Even the most prolific writers can bump up against a case of writer’s block from time to time. Whether you’re a pro or taking the time social distancing has given you to try your hand at getting your stories down on paper for the first time, getting the words flowing can be a challenge.  

Instead of waiting for the perfect bolt of inspiration to strike, try using these thought-provoking prompts from three of our online Creative Writing instructors, Amy Jones, Elizabeth Ruth, and Michel Basilieres, to improve your craft, beat writer’s block or discover something new about a character or story you’re working on: 

Jones’ Prompts: 

1. Go over to your bookshelf, close your eyes, and pick up the first book you touch. Open that book to a random page, read the first full sentence on that page, and use it as the inspiration for a scene.

2. Write about a memory you have of being stuck in the rain.

3. Imagine your character has gone hiking in a forest on a mountainside. There is no one else around. Describe what they hear, see, smell, taste, and/or feel as they pass through different parts of the forest.

4. Write a dialogue between two characters. Character A wants Character B to move in with them, and Character B doesn’t want to. What tactics does Character A use to try to convince them? How does Character B react?

Ruth’s Prompts:

5. This exercise for writing a poem was intended for public transit but can now be modified for walking instead. Carrying a notebook, walk one block, (social distancing of course!) look up, look around, write down one sentence describing something you see or hear or smell. Continue walking another block. Stop, look around, do the same. Repeat for ten blocks. (Poetry and exercise, what could be better!) Finally, take the last line you've written and place it at the top of the page. This will become your opening line. You may also use it at the end, it that repetition seems appropriate. If you prefer your poem to have a fixed form, rather than writing free verse, arrange your lines in couplets.

6. Take a prose fiction story you have already written, but which is not in its final form. Rewrite the same story, only this time change the gender of your protagonist. What, if anything, does that do to your plot? Dialogue? Central Theme? If you made changes to the story, ask yourself why? This exercise is meant to help identify implicit gender bias in fiction.

7. For Creative Non-fiction or Memoir: What are the three defining moments of your life? Everyone has them, though we don't usually speak of them. These will be the experiences, good and/or otherwise, that make you who you are today. It could be something life altering like an immigration experience, a wedding day, birth of a child. It could be something like a sexual assault or the day you found out your parents were getting a divorce. Perhaps a key life moment was the day you decided to come out as LGBT or buy a lottery ticket, or enter medical school? Whatever your three key defining experiences in life, they will be particular to you. Next, look at your list of three and choose the one you feel most uncomfortable about sharing, most private about, and write that moment now. Be vivid and use sensory language.

Basilieres’ prompts:

8. Remember that story your parent or grandparent used to tell over and over and over at every family gathering? That had meaning for them. Tell that story.

9. Use this 19th Century Character generator and start an argument over an inheritance between two of them. I like "Bumbling Tutor Recently Returned from Abroad" vs. "Headstrong Heroine who is having an Affair with the Groundskeeper".

10. Chose a story or novel by your favourite writer, and copy out five continuous pages, by hand - with pen or pencil on paper, no typing. Pay attention to the punctuation. I guarantee you'll learn more than you imagine.

For more inspiration or writing exercises, Ruth also recommends the book Writer’s Gym in which professional writers, Ruth and a handful of other SCS Creative Writing instructors included, share advice and writing prompts. 

Amy Jones’ fiction has appeared in Best Canadian Stories and The Journey Prize Stories. Her debut collection of stories, What Boys Like, was the winner of the 2008 Metcalf-Rooke Award and a finalist for the 2010 ReLit Award. Her debut novel, We’re All In This Together (McClelland & Stewart, 2016), won the Northern Lit Award, was featured on Quill & Quire’s "Books of the Year 2016" and the Globe & Mail’s "Best Canadian Fiction of 2016”. Originally from Halifax, Amy now lives in Toronto, where she is working on her second novel.

Jones teaches Creative Writing: Introduction and Writing Short Fiction: Introduction at the School of Continuing Studies 

Elizabeth Ruth is the author of three critically acclaimed novels, Matadora, Smoke, and Ten Good Seconds of Silence. Her work has been recognized by the Writer's Trust of Canada Fiction Prize, the Amazon.ca Best First Novel Award, the City of Toronto Book Award, and the One Book One Community Program. Elizabeth is also the author of a novella for adult literacy learners entitled, Love You to Death, and the editor of the anthology, Bent on Writing. In Jan 2014 the CBC named Elizabeth one of the Ten Canadian Women You Need to Read.

