Friday, December 3, 2010

December Blog

It's been awhile, but alot has happened lately. We completed our parent's move and now we just completed our own move to Jeffrey Drive. Anyways i'm spent!! I also went over to VA and PA to visit friends and family. I had a great time doing so. Anyhow I guess the real news is that I don't think i'll be pursuing my EDD. The reasoning is that I will not be a FT educator and I can teach technology courses at a community college right now as an adjunct. I should really look into this option because I would save myself time and effort as well as 75K. Granted work will assist me in the payments, but I will still owe approximately 60K after all said and done. I'll need that cash to pay for a wedding and perhaps have a down payment for a new home!!! oh well...Still needing to pay for my Masters!!! haha... Anyways...hope all is well in the 'real' world...

MT out

Thursday, September 23, 2010

September Update 9-23-2010

well, the family has been moved and i think we are going to give them time before we visit them....they need to clear the way, garage, living room, backyard...etc. they had so much stuff!! i've been trying to get more involved in my own life, reaching out to others and trying to understand why people do the things they do. it's been a great learning experience...learning from listening. perhaps i can take some psychology classes?? well, the better half already is doing that so let's just have one shrink in the household. im having a blast with swimming and volleyball. had a horrible day this past tuesday but going to try to make up for it tonight. i just bought some flash cards for the GRE. i really need to get on that boat...but will need to also cut back on some other activities....like probably weekend vball and/or weekday vball. next weekend (oct-1) will be Vegas...then following weekend is a wedding...then prob vball/study etc..then end of oct i'll be in DC/VA/PA...ugg..then nov will be pretty much shot so i really have to download a schedule and mark it for studies. the better half is so busy and we barely saw ea.other yesterday. i guess it's for the best for now but i hope we don't get too distant. anyways. hope all is better out there in the world!! life is good...live it..

-MT

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Sighs @ life...

Found out a couple of weeks ago that my little cousin has Synovial Sarcoma. A rare type of cancer that attacks the soft tissue. Ugg..she's only 24. I'm so saddened by this and i've read her blogs and read into the cancer and it sounded like there wasn't much done to research the cancer. I've also read that there is a good chance for survival...76% but still, that's besides the point. She's family and it's like someone sucker punching me. I'm 34 going on 35 and at least i have 10 years or so on her that i wish she will have.

I am optimistic however and will continue to pray for her and spend as much time with her as possible. I will also do more research on the topic so that I can be more knowledgeable on it. Meanwhile here is her site on Synovial Sarcoma for those interested in reading up on it. Please do..


http://synovialsarcoma.tumblr.com/

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Missing Malt 12

It has been over a month now and i'm already missing my classmates. I just saw Mary this past weekend, Fabi and Cramer the weekend before that. There's a strong bond between most of us. Anyhow, I guess I can't wait for Debbie's school to start..as sick as it sounds so that I can start studying myself for the GREs. I'm wondering if i should take a prep course. I know I suck at math and my engrish is not as good anymore because of Rap, TV and listening to my co-workers talk. Anyways, I also need to figure out how i can spend my time more wisely. Too much is going on right now with my family that I really can't concentrate much on anything else but to assist in helping them out. Gosh I wish we won the lottery..but i also need to play it to win it!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Done!

Now that i'm all done and graduated, i feel a sense of emptiness. I do miss my classmates but not so much the work involved in school. I will need to study now for my GREs... I need to get on that soon...The better half has 3 weeks off so I guess I will too so we could hang out more.

Be back again soon.

Checking out!!

MT

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Finished with Action Research (For now)

Finally finished the exhibitions!

The learning process was enormous. Even though I approached it as a regular presentation, It felt different presenting my findings in only 10 (or so) minutes and to answer questions from the panel. I wished I could have answered additional questions and wished it was longer than 10 minutes. I felt a little cheated from the time perspective. How can I do Action Research for the entire year and only present for 10 minutes. Anyhow, it is what it is and we finished it. I was also a little disappointed in the graduation brochure saying our program was (ONLINE). Felt a little cheated there too. I hope we'll have a session for the future cadre...in terms of process improvements etc.

