I was surprised I had actually done that but I was excited to help everyone in this new process of project-based learning. I am not a LOUD leader which I thought could be a problem. How was I going to contribute with the other project managers? However, just by raising my hand made me feel like I had started well this new year.
Growth-mindset maybe? ;)
This was my opportunity to grow as a leader.
On Wednesday, we all worked together for the second time and the change of how switched on we were was impactingly different. Many have been questioning the excitement we have in this class because even though this is a sign of motivation it can also be a limitation when working together. As one of the project managers, my role was to be aware if things were getting out of control and being 100% sure that EVERYONE had a role. At one point things were getting out of control; everyone wanted to speak up and you can imagine how this is; the class was pretty loud.
This was a BIG problem for me.
A loud class doesn't go well with me because I have a really low voice. I tried to ease things down in the class but I felt powerless. This is were I think believing I am a silent leader comes to its down turns. How was I going to solve this problem? I definitely had to come out of my comfort zone. However, I learned that you don't have to be LOUD to grab everyone's attention. We just needed a change in our system.
Two of us project managers were in front of the board trying to define roles to each one but we weren't doing it effectively. We decided to stay quite and pause the conversation until everyone realized we wanted them to do the same. Luckily, this didn't take much time. We then kept it clear that we had to work in smaller groups because clearly big groups weren't being effective.
What I learned → ROLES are SACRED.
When these were defined, everything worked A LOT smoother. Sometimes its just a matter of choosing a different way to go like changing the system that the group is using to keep going. Once we did I felt like we were on the right track.