Ruth teaches Creative Writing: Introduction and Creative Writing II at the School of Continuing Studies. 

Michel Basilieres is the author of the novel Black Bird, a stage play and two CBC radio plays. He is a frequent reviewer for the Toronto Star and has written for the Globe & Mail, Maisoneuve Magazine and The Danforth Review. Black Bird received widespread acclaim and honours, including the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award. It was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Medal, the Commonwealth Writer`s Prize, and included on both the Globe & Mail and Maclean`s best of the year lists. It is available in English, French, Dutch and Serbian, and is taught in schools across the country.

Basilieres teaches Creative Writing: Introduction, Writing Short Fiction: Introduction, Creative Writing II, and Writing Short Fiction II at the School of Continuing Studies. 

The University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies (SCS) has launched a $100,000 fund to support learners who are dealing with financial challenges due to COVID-19.

Students experiencing financial need due to COVID-19 can apply for a one-time bursary of up to $750 to finance their SCS course tuition costs. The bursary is available to both new and returning students.

While SCS does offer other bursaries and award programs designed to provide financial assistance, Dean Maureen MacDonald says this fund was developed specifically as part of SCS’s response to the impact of COVID-19 and as a way for SCS to give back to its community of learners during what is an extremely challenging time for many of them.

“We have such a wonderful, dedicated community of people who have taken the skills and knowledge they gain with us and used them to better the wider community we’re all a part of. This is one way we can continue to support their learning journeys, and to support new learners just getting started,” she explains.

“It’s one way we can say thank you.”

Applicants will be asked to demonstrate financial need and share how funding will assist with achieving their learning objectives.

Applicants who meet these criteria will be randomly selected to receive tuition support until the full amount of the Opportunity Fund has been spent.

Applications for the Opportunity Fund bursaries are being accepted now online.

For full eligibility requirement information and to apply, please visit our Opportunity Fund Terms of Reference information page.

We are all living through unprecedented times. COVID-19 has had a staggering impact on every aspect of life for people both here in Canada and around the world. At the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies, we are committed to continued communication that is sensitive to the new realities we all face. At the same time, we want to remain connected to all our members of our lifelong learning community.  We appreciate that this new reality may mean that you have pockets of time for self-investment and learning. We also acknowledge that these are times where we all have heightened concerns about our finances.  

With that in mind, we are working to develop some free educational content so that you can have access to trustworthy information delivered by experts to help you learn the skills you need now, maintain a sense of community and keep your mind sharp and engaged.

This is where you come in. We’d like to know what topics you would like to gain free access to. And, as an extra incentive to share your thoughts with us via the survey link below, we will be entering all participants into a draw for free tuition (up to $700, no cash value) for one of our full-length online courses! *Please note that this contest is now closed, although we would still love to hear your feedback via the link below. 

Click here to complete the survey.

When the spread of a highly infectious illness demands that people physically distance themselves from their communities in order to keep everyone as safe and healthy as possible, it can be easy to feel disconnected and lonely. That’s why it is vital to find ways to maintain connections through this time of crisis.

SCS networking instructor Jean Chow says she keeps a quote from Rev. Cecil Williams above her desk to remind her just how important our connections to one another are.  The quote says “We need this. When we meet face to face, we become human. We lift each other up.”

Chow often asks her students what networking means to them, and the answers she receives (building relationships, meeting new people, making friends, socializing) all fall under the umbrella of connection. That’s why she says networking skills can help stave off feelings of isolation and loneliness during times of physical isolation.

While modern technology makes connecting from afar easier than it has ever been, Chow says it’s important to consider who you are connecting with and what their needs might be. “As a Boomer, we tend to default to email but I’m mindful when connecting with my younger friends (IG DM and WhatsApp) and my 22-year old niece (FB messenger) by choosing the media channel they use frequently,” she says.

Chow also recently switched to video conferencing for the classes she was no longer able to conduct in person. “I’ve transitioned my in-person classes on-line on quite seamlessly and as someone who is very social. I’m delightfully surprised how much I love teaching virtually,” she says.

