One of the best things about the 2024 Aspire Leaders Program is the opportunity to connect with your global peers from day one. You will belong to both a Google Group of 100 students and you will create a Pod of around 10 students during this Module. 

For this step, please confirm you are able to access your assigned Google Group. In the personal Google Email that you submitted as a part of your registration materials, you should have received an email titled "Invitation to Join ALP Pilot Group 00X". This is your Group of 100 other students. Please open this email and review its contents.

If you do not see the invitation email in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If you are on mobile, you must press "Request Desktop Site" in your mobile browser in order to post in the Google Group. 

If you have questions or encounter issues, please review the Technology tab.

Now that you have successfully accessed your Google Group, it is time to organize into your Module 1 Pod! Pods consist of about 10 students each and will be used to discuss topics, complete weekly assignments, and deliver your end of module presentations. 

Within your Google Group, you are expected to self-organize into the Pods. Some students should volunteer to host a Pod and others should choose to join a Pod that a host has started. Information on either hosting a Pod or joining a Pod can be found below. Choose ONE of the two options.

Option 1: Host a Pod

Hosting a Pod is great leadership practice & entails 4 core responsibilities:

1. Select the platform that you would like to use for your Pod. You need to have a clear way to invite everyone to a:

   • Text chat channel where you can all share messages with each other (we recommend Google Spaces)

   • Virtual meeting platform where you can all video call & share screens during your end of module presentations (we recommend Google Meet)

2. Introduce yourself as a Host in your Google Group using the following language: 

Hi all, my name is [Full Name], & I would like to host a Pod in order to complete our learning assignments & end of module presentations! I currently live in [Current Country] in [Current Timezone]. I will be using [Intended Text Chat Platform] for our discussion posts & [Intended Group Virtual Meeting Platform] for our presentations. Please reply to this thread if you would like to join my Pod. Once I have 10 people, I will be locking this post & will share invite information directly to my members. Thank you! 

3.  Lock your post once you have hit your limit in members. 

4. Invite interested participants to your Pod's text chat channel.

5. During Week 2, you will need to schedule the end of module presentation meeting with your Pod. You will host this on your chosen virtual meeting platform.  

Please note that as a Pod host, certain participants in your Google Group who may be having a difficult time in their Pod may reach out to you directly to join yours. It is completely up to you whether or not you feel you can support additional members, and you are within your right to decline.  

Option 2: Join a Pod

Joining a Pod is critical to your success in the program & has 4 core responsibilities:

1. Review all the potential Pod Host posts in your Google Group.

2. Reply to the one you want to join. If the group is full, you must find another one that is still available. 

3. Once invited into a Pod, follow your Host's access instructions to join the text chat channel. 

4. At the end of the module, follow the Host's instructions for attending the end of module presentation.

Please note that if you would like to leave your Pod for any reason, you should coordinate directly with the other Pod hosts in your Group to join one of their Pods. We highly encourage you to limit these switches to within the first week of the program. If you are leaving your Pod due to reasons of abuse, please let us know via the Safety Form.

Recommendation

Since we are using Google for your Group assignments, we recommend using Google Spaces (chat) and Google Meet (video) to connect with your Pod.

Still having trouble understanding Groups vs. Pods? See the Technology page for technology FAQs, more details about Groups and Pods, and information on using Google Spaces and Google Meet for your Pod.

You will be asked to complete a number of Personal Workbook entries throughout the program. Please designate a location to keep these entries.  This can be a digital folder on your computer or a paper notebook. For those comfortable using Gmail,  you have an amount of free storage in your Google Drive that can be used for this purpose. 

The Workbooks are for your private use and will not be reviewed by Aspire. But,  they will form the basis of content you are asked to submit as a part of the End of Module Assessment. 

Workbook Entry #1: Getting to know your Peers (~250 words)

Please answer the following questions in your Personal Workbook. A) Where do you reside currently? B) What year of your undergraduate program are you now pursuing, or what year did you complete your undergraduate program? C) What is your area of study? D) What would you like to learn or gain from the Aspire Leaders Program? 

Based on a scientifically-robust test taken by millions of people all over the world, Aspire's BigFive Quiz is a fun & insightful personality assessment designed to help you along your leadership journey.

This is all about getting to know yourself better and preparing yourself as a leader! You will learn about your strongest personal attributes & how they apply in leadership scenarios. You will also learn how to reframe the more subtle elements of your personality as strengths in different contexts.

Take the BigFive Quiz here or via the form at the bottom of this page.

Please complete these entries in your Workbook. 

Workbook Entry #2: Keeping in mind that no single test is definitive, what are the most notable ways in which the BigFive test results accord with, or diverge from, your own understanding of yourself, especially with regard to your strongest two scales. Which two subscales are notable to you and why?

Workbook Entry #3: Given the BigFive test results and your reflections in Workbook Entry #2, how might you use your understanding of your personality if (pick one of the following options A-D to answer):

A) You are interested in a career:

• How would you prepare for a job interview? Who would you speak with and why? What would you ask the person and why?

B) You are interested in building a start-up:

• How would you prepare a project plan? Who would you speak with and why? What would you ask the person and why?

C) You are interested in pursuing a professional degree:

• How would you identify your area of study? Who would you speak with and why? What would you ask the person and why?

D) You are interested in your professional development:

• How would you identify new opportunities for growth in your current organization? Who would you speak with and why? What would you ask the person and why?

Discussion Posts are to be submitted to your Pod text chat, wherever your Pod decided to establish your group communication channel. Please complete the two assignments below.

Discussion Post #1: What would you like to learn or gain from ALP? Why are these important to you? (2-3 sentences)

Discussion Post #2: Comment thoughtfully (1-3 sentences) on two other students' posts that vary from your own. What did you find intriguing or unexpected? What questions do you have about the post?