organizations and to consider opportunities for growth based on those learnings. It has been an informative experience.
Communicating with Impact
Christiansen is the perfect role model for me, and I am grateful to have been able to dive deeper into his style as a leader. His ability to inspire others through impactful communication and create positive change for the world has been eye-opening. Communicating with impact is an area I want to improve. As Northouse (2018) explains, leaders are responsible for motivating and inspiring their teams. You must communicate the desired result in a meaningful way. And you must tailor your style and message based on the intended audience. As a team leader, I want to effectively communicate how our project tasks support the broader vision and mission of the University.
Communication is one of Christiansen’s strengths. He authentically and impactfully communicates the Lego vision and mission, inspiring internal and external audiences alike. He encourages people to be open and to engage in frank and candid conversations themselves. An example of this is his responsiveness to customer feedback, such as when they discontinued single-use plastic bags in the packaging after many children wrote to him. He did not respond defensively but with gratitude.
Vision and Purpose
Additionally, I would like to balance tactical [managerial] and strategic [leadership] work with more success. According to Northouse (2018), there is a difference between management and leadership. “To manage means to accomplish activities and master routines, whereas to lead means to influence others and create visions for change,” he explains. As a project manager and analyst, my focus is typically on managing tactical work— overseeing scope, timeline, and resources. From that perspective, my goal is to effectively and efficiently execute the leader’s vision. But, I would like to become more adept and experienced at creating the vision, something that Christiansen does well at Lego.
I am awestruck by the breadth and depth of Christiansen’s influence and impact towards bettering the lives of children. At Lego, Christiansen has transformed communities through philanthropic efforts (Christiansen & Goodwin, 2020). He embodies the Lego brand values and promises. Christiansen finds meaning and purpose in his work and inspires others to find meaning and purpose in their work too. He stands for something. And he has inspired me to want to stand for something too.
Rest assured, I enjoy my current profession. I love the thrill of analyzing tough issues and solving complex problems. I love delivering a project that helps a business achieve what they did not think possible. I also enjoy working for a University whose imperative is to shape the leaders of tomorrow. This assignment has reminded me how important it is to have a higher purpose and know you make a difference.
"Christiansen finds meaning and purpose in his work and inspires others to find meaning and purpose in their work too. He stands for something. And he has inspired me to want to stand for something too. "
Innovative & Creative
I also aspire to be more innovative and creative, something that Christiansen has mastered. I admire how he pushed for transformational product lines to create growth without straying too far from the traditional bricks at the core of who they are. For a company whose product builds nostalgia in its customers, he must delicately balance its trajectory. Like Christiansen, I also look for creative ways to accomplish my work and collaborate with my stakeholders. When doing requirements design sessions, I incorporate unique elicitation techniques to make the experience more enjoyable for my stakeholders and tap into a level of imagination that traditional methods cannot. I also look to other industries, such as design thinking or education, for inspiration on new ways of working. By researching Christiansen, I have also gained insight into the methods and qualities that generate success in the toy industry and the Danish culture.
Embracing My Leadership Style
I admire Christiansen’s empathy and how he leads with sincerity and confidence without being particularly showy or extraverted— it inspires me to further explore and embrace my leadership style and affirms that even introverts can be powerful influencers of change. I have deeply enjoyed exploring Christiansen’s leadership and influence at Lego. Thank you for embarking on this journey towards discovery and growth with me. I only hope I become as effective as Christiansen in making “everything awesome” within my organizations.