Meanwhile, for connecting with loved ones, she has been making use of video and phone calls. “I had planned an Easter visit to be with my 90+ year old parents in Calgary but of course, my visit has been postponed so I call now them daily, sometimes twice a day instead of our usual Sunday weekly call,” she explains. “This ritual provides all of us tremendous comfort and assurance. Hearing them say they love me every night means so much to me. My siblings also live in Calgary so they help connect me with our parents through video calling on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. My Dad loves touching the screen!”

In addition to video and phone calls, Chow maintains an active social media presence to connect with students, mentees, colleagues, acquaintances and even strangers. She recommends anyone trying to stay relevant within their business network make an effort to post comments and content to LinkedIn.

As a single woman who has called many countries home, Chow says she is no stranger to finding ways to stay engaged and happy from a distance. Here are her top ten tips to stay connected while social distancing:

1. Keeping a journal – digital or paper – gives you a place to offload your thoughts. I also have a blog and contribute and share posts and articles on LinkedIn.

2. Do something nice for your neighbours whether you live in a condo, apartment building, or a house. Check in while maintaining social distance and ask if you can pick something up for them if you are making a trip to the grocery store.

3. Connect with nature. Walking meditation helps and a good one can be found in “Peace is Every Step” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

4. Meditate even for 5 minutes to help clear your mind.

5. Learn something new! With so many ways to learn online – YouTube, IGTV, Coursera, etc., most of us have access to so much. We are fortunate because not everyone has Internet access. I’m sad to see on Twitter that people who don’t have Internet access gather around the exterior of branches of the Toronto Public Library trying to find a way to log in if they have cell phones. It also shows us the value of our libraries and social services.

6. Some establish new routines immediately. It grounds them and gives a sense of control. As a creative, I maintain some routine to get work done while also allowing (and sometimes scheduling) time for my mind to wander and be free.

7. Move! Make sure you don’t sit in front of your computer all day. Stretch! Jump! Dance! Do the Wonder Woman power pose made famous by Professor Amy Cuddy! And if you haven’t yet, watch her TED talk!

8. Pick up the phone and call someone you love, someone who lives alone, someone you’re thinking of.

9. Take the initiative and identify someone you can help by introducing them to someone in your network who can help, mentor, share their expertise and experience.

10. Breathe and be thankful for all that you have this moment. The universe will unfold as it should.

Jean Chow is a serial entrepreneur, business coach, and mentor. She teaches Fearless Networking: Connecting Creatively and Confidently at the School of Continuing Studies.

The University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies Comparative Education Service (CES) has been designated by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to conduct educational credential assessments for the federal Agri-food Immigration pilot program, launching this March.

The Agri-Food Immigration Pilot is a new federal immigration program designed to help address the labour needs of the Canadian agri-food sector while providing eligible temporary foreign agriculture and agri-food industry workers with a pathway to Canadian permanent residence.

CES will support the pilot project by assessing academic credentials that range from High School diplomas to postsecondary diplomas and degrees and conducts a review of their recognition and comparability to ensure that candidates for the program have achieved the foreign equivalent of a high school level education or greater.

CES will begin accepting applications for this new stream as of March 1st, 2020.

For more information, please visit our Agri-food information page here: 

https://learn.utoronto.ca/comparative-education-service/agri-food

From growing up in a convent to becoming an activist student to a career in midwifery and a forbidden love, Joan Bismillah’s life is the stuff major motion picture plots are made of. But it wasn’t until she became a Creative Writing student in her 80s that she became convinced she should get her story down on paper. 

Now, at 91 years of age, Bismillah has not only written her story, but her memoir, A Chameleon from the Land of the Quagga, has been published as well.   

Beginning with her childhood in South Africa, the book tells the story of Joan’s early life in a convent, where she later tried to return and become a nun to escape her grandmother. “My grandmother was a Victorian tyrant,” she explains. “We were often at loggerheads. And to get away from home – nice girls those days could not leave home without bringing disgrace to their families – I went to see Mother Superior at the convent and asked her to rescue me… and she said ‘My dear to be a nun there are certain vows and you would probably manage most of them. But the final one, obedience? No, you will not be able to cope with that.’”

The theme of disobedience reappears throughout the memoir as Bismillah becomes a young activist, then a midwife and falls in love with an Indian medical student. The two are secretly married and flee to England to escape the prejudice and oppression they encounter in South Africa. They later settle in small-town Southwestern Ontario, where Bismillah once again learns to adapt to the world around her.

