Design

Describe your action plan and how each of your four chosen competencies will influence its design and implementation.

I am going to address the need of providing our members with consistent communication about our union work and information relevant to our members through a monthly email newsletter. I feel increased and consistent communication will help to engage our members in our union work. I will also be holding monthly meetings with administration and attending any other committee meetings and board meetings.

Overarching Competency #1: Interpersonal Effectiveness. In my monthly meetings with administrators and when attending meetings as the union president, I will ensure I am building relationships based on trust and a shared vision. I will work to communicate effectively with empathy and lead discussions on how to best support our members within the district.

Overarching Competency #2: Communication. I will be working to ensure I am effectively delivering messages about the work being done by the local union to our members and elicit feedback when needed. I will share the important work that is being done including any work around benefits, celebrations, contract language, negotiations, etc. I will ensure that my communication is clear, consistent, and helpful. I will also be working to communicate in other ways including moderating a public forum for our trustee candidates.

Leadership Pathway: Association Organizing and Advocacy. I will work with others to collaborate effectively by engaging with local and state union leadership to gain a better understanding of how to move our union forward. This will include taking training around organizing and also meeting with the organizing team. I will also be focusing on this pathway when meeting with district administration as the voice and advocate of our members. During our negotiations meetings, I will focus on this pathway as I will need to ensure I utilizing interpersonal effectiveness to gain different perspectives and advocating for those perspectives during the meetings. I used power mapping to help navigate this process (Evidence 1)

Foundational Competency: Collaborate purposefully. I will be working to ensure I am working collaboratively with all individuals and across all groups to build our union relationships. This work will include creating and facilitating involvement in meetings and involving others in any meetings that are relevant to them. I will also participate in coalitions at the local and state level to ensure I am advocating on behalf of our membership.

How will your leadership leverage the strengths and address the needs of diverse stakeholders to support the action plan, develop capacity, broaden decision-making, and learn collaboratively?

I have had extensive experience in leadership capacities throughout my professional career. This has provided me with an ability to effectively communicate thoughts honestly and respectfully. I also feel that by listening and engaging with others, I will be able to better address the needs of diverse stakeholders and raise up their voice with administration to ensure all needs are being addressed and met.

How will you use collaboration, questioning, data, and reflection during the implementation of your action plan?

I will meet regularly with various stakeholders to discuss implementation and to reflect on the work that has been done. The initial survey helped to establish a basis for the work to be done. Future conversations with individual stakeholders will help to support this work. I conducted interviews with people that helped to guide my work including our field consultant who helped shape how we approached school board elections as a local union (Evidence 2). I will use qualitative data of interviews and anecdotal evidence with conversations to help me ensure my communications are effective as well as use anecdotal evidence in regards to building positive relationships with administration.

How will you address obstacles that you may encounter in implementing your plan?

I have found that obstacles can be best addressed with communication and time. If I encounter frustration, I will take time to reflect on practices that led to that frustration and work to overcome those obstacles by engaging in conversation with others to determine next steps. I believe strongly in the power of conversation and working with others to overcome any obstacles.

How will you know if your action plan is successful? What evidence would support your claim?

I will know my action plan is successful when more members become engaged in our work. I would also hope to see an increase in membership due to more engagement with members. I will be working on creating a list of members to track engagement. Evidence of relationship building is a bit more challenging to measure as it is not as objectively gathered. I will rely on evidence of mutual communication with administration as well as any outside perspectives and evidence from other stakeholders or colleagues.