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If you are thinking about applying or being nominated for
the IPS Leadership Academy (due date is less than two weeks away on May 15) I
want to encourage you to do so. The last two years have flown by and it’s
hard to imagine that my time is almost up. If I were asked to do this
again, I wouldn’t hesitate and respond with a strong and confident “yes.”
The Academy does require a large time commitment but what I have learned will
be useful throughout my career. If you think about the time spent on this
two year program compared to the span of your work life, then it’s really not
that much.
The highlights for me have been:
·
building relationships with colleagues at other
agencies,
·
getting to know Mary and my mentor (Don Green) on
another level,
·
travelling to each of the UT campuses (I’ve been
with UT for 11 years and had never been to the Martin campus or the UT Health
Science Center in Memphis),
·
understanding how IPS is viewed by other
campuses and institutes at UT,
·
spending a day job shadowing CIS employees Jim
Slizewki and Chuck Beasley in the field, and
·
I have enjoyed a majority of the educational
sessions.
The low points for me have been finding time to get the
assigned book readings done, the Baldrige process has taken way more time than
I ever imagined (but I understand the next class won’t be doing this so fear
not), being out of the office for three consecutive days once a quarter for the
training is not always convenient, and sometimes the guest speakers/educational
sessions didn’t go into as much detail as I would have liked and sometimes I
wished they would have moved along faster. But as I said, I would go through it
again if given a chance. The benefits did outweigh the low points because I
have learned so much: about IPS, about other agencies, about my own agency
(thanks to the Baldrige process), and about myself.
The Academy is an investment; from IPS and your agency in
you and also it’s your own investment in you. You will get out of it what
you put into it. I hope you will consider being a part of the next
Academy class it and if you have any questions about the program, feel free to
get in touch with me.
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