It was in Canada that Bismillah’s love of learning was rekindled. “We had arrived from London, England and landed in Fergus, Ontario. 4000 people turned into 380. I helped my husband out and took the children to school and there was nothing to do. I was just completely lost,” she says. 

“Guelph University was just opening its art department. Quite by chance I ran into a very kind gentleman who happened to be the Dean. And he said, we’re just opening now, why don’t you come to a meeting?” 

Joan recalls wondering at the time if she was still capable of learning at her age. “I was all of 35,” she laughs.  

“I enrolled that same evening and thought, I’ll take German - because it was close to Afrikaans - so at least I won’t make a fool of myself. I think as you age, you become very self-conscious when you’re with a lot of younger people. They’ll look at you and you think: Oh my God, what am I doing here? Anyway, it worked out and I enrolled full-term for the next four years which helped me come to terms with living in Canada.”  

It wasn’t until after Bismillah’s husband died and she was in her 80s that she began taking creative writing classes at the School of Continuing Studies. She says the writing was a panacea of sorts for her grief and that the encouragement of her classmates and instructors, particularly Ibi Kaslik, was in large part what led her to completing her memoir. 

“[Ibi] was by far the best teacher I’ve had. She was dedicated and she had our interest at heart and you couldn’t help but listen to her,” Bismillah says. 

One of the things that surprised Bismillah most about writing her memoir was how well she remembered the events of her life once she began writing them down. 

“Everything just came flooding back in a way and I could remember in detail,” she explains.

Even her own writing ability took her by surprise, but she says her SCS instructor gave her the confidence boost she needed early in her classes. 

“I was surprised at how I could write and it was all because I was encouraged by somebody like Ibi who had instilled it at the very beginning and that was it and I didn’t bother about it again.” 

Beyond those early doubts about her writing ability, Bismillah says the most challenging thing about writing her memoir was finding the discipline to get it done. “I sat down and I decided that I would treat it as a job,” she says. 

“You have to be disciplined. So I would start at nine or 10 in the morning and I would work right through until five or six in the evening most days. That I think was the most difficult thing, was to sit down and tell myself, you’ve got to finish it, you know, get on with it. It’s to be disciplined, I think.

Bismillah says she wants to encourage other people who might feel it’s too late to learn something new or to tell their own stories to think again.  

“First of all, it’s never too late. And the stories are always worth being told for the simple reason that long after you’ve gone, it’s still there and it’s an example of how people live or what people do and how we survive. And that’s the only reason I can think of for wanting to write the story,” she says. 

Bismillah also stresses the importance of sharing each other’s stories to build a more empathetic world. “Living in a multicultural society as we are, it’s important because we become more tolerant of each other if we know something about each other. Otherwise we become ignorant,” she explains.

“We all have basically the same emotions and same feelings. That is common. But there are all these other factors in life that makes our life interesting or uninteresting or sad or whatever and those are important, and I think you learn from them.”  

For information about the School of Continuing Studies Creative Writing courses, click here: https://learn.utoronto.ca/programs-courses/creative-writing

Joan Bismillah’s memoir, A Chameleon from the Land of the Quagga, is available through Friesen Press: https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000068962624/Joan-Bismillah-A-Chameleon-from-the-Land-of-the-Quagga
 

The Institute of Certified Records Managers (ICRM) and the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies envision a bold future for Records and Information Management (RIM).

The Institute of Certified Records Managers (ICRM), an international certifying body of and for professional records and information managers, sees a bright future for the field of Records and Information Management (RIM), and is excited to expand their new partnership with the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies (SCS) with micro courses.

Now, SCS has made it even easier to access RIM’s market-driven content, delivered by expert course developers. SCS’s newly formatted micro courses, are short, rigorous, modular formats of existing courses providing more options for learners. Cheryl Pedersen, Chairman of the ICRM Board of Regents, said “the new micro course format is exactly what people are looking for” and added “these courses will make it quicker and easier for people to develop needed skills and competencies to advance in the growing field of RIM.” With three high-demand micro courses as an option for the SCS Certificate of Records and Information Management, there are more options than ever to earn your ICRM credentials.

