The Great Survey Experiment, Part One

In which I learn some interesting lessons about leadership online

I have to admit, I spend entirely too much time on Reddit.  If you've never been to Reddit, I highly suggest you simply read my explanation and not click the link, if you ever want to spend time not on the Internet again.

Simply put, Reddit is a website, divided into pages called subreddits, wherein people who have similar interests share information and ideas and have discussions on a specific shared interest.  There is a subreddit for everything - from Toastmasters, to jokes, to cats, to the dark sides of the Internet that most of us don't want to see.

Out of the roughly 883,000 subreddits, one of my favorites is dedicated to the concept of financial independence - reaching the point where you no longer need to work for money, whatever that point is for your lifestyle.  This subreddit is an active Internet community - its 132,000+ members have daily discussions, share their financial plans, and disseminate various strategies for reaching financial independence.  And although they all share a common goal, its members come from varying backgrounds, have a multitude of careers and hobbies, and see the world in different ways.

One day, someone decided it would be neat to survey the members of the financial independence subreddit.  A brief survey was created, but quickly shut down after a wave of feedback indicating that it was missing critical information.  Then, a call for help to create a new and improved survey went out.

Having done quite a few surveys for my day job, I answered the call for help and shortly found myself in discussions with the few others who had volunteered.  Among that group, a call for a leader was issued - which I again answered.  After all, I figured, I know a little about surveys, but I know more about being in charge and getting things done.


I found myself leading a team of four volunteer survey writers.  I quickly developed a plan for the project and posted it for feedback (I'm big on planning).  Then the writing began in earnest.

Throughout the survey development process, I got a good look at what its like to lead a remote team - something I've not done before, and am happy to have done in an environment where there is no meaningful consequence (if things went awry with this project, I wasn't going to lose my job).  The worst that could happen is that some random person on the Internet might be unhappy with me.  In the grand scheme of things, I'm not too worried about that possibility. 

The first challenge was finding a medium to draft the survey questions.  Because Reddit is styled after an Internet forum, with chains of discussions leading off one main post, we began with various posts to discuss questions.  The multiple chains however, were too divided and didn't lend themselves to meaningful discussions.

Instead, we moved to drafting the survey in an online spreadsheet via Google Sheets.  There, each team member was able to draft survey questions, add their comments on previously written questions, and outline options for responses.  The Google Sheet was supplemented by discussions on Reddit.  This worked better than simple discussions on Reddit, but still wasn't quite ideal.  It was too easy to miss a post on Reddit or a change on the Sheet.

Once a majority of the questions were drafted in the Google Sheet, I began to create the actual survey.  Because we were all volunteers and all share the common goal of reaching financial independence which means we don't "waste" money, we were limited to survey tools we could use without cost.  Fortunately, I'm able to use a company SurveyMonkey account.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to share the login information with anyone else on the team.  This meant I had to create the questions in SurveyMonkey, and then distribute the draft survey to the team for feedback.

Over about six weeks, I fed the survey questions from the Google Sheet into SurveyMonkey and got feedback from the drafting team on the questions.  Once they were in the SurveyMonkey, it seemed much easier for the team to have meaningful discussions on the actual wording and answer options.  Discussions tended to be short, however, with most being feedback being directed to me rather than occurring as conversations between the team members.

Finally, it was time to beta test.  I put out a call for help - and about two dozen volunteers answered.  Each volunteer took a test version of the survey and submitted feedback on the specific questions.  Almost all of the feedback was incorporated into the final survey, although some comments conflicted and thus cancelled each other out.

What I've learned about leading an online team, so far, follows.

First, it's critical to have a tool that enables group communication between all team members.  The information needs to flow in a circle, not up a triangle.  In hindsight, using something like Slack or TeamWork may have been much more fitting for this project.  Our Reddit discussions and Google Sheet were just too limited to really enable a high level of discussion. 

Second, setting milestone dates is crucial.  We had a plan and a path to follow, but because this was a volunteer project with no real deadline, I didn't set milestone dates.  Looking back, milestone dates may have helped facilitate discussion by getting the full team on the same piece of the project at the same time.

Third, when working with a large audience, you can't make everyone happy.  Or even simpler, you can't make it work for everyone.  We are surveying a diverse audience, that wants a lot of information (the survey is a whopping 65 questions).  Logistical questions, like how to get that information, the best way to phrase the questions, and the best way to format the input all have so many possibilities that someone has to make the call and just do it - or else it will never get done.

The great survey experiment has been a learning experience for me, in leading remote teams, using online collaboration tools, and coordinating people who are complete strangers.  The survey results aren't in yet, but I'm sure I'll be posting more lessons when they are. 

