Digital Tech and Kids

Much discussion and study has taken place with the subject of the impact of technology on young children and teenagers. I remember a few years ago, professionals were worried about the impact of television on the same groups. Would too much exposure to violence impact their mental and emotional health? Would sitting too long in front of the television adversely affect their physical health? The same types of questions are now being asked about too much time spent with digital technology--smart phones, tablets, etc. As a pediatric occupational therapist, Cris Rowan is concerned about these issues. Her article, "The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child," addresses some of her concerns. She, like myself, remembers when children played outside all day, climbing trees, riding bikes, jumping rope, setting up impromptu baseball games and football games. Imaginary games were the norm with children playing from dawn 'til dusk. Rowan believes technology is negatively impacting the family and adversely affecting children. a 2010 study showed that elementary children were spending an average of 7.5 hours with entertainment technology. My first reaction to this is how can any child in school spend almost 8 hours a day with entertainment technology. I don't know if this is counting time at school or not, but this statistic is disturbing to me. Rowan believes that children who sit all day with digital technology are negatively affected in achieving developmental milestones. Health and education professionals are seeing increases in physical, psychological and behavioral disorders. We know childhood obesity and diabetes are at an all-time high for children in Canada and the United States. The numbers of children with learning disorders such as ADHD, autism, and coordination disorders are increasing. Children need "movement, touch, human connection, and exposure to nature" for healthy development. Spending 7.5 hours with digital technology does not give much time for nature or movement. Touching a screen or pressing buttons does not give the same sensory stimulation or brain development as playing with Lincoln logs or playing kickball.

Nancy Carlsson-Paige, a childhood development expert, shares these thoughts. She agrees that children need to play--playing stimulates learning and exposes children to a variety of sensory stimulations. Children need to manipulate things physically--not through touching a screen. Carlsson-Paige reports that experts are seeing a decrease in creativity in children, especially younger children. A contributing factor to this decrease is the decline in play time. Playtime allows children to learn, to question, to create, to lead and follow, and to solve--all activities children need for healthy development. Interacting with "the screen" doesn't fully involve the child's senses, brain, and body. According to Carlsson-Paige, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity have recommended that children under two should be as screen-free as possible. Screen exposure for older children should be limited.

This information was important to me as a grandmother. One of my granddaughters, Abby age 5, bought her own iPad with money she had earned (her parents chipped in $60). She was fascinated with my Galaxy tablet and wanted her own tablet. She knows how to find the games she wants and downloads them herself. Abby even beats me in "Cut the Rope"! Granddaughter Molly is a budding movie producer as she uses my tablet and phone to make videos of herself and friends. She makes up short stories and then acts them out with friends. The good news is that their parents limit their time on the devices as I do. All my granddaughters enjoy playing board games--the actual games, not the digital versions. They like moving the pieces around the board in Sorry and holding the cards in Uno. They enjoy their Pet Salon play pieces and their Barbie dolls and American Girl dolls. It seems, as with most things in life, that moderation is the key. A mixed experience with real-time play, reading books, and screen play will give children many opportunities to develop as they should. The digital device should not be the "go to" item to make a child happy, to stop tears, or to use as a babysitter. Let's not forget what the experts advised above--lots of hugs and face to face time with family and friends. Children need the interaction with others to develop normal family relationships and healthy social skills.

In a related item of interest, Enterprise City Schools has a new initiative called Connect 2 Learn which allows students to bring their own devices to school. The new policy is called Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). Students are allowed access to the schools' filtered wireless network, using their own devices. The project was launched at six schools for first semester of 2013 and will be expanded to the other schools in fall of 2014. The guidelines are fairly clear, and parental permission is required. The rationale behind this is to help prepare students for the future, whether jobs or college. The goal is to promote "achievement, engagement and developing 21st Century Learners." No one has to buy a device, nor is anyone required to have one. I am not sure how the devices are being utilized, but I do see several advantages in the classroom. I also see disadvantages as every child will not have a digital device. As a former high school English teacher, I see opportunities for writing and creating with tablets or laptops. A disadvantage to this system was highlighted in the news recently as students in Los Angeles had to return school-issued iPads because students had hacked into the devices in order to use social media sites.

