Recently attended NECC in Washington D.C. and had some great experiences there that I'll outline in another blog soon. This one is dedicated to the thoughts and feelings I took away from the trip and how I grew a little more as a leader while I was gone for those 5 days.
The Background
A few months ago, thanks to my awesome experiences at NCTIES, my life turned into a whirlwind of uncertainty and excitement. Had a lot of opportunities coming my way and found myself so busy I couldn't focus on what I was really wanting to do. A few months after that I started to rebel against myself. Found I had this inner conflict that couldn't be resolved and wasn't really sure what to do about it.
I spent a lot of time in Second Life exploring, meeting new friends and just having fun. Made some awesome connections with people that became very close friends and without their knowledge, they helped me along the way. I started to feel like something big was about to happen. I had no clue what that something would be, but I was really excited to see the outcome. I knew NECC would be fun and packed full of information and great experiences so I looked forward to it like I've never looked forward to anything else.
First Flight
Oddly for me, I packed for the trip at the very last minute, throwing things in my suitcase without really thinking about too much of it. As I was out in the garage putting my suitcase in the car, something caught my eye. A book. It was titled Building the Bridge As You Walk On It, a Guide for Leading Change and I immediately knew I needed to bring it on the trip. Was something from my husband's graduate courses so of course he looked at me odd after seeing my excitement!
During the flight to D.C., I read the first two chapters and felt like the book was written with me in mind. The stories being shared related to experiences and thoughts I had been having over the past few months. Also during this flight I met a wonderful woman from NC that works for a company called Destination Imagination. I listened to the stories she shared about children setting and achieving outstanding and virtually impossible goals. It gave me goosebumps to listen to the successes of this organization and made me think more about the stories in the book.
The Conference
Arriving at NECC I had a new outlook. The book says that you need to accept that you want to change and be the driving force of that change-no matter how difficult. For me, I knew I needed to focus on the conversations. Approach this conference from a whole new level and make the networking priority.
I attended sessions, spent a lot of time networking and attending events and had an absolute blast! One of the things that I really enjoyed about this conference was connecting with friends from second life and spending time with them in real life. The connections I have made with people in second life have been amazing and to sit with them over dinner or at a conference event was so wonderful. It took our second life friendship to a totally new level and gave me lifelong friends that mean the world to me.
Return Home
After all of the great experiences I had at NECC, I was floating on a cloud and feeling pretty emotional about the whole event. Hopped on the plane and had some delays. I sat on the runway for about 3 hours which gave me time to read some more of my book.
I read chapter 3 and reflected on a friend that I knew had achieved the level of leadership described in it, but opening chapter 4 is where everything started to fall into place. Chapter 4 explained that being a good leader does not necessarily relate to work. Part of it involves your personal life and making sure that it is sound. I had known for a while that I had been working too hard and that my family life really needed some nurturing. A good friend had been telling me over and over that it was necessary to focus on family and to not lose sight of its importance. Not sure why hearing him say that didn't make it click in my brain, but I thought of his comments as I read the chapter. More or less, it hit me like a ton of bricks and I knew what I had to do. I needed to have a heart to heart with my husband and rethink our family time. I was a little nervous about this, but as the book says, a good leader will push through that and take the challenge to make things work.
The plane took off and I saw the most beautiful things. Storms had passed through and the clouds were gorgeous with a sunset behind them. (pic below) Tears came to my eyes at the sight before me and the feeling of realization within. For the first time in a while, I truly felt like I was on my way and had a complete vision for the future.
Photo courtesy of Photographer, Kate McFarland: See more photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/k8izgr8/
Finally Home
Made it home safely, talked with my husband and we both committed to spending more family time together and more time together as a couple. I'm going to be very busy over the next year so this "calm before the storm" called summer break is a great time to talk about this. In a couple of weeks, things kick into high gear at school, I start the doctoral program, my husband goes back for a second Master's and our little girl wants to be a dancer. So, even though it is rewarding and oh so fun to be a professional, I'm keeping in mind that it is just as much so to be a Wife and Mother.
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