Out for now,

MT

Sunday, June 6, 2010

668 Blog for Week of 7/5/2010

Reflect on a successful experience you had managing someone else?

I do like the word Sponsor better than manager or boss. I enjoy the conversations that my peers have because they have always asked me for the final thought. I feel that I'm good at assisting others think in terms of the other person. Being empathetic to the other person's situation is a must. People must do this in order to make a sound decision. Unfortunately we can not have the other person do the same, but then once we think in their shoes, we can talk to them in a more understanding way. I've assisted my mentees this way and I've enjoyed it when they came back to me and said oh boy! that was great! the client understood exactly where we were coming from and understood why we came up with the recommendations that we did! This puts a smile in my face knowing that I made a minor difference.

What made this successful?

I think the ability to LISTEN to others is key not only at work, but in life. People in general are too eager to offer their own opinions and therefore really tune the other person out when they are talking. (I admit that I do as well) They tend to think that it's my way or the highway. We have to take a step back being in the IT world. We need to assess, reflect and recommend according to budget, interoperability and business need. Once we fully understand this, we can come up with a technically creative way to solve issues that the business may have. What makes our group successful is the fact that we indeed care about the business, but they have to understand that we too are doing our jobs and we need to follow the process, procedures and the policy set by the leaders. We are 'managing' the infrastructure and need to comply. But if we see an opportunity to go outside that policy, we have to do our homework to assess the risk, and the consequences.

What could you have done differently?

Unfortunately there are times where we take the Business's word for something that they said they had as a control. We don't have insight into their world so what they tell us we pretty much have to trust. In the real world, I was told that you can not audit trust. SO having said this, there were times where the business would take us for granted and didn't disclose fully what lack of controls they had and when IT Audit came in to audit them, it made us look like we messed up. I know we should 'do more' but then with the authority that has been passed down to us, that's all we could do, but we are however going to work on finding a better solution in the future so that we can improve upon the process so that we don't have to shrug and move along. Be agents of change...is what i'd like to do differently...

668 Blog for Week of 6/28/2010

Reflect on a great manager - what made he/she great?

My top manager was in fact my partner in the Big 4 times. Those were the times where we could afford to do things that were 'fun' and when companies (Clients) were spending money on consultants and contractors. My ex-partner was a great leader. He was the guy who stepped in when the profits were bad and said what's the issue here? I don't care if we aren't making any money, I want to know what we can do to solve this issue, and to get us OUT of the client site as soon as possible. The managers and senior managers that was in charge of my project was demanding that the staff put in extra non-chargeable hours so that their profit rates were higher, sending morale down the gutter. In the Hamel book, I read that "A leader garners influence by demonstrating a capacity to get things done and excelling as a team builder" I was reminded of my Partner. He basically came in, spoke with the client, got what needed to get done, and got us out of there. The last meeting we had was a team building exercise that was at The Chart House in Malibu. We ate and drank the whole night. The bill was over $10,000 dollars for a team of approximately 15. He knew that we were burnt out, and needed to keep our morale up and so he spent that money on us to show us that there's also a time to play and have fun at work. I loved that guy! Oh and did I say he was a good leader too? =)

What does this tell you about yourself?

What I've learned from this experience is that managers manage and keep things in order. Leaders are those who gives vision and takes the followers under their belts to the 'promise land'. I've learned that I can't be a manager. I need to create opportunites, vision and direction for those who are following me and I need to keep morale on a higher level. Like the Googles of the world, I need to innovate and think more for the people and not just for profit. "in a high trust, low-fear organization, employees don't need alot of oversight, they need to be mentored and supported, rather than bossed around." These quotes supports what my story is all about above, and moving forward. (Pgs 88-89)I enjoy helping people, but first, they need to do all they can to think critically on their own and then come to me with alternatives so that I can assist them in making a decision. Like in Gary's class (Stager) Ask 3 before me. I thought that was a good phrase to adopt.