Where do you stand on the issue of children and digital devices? How do you manage real time and digital time with your children or grandchildren? Do your schools have a BYOD policy?

LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE BRAND!

It is my favorite time of year--college and high school football season! Have you noticed how team uniforms have changed over the past few years? Teams have been re-branding themselves--in some ways with new uniforms. TCU (Texas Christian University) are the horned frogs; their colors are purple and black. This year they have new black uniforms with purple highlights. Their new uniforms use the frog's scaly body armor as inspiration for patterned numbers, sleeves, gloves and helmets. Nike says the uniform's detailing is a "visual reminder of the 'bloodlines' and brotherhood of the team [and] creates a head to toe aesthetic from cleat to helmet."

Georgia Athletics, in collaboration with Nike, has a new department-wide brand identity system. The university and Nike looked at Georgia's primary identity (the "G" logo), their secondary identity (the bulldog logo), typography, and color palette. The university wanted a brand identity that was consistent in all areas of their athletic programs. Georgia's traditional Power "G" logo is the primary brand identifier and was fine tuned. Even their bulldog graphic has been updated to "reflect the strong, iconic characteristics of the animal itself as well as the spirit of The University of Georgia Athletics."

My favorite college football team, the Auburn Tigers, does not change its uniforms often. Auburn's colors are orange and blue with white used as an accent color.  Navy jerseys and white helmets have been the tradition since the 1960s. Their traditional "AU" logo has been used on the helmets since 1966.  Orange jerseys have only been worn three times since 1946. The university's new marketing campaign is "This is Auburn." According to the website, this marketing campaign "provides a flexible way to describe the many positive qualities contributing to the university as a whole."

How do we make sure our product or program is distinguished from the rest? I stumbled upon the importance of marketing during my years as a cheerleader coach. When I began coaching in the 1980s, cheerleading was a social activity; team members were even chosen by popular vote of the student body. As I grew as a coach and as the activity gained more attention, I saw this "social activity" evolve into a skilled athletic activity. I have a competitive personality, and this certainly worked well with encouraging my teams to continue to perfect their skills and enter cheerleading competitions. It was in the 90s that a choreographer opened my eyes to better marketing and branding of my teams.

When we think about high school mascots, we may think of tigers, bears, wildcats, panthers. In our area we have several schools with the same mascot; how does one "Wildcat" stand out from the other? Our cheerleading uniforms had always been enhanced with either EHS, CATS, or WILDCATS. EHS is a bit more distinctive, but which EHS--Elba High School, Etowah High School, or Enterprise High School--you see the problem. WILDCATS is even more generic--this gave us no distinctive branding. As our talent level increased, we were gaining more attention, but audiences only knew us as EHS or WILDCATS. This is where the choreographer helped us "brand" our team. He explained that by using ENTERPRISE on jackets, uniforms, etc., we would be more distinct and recognizable.

 

This made sense, so we entered into a process of informally branding our teams. This was not an easy process because it meant purchasing new cheer vests, warm-ups, and other clothing with the lettering ENTERPRISE. Trying to fit 10 letters across the front of a size 2 vest was a challenge. I remember a phone call from the manufacturer who said I would have lettering from arm pit to arm pit--didn't I want to shorten the name? Nope! The point was to have the entire name on our uniforms. As we bought into the branding process, we worked diligently to perfect "the look." This entailed uniform hair styles, hair bows, shoes--every uniform aspect was the same (actually that's the definition of uniform!). I knew we had accomplished our goal when I overheard a coach comment, "That must be Enterprise walking in the gym"--she had only seen my team from the side, but she knew by "the look" it must be Enterprise. We had been successful in our branding choices.

This branding process had unexpected benefits. I think we performed better with ENTERPRISE on the cheer uniforms. I know we behaved better when in public with ENTERPRISE CHEERLEADER on t-shirts and jackets. We weren't just representing a high school, we were representing our city. This bit of pride nudged us to work harder and perform better. We won several state and national championships while wearing ENTERPRISE, and I have to give some of the credit to the branding process.


