MSU Extension North Central Leadership Conference

Tuesday, May 1, 2018  - Breakout Session 1

Pure Choice #1: Managing Issues to Prevent Crisis

Beth Stuever, Director of Public Affairs, Michigan State University Extension

We know the grim reality of big issues that became a full-blown crisis. But that’s a whole different session for another day. This session will address the day-to-day issues that can quickly snowball out of control and unnecessarily damage your organization’s name. When do you take them head on? When do you ignore them? Who gets to decide? In this session, we will review several case studies of issues that have been handled in the past few years. Topics will include personnel issues, 4-H and other perplexing situations. We will also discuss your role in university-wide discussions. You’ll get to see how some of your colleagues define issues management, and how they arm their faculty and staff members with solutions.

Pure Choice #2: New Supervisors’ Dilemma: Managing Others’ Undignified Behavior Without Losing Yours

Cynthia Torppa, Regional Extension Director, Ohio State University
Jacqueline Kirby Wilkins, Associate Chair/Regional Extension Director, Ohio State University

New supervisors usually trust their ability to help personnel with operational procedures, to talk with stakeholders, or to implement sound budgets, but all it can take to undermine their professional confidence is an attempt to mediate a messy conflict with ambiguous professional expectations and contrasting personal and professional agendas. In this session, we will share specific research based tips for assessing situations, identifying core issues, and sharing tricks of the trade to deescalate hostilities and move the involved parties toward professional motives and conduct.

Pure Passion #1: Break the Mold and Color Outside the Lines!

Jami Dellifield, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Ohio State University
Heather Gottke, 4-H Extension Educator, Ohio State University
Jared Morrison, Extension Event Planner, Ohio State University
Kara Colvin, Warren County Extension Director, Ohio State University
Nicole Debose, Cuyahoga County Extension Director, Ohio State University

As we look at our inbox, calendars and to-do lists each day, it is easy to become overwhelmed and “stuck in a rut”, positioning ourselves as productive managers, yet less effective leaders. This session will help participants identify work habits that are preventing effective leadership and present strategies that give them an advantage. Interactive activities will allow the exploration of how self-awareness and resiliency contribute to daily decision-making; creating a greater balance between being high producers and great leaders.

Pure Passion #2: Here Is This, Now Go Innovate

Jessica Beckendorf, Community Resource Development Educator, University of Wisconsin Extension
Bob Bertsch, Web Technology Specialist, North Dakota State University
Amelia Doll, Extension Agent, 4-H Youth Development, North Dakota State University

Pushing those you supervise to be creative, push limits, and take risks is much easier said than done. It takes a cultural shift for people to be comfortable stepping outside their box, thinking differently, and being creative.  This session will focus on several hands-on strategies and tools that can be implemented with teams ranging in size from a few to hundreds.

Pure Impact #1: Equipping Extension Professional Leaders with the Ken Blanchard Situational Leadership II Competencies

Wayne Moore, PhD, Regional Extension Director, Northwest Research  Extension Center, Kansas State Research and Extension
Nozella Brown, PhD, County Director, Family and Consumer Sciences, Kansas State Research and Extension

Session attendees will learn about the valuable leadership skills and competencies delivered during a Ken Blanchard Situational Leadership II (SLII) workshop that allow for immediate on-the-job application. Attendees will also hear about the outcomes from the first Ken Blanchard Situational Leadership II workshop held at KSU and what workshop participants immediately learned and applied in their quest to become effective SLII leaders.  

Pure Impact #2: Enhancing Employee Engagement and Workplace Efficiency Through Teamwork

Deb Barrett, Senior Extension Educator, Michigan State University

Does your role include coaching, supervising and/or providing staff development to enhance employee skills in order to build individual and organizational success? This workshop will focus on building teamwork among your staff members. Learn how the Parker Team Player Survey can help form an efficient new team, improve an existing team, or give you a new idea for your next staff meeting or think tank.

Pure Impact #3: Leading Across Generations

 Danae Wolfe, Educational Technology Specialist, Ohio State University Extension

While stereotypes abound, it is no secret that there are real differences between each of the three generations that make up the majority of today’s workforce. Each generation has preferred methods of communication and each places value on different aspects of life and work. With so many differences among generations, it’s easy to see why workplace conflicts often arise. This session will identify the major characteristics (and stereotypes) among generations in the workforce and help create some common ground for professionals to lead effectively across generations.