668 Blog for Week of 6/21/2010

How can management be innovative?

Management are those who follow vision, mission statements and policy and procedures. They are those who follow what upper leadership has established for them. To answer the question, yes, management can be innovative, but only to their own processes. They can further advance their own internal flow and procedures, but management itself can no longer evolve from the past 20-30 years. It is meant to crack the whip on the lower tiered employees and serve as a middle tier that keeps the vision and mission of the upper 'management's' goals.

Does it then become leadership?

In (Northouse, 2003) we learned that a person, let's assume it's a manager can have a trait of a leader or possess the process of a leader. I believe that a person can show signs of being a leader, but when put to the test they may fail at becoming the leader. These managers may also have assigned leadership roles, or emergent leadership roles. Assigned in my opinion are those who are the 'managers' out there. They are assigned a team to lead or a task to complete. (Not real leaders) Emergent leaders are those positions that emerge over time, and is not assigned by position. Unfortunately there's an organizational hierarchy. A person must go through that and be put to the test prior to being a proclaimed 'leader'. Managers CAN become leaders, or are already leaders of their own group(s). Not all managers though will become leaders. Those people may not possess the traits of being a true leader. They are may only be good at what they do on a micro level and may not be too good with leading a diverse group of people.

Where do the lines intersect between management and leadership?

It says that Management produces order and consistency while Leadership produces change and movement. I believe that anything a manager can do a leader can do, but not all managers can perform leadership roles.

For example, Leaders can plan and budget, organize and staff, control and problem solve, all characteristics that Management possesses (Source: Adapted from A Force for Change: How Leadership Differs From Management Kotter 1990) Management meanwhile can not really establish direction (longer term than their immediate team), Align people (again long term strategy) and Motivate and Inspire employees. I've seen my immediate manager unable to motivate and inspire my own team. They do what their intrinsic motivators lead them and are mostly there for the extrinsic rewards of their paychecks. They do not do anything more than needed for the extrinsic rewards. While there are certain intersects i've mentioned above, I do feel that Leadership is different from management. Any leader can manage...but not all managers can lead. Some managers are there just to maintain order and consistency in the Organization. They are there to keep the 'process and procedure' in place, while leaders define the process and procedures, vision and mission of the organization.

MT

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

668 Blog Post for Week of June 7th 2010

How does motivation translate into technology design and success?

For my Action Research project, motivation played a role in the success/failure of the implementation of our internal SharePoint project. What were the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators that my co-workers had to contribute to our knowledge management system? I found out that most of the co-workers were too busy with their own initiatives and were not motivated to contribute to something that didn't 'pay off'. Although management supported the initiative, the employees were not forced to contribute and were not rewarded either. This project would have been more successful if we had employees contribute eagerly and willingly. I had zero 'power' to coherce my co-workers and in these stress filled lay off filled times, people were reluctant to share their knowledge and were unmotivated to do so as well.

Think of an example successful technology, and share how motivation was a factor in its success.

The one technology that I can think of that is super successful right now is Facebook. People are genuinely curious by nature and so they wonder what their friends are up to, or they want to do things that offers them extrinsic rewards. I would think it's 'entertaining' to find out what your ex-girlfriend is doing, how she looks now or how your old friend is dating your ex-girlfriend now...uuhh..well, anyhow you get the point. Everyone has different motivators, and they all contribute differently to Facebook. One can just update their statuses allll day long, and another person would upload a ton of pictures to share. Aggregately, we have a technology that is meant to work the way it's designed. Facebook also adjusts to the needs of the community. (I.e privacy, updates, etc.) Usability, curiosity, adopt-ability are key factors of a successful technology product. (Social technology that is) It has to hit 'home' and provide the user with some sort of satisfaction, or extrinsic reward for them to use the technology.

MT out.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

668 Blog for Week of May 31st

What tools in the Drive Toolkit most interested you? How would you use these tools to motivate those around you? To be personally motivated?

