The strike continues, it is now 11 days and still things don't look too promising. I wonder how long we have before the strike affects the possibility of us not being able to graduate. Will we have to come back next semester to complete this semester.? If we have to come back next semester, are we suppose to pay for the semester again? What about all the guys in our class that have booked and paid for their trip to Mexico at the end of April? If the semester is extended, this could interfere with their plans.
It has been a struggle trying to stay motivated these past 11 days and I know I am not the only struggling with this. We were motivated and had scheduled our lives around the semester and completing assignments etc and then the strike happened and our balloon was deflated. This has been a good exercise for myself in leading myself in pushing me to get assignments done. It has been a challenge and continues to be a challenge.
Reading the online newsletter, which is found on the power point for March 17 (strategic leadership), there is a section on selecting a power strategy and I was going through them to see if I could understand what power strategy the union are using. My guess is they are using the "negotiating with others" strategy, which I guess makes sense. But I am wondering if they were to use more of the "Involving others" strategy whether there would be more openness and understanding on both sides and a possibility of finding a compromise. I would think that the "negotiating with others strategy" just leads to mistrust, secrecy, misinformation and a negative environment delaying or even preventing a healthy result. I think that John Ruttan's leadership strategy is a very healthy strategy and I would say we (the class) have pretty much come up with the same points, so we must be on the right track. Do you think that this strategy would not have worked between the administration and the VIUFA?
Hope to see you all soon.
Interesting thoughts once again Fran! A "curve in the road" does challenge us for sure. What are your strategies for staying motivated? Some times we need to create new routines to get our work done. Not easy when we've developed "learning" habits over the last four years. Perhaps we need to identify a couple of priorities for each day and work towards them. Maybe it's creating a plan, setting goals. Would recruiting a support person be of help? What about creating our own learning team to helps us get through assignments. What suggestions do you have?
ReplyDeleteIn terms of a power strategy it must have something to do with the outcome your seeking. Or perhaps it has something to do with the values and culture of the individual or organizations.
Keep thinking Fran!
Ken
Yes it has been a challenge to hit the computer ever day and get things done. What has worked for me, I think the biggest motivator for me is realising that I have an opportunity to get 2 big assignments completed while there is no school One day I would dedicate to one of those assignments and the next day I dedicated to the other assignment. This basically worked, some days I would go out and spend part of the day with my husband if he was not working, or my girlfriend, but I tried to find a balance. Tomorrow is the deadline we set for one of those assignments before the strike started and I kept to that commitment and I more or less completed that assignment today. I feel great and celebrated by going for a very long walk with my husband and then going out for dinner.
ReplyDeleteThe other assignment I completed a few days back, so tomorrow I may go out and spend some time working in my garden as I hear it is going to be 15 degrees! I do have a couple more smaller assignments that I can work on which I plan to do before Monday as it feels good to be ahead of the game. With any luck this strike will be over this weekend and normality will kick in next week.
Hi Fran~ I have struggled with assignments but I know that the term is really going to end and I have that pressure I need to get working...So I am doing little bits and getting my confidence back to doing homework, sounds funny hey, loosing confidence in doing assignments but its true, so I lead myself here, reading everyone's blog's as I want to lead myself and make up for missing two classes. I look forward to the rest of your blog
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