The best way to demonstrate my work as an author and creative professional is through a well-crafted portfolio of stories I’ve written and samples of campaigns I’ve developed.
Allow me to proudly yet sheepishly show my age.
I have no electronic portfolio of my professional work because, well, clips from earlier in my career are print-only and subsequently quite outdated—think the first term of Bill Clinton’s presidency—and more recent samples are only available electronically. The thought of creating a professional E-portfolio to pull them all together overwhelms me and makes me fearful that I’m about two weeks shy of shouting at the neighborhood kids to, “Get off my lawn!”
My E-portfolio apprehension is odd as I have maintained a WordPress-based website for my wife, Jennifer, and my writing for the past 15 years. Go figure. Enter the MA in Leadership program at Wartburg College. This is enlightening and educating me on the whys and how-tos behind the all-important electronic archiving of my leadership development and journey.
In their 2024 Humanities & Social Sciences Communications journal article, “A framework for the facilitation of accelerated leadership and management capability development in the workplace,” authors Gregory J. Harper, Roslyn Cameron, and Christine Edwards address elements that are involved in developing the competencies that reinforce effective leadership. I like how they explain how “metacognition” is part of this discussion. They explain that it, “… refers to one’s awareness and under-standing of their cognitive processes, sometimes referred to as thinking about thinking” (Harper et al., 2024. p. 4).
Looking into the E-portfolio, it makes perfect sense for the purposes of this program. The timing could not have been more perfect. It was just this past weekend I was thinking of an essay I had written in the creative writing class assignment for my Master’s at Central Michigan University. It was a great essay, but it wrote it on laptop that no longer works. Now that, along with every other essay I wrote, is gone into the bottomless academic abyss.
That’s why metacognition and the E portfolio will be such important pieces of my leadership journey. We all are doing great work in this program, and it will serve as the foundation for where I’ve been and where I am going as a leader. The beauty of it is that it will no longer be something personal for my eyes only. It will be something I can share with others so they understand where my vision and my heart are when it comes to what drives me as a leader.
Imagine that. Documenting my important work in a resource that will stand the test of time. Welcome to 2024, Dan.
Resources Harper, G. J., Cameron, R., & Edwards, C. (2024/12//). A framework for the facilitation of accelerated leadership and management capability development in the workplace. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 369.