Will an eCornell Certificate in Project Leadership result in career advancement?

I put the following message at the bottom of most of my posts on this blog -

"Thank you for your time! If you have any questions about my experience with the eCornell Project Leadership classes, please email me at lisson@gmail.com"

The most frequent question I receive in my email box is a version of - "Has a Certificate in Project Leadership resulted in career advancement?"

I believe earning my Certificate in Project Leadership was a good decision for me, because it helped me fulfill my goals.

I wanted my employer to know that I was interested in learning and growing as an employee. I am not just here to punch a time clock and earn a paycheck. Investing my time and money in ongoing education from eCornell has broadcast that message loud and clear.

I wanted to learn skills that would make my job easier, more rewarding and more productive. The tools and strategies I learned in my eCornell Project Leadership classes have helped me to properly manage my time and better handle conflict with coworkers.

I wanted to contribute to my workplace in new ways. As a result of ideas we worked with in class and supplemental reading, I have become a more proactive employee, submitting ideas that would improve employee morale and make existing teamwork more effective.

Earning my Certificate in Project Leadership from eCornell has given me a higher quality of life when it comes to dealing with teams at my place of employment and in my personal life.

I welcome other alumni of eCornell classes to share the reasons why they took the eCornell classes and their post-Certificate employer experiences!

Upcoming Cornell webinar on Hotels and Social Media

Cornell is holding an interesting looking webinar providing information on how hotels can use their social media data more effectively with an eye toward better understanding their customers and improving their company.

These are the details, according to my copy of the eCornell Career Advantage newsletter:

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Drive Profits & Improve Decisions with Social Media Analytics
Speakers:
Steve Levigne, Vice President, McDonald's Corporation
Bill Carroll, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Cornell School of Hotel Administration
Kelly A. McGuire, PhD, Practice Director, Hospitality & Travel Global Practice, SAS
April 15, 2011 @ 11am Eastern / 8am Pacific

Join us for this session focusing on how hotels and casinos can turn the volumes of social media data they’ve collected into meaningful and profitable information. Our panel will discuss how advanced analytics is the key to transforming volumes of unstructured text data into insight about operations, revenue and guest interactions that can be shared across the enterprise.

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The sign up page is here: http://www.sas.com/reg/web/corp/1185088

Thank you for your time! If you have any questions about my experience with the eCornell Project Leadership classes, please email me at lisson@gmail.com

Better by Atul Gawande - How to Improve Performance

In the book, 'Better,' Atul Gawande, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, offers five suggestions for "becoming a positive deviant."

Ask an Unscripted Question
Don't Complain
Count Something
Write Something, and
Change

Of these five, my favorite is Count Something. By taking charge of quantifying the effectiveness of my work, I can become and experiment of one and find ways to improve my own best performance.

I rely on counting something far more as a runner than I do at my workplace. How can I bring the lessons I have learned in improving my running performance to my job?

This book inspired me with stories of how health care facilities around the world have innovated in achieving their mission of improving performance - of becoming Better.

New Cornell Certificate -Marketing Strategy for Business Leaders

I received this message from the eCornell Alumni group on LinkedIn:

New Program Announcement:
Marketing Strategy for Business Leaders

eCornell’s newest online certificate program is "Marketing Strategy for Business Leaders" (see http://tinyurl.com/4ra8f3h ). This 6-course program provides the MBA-level marketing concepts and tools leaders and managers need to make informed decisions and set direction for their company, business unit, department or product line:

* Marketing Concept & Strategy Essentials
* Applied Marketing Concepts & Decision-Making Tools
* Marketing Research & Analysis
* Brand Equity: Creating & Communicating the Value of Your Brand
* New Product Successes & Failures
* Distribution Strategy & International Marketing

Request more information about this new program--including program start dates--at http://www.ecornell.com/l-marketing

eCornell recognized as Best Leadership Development Program

Congratulations to eCornell! According to their website, eCornell Won 3-of-3 at the 2010 Best of E-Learning Awards.

eCornell won in three categories at the 2010 Best of E-Learning! Awards hosted by E-Learning! magazine, including:

* Best Leadership Development Program
(eCornell’s Leadership & Strategic Management Suite)
* Best Soft Skills Training Content
(eCornell’s HR Management Suite)
* Best LMS Content Provider
(eCornell’s Enterprise Platform)

The winners in 20 categories of the “Best of E-Learning!” Reader’s Choice awards were announced at the virtual E-Learning! Summit on November 4 and will appear in the December 2010 issues of E-Learning! magazine and Government E-Learning! magazine.

eCornell repeated as “Best Leadership Development Program,” the category it won at the 2009 awards program.

