Balancing roles
Introduction
I have always been passionate about learning and development. This blog is about juggling the three roles I now have. I am a full-time ad interim manager for a Talent and Development team, a teacher for two classes on educational design and lastly an entrepreneur. In this blog I want to share some of the challenges and rewards of balancing these roles, and how I work from the heart and the head.
Role: Interim Manager
As an ad interim manager, I am responsible for leading a team of professionals who design and deliver learning solutions for internal business clients. I have to oversee e.g. project management, budgeting, quality assurance, and stakeholder communication. This role requires me to work with the head, meaning I have to use my analytical, strategic, and problem-solving skills to ensure the success of these projects.
Role: Teacher
As a teacher, I am responsible for facilitating the learning of around 20 students who are pursuing a degree in educational design. I have to design and deliver engaging and interactive lessons, provide feedback and guidance, and assess their learning outcomes. This role requires me to work from the heart, meaning I have to use my emotional, creative, and interpersonal skills to inspire and motivate my students.
The key to balancing these roles is finding the harmony between working from the heart and working with the head. Both roles require me to use both sets of skills but in different ways and degrees. By being aware of my strengths and weaknesses, my preferences and biases, and my goals and values, I can adjust my approach and attitude accordingly. By being flexible and adaptable, I can cope with the changes and challenges that come with each role.
Role Entrepreneur
I am also an entrepreneur who runs my own consultancy business, Jignite. I am fortunate to have clients who trust me with their needs and who offer me projects. This adds another dimension to my professional life, but also another challenge.
As an entrepreneur, I have to manage all aspects of my business: from marketing and sales to accounting and legal matters, to customer service and quality control. I have to be proactive, innovative, and competitive in a fast-changing market. I have to balance my own interests with those of my clients and business partners. Being an entrepreneur requires me to work with both the heart and the head as well. I have to be passionate about what I do, but also rational about how I do it. I have to be creative in finding solutions, but also analytical in evaluating them. I have to be empathetic with my clients, but also assertive with my expectations. Being an entrepreneur is not easy either. Sometimes I encounter problems in delivering projects or meeting deadlines. Sometimes I struggle with managing my team or complying with stakeholders. But being an entrepreneur is also rewarding. I get to pursue my vision and mission in learning and development and am able to create value for myself and others.
The key to being an entrepreneur is finding the balance between working with passion and working with purpose. Passion is what drives me to do what I love, but purpose is what guides me to do what matters. Passion is what fuels my energy, but purpose is what directs my actions. Passion is what makes me happy, but purpose is what makes me fulfilled.
Conclusion
Balancing roles as an ad interim manager and a teacher, while being an entrepreneur at the same time, is not easy. It requires me to work from the heart and work with the head in different ways and degrees. It also requires me to find the balance between passion and purpose in everything that I do.
But balancing these roles is also the most rewarding. It allows me to learn from different experiences and apply them to each other. It allows me to experience the diversity and complexity of learning and development in different contexts and settings. It allows me to challenge myself and grow as a professional and as a person.
I hope that by sharing my story, I can inspire others who are in similar situations or who are considering taking on multiple roles. I hope that they can find the harmony between working from the heart and working with the head, and between working with passion and working with purpose. I hope that they can live, just like me, a rich and fulfilling professional life.