In researching branding, I have found we can even brand ourselves. This may sound a bit strange, but this is becoming popular with professionals wishing to further their careers. This may also be important to keep your identity distinctive. There is a story about one young man who had excellent credentials, but his resumes were continually rejected. He learned that upon Googling his name, one of the top results was an article about a man with the same name who was a convicted sex offender. Peter Kistler is this man, and he co-founded BrandYourself to help people control what shows when their name is Googled. According to their website, 75% of HR departments are required to Google prospective employees. Their promise "is to make it as easy as possible to help anyone improve their own search results and online reputation."  I'm not advocating you use this service, but I do suggest you look into what appears when you Google your name. Have a friend Google your name. If you don't like the results, it is time to brand yourself. Suggestions from Nate C. Hindman include purchasing a domain that contains your name such as DebbieBracewell.com, building a personal website, using LinkedIn, Facebook, and/or Twitter to build a professional profile, and signing up for Google Alerts to let you know when your name is used in news articles or blog posts.

Branding is not new; however, with today's technology and the invasive nature of social media, it is something we should seriously consider in the world of business and in our professional lives. If we have too many slogans or logos, it may appear we don’t actually know our identity. If we haven’t changed our slogan or logo for a long while, it may appear we are too set in our ways to change. Whether you are branding yourself or your business, take out those logos or slogans, spiff them up so they send the message you want sent.

Social Media's Impact

You may have noticed a news article in late July about a reporter, Shea Allen, who was fired from WAAY for comments she made in her personal blog. Much has been said about her situation--some believe she  should have been fired and some support her right to express herself on her personal blog. I would like to add my comments to the mix. If you have read my blogs, you know I am a digital immigrant. I love digital technology and fully embrace many aspects of social media. But I also know that I am responsible for all my actions--online and off. You can view Ms. Allen's blog here--Shae Allen Says. In her "about" section, the first item she gives is her job as a reporter for the local television station. Obviously she is proud of her job, but she has forgotten that as the investigative reporter, she is one of the public faces of WAAY. As is the case with many journalists, when people see or hear about a particular journalist, they immediately think of their workplace--the paper, the radio, the television station. In a sense, Allen is part of the brand. As such, the lines between her personal and professional life are blurred. Anything she says or blogs is going to reflect on her personally and professionally. Anything she says or blogs online can affect her relationship with her company.

"Having the right to do something doesn't make it right to do it" is a quote I posted in my classroom. I believe this quote fits the situation with Shea Allen. Yes, she does have the right to say what she wants how she wants, but she is also responsible for what she says or writes. If you look at her blog, she admits to taking "naps in the news car." Do you really want your boss to know you are sleeping while on the clock? The item that probably bothers me the most is her statement about being "frightened" of old people and refusing to work on stories involving them. First this is just rude and disrespectful. According to Alex Trebek, I am an old person, and I don't like her statement. Second, and maybe more important, who does she think is in her viewing audience? In 2010 the average age of the nightly news viewer was 53. Maybe the viewing demographics are different for WAAY, but it seems as if she has just told a good portion of her audience she is frightened of them.

I'm guessing Ms. Allen is a member of the Millennial generation. According to Live Science their best attributes include being open-minded and supportive of equal rights.  As a group, their worst attributes include being more focused on self and material items, and less focused on the community at large. This focus on self may have led to the "I have the right to post anything I like" attitude. This is a true statement. We can say anything we like, but we must also understand that consequences may occur for what we say.

Before social media's popularity it was easier to keep our personal lives separate from our professional lives. Before the popularity of social media, our conversations were not open to the general public. Our interactions were not videoed and viewed by thousands of people. Social media has been blamed for blurring the lines between personal and professional, and that blurred vision can get us in hot water. According to All Twitter "91% Of Employers use Twitter, Facebook And LinkedIn To Screen Job Applicants." Their graph shows that 47% scan social media immediately after receiving an application. Of those surveyed, 69% said they rejected applicants because of what they saw about them on social media sites. All Twitter's information was from a 2011 survey. Just recently I spoke with someone whose sole job was to review  applicants' social media presence. She reported that her company rejected approximately 80% of applicants due to their social media presence. There is a flip side to this; the All Twitter survey also said 68% of the companies surveyed hired applicants because of their social media presence.