“The Best of E-Learning! Awards program is the only reader’s choice awards in the market,” said Chris Proulx, CEO of eCornell. “The program is unique because it allows the buyers and users of the many products and services in our industry to provide first-hand input about their usefulness and overall impact on training operations. It’s an important measure within our industry, and we’re proud and grateful that so many of our satisfied customers voted for eCornell.”

I am proud of eCornell for being recognized as a leader in quality online education by adult professionals seeking additional knowledge to improve their skills and expertise in the workplace!

Thank you for your time! If you have any questions about my experience with the eCornell Project Leadership classes, please email me at lisson@gmail.com

Validation - How to change someone's attitude

'Validation' is a Wonderful video that illustrates the positive power we have over others and can use to change other people's attitudes.



Validation is 16 minutes long, and ends up as a love story, but the first five minutes are enough to grasp the gist of the message. An honest compliment goes a long way and connects you to other people. The only sad past of this film is the fact that not one of the people who were validated by the lead character bothered to reciprocate when he was sad.

How can I act to validate others?

How can I act to reinforce the behavior of those that validate me?

How to negotiate with different cultures - The Global Negotiator by Jeswald W. Salacuse

I have just finished reading ‘The Global Negotiator’ by Jeswald W. Salacuse. Salacuse is a member of the Steering Committee of the Harvard Program on Negotiation.

Salacuse identified Culture as special barrier #2 to global deal making. He identified the four elements of culture as Behavior, Attitudes, Norms and Values. Salacuse also identifies ten ways that culture affects deal making, and provides data on how different cultures value each of these factors.

He brings up an interesting point in this part of the book – cultures may be different, but professions often carry their own set of values which are similar among workers from different cultures around the world. The military, for instance, appreciates risk taking and does not make decisions by consensus. This military ‘culture’ is the same, whether the soldiers are American or Japanese.

Building on this knowledge, leaders can provide additional opportunities for international teams to form relationships and improve mutual understanding by creating occasions for members of the same profession, like engineers, to work together, share expertise and interact with one another.

I would recommend this book for anyone involved in professional or personal interactions with a member of a different culture. Understanding the framework of how culture operates in personal and professional life has given me the tools to more easily identify and compensate for my own cultural beliefs.

Thank you for your time! If you have any questions about my experience with the eCornell Project Leadership classes, please email me at lisson@gmail.com

Leadership Videos on Youtube

Cornell University’s Samuel B. Bacharach, the Director of the Institute for Workplace Studies, has started his own channel on Youtube.


In the video ‘Leadership Is About Execution,’ Bacharach speaks about the difference between leaders with just vision and charisma, and leaders who have vision, charisma AND the leadership capabilities to execute their vision through building coalitions and getting things done.

I have subscribed to his Youtube channel and look forward to more educational videos about leadership.

Thank you for your time! If you have any questions about my experience with the eCornell Project Leadership classes, please email me at lisson@gmail.com

Book Review: ‘Getting to Yes’ by Roger Fisher and William Ury

I recently finished reading the book ‘Getting to Yes’ by Roger Fisher and William Ury. The book expanded on the concepts I was taught in the eCornell Project Leadership Certificate Conflict Resolution class.

I learned how to separate the people from the problem, focus on interests instead of positions, invent options for mutual gain and insist on using objective criteria to arrive at a fair agreement. Additionally, the book focused on techniques for responding to attacks by using “negotiation jujitsu” instead of responding in kind.

I got a lot of value out of this book because it provided me with a method to rely upon when I am nervous or scared before and during a negotiation.

My biggest Eureka! moment in the eCornell class was realizing that by concentrating on interests instead of positions, I could free both sides of the table to craft an agreement that would satisfy both sides without necessarily needing concessions by either side.

I liked learning about “negotiation jujitsu” techniques when I read the book, because I feel frustrated and nervous when negotiations turn into personal attacks. Learning a method for handling personal attacks will help me be a more effective negotiator in the future.

I would recommend this book for potential students and alumni of the eCornell Project Leadership Certificate classes.


