Photography by Caitlin Swamy (May 2, 2016, Seattle, WA)
As highlighted in my post titled “Self,” the cover of my journal says, “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” When I met with my professor, Dr. Adrian Popa, to discuss my leadership project, he encouraged me to seek feedback that would measure the impact the BCFP Capstone Seminar had on learning and behavior. He highlighted that trainings often measure the satisfaction or experience of participants, but the impact on learning and behavior adds an additional layer of complexity and contributes to the efficacy the workshop. In response, I followed up the BCFP Capstone Seminar with a qualitative survey. I wanted to ensure I was truly “doing something worth writing.” The questions and a sample of the survey responses are captured below:
What was most impactful piece of wisdom that you gained from the BCFP Capstone Seminar?
“Mindfulness… I never took the time to think about mindfulness in the way it was presented during the seminar and how it impacts my mindset, relationships with others, and leadership style.”
“How to best utilize my strengths and how to be aware of the shadows of my strengths. The feedback circle was an eye-opening experience.”
“The trends of our groups in the organizational workshop. I’ve always looked up to role models who had the “tops” mindset, and am often guilty of taking on more than I should. I also am guilty of judging those with a “bottoms” mentality when they are resistant to change or are negative in nature. It was a good lesson on both ends of the spectrum for me.”
“People have similar traits that they interpret in very different ways, and each combination of traits results in a set of unique strengths and weaknesses.”
“Learning more about my leadership style and strengths. Understanding how to apply and embrace these in the workplace. This was the most impactful piece due to the fact that I am in the process of looking for a full-time job post BCFP. Rather than trying to land a job that I can make work, I need to land a role that I can use my strengths in and excel.”
“I enjoyed reflecting on my core values and seeing the connection with my strengths.”
“The most impactful piece of wisdom was the empathy component. It was great to have a tangible way to manage this. I appreciated that we were offered solutions and processes how to improve these skills and didn’t just talk about the concept.”
“Mindfulness and EQ go hand in hand – feelings come and go but we are can, with practice, get better at being aware of what we are feeling and how to best respond.”
“The definition of strengths is really useful and will help my approach to working with others.”
“The most impactful piece of wisdom I gained from the Capstone seminar was the piece on mindfulness. I found the session we did on mindfulness to be beneficial on many fronts. Most importantly though, I appreciated the notion that mindfulness is rooted in leadership and that in order to be an effective leader, you need to be mindful of yourself, your emotions, and the emotions of those you’re interacting with. The session also helped me understand that mindfulness is an essential part of life itself and should be practice regardless of the intentions to lead others or not. More people at Boeing should be trained on the benefits of mindfulness.
“Fear is usually what drives rash or emotional behavior and decisions.”
“The Feedback circle activity was my greatest takeaway. The whole seminar was put together well, but being able to get unfiltered feedback from my peers was greatly appreciated.”
“Name it, Claim it, and Aim it. I should take the time to identify and get comfortable with what my strengths are and truly develop an understanding of what they mean to me. I am in the process of learning to appreciate the unique value that I possess and the value that I have to offer not only others, but to myself as well. In doing so, I realize that I need to intentionally use and continuously work to develop my strengths. Upon completing the seminar, I’m now holding myself accountable to my strengths while acknowledging and looking for ways to better manage my weaknesses, but not letting them dictate my capabilities (or lack thereof).It’s OKAY to not be great at everything, and it’s OKAY to even not be good at everything. As long as I form an appreciation for my strengths and work to develop them for the betterment of myself and for all of those who I can impact in a positive manner. After listening to Kevin and Caitlin on Day II, I realized a weakness isn’t necessarily a weakness. It’s an opportunity to grow strengths and build a connection with friends, family, co-workers, etc. who provide balance and stability in the areas in which we lack. So, forming an appreciation for strengths is necessary, but forming some sort of appreciation for our “weaknesses” leads to the building character, relationships, and contributes to being the well-rounded individuals we all strive to be.”
“1) Keep my values first 2) Be mindful of others I honestly think those two points alone will take me far.”
“I want to put myself in a position to lead by example. I want people to remember me by my willingness to serve and help my colleagues. I want people to say I worked as hard on my last day as I did on my first day.”
“To be an advocate for fostering personal/cultural influences from each team member; bringing something unique from home/life to the outlook of each project and initiative.
“As I approach the end of the BCFP, the Capstone Seminar level-set a view of leadership that I’d truly like to carry with me going forward. I’d like to be an aware and mindful leader in my new organization. Through this, I believe I can hone the ability to empathize and connect with the people I interact with, and create meaningful relationships along the way. Through genuine connection, it is my goal to lead from the front as a caring and empathetic person; always remembering to root the basis for my feelings in an aware state of mindfulness.”
“I want to leverage my strengths and be at home with my weaknesses. I know my core values, but often times I try to improve myself in a way that is not congruent and only creates tension in my life.”I hope to enable people around me to reach their full potential, whatever that means for each individual.”
“I’d like to continue to build on my strengths that were identified through the assessment (ie. foster meaningful relationships) and carry forward my core values in my leadership style.”
“Per my feedback loop, I learned that at times I come across as stressed when completing tasks. One person mentioned that with my personality he could never see me not completing a task on time, so I should work on finessing how I go about it to ensure I’m handling stress better and building even better relationships along the way.”
“I hope to utilize my maximizing strength as leverage to improve my ability to lead within cross-functional groups, as well as becoming more confident in my ability to leave a positive impression on people by being more outgoing””To be able to work more independently.”
“My goal is to intentionally apply my strengths in Relationship Building and Executing to be an effective leader.”
“Increase empathy towards others Practice having difficult conversations Become a better listener.”
“First and foremost, landing a role in which I am able to apply my strengths. Second, integrating professional and personal goals. Lastly, establishing a strong network.”
“Mindfulness reflection practices such as meditation, yoga, and journaling. Also being more aware of myself and others around me.”
“Speak up more in situations that call for discussion in order to convey confidence. I also want to take a breath between action and reaction to work through the Facts/Stories/Feelings/Wants I have in a situation. I’ve found this helpful in ensuring that the message I’m conveying when I do speak up is what I intend to say.”
“Leverage my strengths and practice.”
“I’m going to try to improve my emotional intelligence and be more conscious of how I interact with others in various situations.”
“I will strive to focus more intently on giving advice to others that may be difficult for them to hear or perhaps uncomfortable for me to present. Being more comfortable and honest in situations where I need to be constructively critical is an opportunity for me in building my leadership potential and influencing without authority.”
“I’m going to try and bring more empathy into my work team. I’m also going to actively try to identify strengths of my teammates and partner with them to maximize our effectiveness.”
“Mindfulness of how I’m coming across to others (stressed or composed). Also, learning to stay quiet and listen. I always feel that I need to say something to reassure the person who is talking that I’m listening; however, I found during these exercises that I prefer people who stay quiet and maintain eye contact. Another takeaway that I would like to keep in mind moving forward is that often the responses we give to people are to make ourselves feel more comfortable and not necessarily the best for the person we’re listening to. It’s important to realize that there is a difference between sympathy and empathy and there is a place and time for both.”
“The feedback circle was a valuable exercise – it provided me the insight of things I can work on and also things that I do well. It’s meaningful to hear from my peers and future leaders.”
“I am going to take time to get to know people on a more personal level. I feel that I have the tools to handle this better after capstone.”
“I hope to take these lessons and learn to bring out and accentuate others’ strengths.”
“I am going to give feedback more readily with the intent of serving my peers well. I am also going to strive to create a culture on our team where feedback is not only welcomed but sought after.”
“Going forward I am going to move away from a reactive, controlling type of leadership. Understanding my reactive impulses and being mindful of the reactions and their effect on others is an essential change I need to make to be more effective as a leader. Based on feedback I received from others as well, I need to improve my sense of positivity as well. I can come across as negative at times and that can be overwhelming to others, so if I can adjust this as well, I believe I will be more effective. Leading in a mindful way will allow me to get ahead of my emotional reactions and lead proactively rather than reactively. Much of what we learned in the sessions has allowed me to flip this problem on its head and view it from a different angle.”
“I will start taking time to just be aware of what is going on around me. Try to slow down and really take in everything.”
“Defining stories and facts when having such discussions. Also feelings vs wants.”
“Be more mindful of those around me. Recognize that everyone has certain strengths and we as humans’ battle with our weaknesses daily. So just to encourage my peers, mentors, mentees, and co-workers whenever I have the opportunity. Find ways to continuously uplift them, listen to them, and do whatever I can to help them.”
“Educating others and promoting buy-in to these concepts. People later in their career may not be as quick to open up as BCFPs were this week.”
“I anticipate barriers in truly asking for what I want in using emotional intelligence. I think that is a hard concept to concur especially being a women in the Business Environment.”
