At the Staff Summit, we identified our Positive Core, the strengths that we collectively have to build from. It was very inspiring to see that over one hundred people came up with a list that broke down to only five themes (with a lot of overlap). At Lafayette, we are Communicative, Daring, like a Family, have a strong sense of Pride, and are Student Focused.
Collaboration and Communication
- Collaboration and consensus building
- Teamwork/Collaboration
- More collaboration
- Collaboration
- Interaction, collaboration and communication between departments
- Sharing a common goal through collaboration
- Collective collaboration from staff, faculty, students and alumni
- Collaboration
- Collaboration and teamwork
- Broad based collaborations (Expanding your voice)
- Appreciate and use each other’s strengths
- Knowledge communicated
- Communication and accessibility
- Communication-listen without judgment, have a voice regardless of position, get input from all levels
- Networking across the college
- Transparency
- Good listeners-regular and open communication across divisions
- Information sharing
- Improve campus-wide communication
Daring
- We will work it out
- Flying cars
- Support to move forward with new ideas and initiatives
- Be willing to take risks and embrace change
- Willingness to change/experiment
- Freedom to improve job/college
Supportive Family – a Strong Sense of Community
- Mentoring and professional guidance
- Flexible support
- Supportive family
- Supportive relationships with co-workers
- Supportive community; leaders are advocates and friends
- Supportive co-workers
- Empowerment with support
- A culture of empowerment
- Mutual respect and empathy
- Environment of mutual respect
- Feeling supported in personal or career development
- Recognition of talent
- Willingness to assist and problem solve
- Extending relationships beyond professional roles to further foster a family atmosphere
- A community of trust, respect and celebration
- Community
- Community events
- Defining diversity
- Opportunities outside the job
Pride and Purpose
- Passion for job, community and Lafayette
- Intense commitment to Lafayette College
- Passion/ enthusiasm
- Interest in the well being of the college
- Institutional memory/history
- Pause to celebrate accomplishments and to express appreciation for contributions
- Showing appreciation
- Lafayette pride and school spirit
- Celebration
- Celebrating our success
- Leading by example
- Responsibility, humility and personal accountability
- Sum of individual efforts equals overall quality
- Shared sense of mission
- Mission focused
- Personal attention contributes to success (service to others)
Student Focused
- Student focus/ proactive problem solving
- Focus on the student
- Shared commitments to educating students
- Involvement and interaction with our students
- Create a nurturing environment
- Rich learning environment where we’re all perpetual students and teachers
- Lafayette as a learning environment
- Continuous learning from feedback