Thank you for your time! If you have any questions about my experience with the eCornell Project Leadership classes, please email me at lisson@gmail.com

How to negotiate and create value for both sides

In this video from PBS Newshour's 'Making Sense of financial news' series, Robert Mnookin, author of "Bargaining with the Devil," shares techniques that everyone can use in important negotiations.

I remember feeling scared to negotiate a price when buying my first car. I ended up purchasing a Saturn because of their no-haggle policy. I learned several valuable techniques for getting the most out of both business and personal financial negotiations from the classes in my eCornell Project Leadership Certificate.

This video is a good refresher for the lessons I learned! Watch the video and read the transcript here:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/july-dec10/negotiations_08-26.html

Thank you for your time! If you have any questions about my experience with the eCornell Project Leadership classes, please email me at lisson@gmail.com

How to add and reference eCornell Project Leadership Certificate to a resume

Gregory Napierala from eCornell recently sent me an email congratulating me on earning my Project Leadership certificate from eCornell. He said that I should add this credential to the education section of my resume in the following way:

Project Leadership Certificate, Completed August 2010, Cornell University

I feel proud to be able to update my resume!




If you have any questions about my experience with the eCornell Project Leadership classes, please email me at lisson@gmail.com

Should you pursue ongoing education in project management?

In the New York Times article 'Learning Curves on the Career Path,' Steven Greenhouse writes about the different reasons that adults with careers consider additional education.

Several people interviewed for the article agreed that continuing education improved their career prospects. Education experts interviewed for the article stated that project management is one of the growing occupational fields.

This article touches on several of the reasons I studied to earn my certificate in Project Leadership from eCornell.


Thank you for your time! If you have any questions about my experience with the eCornell Project Leadership classes, please email me at lisson@gmail.com

My Project Leadership Certificate from Cornell University

I feel so proud of myself, I have finished all my classes and now am the proud holder of a Certificate in Project Leadership from Cornell University!


Thank you for your time! If you have any questions about my experience with the eCornell Project Leadership classes, please email me at lisson@gmail.com

Questions and Answers about eCornell online classes

Here is an email I received from a prospective eCornell student:

Thanks for blogging and sharing your Ecornell Project Leadership experience. I have found it to be very useful and informative. I am considering taking the Foundations of Employee Relations Certificate Program; however, I am a little nervous about the classes, homework, test, expectations, etc... I have an undergraduate degree and would have received my masters but did not complete my thesis. In any case, I have only taken a handful of online courses, which are generally challenging but not very interactive. I was pleased to learn that the courses can be as interactive I guess as one would make it to be via the chats with the professor and others.

My nervousness stems from my personal obligations:
I am married, the mother of three and I work fulltime. I also maybe teaching a class once a week. According to your blog and other information I have read, a student should allot 5 to 7 hours weekly. I believe you actually said devoting 1 hour daily would be very helpful. Three out of the five weekdays I could give one hour each day; and on the weekend I could give more.

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks in advance.

Here is my reply:

Thank you so much for emailing me!

One of the things I find most valuable about the eCornell classes I have taken is the discussion boards. We are required to complete 2-3 assessments per class, where we answer questions that apply the lessons learned in the text to our actual work experiences. To complete the assessment, each student must write her own mini-paper, plus respond to the mini-paper of at least one other student. I have found value in reading the other students' papers and reading their responses to my assignment.

I think if you are able to devote an hour during the weekdays and more over the weekend, you will have enough time to complete the course. It all depends on how fast and accurately you can read and digest information.

I have had good results in supplementing my learning with reading the books that are utilized in the coursework. The names and authors are usually at the very bottom of each section of the course, as a footnote.

Kathleen Lisson




Thank you for your time! If you have any questions about my experience with the eCornell Project Leadership classes, please email me at lisson@gmail.com

Tips on employee engagement - Free webinar from eCornell

How to Keep Employees Engaged in Challenging Times
by Cornell University Professor Samuel Bacharach

Wednesday, September 15, 2010
1:00pm Eastern/10:00am Pacific

Register http://www.ecornell.com/sam

Samuel Bacharach of Cornell University's Industrial & Labor Relations School will offer ideas and strategies for keeping team members engaged and productive.

How Different Cultures View Choice

In the Ted talk 'Sheena Iyengar on the art of choosing,' Iyengar, author of 'The Art of Choosing' and professor at Columbia Business School, presents research on how people from different countries view choice.

As an American, I view choice as a part of life, and measure social status and intelligence by the 'quality' of others' choices.

