Dinner With Our Alumni: Containedchaos

Hello everyone! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend This week, we have a very special member for our Dinner With Our Alumni series! For those new, this is a series of small interviews with Leadership Development Program (LDP) graduates. These help us reflect upon the program and help our current trainees as well as spread awareness about the program! If you like them, do tell us!

Please say hello to @Containedchaos! When asked to tell me something about themselves, just like me and I'm sure many of us, Chaos laughed because they were so unsure of what to say (tell me about it!!) But containedChaos is a full-time supervisor in a helping profession and has been in that field ever since high school (how cool!). Their goal is to get into a master's program soon. BUT, guess what? Chaos only gets more interesting from here on, THEY HAVE A PUPPER! She will be 13 years old this month and Chaos has had her since she was 6 weeks old!! *soft, teary eyes* (we demand pictures pls!!) It doesn't end there though. Chaos loves the fall season, dislikes winter (let's just agree to disagree there Chaos, I'm a winter lover x)) They also enjoy taking walks in hills, mountains, State Parks, and along rivers! They love game nights with friends or just sitting in the backyard chatting away!

What was on the menu? Sushi + potatoes (unclear in what form but they were there), some candy, and some sugar-free iced tea! (Needless to say, I'm not eating for another 2 days)

And it went like:

What made you join the LDP?

At first, I thought I would need to do it to get leadership. I still took it once I found out I did not need to. I also wanted to find out what it had to offer, my role as a supervisor, I look for opportunities for growth in my role, there is always room for growth. What I did learn from LDP I have applied to my own personal life and work life.

How was your experience doing the coursework?

The course was broken down into small parts to complete, and also easy to read and understand, so that was nice. I went back to work full-time, so I did struggle to try to find time to do it and was afraid I would not meet the deadline, but I did, phew. It was nice to have people checking in to see if I had questions and to also send out reminders to turn in the weekly forms and send the correct links.

Did you find it easy to navigate through the forums for each course?

Yes, it was easy to navigate. I did use a link that had a cheat sheet guide on what to turn in every week regarding the forms and later was told I was using the wrong link, but other than that it was easy.

How did you dedicate your time to doing the coursework?

I had to make sure I told myself I would do so many hours on the weekend, making sure I dedicated 2-4 hours a week, some weeks shorter, some weeks more. It all depended on what was going on in my personal life.

Which course did you like the most? And why?

Circle of Control was so impactful that I actually presented the video during a staff meeting and I used it during supervision to help people stay focused on what they can control and not spend their energy outside of that.

I also liked the lesson on High Expectations and High Warmth. It was so relevant to what was going on at work this past year. I also find this relevant to Cups. That this is a kind, caring, accepting, and open place, and people are given chances and such because we all have bad days, but there is also accountability that still applies, even on bad days. Also, having high expectations in our roles as leaders is something I value here. There are high expectations, but the community is there giving support by our mentors, mods, etc.

I also appreciated hearing how much Cups is dedicated to people and this site. In course 3 this is a quote, “We believe in you. Maybe you don’t see your potential, maybe you hide your promise, or maybe you make life more difficult than it needs to be. It doesn’t matter. We still believe in you. You can grow through these challenges and get to the other side. We’ve seen lots and lots of people just like you do it. We believe you can do it too.

It's always nice to hear that people believe in you. This is a big message on 7 Cups, I have read that throughout the leadership course, I have seen the community continually support and believe in one another.

What role did you get into after the program? How are you liking the role you got into for the LDP?

Room Supporter and I also went on to get a Listener account to also help out.

If you had to give one tip to the current trainees, what would that be?

Some courses may seem long, or you may not feel you have time to dedicate to it, but give yourself a few hours a week to give to the course and you will do great. I do think everyone in leadership should take this course as it provides a lot of wonderful information, it makes you look at yourself and how to improve as not just a leader, but a person. I cannot say how many times a week I say to someone or remind myself, “Let it go, that is not in your control.” I have kept my notes and sometimes review them when I am looking for a certain course to review again.

What can we do to make the program better?

Every week we turn in our progress on the courses and another form to update them on where we are at getting a leadership role. Later we turn in a midway eval, and the weekly evals, and at the end eval and weekly updates. Maybe make it one form that says where we are in the program and where we are getting our leadership role, and if the leadership role is N/A we push a button, N/A, and no longer need to fill it out. And the mid-eval can count as the weekly update form. Other than that it was a great program.

Thank you for reading till here! Please give a massive shoutout to this gem of a member/person @containedChaos!

I would love to hear any suggestions/question ideas that I can add to this series. If you are an LDP graduate and would love to contribute, please PM me so we can set up our dinner!

If you want to apply for the LDP, please click here.