The online SCS micro courses include: 

• 3214A Records and Information Management Essentials 
• 3214B Records and Information Management Compliance 
• 3214C Electronic Records and Information Management

Completing the SCS Certificate of Records and Information Management allows you a fast track to earning your ICRM credentials. To qualify for the SCS Certificate of Records and Information Management, you must achieve a minimum of 70% in each of the required courses, including the associated micro courses. If you meet this requirement, you are exempt from ICRM’s three-part Certified Records Analyst (CRA) examinations. If you meet the additional ICRM requirements for work experience, upon submitting an application for the Certified Records Analyst (CRA) and paying the $100 application fee, you would be eligible for a credit for Parts 2, 3 and 4 and be awarded the designation upon payment of your first year of dues.  Once you achieve the CRA, you then have an endless amount of time to take Parts 1, 5 and 6 to become a Certified Records Manager (CRM).

Both ICRM and SCS know that information management professionals are key players in future-facing organizations. Today, this growing and critically important field is all about using technology and intelligent automation to provide knowledge asset management and value preservation¹. This discipline holds significant opportunity and potential for young professionals looking to enter a growing and vital field².

“The future of RIM is all about providing access to the right information at the right time, which is more important than ever in this digital information age. We offer our Certificate in Records and Information Management in collaboration with the University of Toronto Faculty of Information (iSchool), ensuring our curriculum is current and combines theory and practice.” says Maureen MacDonald, Dean of SCS. “This certificate is fully online, making it accessible for anyone wanting to succeed in this dynamic and growing field. SCS Dean MacDonald, added “We are one of the first Canadian university continuing education units to offer micro courses.  ICRM’s designations have strong industry recognition, and we’re delighted to extend our partnership with them.” 

For more information about this collaboration, please visit: https://learn.utoronto.ca/programs-courses/association-partnerships/institute-certified-records-managers-icrm 

About the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies

The University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies (SCS) offers an extensive roster of over 700 courses, over 40 program areas, and more than 125 certificates across a broad range of fields that help learners succeed in their careers, satisfy their curiosities, fulfill their passions, and live their best lives.  Courses are delivered by our team of 700 instructors, all of whom are industry or subject matter experts who are passionate about teaching and learning.

About the Institute of Certified Records Managers 

The Institute of Certified Records Managers (ICRM), is an international certifying body of and for professional records and information managers. It was established in 1975 to define and document the knowledge, skills, and competencies in the growing field of Records and Information Management (RIM).  ICRM is committed to the professional development of the RIM community, and their designations are a valuable part of this diverse, interdisciplinary, and global constituency.

Contacts

ICRM Administrator
admin@icrm.org 

or
 
Rae Lynn Haliday, MBA, CRM, Chairman
ICRM Strategic Alliance Committee
haliday@stlzoo.org

Amy Baier, University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies
Interim Director, Strategic Communications + Marketing
amy.baier@utoronto.ca

¹ Intelligent Records Management: The Future of Information Management (Blog post). Retrieved from Gimmal Blog https://blog.gimmal.com/intelligent-records-management-the-next-phase-of-information-management

² A Profession in Peril: Charting a Way forward for RIM in North America. Retrieved from Bluetoad.com https://bluetoad.com/publication/?i=376190&article_id=2687651&view=articleBrowser&ver=html5#{%22issue_id%22:376190,%22view%22:%22articleBrowser%22,%22article_id%22:%222687651%22}

The School of Continuing Studies recently launched new short, stackable micro courses to make accessing the skills learners need right away more convenient. 

Our Director of Academic Programs Kristine Collins and Dean Maureen MacDonald sat down to discuss the motivation behind the micro course offerings and who they are geared towards.

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For more information or to register for one of our micro courses, please visit our micro courses page here: https://learn.utoronto.ca/programs-courses/unique/micro-courses

Whether you are just starting your career or well on your way, determining the next step in your career path can be overwhelming. Having specific goals and a professional development plan in place can make the way forward clear and help you get to where you want to be.  

Here is a six-step template to help you take a methodical approach to achieving your career goals. 

1. Self-assessment (list your current role, your interests and motivations, your professional strengths and strengths you would like to develop or improve) 

2. Goals (what role/salary or other specific career goal are you hoping to achieve based on your skills, interests and motivations)

3. What skills, credentials and relationships do you need to foster to achieve these goals?  

4. Strategy (list steps you will take to develop these skills, credentials and relationships) 

5. Timeline (assign deadlines to your goals and dates to your strategy steps)

6. Assess your progress and revise as needed 

Are continuing education courses or certificates a part of your professional development plan? Check out our wide variety of online and in-class courses.    

As part of an ongoing effort to make lifelong learning more accessible, the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies recently launched the first of 24 micro courses geared towards professional development. 