Since I'm doing a fitness health plan for my organization, I thought I might as well drive that thought with the Type I Motivation for exercise from the Toolkit. (Pg. 2001)

Set your own goals - I'm sure we've all read it before but people do seem to want to look like the Calvin Klein models. Who wouldn't? before you try to get there, you must understand that they get paid to go to the gym, have a fitness instructor etc. We need to understand that we need to eat right everyday, and this includes working around the work schedule, the kids schedule the LIFE schedule. Do you wake up and brush your teeth? Do you have lunch at 12? Do you have to pick up the kids at 3? Well, work your workout into that schedule. It MUST be part of your life in order for you to succeed. Short term goals won't help you, long term ones will and everyone needs to incorporate healthy living/eating into their lives.

Ditch the Treadmill
- Treadmills are soooo boring..I've gone on there and it's so boring that I always almost fall off of them. Do something FUN...go walk along the beach in the SAND...the resistance will help tone your muscles. Take the bike to the park, or somewhere fun and with a scenery. If your joints cant handle it then do some elliptical. If not, swim! What about boxing? There's so many things out there that's fun and engaging. One just needs to go out there to exert some energy. You'll have fun doing it AND you'll tone up and lose weight doing it! AWESOME!

Keep mastery in mind
- I've always been blessed with athletic ability so I'm not a MASTER at a specific sport, but it helps to NOT be bad at it! =) For others that may have 3 thumbs or 2 left foots..feets? anyhow, try different things. Some people are better at Hip Hop classes, Pilate, Yoga etc. Not everyone will be good at something i.e golf, basketball, football but you get the point. If you do it like your job (repetitions) then eventually you'll get better @ it and even lead the class!

Reward yourself the right way - Oh how many times have we heard this? I worked out and now i deserve a chocolate cake, beer or ice cream! well, many times really but for the most part, you should be eating healthier, but you can splurge once in awhile...but guess what? IN MODERATION. The simple weight equation is Exert MORE than you INTAKE. It's easy and you'll lose weight! But you ARE what you eat is a common phrase that I hear. Don't starve yourself but then again don't splurge when really you've only done the minimum to prolong your life with some exercise and eating right.

People seem to think that they are too busy to live a healthy lifestyle, or have too many issues to do so too. I just think it's about motivation and commitment to your routine. If it's built into your daily lifestyle like combing your hair, or brushing your teeth, then you'll likely succeed. If not then you'll lose weight now, but will ultimately gain it back, leading to a negative feeling of failure.

I try to keep this focus myself, and not only with my health but my work and my life. Who wants to do mediocre work everyday? or why do mediocre work once in a while and great work other times. I will honestly try to do good work all the time. (MOST) =)

Friday, May 21, 2010

668 Blog for Week of May 24th

Who is impacted by change? What are their characteristics and how do we use our understanding of them to best implement change?

I would argue that everyone is impacted by change in one way or another. From an organizational perspective, change can be a minor change in a form, and thus would lead the actors into filling out the form in a different manner. From a leadership change perspective, one can change an organizational structure and that change would permeate down to the lower level managment team. Chang in organizational culture can affect employees. If the company decides to cut peoples pay, enforce forced furlough or cut 401K contributions, this affects everyone monetarily and emotionally.

As pointed out in the previous paragraph, I believe that change can cause emotional strain as well as monetary strain. Perhaps change can also be a positive agent. I can't just keep thinking of the negative right? As an agent for change (or against change) we must understand and empathize with those being affected. We must understand the ramifications of this change towards the employee, or person, because at the end of the day...they are indeed people/humans. Once we are aware of the outcomes of the change, we should build in support mechanisms for those affected by the change. It's really bad to enforce negative change with out a positive outlook. Organizations that are better at the communication of this type of change are better prepared in my opinion. I guess a good example would be of my own organization. We were forced to 'cut' heads or 'right shore' and so instead of just cutting heads, they came up with an alternative plan for the employees. SO if they had to cut 15 jobs, per se, they would flat out and say we have a 'difficult' decision to make, but we are doing what's right for the organization and will instead of cutting 15 jobs, we'll enforce mandatory furlough days and cut 401K matching. Great news is, we save 15 jobs. (Could have been me) but bad news is, we lose money. All in all, it's a win win from a lose lose situation. Being prepared is the key for change. Also being creative in the communication is important too.