So it does matter what we post. Do we showcase our skills, our service to the community, and our professional qualities or do we showcase inappropriate pictures, inappropriate comments, or our lack of communication skills? Deiser and Newton's article in McKinsey Quarterly suggests that leaders need to have a variety of social media skills. Social media is not going away; it will probably change as technology changes, but it is here to stay in some form or another.  Leaders already on the job who are not savvy in social media can be educated in the ways social media can enhance their companies, their brands, and their presence in the world market. Colleges can include social media as part of the educational process--teaching how to effectively use social media for different study areas and how not to use social media. Teaching ethics in conjunction with social media would be useful as well as studying the impact social media has on all of us--personally and professionally.

What Ms. Allen did was not wrong morally, but it was a mistake in judgment. We have all made mistakes in judgment; unfortunately for Ms. Allen, hers was very public and it cost her a job. Whether fair or not, we can be judged by how we treat ourselves and others on social media. I think sometimes we forget how far our reach is.

Women and Leadership

I belong to several groups in Linkedin; the Professional Women’sNetwork is one I enjoy visiting often. A recent discussion revolved around this statement:  "My biggest struggle as a Professional woman is ___." Members of the group are asked to fill in the blank. The replies and comments were some that I expected and have experienced myself. I was disappointed that since my professional career began almost 40 years ago, not much has changed. A common thread was choices and priorities—having to choose between family and job. Sheryl Sandberg, in a TED Talk, mentions this same concern; women “face harder choices.” Making these choices is very difficult, but many of the Linkedin commenters said finding a balance is the key.

A second concern mentioned several times was the inequity of the corporate world as it applies to promotions, salaries, and opportunities.  Sandberg says the percentage of women in the corporate world who hold C-level jobs or board seats is about 15% to 16%. I encountered this in the beginning of my professional career and see that it is still a concern for women of the 21^st century.

John Maeda and Becky Bermont have a leadership design that compares traditional leadership with creative leadership. Creative leadership is characterized by being interactive, improvising when appropriate, learning from mistakes and taking risks. Their traditional leadership is characterized by one way action with others, following the manual, avoiding mistakes, and sustaining order. The creative leadership descriptors are more open, more about thinking out of the box, but both genders can fit into either set of descriptions.

Let’s break out of the kind of thinking that limits our choices for leaders and holds us back as we apply for those positions ourselves. I have six granddaughters ranging in age from 13 down to two. All six are energetic, active children who enjoy all kinds of activities. Their parents and grandparents encourage them to be the best at whatever they try to do. We also tell them they can be or do whatever they wish when they grow up. My dream is that they find many doors open to them—doors open based on their abilities—not their gender.

Leadership and Vision

It’s been an interesting week. Taylor Swift fans used YouTube and an online petition to demand Abercrombie & Fitch remove a t-shirt that said “# more boyfriends than t.s.” BuzzFeed reports that the shirt in question is no longer available. The retailer used Twitter to say they thought Swift was “‘awesome.’” Savvy teens knew how to get attention to their cause.

Locally, social media and traditional media were quite busy reporting on turmoil between the superintendent of schools, the school board and the city council resulting in the superintendent resigning. It was interesting to see my peers, digital immigrants, fully embrace Facebook as they posted meeting times and locations, videos, and news stories relevant to the ongoing drama. Texting was also popular as people at a called city council meeting texted friends the outcome of the incredibly short meeting. A called school board meeting was well attended as Facebook, Twitter and texting were used to alert concerned citizens. City school board meetings are available on YouTube—who would have thought it possible!

The school board disagreement with the superintendent concerned leadership (at least publicly). The superintendent’s vision for the school system did not mesh with that of the school board. In my last blog, I discussed various styles of leadership, organizational climates, and internal communication. Continuing that discussion of leadership, I would like to focus on two more styles of leadership in addition to vision and mission statements.