Created to meet market demand for just in time, compact, accessible learning solutions for busy professionals seeking to develop specific skills, the micro courses are essentially shorter adaptations of proven, full-length SCS courses, focussing on specific aspects of the original course. 

The courses can be taken as a one-off or they can be combined with other micro and full-length, part-time courses to earn an SCS certificate. 

“Whether you are working towards one of our popular certificates or simply have an immediate need for a specific skills upgrade, a micro course can help you gain the knowledge you need quickly, conveniently and affordably,” explains SCS Dean Maureen MacDonald. 

For example, learners working towards their SCS Business Analysis Certificate can either take a full-length 12-week Foundations of Business Analysis course, or, they can learn the same content divided between two shorter micro courses (Business Analysis Essentials I: Analyze, Model, Design and Deliver and Business Analysis Essentials II: Assess, Manage and Measure) before going on to complete the rest of the certificate requirements. If all they need for their career right now is a quick and comprehensive grasp of the basics, they might only want to take Business Analysis Essentials I. 

In a further effort to maximize convenience for learners, 19 of the first 24 micro courses will be delivered online. All 24 will also be offered at a lower price point than their full-length equivalents, making it easier for learners or their employers to fit professional development into their budgets. Learners may also wish to consider using the federal government’s new Canada Training Credit to help them fund their lifelong learning goals. 

While the courses are shorter and more specific, the quality of their content and instruction will be aligned with SCS full-length course offerings.  

“As with all SCS courses, the content of our micro courses has been expertly designed to ensure that the knowledge and skills learners gain are immediately applicable to a diverse set of professional environments,” says Dean MacDonald. 

The first 24 micro courses on offer are: 

2379A - Business Analysis Essentials I: Analyze, Model, Design and Deliver
2379B - Business Analysis Essentials II: Assess, Manage and Measure
2699A - Introduction to Lean Six Sigma Methods
2845A - Foundations of Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Strategies to Build Trust & Stand Out on Google
2845B - Foundations of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Management: Tactics and Strategy to Drive Growth
2854A - Cloud Computing I: Analyzing and Recommending Cloud Adoption
2854B - Cloud Computing II: Architecture, Accessibility, Security and Privacy
3197A - Speaking Publicly with Confidence and Clarity
3197B - Presentations with Visual Impact
3213A - Writing Effectively for Business
3213B - Mastering Business Writing
3214A - Records and Information Management Essentials
3214B - Records and Information Management Compliance
3214C - Electronic Records and Information Management
3250A - Using Python I: Organize and Analyze Data
3250B - Using Python II: Clean, Predict and Inform
3373A - Cyber Security Risk Assessment, Treatment, and Reporting
3373B - Cyber Security Third Party Risk, Compliance, and Emerging Risks
3523A - Agile Project Management Basics: Methods and Solutions
3523B - Agile Project Management Basics: Release Planning
2089 - Managing People: Essentials
3401 - Practical Project Management - Part 1
3402 - Practical Project Management - Part 2

To learn more about the micro courses currently being offered at SCS, please visit the micro course page of our website: https://learn.utoronto.ca/programs-courses/unique/micro-courses

Digital transformation has gone from buzzword to reality for most businesses. The change process looks different from one business to another, but there is one common requirement for success: strong leadership. 

Strong leadership is not only needed to change systems and technology, but to also influence the way people think about business processes, to reimagine their roles, and to embrace change.

U of T SCS has recently launched a new certificate, Strategic Leadership in the Digital Enterprise. This hands-on program is tailored to the senior level manager looking to drive successful digital transformation. 

Developed and instructed by a team of industry leaders, the program will lead you through a combination of panel discussions, teamwork, role-play and group presentations. You’ll sharpen your boardroom skills to build organization-wide support for your strategy.

Lan Nguyen, one of the instructors for the program, sat down with us recently to discuss the program:

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1. How will this course help professionals increase their organization’s competitive advantage?

This course is all about helping professionals to develop key leadership competencies and develop strategic business acumen so that they can help the organization to really move forward with a business transformation program. And then they can align the business strategy with the digital transformation strategy into a winning execution. That will help the organization to move forward, to increase their market share and also increase their competitive advantage.