Book Review: Lean In

In which I review Lean In: Women, Work, and The Will to Lead, by Sheryl Sandberg  

When the book Lean In was published in 2013, I heard a lot of rumors about it.  What struck me most about the rumors at the time was that they were contradictory.  Some said it was an ultra-business super-woman style assault on stay at home moms.  Others said it was terrible for women, that it preached an anti-feminist rhetoric. At the time I was curious, but not curious enough to actually pick up the book. 

After all, I've never considered myself a woman who "lets the man" hold me down, get in my way, or otherwise detract from my success.  From bossing around my little brother, to being the President of a two professional associations, I've never thought of myself as a woman who struggles or even has to try terribly hard to be in a leadership position.  Most of the time I don't even consider the fact that I am a woman - I am just me, and I am good at being in charge.  I didn't need to read Lean In, so I didn't. 

Yet recently, I've noticed some subtle (and not so subtle) ways in which women are not equal to men in various aspects of my life.  Those realizations led me to pick up Lean In.  Typically, I buy business books in hard copy so that I can highlight and easily re-read ponder important passages.  I wasn't ready to make that commitment to such a controversial book yet, so I opted to check out a free audio version from my library, which I listened to - quite ironically - while doing housework.

Throughout Lean In, Sandberg uses stories to make her points.  It's almost like she was trained by Toastmasters - make a point, tell a story, reiterate the point.  Even though I was listening instead of reading, I was able to follow each point and see its value and applicability to my own circumstances. 
And as I listened, I had a few unexpected personal revelations.  Several of the stories and experiences shared in Lean In are ones that I've lived, but never thought about through a gender-based magnifying glass.

In one story that hit particularly home, Sandberg writes about the tendency of women in large meetings to sit not at the table, but at the chairs around the side of the room, which has the effect of reducing our contributions to the discussion at hand.  I realized I did just that only a few weeks ago, my logic at the time being that I was a special guest at the meeting and would leave the seats for those who really belonged there.  During the meeting I was often frustrated by my inability to meaningfully contribute to the conversation taking place at the table, because I had great information to share (the discussion was on a topic on which I was the resident expert), but my self-imposed spot on the sidelines made participation nearly impossible.  

In another story, Sandberg discusses women's tendency to downplay our capabilities and achievements, which is ultimately detrimental to our success.  I had another unexpected realization - just recently, I said no to a speaking opportunity I was offered because I tend to downplay my own capabilities.  Lean In made me pause, think about the person who offered me the engagement (a woman for whom I have the utmost respect), and come to the realization that I should have said yes to that opportunity.  If a woman whose opinion I respect thinks I would be good for this - why didn't I think so too? 

Although a surprise, my ability to relate to so many stories in the book made it a valuable listen for me, much more than I expected since I originally ascribed a value of "free" to it.  In hindsight, I wonder now if my unwillingness to actually spend money on Lean In was part of that subtle gender bias.  I did struggle and ultimately fail to relate to the chapters on children, since I do not, and do not intend to, have them.  But, those chapters offered me a valuable perspective that I can use as I shape the future of my own workplace and interact with my child-bearing sisters.

Overall, Lean In is thought-provoking, engaging, and perspective-shifting.  I fully intend to find an actual hard copy of the book, and give it my usual highlighter / note taking serious business book treatment. 

How to Prepare a Toastmasters Speech, Part Two

In which we answer the question - how do I draft my speech? 

For some Toastmasters, the hardest part of writing a speech is thinking of a topic.  For others, it's actually writing the speech.  For me sometimes it's either, sometimes it's both, and if I'm really lucky it's neither. 

In part one, we considered how a Toastmasters speech differs from a normal speech - the goal is always to learn.  Now that we have our learning goals in mind, we can begin to draft our speech. 
Of course, before we can draft our speech, we have to know our topic.  For this exercise using the IceBreaker speech the topic is provided - you.

First, take a look at the key speech goals from the manual assignment (refer to part one if this sentence doesn't make sense).  In this case, mine were:

• 3-4 main points 
• About me
• Story
• Opening, body, conclusion

Next, I like to simply sit and think - and write down everything that pops into my head.  Don't worry about it being coherent.  Don't worry about it making sense.  Don't worry about well, anything.  Just let my mind wander and scribble the things that pop into it on the paper.  Like this (minus the check marks, those come later):


Nothing on this page will make much sense.  It's just random, disparate thoughts scribbled all over the place.  That's ok.  Everything on the page has something to do with my speech topic, me.  And while I was pondering, I realized I have three goals - which are the perfect framework for the 3-4 points about me I need to make.  You might realize you have three roles in life, or three people who made you who you are, or three books you can't live without.

With some thoughts on paper, we'll start turning them into a coherent speech.  Take a new piece of paper, fold it into four rectangles, open it back up, and trace the fold lines.  You now have one piece of paper divided into four equal size rectangles.  Label the top left square "Intro / Conclusion", and the remaining rectangles "1," "2," and "3," respectively.