Monday, May 17, 2010

668 Blog for Week of May 17th 2010

Understanding the learning context for change, Part 1. How do we know what learning is necessary within ourselves and those impacted by the change?

I've been involved in conversations with co-workers, friends, family and even strangers. I can definitely tell you that I've learned alot from the aformentioned group of people. BUT there comes a time when I DO NOT know what the heck they are talking about and I feel a sense of unworthyness, uncomfortable-ness and unworthyness. When I feel that way, (which I hope is not often) I deem learning upon the subject is necessary. I hate the feeling of being lost or unable to contribute to a conversation or to work at the office. The world out there is an abundance of information and we just need to reach out there and grasp it.

Another example that I would like to bring out are times where I need to fix something. It may be a faucet, a tire, changing the oil, replacing the propane etc. I feel the need to do it myself and learn it myself so that I never have to ask anyone how to do it ever again. I love being self-sufficient.

For those who are impacted by my change. Hrm..I believe that it's for the better quite honestly. When I better myself, I think that I make it better for those around me. If I can fix all the things i've mentioned, then you should benefit from that. If i've learned how to be more effective and efficient at work, then my company would most definitely benefit from the change.

Granted all change is not for the positive. If I was to change negatively, then that would indeed negatively affect my peers, family and friends. Let's just hope that I never change for the worse, and let's keep on thinking of being a positive agent for change and leadership!!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

668 Blog for Week of 5/10/2010

Identifying opportunities for change. How do you know when change is needed? How do people become passionate about change?

There are a couple of ways someone would know when change is needed. Personally, when they get to a point where something is detrimental to their personal lives. Perhaps when a smoker/gambler/overeater reaches a point where they would perhaps die, or strain their relationships with their loved ones is when they reach that melting point or what I call the 'defining moment' It could be a positive moment or a negative moment. Regardless, it's a moment where this person HAS to change or something detrimental will happen, OR that detrimental moment DID occur and that person now looks to change their lifestyle.

From a business perspective I view change as necessary when the same process and procedures yield no profit/effectiveness or efficiency. Perhaps that's the point of equilibrium. In order to improve upon the satisfactory results, the company/group/team must make a change in their way of doing things in order to spice things up or ruffle some feathers so to speak. (same with a workout, the more routine it is, the less results you'll see)

I can speak of my passion for change and hope that it's the same driver as others, but there are plenty of motivations out there for change. You can see a homeless person and would help that person to go home and make a better person of yourself, be a better father, husband etc. You can feel that you are overweight and it's affecting your lifestyle and you become passionate about losing weight in order to stay healthier so that you can see your kids grow up. You can view a defeat as a victory in some cases by further improving yourself now that you have free time. Being passionate about something is different to me than it is to others, but everyone is passionate about change because they may view that change as imperative to their lives. You MUST enjoy what the cause is, why you're changing and for what good that change serves you or people. If you don't enjoy it, you will not be passionate about administering that change, at work or at home personally.

Friday, April 30, 2010

Break!

Great break! now it's time to start focusing on next semester and Action Research.. I need to do more focusing on my writing.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

639 Reflection Blog #6

My mentee missed my meeting this past Monday because he was sick, but he did however attend our Friday CISSP meeting for the first time in over a month. This was good news to me. I invited him over the day before @ my place for a bbq. We watched the Laker game with a few of my co-workers. I wanted him to feel at 'home' and although i'm his mentor, I'm a friend first. I didn't have the 'official' sit down with him that day, but I did sense a feeling of 'i'm moving' on from him. He did seem a little happier and upbeat.

