Excelling in Any Situation

Course Instructor: Cheryl Gould

Fee: $75 for those in the California library community.

"As I had grown accustomed to my expectations, I had insensibly begun to notice their effect upon myself and those around me." Charles Dickens

Work needs to change with the times. Instead of doing the same old comfortable thing day after day, we have to step out of our comfort zones to keep up with on-the-job demands. Maybe your workload has increased, or your assignment has changed, or your library is switching to a new system or service model. How can you excel when circumstances are so fluid and ambiguous?

Different can mean scary or it can mean exciting - it's all in your approach. In this workshop we'll explore ways that perfectionism, blaming, and inflexibility can make unfamiliar situations scary. We'll look at whether we approach our work from a "fixed" mindset where one is either good or bad at something, or a "growth" mindset where we recognize and address our need to learn what we need to succeed.

Sometimes it's not a glass ceiling that keeps us from succeeding. Sometimes it's a sticky floor. Through interactive exercises, we'll practice being flexible, adaptable, and receptive when learning new tasks and responding to new situations. We'll look at things that can get in our way, like fear of failure and risk avoidance. We'll not only look at these behaviors, we'll find ways to work through them to create a more collaborative work environment. We'll strategize about how to support one another through the difficult times and the successes.

This workshop will help you enjoy and excel in any situation by giving you new ways to approach your work day and each task you encounter. You'll walk away with the tools you need to succeed in ways that are both personally and professionally satisfying.

Workshop Description: This workshop is designed to increase flexibility, adaptability, and readiness to take on any work situation. In this all-day interactive workshop, participants will practice skills and discuss strategies for excelling in their particular work environment. You will learn how to handle and excel at any task that comes your way.

Preliminary Course Outline

• What Does it Mean to Excel?
  • Excelling versus excellence
  • Internal motivations
• Fixed versus Growth Mindset
  • How to figure out which you're using
• What Self Limiting Beliefs Get In The Way
  • Risk avoidance
  • Fear of failure and success
  • Imagined constraints
• What We Already Know Can Help Us
  • Most new things aren't totally new
  • Failure as opportunity
  • Confidence by analogy
• Collaboration Solves Problems
  • You don't have to do it all yourself
  • What makes collaboration difficult
  • How to encourage a collaborative environment

Who Should Attend: Anyone from the California library community who wants to work confidently and perform capably, even in new or changing situations.

Prerequisites: None

Check-in: 8:30 to 9:00 AM Instruction: 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM

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