J. Nye’s article “Good leaders don’t always need a vision” discusses two styles of leadership:  transformational and transactional. Transformational leadership is goal-based or vision-based. Goals and/or visions are shared with others to encourage all to work for the common goal. Nearing July 4^th, it is appropriate to mention George Washington, first president of the United States. Washington was a transformational leader; he led the colonies from being separate entities to one nation.  Imagine the difficulties in getting thirteen separate organizations to buy into a leader’s vision, to follow that vision through several disastrous failures, a war with the governing nation, and the formation of a new government. Nye ranks Woodrow Wilson, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan as transformational leaders. G. A. Aarons, “Transformational and Transactional Leadership,” says transformational leaders inspire and encourage. Followers share the same core values as the leader and find intrinsic motivation for following. The leader’s vision is their vision, and followers often work beyond their own expectations to succeed.

Good teachers and successful coaches regularly use this style of leadership. Teachers who believe in their students, who release their preconceived notions of students’ abilities, see their students exceed goals and find success because they, the students, believe they can do it just as their teachers envisioned. Coaches also know this. Bear Bryant is credited with these statements:  “You must learn how to hold a team together. You must lift some men up, calm others down, until finally they've got one heartbeat. Then you've got yourself a team.” This sounds a lot like transformational leadership, building a team, the one heartbeat. Coaches have goals for their teams and a vision where they want to go.

Aarons defines transactional leaders as practical leaders as this style of leadership gives emphasis to meeting explicit objectives which may result in recognition and rewards. Under this type of leadership, followers may not be allowed to innovate or even find the need to be innovative. Transactional leadership appears to be more task oriented. Nye asserts that James Madison, Dwight Eisenhower and George H. W. Bush were transactional leaders. As Nye’s title says, “Good leaders don’t always need a vision.” Good leaders must also be creators and managers.

Again we see that leaders must be balanced; having a vision for where we want to go is essential, but it is also essential to successfully complete the objectives necessary to reach the vision. As a coach my vision may be to develop a successful cheerleading program that promotes citizenship, physical fitness, and good sportsmanship; however, my teams and parents must be prepared and must meet several objectives before that achievement can happen and continue to happen. I must be able to manage my team’s abilities and talents; I must make reasonable goals and appropriate objectives to reach those goals; they must share my vision and believe they can be successful.

A leader’s vision can be defined in a vision statement—not to be confused with a mission statement. A mission statement usually details what a company or organization does, how they do it, and for whom they do it. My organization’s mission statement: Our mission is to provide comprehensive safety training and certification programs for the educational development of spirit coaches and advisors through an international council of unified industry leaders. What we do—provide safety training and certification programs; how we do it—international council of industry leaders; for whom we do it—spirit coaches and advisors.

What we don’t have is a formal vision statement. According to diffen.com a vision statement tells where a company or organization wants to be at some point in the future, challenging the group to work to their potential and beyond. A vision statement should be rich in describing the aspirations for the future. For new organizations the vision statement is developed first to guide the development of a mission statement and the business plan. For groups that are established and have a mission statement, that mission statement most likely guide the formation of a vision statement and the business plans for the future. Mission statements may change; vision statements do not change.

All leaders have a dream, a vision, for where they want to be, where their group or company will be in the future. Successful leaders are able to articulate their vision to those they work with honestly and clearly. All who come on board—employees, volunteers, and stakeholders—should know the vision and know they are involved in helping to make that vision come to life.

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more,do more and become more, you are a leader.
John Quincy Adams

Leadership Skills

Leadership requires many skill sets. To be a good leader, we attempt to master those skill sets to improve our success in a leadership role. The desire to develop a successful style of leadership should be inherent in the position. In 1939 Kurt Lewin identified three leadership styles:  authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire. In my work with coaches, I discuss these styles of leadership and have added one more style—abusive. Generally, the authoritarian leader has the attitude of “My way or the highway.” This leader makes all the decisions, does not trust others, and is inflexible. The democratic leader makes decisions with input from the group, but the leader has the deciding voice. Where the authoritarian leader tells information only, the democratic leader tells, listens, and asks. This leader is more group-centered. The laissez-faire leader is a delegative leader; this leader is not a motivator, has no objectives, and does not really care about outcomes. I have added the abusive leadership style to the list as too many coaches, whether cheerleading, baseball, or soccer, exhibit this style. This leader yells, screams, and curses the group; this person is demeaning, threatening and abuses his or her authority.  The motivating factor here is fear.

