As a fully inducted member of the National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS), I am working on a leadership training course, EXEC 301 Executive Leadership Certification, a 13-week leadership project. In the previous post, I laid out an overview of the project. This project must include elements from five leadership development categories: physical, intellectual, emotional care, ethics, and service to others. Physical development maintains bodily health and builds stamina, resilience, and energy. Intellectual pursuits increase knowledge and sharpen the mind and critical thinking. Emotional care leads to self-awareness and emotional intelligence. A foundation in ethics leads to moral conduct, demonstrates integrity and fairness, and establishes trust and credibility. Service to others impacts the community and leads to collaboration on shared goals and well-being. Together, these elements encourage well-rounded leadership. The following is how I implemented these project components:
Physical Development
For the Physical Development component, I aimed to walk five days per week for four weeks for at least two miles or 30 minutes using Leslie Sansone’s walking programs on Amazon. I used Leslie Sansone: Walk To The HITS Party Songs and Leslie Sansone: Walk To The HITS Radio Remixes. I walked from August 7 to September 3 as planned but fell short of my frequency goal by walking only four days per week for three of the four weeks. In the third week, I only walked for two days. However, I walked for three miles or 45 minutes instead of two miles, surpassing my minimum goal for distance and time spent walking. I used Microsoft Excel for my walking log.
Milestones:
Implementation: August 7 – September 3
Date Completed: September 3
Frequency: Four times per week
Distance/Time: 3 miles / 45 minutes
Evidence:
I walked along with Leslie Sansone programs on my iPad.
Screenshot: Leslie Sansone: Walk to the HITS Party Songs
(Orange Program) proof of purchase and watching
Screenshot: Leslie Sansone: Walk to the HITS Radio Remixes
(Blue Program) proof of purchase and watching
Intellectual Pursuits
For the Intellectual Pursuit component, I read The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Sri Swami Satchidananda and wrote a blog post. I did not have a regular or planned reading schedule as my personal and work schedules are not always predictable, but I read during periods when I had time. I completed the book by October 18 instead of October 2, later than planned. I read more slowly to understand and follow the deep philosophy and the Sanskrit, so I did not actually take notes. Instead, I concentrated on reading and rereading sections and referred to the book directly while writing the blog post. I also included external website references to cover additional information, such as who Patanjali and Sri Swami Satchidananda are. I wrote and published the blog post on my website on schedule on October 22.
Milestones:
Implementation: July 30 – October 22
Date Book Purchased: July 30
Date Book Completed: October 18
Date Blog Published: October 22
Evidence:
Blog Post: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A Foundational Guidebook to the Eight Limbs of Yoga
Photo by Amy Haisten
I read The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A Foundational Guidebook to the Eight Limbs of Yoga blog post featured image
Emotional Care
For the Emotional Care component, I aimed to meditate for four weeks using the “14-Day Meditation Journey” playlist by Boho Beautiful on YouTube, continue with the “Meditations by Boho Beautiful” playlist, and log my sessions and experience. I meditated daily using the “14-Day Meditation Journey.” However, I completed this component early on September 18 instead of my goal of October 1 because I did not continue with the “Meditations by Boho Beautiful” playlist. Boho Beautiful included a bonus meditation, so I meditated for 15 days rather than 14. Overall, I meditated for two rather than four weeks. I used Microsoft Excel for my meditation log and journal.
Milestones:
Implementation: September 4 – 18
Date Completed: September 18
Frequency: Daily
Duration: Between 11 – 16 minutes per session
Evidence:
I meditated while listening to Boho Beautiful’s “14-Day Meditation Journey.”
Screenshot: “14-Day Meditation Journey” Playlist videos 1-5. The red progress bars indicate that all the videos have been watched.
Screenshot: “14-Day Meditation Journey” Playlist videos 6-10. The red progress bars indicate that all the videos have been watched.
Screenshot: “14-Day Meditation Journey” Playlist videos 11-15. The red progress bars indicate that all the videos have been watched.
Ethics
For the Ethics component, I took the “Ethics & Generative AI (GenAI)” course by Steve Ballinger, MBA, on Udemy and took notes. I successfully did this by September 22. My goal was to complete the course by August 21, so this was later than planned. I took notes during the course using Microsoft Word instead of Capacities. Due to copyright concerns, I will not include my notes since they include content from the course for sale.
Milestones:
Implementation: September 21 – 22
Date Course Purchased: August 9
Date Completed: September 22
Evidence:
Screenshot: Udemy indicates that 21 of 21 course sections are complete.
Udemy course completion certificate for “Ethics & Generative AI (GenAI)”
Service to Others
For the Service to Others component, my goal was to write one or two long-form blog posts (1,500-3,000 words each) to help teach branding, design, art, or health and wellness topics for free. I chose to write about Canva, a hot topic in my industry that I have strong opinions about. I wrote and published the blog post on my website ahead of schedule on October 16. My goal was to complete my blog posts by October 22. Reading The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and writing the yoga and Canva blog posts took substantial time, so I did not pursue writing a second blog post for this component. My Canva post is quality content that will be helpful to anyone considering using Canva or deciding when to hire a graphic designer rather than doing it themselves.
Milestones:
Implementation: October 5 – 16
Date Blog Published: October 16
Evidence:
Blog Post: Weighing Canva’s Pros and Cons: When to DIY vs. Hiring a Professional Graphic Designer
“Weighing Canva’s Pros and Cons: When to DIY vs. Hiring a Professional Graphic Designer” blog post featured image
Through implementing each component, I successfully progressed toward my goals of improving balance across key areas of leadership development. Despite deviation from my proposal, I still made progress toward my goals. In my next post, I will analyze and reflect on my leadership skills and lessons gained during this experience.