Pure Impact #4: Working with Power

Tuesday Ryan Hart and Tim Merry

Most of us know that to make change in our organizations and communities we have to skillfully work with power.  In this webinar, Tim and Tuesday will talk about the different kinds of power and identify some key questions to engage in as we work to increase our capacity to make change.  We'll also move toward a new way of thinking about power as we do our work.

Wednesday, May 2, 2018 - Breakout Session 2

Pure Choice #3: Successfully Growing Commitment for the Greater Good

Michael Compton, Science of Agriculture and STEM Director, Center for Youth Development, University of Minnesota
Wade Weber, State 4-H Program Leader, Kansas State University

Frustrated by the lack of commitment within your team or stakeholders? Using the Tarnside Curve of Involvement (a tool originally developed for fundraising professionals to describe the relationship between a donor’s level of involvement in an organization and their level of philanthropy), participants will learn how to increase organizational success and map out leadership development. Participants will learn about real examples of Tarnside principles in action and receive the tools to contribute the mastery of these concepts.

Pure Choice #4: Communicating Impact with County Commissioners and Extension Committees

Erin Kelly-Collins, Senior Communications Specialist, University of Minnesota Extension
Samantha Grant, Evaluation Director, University of Minnesota Extension

How do I get local elected leaders to believe in and support Extension’s work?  Come learn from communications and evaluation staff from the U of M Extension Center for Youth Development, who recently led a statewide effort to build staff capacity and stakeholder confidence in local program outcomes. You’ll gain insight into the process they followed, including a cohort experience for staff in high-need counties, and walk away with tips and tools to improve impact reporting to your own key stakeholders.

Pure Choice #5: Is Social Physics Extension’s Answer?

Alvaro D. Garcia, DVM, PhD, South Dakota State University Extension Director of Agriculture and Natural Resources

In University Extension, information consists of "science-based" facts. Ideas, on the other hand, are "mini-strategies" (“If you do THIS, you will get THAT”) and are thus actionable. To increase several fold the odds that audiences incorporate certain behavior people need to see people doing rather than saying something. Only rich channels of communication like face-to-face lead to changes in behavior and therefore in culture.

Pure Passion #3: Design Thinking to Design Our Future

Jami Dellifield, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Ohio State University Extension
Jared Morrison, Extension Event Planner, Ohio State University
Jamie Seger, Program Director, Educational Technology, Ohio State University
Danae Wolfe, Educational Technology Specialist, Ohio State University Extension

Design thinking provides an actionable step-by-step process for creative design and offers a human-centered approach to issues identification and program planning in Extension. This workshop will provide participants with an introduction to design thinking, examples of how it is currently being implemented in Extension, and many hands-on learning activities for an immersive experience. Participants will leave the workshop with a better understanding of the non-linear process necessary for designing solutions to complex challenges and opportunities and will be armed with daily habits and activities they can utilize right away in their daily work and with colleagues.

Pure Passion #4: Creating Space for Employee Voices

Jessica Beckendorf, Community Resource Development Educator, University of Wisconsin Extension
Bob Bertsch, Web Technology Specialist, North Dakota State University
Amelia Doll, Extension Agent, 4-H Youth Development, North Dakota State University

Issues Extension addresses are becoming more complex, requiring greater degrees of collaboration across divisions as well as with greater numbers of community partners. Collaboration often fails because it is treated as an activity, rather than as an overall approach to organizational culture and day-to-day operations. We will explore the idea of a leader as an architect of spaces for employee voices and informal organization. Let’s learn about the physical, digital and psychological spaces that contribute to an open, collaborative and successful culture in which all ideas are shared, all perspectives are valued and all voices are heard.

Pure Impact #4: Creating a Culture of Success through Federal Grant Programs

Melissa J. Rupp, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Educator, Ohio State University
Michelle A. Alexander, Director of Institutional Advancement/Executive Director, Vernon College

The Federal Funding Task Force is a team of grants professionals that meet with federal program officers to learn about potential grant partnerships, timelines and directions. This session will provide grant awareness that will create opportunities for community collaborations, partnerships, funding and ultimately IMPACT!

Pure Impact #5: Aligning Leadership Skills and Intentions

Maria Walker, Associate Extension Educator, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Ashley Mueller, Assistant Extension Educator, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The shifting nature of the contexts in which we lead can result in individuals leading from a reactive and unsustainable perspective. Desire to make a meaningful impact keeps leaders in an extending effort mode, while those same efforts may simply be maintaining and not creating. This workshop is designed to allow leaders to examine strategies for sustainable leadership practices focusing on vertical development