Consider what point 1 is - for me, it is my goal to participate in, and encourage more women to participate in, speech contests.  In the top right rectangle, I wrote "Compete" after the number 1.  Then, I plugged in all the scribbles from my first note page that relate to competition.  Rinse and repeat with the remaining two points. 

Now that the three points of the speech are on paper, the intro and conclusion can also go on paper.  The intro and conclusion should preview and review, respectively, the speech.

When all is said and done, the speech outline will look something like this:


This sheet of organized thoughts is now the basis for actually drafting the body of the speech.  I like to type that actual first draft.  In the first draft, don't worry about anything but getting words on the paper.  It will be revised later anyway.  Just type out an initial draft of the speech, using the outline as a guide.

In part three, we'll cover refining the draft speech. 

How to Prepare a Toastmasters Speech, Part One

In which we answer the question - what is my goal?  

A Toastmasters speech is unlike any other speech you are likely to give.  Most speech writing starts with the topic already in mind, or at least a cohesive audience.  Perhaps the purpose of the speech is to give an update on a project, to persuade a potential client to purchase your services, or to inspire an audience of high school graduates to carry on to college - whatever it is, the purpose of the speech is centered around the needs of the audience, not the needs of the speaker.

In Toastmasters, the purpose and need are flipped.  The purpose of the speech is singular, and always the same - to help the speaker grow their skills.    The audience is diverse - it's probably not a cohesive group of your coworkers, your potential client, or high school graduates.  Instead, the audience is 10-20 (or more) random people with one thing in common - they want to be better speakers.

For many new Toastmasters, this leads to a challenging dilemma.  How do I write my speech?  What do I write it about?  We'll think about the what later, but for now, let's talk about the how.  I'm a process-driven person, so I'll share with you my process for writing a Toastmasters speech.  For this exercise, we will consider the very first speech a Toastmaster gives - the IceBreaker. 

How to Prepare a Toastmasters Speech, Part One - What's the Goal? 

The short answer is simple.  It's in the book.

Every Toastmasters speech is given from a manual, and is thus often referred to as a "manual speech" or a manual project.  The first thing I do when preparing a speech, then, is to read the manual.  The manual provides the learning goals of the speech, and the tactics to use when preparing and delivering the speech.

Step One.  Read the manual.  Carefully.  Thoughtfully.  Peruse it (contrary to popular belief, peruse means to read carefully, not to skim).  Internalize the purpose, the skill you will learn through giving the speech.

For me, this means highlight the heck out of it.  Sometimes, I even take the points I've highlighted and summarize them on a clean sheet of paper, boiling each one down to two or three words.  For the highlighted portion shown in the photo, I would note that the speech should be or have:

• 3-4 main points
• About me 
• Story 
• Opening, body, conclusion

Now that I've perused the manual, I know what I'm supposed to learn and accomplish in giving this IceBreaker speech.  I have the foundation I need to actually write it.

For the IceBreaker speech, because it is the very first prepared speech a Toastmaster will give, the goals are basic.  Essentially, they are to get up there and talk about yourself for 4-6 minutes.  That's it.  It's not profound, it's not complex - but for many, it is challenging and life-changing.

In Part Two, we will cover the actual drafting of the speech.

Hello, Welcome, and all that Jazz

For some reason - one which I haven't entirely figured out yet - I tend to wind up in charge.

From my elementary school girl scout troop, through various clubs in high school and college, to my current job and professional organizations - I always wind up in charge.

Sometimes, I wind up leading an effort because I'm the only one willing to take the risk and be in charge.  Other times, I wind up in a leadership position because someone else nominated me - or even better, because I fought to put myself there.

I've even been told I'm a natural.

But really, what does that mean?

What makes someone a leader?  What makes someone a natural leader?  Or a good leader?

Of course, I can tell you all about what makes a bad "leader," and you could probably tell me just as much.  I still haven't figured out the answers to the better questions though.  Maybe there are no answers, or maybe there are so many they are simply impossible to capture in any one place or person.  One thing I have, however, figured out - is that I have a lot to learn.

In April 2013, I joined a little organization called Toastmasters.  You may have heard of it.  And no, we don't make toast...nor do we sit around giving toasts.  Rather, we practice our speaking and leadership skills in a safe, supportive place.  No one is going to get fired, or booed, or graded with a big red F in Toastmasters.  We practice, we learn, and then we practice some more and learn some more.  Gradually, we get better at both speaking and leading - because let's face it, the best leaders are also the best communicators.

By night, then, I'm a speech-making, book-hoarding, constant learner always looking for the next challenge.  By day, I'm the operations manager of a small consulting firm, where the rule is "I'm in charge if the owner isn't here" - and with an owner whose almost never there, I'm almost always in charge.

My next challenge...well, you're reading it.   As I learn, and study, and hopefully grow, I'm going to share my thoughts and experiences here.  Speaking tips, leadership thoughts, all the random little lessons of life...here we go.