When I discuss leadership style with coaches, they often nod in agreement with the descriptions and can mentally visualize someone from each group. I’m sure my readers can picture a coach or boss who fits each category. The successful leader learns how to use a combination of styles. Imagine an emergency situation needing an instant response. You don’t have time to allow the group to discuss which options are best for this particular emergency. You must be the authoritarian leader; the democratic style will not work for this situation. Leaders find a balance that allows them to lead as the situation directs.

In my last blog, I discussed Dr. John A. Kline’s pamphlet on listening. Dr. Kline authored an article titled Communication and Leadership in which he talks about the working climate in a group. Savvy leaders foster good working climates. Kline labels his organizational climates as dehumanized climate, overhumanized climate, and situational climate. These climates mesh well with leadership styles. The dehumanized climate assumes subordinates cannot perform without directives—much like the authoritarian leadership style—and must be told exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. As you have probably guessed, the overhumanized climate is the opposite of dehumanized. In a sense, this is similar to the laissez-faire leadership style. Motivation (if any) comes from the individual and concerns for the individual are more important that meeting objectives or production. The situational climate is a balance of the dehumanized and overhumanized. The name describes the term—the climate is flexible so that it changes to fit the situation. Smart leaders learn how to lead for the situation at hand.

Our leadership style also guides our verbal communications to the group and individuals. The use of “you” or “you people” is like pointing a finger—blaming or criticizing. The use of “we” is inclusive—it includes the speaker and the group. “We” indicates teamwork; it shows that all are important to the group or organization.

Our leadership style demonstrates how we feel about our organizations, our people; it is a form of communication. Another form of communication that can help build healthy and productive organizational climates is internal communication. This includes the variety of ways we communicate within our organization. This may be memos, guidelines, newsletters—those forms of communication that get information to those whom it relates. The Community Tool Box has an excellent website devoted to sharing information to help build successful and productive organizations.  They assert several good reasons for using internal communication:  to improve the efficiency of the group, to keep everyone updated on recent events in the group, to be able to react quickly to emergencies or major changes, to provide a means for everyone to share ideas, to promote an open climate and collegiality in the group, to empower those in the group, to demonstrate fairness and respect for all, to promote transparency as it relates to problems or concerns, to ensure accurate information is being shared by all. Organizations who communicate successfully through internal communication can be more productive and find their employees feel as if they are part of the team.

Newsletters are an excellent means of internal communication. Weekly or monthly newsletters can meet a variety of needs—important employee information, organization updates, calendar of events, highlighting teams and individuals for success, even birthdays and new babies can be part of the recognition. These can be printed or emailed. Adding audio, video and hot links adds to the entertainment and informational value of newsletters. I know owners of large cheerleading and gymnastic gyms that publish monthly newsletters. These are important to their members as they include a monthly calendar with competitions and team practice dates. The newsletters also give parents information about traveling arrangements, fee updates, charity events, etc. The cheerleaders, gymnasts, parents, and coaches are part of the organization as a whole as well as smaller groups within the organization.

Some organizations find newsletters impractical or not as useful, so they may turn to emails for the majority of their internal communications. Emails are immediate and can be as short or as long as needed. They can also be saved and filed electronically. Distribution lists make this process easy if only one group needs to be contacted. In a study by Parsons and Urbanski those surveyed in a media organization said email was the best method of communication within their group.

A company in Korea, LG CNS Co., has developed their own type of Twitter for their 7,000 employees to communicate internally. Their employees use the smart phone application for reminders about seminars, find help with test products, and a myriad of other professional uses. As their tweets are accompanied by the employee’s name and picture, chances are slim the app is misused or abused.

Being a leader can be daunting. Leaders are required to be proficient in an amazing number of skills—some believe communication is the most important of these. Developing a balanced style of leadership, promoting a climate of trust and openness, and meeting the communication needs of those above and below on the organizational chart will help ensure the success of any organization or business.