Organizational Development, Equity, and Health

Excuse me, but is that your inner radical showing? This is not a question that you are likely to run into every day and probably not a good conversation starter at a party. But it is one that we might want to ask ourselves from time to time. When I first heard the challenge from the University of Alberta President, Dr. Samarasekera, to unleash our inner radical, I assumed she was speaking to a handful of brilliant, thought-provoking, world-class ideators, who are capable of uncovering the secret to success for the next decade or so. My first thought was “this is ridiculous!” I seldom have a good idea, never mind a radical one that is so powerful it can reshape the life of our students or those around us at work. To help me understand what relevance this challenge might have for me and why I should care, I searched for a definition that would resonate more closely with something I am capable of. It turns out that radicals are wildly popular. The term is used in several science

“At a University, success is measured in decades, not years.”    - University of Alberta President, Indira Samarasekera   Did you know that in ten years the number of registrations for OLE programs has surpassed 12,231?!!  Dale Reesor on goals and strategies Last Friday the OLE team had the opportunity to showcase our teachings and talents among each other, as part of our team retreat entitled ‘OLE Next’. Being primarily facilitators ourselves, we sure know how to create excitement around goal setting and accountabilities. Within a couple of hours, we had participated in ice breakers, brainstorming sessions, and a mini world café designed to lay the groundwork for the future of OLE over the next ten years. What can we say, we take strategic planning seriously! Emerging from the world café were three beacons of guidance for the OLE team to work towards over the next 10 years along with several possible strategies about how to achieve them.   Jody McLucas, Cara Jone

Pro tip: Don’t lick the frost on the swing set, it doesn’t taste like candy. If you are anything like OLE Program Advisor, Dale Reesor, you may have been that child back in grade school who deliberately pushed the boundaries of authority figures, testing limitations and doing the exact opposite of what was suggested… you may have licked the frost off of the cold swing set pole. Sadly, yet effectively, this was a pain not soon forgotten and never again repeated. What happened in that playground was likely part of an internalization of learning that encompasses many themes included in what Daniel Goleman calls Emotional Intelligence . Emotional Intelligence in the workplace (and any context, for that matter) includes five important elements: Self Awareness, Self Regulation,  Motivation,  Empathy, and  Social Skill.    For two days last month the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry: Academic Leadership cohort, met in ECHA to engage in the discovery surrounding these five the