It is the tail end of relatively productive day and week. I am in the midst of a 4-day weekend so I definitely feel more relaxed given I had a “free” day yesterday. I saw “Cowboys and Aliens” which was highly entertaining. I also thoroughly enjoyed a delicious dinner out last night with my partner. I plan to depart shortly and head to the tennis courts. I will then see what the evening has in store for me, take-out and TV is sounding pretty good! It is supposed to be another beautiful day tomorrow so I am hoping to take a drive to the country to visit some wineries and famers’ markets. Should be good.
Today I decided to bit the bullet and begin writing my dissertation!! This was advice that was suggested to me while I was at Henley and aligns well with my belief that one should “begin with the end in mind”. I first reviewed the structure of 4 dissertations from my field of study and created a spreadsheet to capture key information such as abstract details, section length, and table of contents headings. I still have to finish populating the spreadsheet but I had enough information to draft my own Table of Contents and begin to write my abstract. This was simultaneously exciting and overwhelming. It was exciting to actual officially begin to write my dissertation but at the same time daunting to review the average length which ranged from 275 – 350 pages!! The upside to this was that it reinforced the importance of starting to write now and continuing to write regularly.
This week I did a focused review of the LDQ. Despite my initial enthusiasm, I think that my original choice, the MLQ, is a better fit for my research study. I was especially pleased to learn that there is a Team MLQ that I can use to assess the dominant leadership style of the C-suite. I have been struggling with how to do this for a few months, so this was a significant discovery. Also, upon review of the sample reports that the leaders would receive I think that my study participants may be better served by the MLQ report. To address my budget constraints I have decided to insert an “optional investment” slide in my deck and present the organizations with the opportunity to pay for these reports for their leaders.
Overall the practical aspects of the data collection are slowly coming together. I have a meeting booked on Friday with one organization and an upcoming meeting with an important stakeholder who has influence with the remaining three organizations. This week I am traveling for work but will refine my “research participant presentation” so that it is ready for use on Friday.
I feel like I am on track. I also recently received a promotion at work and now have an additional portfolio which is great news. Of course, this means more on my plate, but I am excited about the challenge and opportunity to deliver more integrated solutions to our firm. Have to fly now, my ride will be here shortly.