The following day was his regular telecommute day, so he dialed into our meeting along with another co-worker for the CISSP call. We went through some q/a and then I think he felt good about the questions. I really need to push them into their readings more now though. He needs to get his book from his fellow co-worker so that he can read up on the same chapters. It does not help that they are both falling behind in their readings.

Reflecting back, did I fail my mentee by having the study group done as a group? Initially I was thinking that they could help each other by being on the same schedule, but now that i've looked back and am in reality, one person lags, perhaps this gives the other person a feeling of lagability? A big sigh for me. Well, out of the 5 that initially started, we still have 3 participants. That's not so bad, but I don't think we'll hit our end date. I will keep on holding the meetings and q/a for the remainder staff. I think not only will this create a 'support' group, it will also create our 'community of practice' internally. This will help us network in the future.

I will approach my mentee this week and ask him about the closure of our relationship. I wanted our closure to be hitting our end goal of his CISSP certification, but now I don't think we'll ever hit that goal. Eventually, I must draw the line somewhere so that he can be on his own. Does this mean i've failed him?

To be continued...

Thursday, April 1, 2010

639 Reflection Blog #5

After missing a couple of meetings, I saw my mentee this past Monday 3/29/2010. We had our weekly 1 hour talk and caught up on the events occurring in his life. We spoke about his troubles @ the home front, his emotional roller-coaster with his Grandmother passing away and his potential loss of his job in his professional life. It was a real 'tear-jerker' of a situation.

So I led the discussion in the beginning. I was empathetic of his situation and so It seemed that his life was indeed looking up. He has since been back to his 'normal' living situation with his family. He just completed the funeral services for his grandma. The only other item that I wanted to talk to him about was his professional life. I asked him about his plans for the future and his plans immediately. I wanted him to still pursue the CISSP certification so that he would be more marketable if he was laid off here @ work. So, he agreed, I also wanted him to spend more time 'reading' and less time 'mucking' around. He needs to be more responsible for his time and accountable for his time. I understood that he has 4 kids, but during the time when he is home, his wife could be more supportive since she knows of his current professional situation.

As for him, I do see that he's trying and I do see that he has a better outlook now than he did the past couple of weeks ago. I just still need to be there for him when he's in need. I will also keep track of his progress on the CISSP, but as I've reflected in my A6, I believe that we will not achieve that goal that we set out in the beginning. I will however 'coach' him in making it the best possible scenario for himself when he leaves (involuntarily) from the company.

MT

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

639 blog Reflection 4

My mentee missed my weekly call last Friday 3/12 and then missed my Monday F2F meeting on 3/15. I am a little disappointed in this, but again, he has personal issues right now with his family so I can't really blame him. We do talk on IM, but it's not the same. I would like him to at least call me, or email me to cancel our call, or meeting. I'm VERY worried that we will not meet our goal, but again, I really need to think of it as me being his 'therapist'. So today was a very 'bad' day at work for our group. Our immediate manager was being 'reassigned' so now I will report to someone else. We also had alot of layoffs at work today so it was very stressful. One of the reason why I made a curriculum that my mentee and a few of my co-workers could participate in is because of the recent layoffs. I wanted the team to be CISSP certified so that IF they got laid off, they would be 'marketable' when they are looking for a new job. Reflecting back to the readings that we've done (which i've completed), I now see the battles and hills in front of me. I see that there are so many intangibles out there that would make our mentor/mentee relationship 'skew' away from where we'd like it to go. BUT life is about 'possibilities' right? =)