Think of a man and a woman going out to dinner in America. The man asks for the woman's preference, and when she says "I don't care, you choose," he becomes agitated, pestering her until she makes a choice, so he can honor her choice.

I helped a friend out at her bicycle race recently. She was competing in the Empire State games. She was very insistent that I make her a lemon flavored electrolyte water to carry on her bike.

I compared that to my own experience running 15K and half marathon races. Runners rely on receiving liquids from water stations along the race, and there is little to no choice. In fact, a smart runner will look on the event website to see what will be offered at the race, and start using the same type of drink in her training to acclimate her system.

A rule of thumb for runners is 'nothing new on race day,' which means that the runner must not try anything new - no new foods, drinks, clothing, shoes, sunscreen, etc. in an attempt to prevent an unexpected negative interaction. For me, having limited to no choice on race day is comforting.

How can we learn to see our preference for choice as a cultural behavior? Would learning about the role of choice in other cultures help us to achieve more success in international interactions in the workplace? When setting up a choice for others, are we doing them a disservice by presenting them multiple options, or even by not letting them defer to the experts instead of making their own choice?

Iyengar provides examples of how European, Eastern European and Asian cultures react to choice. She also explains a situation where she discovered that her coworkers did not make a choice based on what should have been the obvious criterion.

http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing.html

eCornell Conflict Resolution class supplemental reading

So far in my eCornell Conflict Resolution course we have learned from two books, Conceptual Blockbusting by J.L. Adams and Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, by Roger Fisher and William L. Ury. Information from both these books is referred to extensively in the course notes, but I am also going to read the books to increase my understanding of conflict resolution.

The Wikipedia entry for Getting to Yes is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_to_YES

The Google Books link to Conceptual Blockbusting is here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=bn-Z5aUa0CkC&lpg=PP1&dq=conceptual%20blockbusting&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false



Thank you for your time! If you have any questions about my experience with the eCornell Project Leadership classes, please email me at lisson@gmail.com

eCornell Conflict Resolution class review - the first week

I am in my first week of the eCornell Project Leadership Certificate course titled 'Conflict Resolution.' According to the eCornell website, the course focuses on, "understanding the organizational nature of conflict and the approaches that a leader can use to resolve conflict."

We are working with Role Theory, learning the sources of role conflict and utilizing the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, located at
http://peace.mennolink.org/resources/conflictstyle/

I was surprised to learn that the class teaches that conflict is sometimes an integral and positive part of project management. It is recommended that project managers see conflict as a problem solving opportunity, not something to always be avoided.

Other texts the class uses include:

"How to Design a Conflict Management Procedure that Fits Your Dispute," Sloan Management Review

“The Social Psychology of Project Management Conflict,” European Journal of Operations Research

According to the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, the five styles of conflict management include forcing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, and accommodating. If compromise doesn't work, I tend to use force to solve a conflict. I am certainly in need to learning additional methods of conflict resolution!

Thank you for your time! If you have any questions about my experience with the eCornell Project Leadership classes, please email me at lisson@gmail.com

How to improve relationships and negotiation with foreign businesses

In the article, 'After the Contract, What? Negotiating to Work Successfully with a Foreign Partner,' Tufts University Professor Jeswald W. Salacuse offers four tips to improve your business' long-term cooperative relationships with foreign firms.

Salacuse makes a very good point in the first tip. A signed contract, which is usually the goal for North American businesses, is not necessarily the finish line for a foreign company. Businesspeople from other countries may believe that the creation of a long-term productive working relationship is just as significant as a well-negotiated deal.

Salacuse also discusses the value of considering prenegotiation, renegotiation and conciliation in long-term business dealings.

Read the rest of Professor Salacuse's tips here: http://fletcher.tufts.edu/faculty/salacuse/pubs/aftercon.html

List of Action Words to Add to Your Resume

In the article, '20 Powerful Action Verbs to Kick Your Resume Up a Notch!' Jessica Holbrook Hernandez, CEO of Great Resumes Fast, provides a quick list of words that can make your resume stand out.

I like the words Directed, Leveraged and Mentored, but I think some of the others may be a little too over-the-top. What do you think?

On my resume, I organize my work duties to highlight my skill at management competencies. Cornell provided a list of their 18 management competencies in one of my Project Leadership Certificate classes (CEPL 551 Introduction to Project Leadership).

A list of 8 Management Competencies is here: http://www.theleadershipresource.com/Competencies01.php