2. Tell us about what is unique about the format of this course?

We are very excited about the new format in delivering the courses. We are looking at having former CIO’s deliver the courses, engaging with industry leaders, bringing also panel discussion with businesses and executive. And most important we have found in the past is actually also getting them to engage in role play where they can experience how they can participate in business discussion, business strategy and being able to influence decision-making. That’s actually the highlight of the course – “experience learning”

3. What are you most looking forward to in teaching this course? 

What I’m really looking forward to in this program is not only to contribute to the participants’ career development and personal goals but also to help them develop a personal transformation where they can really develop a different executive language, being able to build relationships and be more effective at the executive table. Its really exiting to see that transformation for these participants and being able to see them become very successful as the new executive.

Strategic Leadership in the Digital Enterprise is developed and instructed by:

• Lan Nguyen, a former Deputy Chief Information Officer of the City of Toronto responsible for planning and implementation of digital transformation of government services in partnership with… read Lan’s full instructor bio
• Aaron Cheng, a former Vice-President of IT at Enercare Inc. and a seasoned Information Technology & Telecom Executive with over twenty-five years of experience in building and  transforming… read Aaron’s full instructor bio
• Kyoko Kobayashi, an IT Executive Consultant with over 20 years of executive experience specializing in building strategies with business teams to renovate technology platforms while transforming … read Kyoko’s full instructor bio

Many people aspire to leadership positions within their organization, but it takes more than an impressive title to be truly effective at leading a team. 

Good leadership is vital to an organization’s success and to growing and particularly in retaining a strong team. A 2015 survey of over 7000 adults from market research firm Gallup found that about 50 percent had left a job at some point “to get away from their manager.”

1. Ask the Right Questions 

So what does it take to be an effective leader? According to SCS Leadership Essentials Certificate instructor Tom Barker, the first thing it takes is a willingness to pose important and sometimes difficult questions to which they do not have the answers. “This is uncomfortable yet vital. The leader needs to have the courage of their convictions to pose the question and stay with it.” 

Barker sites leaders like Shelley Lazarus of Ogilvy and Mather who asked the right questions to inspire the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.

“Organizations are full of smart people, but alas they are also awash with contradictory information, issues and noise,” explains Barker. “A leader can help everyone around them focus on what’s important, and then the smart folks can do the rest.”

2. Avoid Common Pitfalls

In addition to asking the right questions, it is vital for leaders to be authentic. 
“People who adopt superficial leadership behaviours, saying the right buzzwords are quickly unmasked by colleagues and associates alike,” says Barker. “Authentic leadership comes from having and using clear personal values, being able to work with people and having people want to work with you. At the other end of the spectrum it also means being able to align your own goals with the organization’s business goals. That’s why the Leadership Essentials Certificate has helped so many leaders, as it provides an opportunity to improve all these areas.”

3. Develop Skills before you Need them

Another common pitfall aspiring leaders can fall into is waiting until they find themselves in a leadership position to develop their leadership skills. Barker says it’s important to work on developing your leadership skills from whatever position you are in so that when the opportunity to lead comes you will be ready. “I use the analogy of facilitation. Its difficult to facilitate a large business meeting. But people don’t wake up one morning and say ‘I think I’ll offer to facilitate the business planning meeting today’. That would be risky. Instead they could start to use facilitative behaviours in their interactions and meetings, things like summarizing discussions, validating other’s opinions and so on,” he explains. 
“That way they are building skills as they go, taking small steps and mastering valuable skills each year.”

4. Think Critically and Manage Conflict

For a leader to successfully motivate a team, they also need to let go of the notion that there is only one right answer to an issue. “One of the realities that leaders recognize is that there is no such thing as the right point of view on any issue. There are many points of view corresponding to all the stakeholders and they are all different,” says Barker. “A leader who has the skills and strategies of conflict management to work through the options with stakeholders to reach an agreement, and the critical thinking skills to structure a win-win solution is one who will be in high demand.”

5. Be a Lifelong Learner 

Finally, a critical component of successful leadership is the desire and willingness to keep learning. Barker says this is true for three reasons. “First because we either move forward and learn more or we slip backwards into unthinking repletion and lazy convenience,” he says. “The way to keep improving is to keep learning new things and challenging ourselves. Secondly, because to lead is to model behaviour, and if we want others to be inspired to learn then we must do so ourselves. Thirdly, to lead is to listen and in order to listen well requires us the believe that the person is going to tell us something that we can learn from. The desire to keep learning is the hallmark of all the good leaders I’ve ever met.