MT OUT!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

639 Reflection 3 Post for Mentoring

I had my one on one with my mentee this past Monday. (3/1/2010) I was asking him why he was behind in his readings and why he didn't show up to the 'kick off meeting' the past Friday. Little did I know, my mentee was experiencing some personal issues as of late. This new information made me decellerate my stance. I now know that I will have to 'support' him and I offered him my 'ear' so that being the mentor, I am really here to 'listen' to him and offer him any assistance that he needs. We are definitely going to have challenges meeting our goal that we made for him. Basically, our curriculum that we set out for him to have all of his readings and for him to take his CISSP test in June will be at risk. He has a family of 6 (including himself and wife) and they are going through a rough patch right now. Now I have to shift my focus on the set goal that we had, to more of a passive listener and more of a 'friend' than a mentor that is helping him focus on his career. The next day (Tuesday) we were 'back to normal' as a co-worker/friend but I now know his personal issues and it's a little strange for me, but I will try to still help him out as much as I possibly can.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Reflection 2 for 639

Well, we had our first kick off meeting for the CISSP (Certified Information System Security Professional) course work for my mentee. The quick lowdown is that I created this 'curriculum' for my mentee (3 month program to study and accomplish the certification) Once I created that, I came up with a timeline for each week, readings and the whole Google Groups for him and an Etherpad for taking notes. SO...I also invited a couple of his co-workers in joining in to participate as a collaborative group. I also invited 3 other security professionals on the side to (CISSP Certified) assist in answering questions for the study group.

Needless to say, the first meeting was Last Friday, 2/26/2010 and 3 of the 5 participants showed up. The goal of the meeting was to describe the google groups, the etherpad and the support that the security groups will provide the study group. My mentee didn't show up. I texted him to see where he was and to no avail, no response. My mentee is a co-worker of mines and I am trying to block it off. I do have a 'recurring' Monday meeting with him and i'll need to reflect on what I'll need to do to 'motivate' him. But I am beginning to feel that he's not as motivated, or driving as I want him to be. We just had this conversation last Thursday in class as well and I feel that I push hard for myself and get annoyed to see that others do not do the same for themselves. I know he has 4 kids but hey, it's his career we're talking about. With all the fears of layoffs this was one of the items he wanted to work on and we 'signed' up for it together...with me helping him.

I am hoping for the best for him. Praying even. =)

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Reflection 1 for 639 Spring 2010

So i've gone ahead and decided to take one of my co-workers on as a Mentee. He's a pretty good candidate, and to give some background, he's in a different 'security' group as I am. So he's been with the company for over 10 years and with recent 'layoffs' happening, he's getting worried. I've been on his case for a long time now. I've always wanted him to get his Security certification and so now is perhaps the time he went ahead and did so, with my help of course.

I already have a curriculum for him and went ahead and got him a book to read. With all the reading that I've already done, I will try to play a 'passive' role, and not be on his case all the time, but somehow I feel that he might be 'slacking' a bit. So, i went ahead and recruited a couple of others (employees) into the loop to do the same certification. This will help all of them out. So here's the scenario. 4 candidates (students) and there's 4 'certified' helpers including myself. We have a set timeframe of 3 months to complete the reading, and then the test will be June 27th. We have set up weekly Friday meetings @ 2PM so that we can talk together about the readings and answer any questions that may come up. I've also set up a google group for the group, and an etherpad to take notes. I feel that I've done ALOT to help these guys out. (Mind you I didn't get this type of help when I was studying) so i really do have high expectations. Now, I will lay low and have them seek me out instead of me doing 'too' much to be in their faces. We will have a 'kick off' meeting this Friday (2/26/2010) and from there i'll lay out the ground rules and let them 'flap' their wings.

MT out for now.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Update!

I find myself in the Pepperdine library alot nowadays. I'm catching up on Power Mentoring and Understanding by Design. (Spring 2010 courses) I've just updated my Webpage so check it out!
http://students.pepperdine.edu/mptruong/

More specifically, my Action Research site.

Bye for now!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

2010 Starts!

Welcoming myself to the Spring 2010 semester. Oh gosh how I didn't miss it. Oh well lets fire on all cylinders and get this over with. Hope that my professors are really chill like last semester. BUT you never know. Sounds like they are so far online. We get to meet them next week in Orlando. Looking forward to it, and I also miss my Cadremates. It's even better when you get along with the folks you're suffering with. They are my second online family. (Online stores are my first! haha)

MT out for now.