“Fast paced work makes it difficult to slow down and reflect; I will try to take time at the end of each week to meditate.”
“Friends and coworkers with a negative perception of Boeing. Also, myself in terms of the self discipline needed to practice mindfulness in the form of regular meditation. Finding “down time” for my brain is the easiest thing to cut from a busy day.”
“Boeing’s culture is to attack conflict head on and values doing things how we’ve always done them. I think a lot of this will come down to manager support and explaining to direct leadership what change we are trying to enact.”
“Lingering bad habits and laziness. Being intentional and diligent in my daily work and interactions will be the only way for me to improve.”
“I anticipate closing the gap will be the greatest barrier. I will stay mindful and ensure I keep space between Stimulus and Response.”
“With all of the techniques that we learned to be more empathetic, to use emotional intelligence., there will always be times that despite best effort, someone that you’re talking to just isn’t willing to listen or “come around”. This could be a barrier to encouraging you to keep using these techniques and tools in the future. I want to make the commitment to myself to not let one or two tough experiences prevent me from continuing to use the techniques we learned.”
“1. Not having the time to commit to goals. I plan to overcome this by planning mindfulness practices into my day. 2. Impatience or negative talk from self or others. By incorporating mindfulness practices into my everyday life, I will become better at dealing with negativity as it comes”
“Being consumed with daily routines and activities. I need to focus on making mindfulness part of my daily activities. If I am able to integrate a 10-minute mindfulness activity to my day, I can successfully practice.”
“I experienced a Metanoia during the feedback circles. It was amazing to hear that my peers really saw my strengths (identified through Strengths Finder) as real strengths to leverage, and hear examples of how I’ve used these strengths to lead others. To hear that from peers and friends meant a lot, and reframed how I view my own strengths and gave me more confidence.””During the mindfulness activity and dialogue walk. I was able to focus on the present, my surroundings, and zone into myself. Being able to clear my mind this way allowed for me to strategize on my future afterwards.”
“Core values- considering my ability to shift my focus to address points of weakness or opportunity in my life allowed me to understand the importance of Synergy in my life.”
“During the Organizational workshopIn general, made me realize we are all guilty of falling into the habits of the roles we take on wherever they may fall in the org structure. Specially occurred while playing a bottoms role and realizing how much something as small as changing a rule to allow bathroom breaks can mean SO much in a position that often people feel victimized in. While I believed before that I put myself in others’ shoes fairly well, I think this proved that while I may try, I don’t always have the right perspective and should be conscious of that. Feedback circles: Realized that most people are very open to constructive feedback, however they need to be in a position to receive it. Also, I now have a better idea of how I’m perceived by others and what my blind spots are.”
“I think the Dialogue walk was a great way to end the seminar. It was great to talk through everything we had been practicing and really apply it to my life.””Putting my abilities into defined strengths and exploring how they complement each other.”
“Dialogue walk – it’s hard to put into words what a cool experience it was. Alex was my first friend in BCFP and we have remained close. We’ve walked through many struggles together and to take the time to look back on how those struggles were overcome, how far we’ve come, and how we’ve changed the goals we set for ourselves to be more in line with who we truly are. It was awesome.”
“I experienced a Metanoia during the Feedback circles. Hearing constructively from others, I believe I gathered a different outlook on my behavior and presentation. This allowed me to think dynamically about the type of leader and colleague I’ve been to others, and also helped explain a common theme I have experienced throughout my personal and professional life in the way my friends treat me. Because of the safe space created for feedback, I was able to come to conclusion about the way I’ve been acting, and given the session of mindfulness, am now very aware of how my actions have been coming full circle to affect me. It was a very powerful moment.”
“Dialogue walk – it was easily the most reflective part of the trip and great to simply experience the facility like that (tangibly).”
“Org Workshop was a great experience. Really coming together as a team and doing the best we can in the position we were placed.”
