1) Who am I?
My name is Barbara Martin. I am the Manager of the National Managers’ Community Secretariat. The Secretariat was established to provide support, networking and learning opportunities to managers in the Canadian federal public service. I manage the Secretariat’s operations, provide leadership to the development and implementation of our business plan and create and nurture partnerships with our stakeholders.

2) When and why did I attend Women Leading Change?
I participated in WLC in May 2002. I was encouraged to attend by two colleagues who had attended WLC the year before. I observed in them a generosity and confidence when working with our stakeholders. Both of these women emulated a quiet yet powerful approach to leadership that I wanted to learn more about.

3) What skills have I used the most since participating in the program?
I have learned the value of taking the time to have conversations that build on relationships and explore possibilities. In the past, I tended to jump immediately to action conversations and missed all sorts of opportunities to build creativity, innovation, trust and fun into my work.

I use generous listening more and more. It takes humility. And it definitely takes practice, but I am learning to stop myself from listening only to what I believe is right or wrong and to listen to others for possibilities, commitment and opportunities for action. I am paying attention to being more present in conversations – to listen to what people are saying with curiosity.

And I am being more generous with myself. I understand better the need to serve myself in order to serve others with courage, intelligence and joy.

I have further developed the ability to speak about my work in a way that provides clear context with the goal of finding ‘shared purpose’ with team members, colleagues, partners and bosses. By listening carefully and speaking with courage and conviction, I am better able to generate the ideas, possibilities and action with others that lead to groundbreaking results.

4) What results am I the most proud of?
We have achieved the ground breaking result I planned for while at WLC last year. It seemed overwhelming at the time, but we did it! We have new, committed partners. We have created credibility with senior decision makers which is measurable. We have funding. We have increased opportunities for our community of federal public servant managers to learn, develop and build communities of practice. People are passionate and excited about what we offer.

I am also proud of my relationships with my family. While strong when I went into WLC, I learned new ways of listening and being present that have made them even stronger.

I have a new and very exciting challenge waiting for me around the corner. I have accepted an assignment in Washington, DC where I will be working for the Canadian government to build learning partnerships and opportunities for collaboration in the area of common government services. I am counting on the skills that I learned through the IWL to get me through the thrills and terrors of this new phase in the lives of my family and me.

5) What resources do I want from and can I offer the IWL as I continue my leadership journey?
My offer: I attest to the power of the methods and practices used in this program, and I am committed to bringing this experience to others working in public service. I am also committed to maintaining the network and relationships that I started through participating in WLC.

My request: To have continued access to the wonderful support, coaching and wisdom that Rayona and other IWL alumni have to offer.

To contact Barbara: