Group+2+Leopold+Leadership+Program


 * Leopold Leadership Program**

Participant Name: Pam Sturner Web Site: http://leopoldleadership.stanford.edu/ Email: pam.sturner@stanford.edu Phone: 650-723-0708


 * Social Media Presences**

Facebook: Blog: http://leopoldleadership.stanford.edu/news YouTube: Twitter: LinkedIn: Listening:

After each session, use the wiki journal to jot down key takeaways, ahas, next action steps, or questions.
 * Wiki Journal**

Orientation: Overview of the Peer Exchange and answer questions July 13, 2011 at 11:00 am PST/ 2:00 EST What an amazing opportunity to connect with this diverse group and learn from their experiences with social media! In our three-word exercise, I was interested to see so many words arising around connection, direction, and rigor.

Session 1: Assessing Your Networked Nonprofit Maturity of Practice July 28 at 11:00 am PST/ 2:00 EST

Possible project(s): Create SMaRT goals and an action plan for amplifying the signal for our fellows' news and/or the fellows' directory on our website. Question: Has anyone in the group used social media to solicit feedback and generate discussion about a strategic plan?

Session 2: Align Social Media Measurement With Results August 25 at 11:00 am PST/ 2:00 EST

I’ve been reflecting on other participants’ comments about the challenges of defining a social media measurement pilot when levels of comfort and enthusiasm for using social media vary widely across your organization. The core of the Leopold Leadership Program is our network of 173 current and past fellows, all of them academic environmental scientists and social scientists who are engaging with other sectors of society to solve complex environmental problems. They have a broad range of perspectives and experience with social media. Some have incorporated Facebook, Twitter, and blogs into their work; some have experimented; and there are some who shudder at the mention of these tools. Many have expressed interest in learning about social media and indicate that they’re wondering where to begin.

Putting together data from the strategic planning process my organization is doing now with what I’m learning in our peer coaching workshop, I see a potential pilot that could help move our social media practice forward. In the course of our planning process, we’ve identified a new goal around organizational sustainability that relies on the continued involvement of fellows after their initial leadership training to teach and mentor colleagues and graduate students and enrich our program content by sharing best practices with us over time. Based on our organizational culture and the importance of this new goal to our senior leadership, I believe we can maximize our performance on sustainability if we are able to use social media to conduct business as a networked nonprofit.

As a start, I want to create a “proof of concept” pilot using social media to solicit fellows’ feedback about our strategic plan. Our faculty director has given her support for this idea; here’s the start of an outline, to be fleshed out further as we continue our organizational planning conversation over the next few months.


 * Target audience:** 173 current and past Leopold Leadership Fellows (environmental researchers from a range of science and social science disciplines with a wide range of social media experience)

1) To begin the process of communicating with fellows about how “science leadership 2.0” is different from “science leadership 1.0.” 2) To get timely feedback about 3 aspects of our strategic plan from as many of our fellows as possible 3) To seed the habit of fellow-to-fellow/group conversation about best practices as an important part of what fellows do as members of our network
 * Goals:**


 * What failure looks like:** Nothing changes; we receive feedback about our 3 questions via individual private communication
 * What success looks like:** Fellows engage in a conversation with each other via our listserv about our three questions; new insights and ideas emerge that help us finalize a plan that will provide maximum benefit to our community; the experience of participating in this conversation sparks interest in creating an ongoing space for conversation about best practice.


 * Initial benchmark:** “Leopold 1.0” vs. “Leopold 2.0”

We post our strategic plan on our website; our faculty director sends a message to fellows via the listserv seeking feedback on 3 questions and encouraging them to reply to the listserv (rather than privately to her or to me).
 * Strategy:**

Numbers of:
 * KPIs:**
 * Downloads of new strategic plan
 * Replies to director’s message seeking feedback on our listserv vs. replies individually to her or to me
 * Comments on our 3 questions
 * Comments on key messages about how 2.0 is different from 1.0
 * “Builds” on others’ ideas on the listserv
 * Twosies? Closed triangles? Project ideas?

1) Fully vet proposed idea with program team and senior leadership and against strategic planning SWOT data; adjust as needed 2) Imagine social media scenarios for continuing the conversation begun about our 3 questions. Could fellows propose advanced training ideas and vote on finalist(s) to be developed as packages? Could fellows share our strategic plan with their networks to meet a goal that benefits our program and these “externals”? 3) Revisit Google Analytics data about website use 4) Flesh out pilot with full work plan, including schedule and roles
 * Next steps:**

9/22/11: Reflections

On our 8/25 call one thing that struck me was how useful it has been to see various social media tools demonstrated during our peer coaching calls. Although I try to read the "techie" developer blogs related to tools that we're experimenting with or that I think we may use, I often find these sources overwhelming because I don't speak the language. An insight from the embedded "tool demonstration" aspect of our calls is that if you can boil down your need to something simple and well-defined, it becomes a lot easier to figure out what tool to use -- and to ignore all but the features of the tool that you need right now to do a specific thing with a specific audience. This insight helped me decide to create a second pilot using LinkedIn with our 2011 Fellows that I will write up on this wiki shortly. The other hugely important catalyst for creating this second pilot was interviews I did recently with Sara Thomas at Ocean Conservancy and Carlos Roig, a social media consultant based in DC, about what has worked for them in helping scientists to embrace social media. Hearing about their experience helped me make sense of things I was seeing in Fellows' feedback that I didn't know how to interpret. Thank you, Sara and Carlos!!