“Reading this question alone… made me a little emotional, but then again I am somewhat a softy! I honestly think everything. In some way, shape or form each and every seminar touched me enough to spark a change of heart. Mindfulness, I learned that I am not very mindful. My brain always wants to work, work, work and do more work. I never take the time to really practice mindfulness. I plan to download the headspace app and work on being mindful. Mindful of my feelings, mindful of situations, my environment and truthfully mindful of others. Sometimes I find myself stuck in my ways and I don’t consider the feelings or wants of others and honestly sometimes even the facts. So I am working to slow down mentally and truly tap into being mindful in the different day-to-day situations I find myself in. Another “BIG” moment happened with the feedback circle. The positives were truly all motivating and were centered on my “presence”, work ethic, intelligence, ability to connect with people, etc. However, the feedback is what was most helpful. I was told 2-3 times, that my ability to process and respond with great ideas may be quicker than my peers. Which is great, but it hinders my peers to finish processing their thoughts/ideas to share, they feel as if their ideas aren’t “good enough” and therefore wouldn’t be worth sharing etc. I was advised to hold on to my ideas, until the end because I bring such a different perspective. Which I can agree on the slowdown portion, it’s important for everyone to feel as if their opinion is valued and wanted. So, now I plan to not necessarily stop sharing or speaking up, but if I notice shy individuals, or those who may not be so confident in sharing…I will wait until others speak up to contribute. The most personal moment of metanoia, was reading the letter I wrote to myself during orientation. I questioned rather or not I deserved to be in this program, rather or not I would strive in this program coming in with no prior knowledge of finance or business. However, my # 1 value then and now of spirituality read as, “ Remember you can and will do all things through Christ, who strengthens you. You are where you are because he PLACED you there. Stay confident in his word, stay confident in yourself, and build confidence in others”. I think that was all I needed to reassure that I deserved this, this program, process, development both professionally and personally had my name on it. It was the light bulb that finally went off… TRUST the PROCESS. It was a very nice feeling, a sense of accomplishment to read my letter and note that everything listed in the “achievement” section I’ve been blessed enough to complete. So many moments hit me where it matters. I honestly feel as if this entire experience changed me for the better.”
“AMAZING EXPERIENCE!! Really impactful material and activities. A big thank you to all that planned and helped execute. This was such a great professional and personal experience.”
“Thanks Caitlin and Kevin for an awesome week!”
“I loved the feedback circles – it was an amazing time to give positive and constructive feedback to peers. I think it would be even more meaningful if it was more regionally based (e.g. BCFPs were grouped based on their home site), as it was challenging to really have meaningful feedback for some people that we’ve really only interacted with three times (orientation, midpoint, and capstone).”
“All of the Teams and Leaders portions and EQ work would have greatly served us at the beginning of the program, when we are navigating so many interpersonal encounters and work environments every four months. Now that we are more culturally comfortable and facing longer work engagements I know I’ll have less opportunities to apply these than I would have the last year or two. Also the fact that about half of the participants had clearly done the workshops before made it tough to keep even engagement across everyone, understandably. Great overall week!! Especially the incorporation of Caitlin’s graduate program – awesome exposure to something we could all consider for our future development. Passion and confidence was so evident! Thank you.”
“Overall I think the capstone was incredibly successful. The atmosphere at the event was incredibly open and welcoming and you could see everyone get engaged and involved. Excellent work and planning by Caitlin.”
“Positive Feedback: Overall a good experience for me. I tend to shy away from vulnerable exercises/discussions and while at times it was extremely uncomfortable/borderline painful, I believe that I learned and grew a lot from the week. I enjoyed the feedback circles, org workshop, and gratitude circles the most. Constructive feedback: I felt at times we went a bit too in depth, specifically on the SOUL model and Strengths Finder. Also, I do believe that at times I would have potentially selected examples to discuss with partners that were more vulnerable, but because of the encouragement to select partners I wasn’t familiar with, I selected the “safer” option.”
“This was an incredible week! Thank you for all your work and effort in this. Your passion shines through in moments like these and I hope you can keep creating such wonderful experiences!””Loved the feedback circles – wish we could have done it on an even larger scale to get more insight. Great job Caitlin!”
“I think the timing of the seminar was great because at capstone people feel comfortable enough to really open up. The simulation was one of the best that I have ever done. I would like to do the Feedback Circle by region. Overall, Thank you Caitlin for all of your hard work. The seminar truly allowed us to see your passion for leadership development and how gifted you are with it.”
“Caitlin, thank YOU so much for putting together the content for this seminar. I feel that I learned a lot about myself and about others. I truly appreciate all of your hard work and dedication in ensuring that we have a meaningful and rich week at the BLC.”
“Thank you so much for pouring all of your energy into this course and facilitating it. I truly feel empowered to go and make a difference in both my personal and professional life after practicing the tools to effectively connect and lead people. It was a remarkable experience to open up to 40 strangers and really go deeper than just the surface level. Thank you!!”
Imagine.Create.Serve. 