Session 3: Why Does Bad Measurement Practice Happen To Good Nonprofits? September 22 at 11:00 am PST/ 2:00 EST

9/27/11: Reflections

I've been thinking about Beth's request for a seventh habit, and here's mine: Stay human-focused. For me, for measurement goals to be meaningful enough to carry out, they need to be connected in a concrete way to what's most important to me and my organization: the success of our current and past fellows in carrying out their visions for leading change. Everything we do has to help fellows be more effective in their work, who are always under pressure to do more with less. If it doesn't support that goal, it's not worthwhile for us to do.

"Proof of concept" pilot #2: LinkedIn closed discussion group for 2011 Leopold Leadership Fellows

20 2011 Leopold Leadership Fellows who: • want to continue conversations begun during their fellowship; • need a place to continue working on a project begun during their fellowship; • have enormous demands on their time -- need tools to work right the first time; and • need to be certain that conversations remain private
 * Target audience:**

To provide a place for the 2011 Leopold Leadership Fellows to have conversations and work on their project privately and as seamlessly as if they were using the phone.
 * Goal:**


 * What failure looks like:** Too few fellows join the group to keep conversation going; it languishes and is abandoned shortly after everyone returns to their campuses at the conclusion of the September training.


 * What success looks like:** A majority (50%) of the fellows join the group; in September 2012 it is still going strong, fellows have planned and executed their project via communications through the platform, and they are engaged in active conversation on a range of topics.


 * Initial benchmark:** 2009 fellows' experience staying connected via conference calls vs. 2011 fellows' experience staying connected via LinkedIn

At DC training: 1) Determine how many 2011 fellows already have LinkedIn accounts and help those who don't to create one 2) Create LinkedIn closed group 2) Explain idea for LinkedIn group to fellows and ask if they are interested in having one; if it's a go: 3) Invite all 20 to join group
 * Strategy:**

After DC training: 1) Follow up with any fellows who do not join group to determine what the obstacles are and help them overcome them

Between September 2011 and May 2012: 1) Monitor progress toward pilot goal 2) Share results with senior leadership 3) If appropriate, determine interest of reunion participants in creating LinkedIn group(s) for cohorts and/or specific interests

1) Numbers of: • 2011 fellows who join LinkedIn closed group (10 or more) • 2011 fellows who remain engaged in September 2012 (6 or more)
 * KPIs:**

2) Variety of conversations on the platform: • project work • advice • reflections • new initiatives generated within "twosies," etc.

Next steps: 1) Carry out "strategy" steps outlined above timed for DC training and the week immediately after 2) Share pilot with senior leadership 3) Continue learning about LinkedIn: 1) aside from threaded discussions, what functions does it have that may be of use to fellows? 2) what management functions does it have that may be of use to Leopold staff?

Session 4: Benchmarking: Networked Nonprofits Measure Social Media in Context October 27 at 11:00 am PST/ 2:00 EST

For the time being, I've decided to focus on the LinkedIn pilot, which is the best fit for the timeline of our peer learning program. My initial KPIs are: 1) Numbers of: • 2011 fellows who join LinkedIn closed group (10 or more) • 2011 fellows who remain engaged in September 2012 (6 or more)

2) Variety of conversations on the platform: • project work • advice • reflections • new initiatives generated within "twosies," etc.

With the pilot now in its third month, some new questions I want to get at are: • How useful is the LinkedIn group to the 2011 Fellows compared to other channels they're using to stay in touch (group email list, regular skype calls between "buddies")? • What is the function of the LinkedIn group vs. these other means? Do they complement each other? If so, how?

I'll need to ask my network for advice about constructing a survey to ask participants about their experiences using the different communication modes and advice about measurement tools for LinkedIn.

Session 5: Overview of Measurement Tools November 17 at 11:00 am PST/ 2:00 EST

I really appreciated Ashley Boyd's presentation today. It resonated with me because MomsRising, like Leopold, is a network, and we have a number of characteristics in common: we're grassroots and decentralized, we have a vision for change, and our members spend only a small portion of their time with us. Hearing how MR built its social media presence over time reinforced for me the importance of knowing your organization and your target audience well so that you use whatever resources you have for maximum effect. Seeing how MR tracks engagement through email and their website, in addition to other channels, validated that these are still viable modes of social/digital communication for some of us. It also inspired me to take on a project that's been on my mind for a while: reexamining what we're tracking through Google Analytics and asking whether it is supporting the goals of our new strategic plan.

Session 6: Transform Data into Wisdom and Reporting December 15 at 11:00 am PST/ 2:00 EST

Session 7: Reflection and Reiteration January 5 at 11:00 am PST/ 2:00 EST

Participating in this peer learning exchange has been enormously valuable for me. In addition to the tools, approaches, and questions that Beth has given us, it has been very helpful to connect with other members of the peer group and with some of the presenters. I credit the insights I gained from several peers' wiki posts and the informational interviews I did at the beginning of this project with enabling me to scope a feasible, meaningful pilot project and get it off the ground early on. I hope to find other ways of continuing this kind of peer learning after Jan. 12.

Learning Culmination January 12 at 11:00 am PST/ 2:00 EST This session will be a “virtual party” to celebration the completion of the program and for participants to share what they learned through their action learning projects.