Dinner With Our Alumni: KindnessMatters2020

Hello all and welcome back to our Dinner with our Alumni series! Today's post is all about the phenomenal @KindnessMatters2020!

KindnessMatters2020 has been a listener on here since March 2020! They hold many roles including but not limited to Safety Patrol, Listener Coach, Listener Verifier Team - they have contributed so much to better the quality of our community and I am so excited to have been able to interview them today!

What was on the menu? PIZZA!

Here's what they had to say:

What made you join the LDP?

I joined the LDP because I love the service that 7Cups provides as a resource worldwide. I hope to continue to learn how I can contribute in more productive and effective ways that will improve quality and experience for both listeners and members.

How was your experience doing the coursework?

My experience doing the coursework was good. I was in the July cohort so I was part of the very first group to start LDP. It was a little bit confusing just making sure that I was capturing everything I needed to do.

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

Navigating through the forums was pretty easy.

How did you dedicate your time to doing the coursework?

I dedicated my time to the coursework on weekends since I work full-time and have other leadership roles here that I took on during the course of the LDP.

Which course did you like the most? And why?

I really liked the course that talked about teams being created through likeminded people and working together toward a mutual goal.

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

Since starting the LDP in July 2020, I have started on SPOT, LCT, VLT and AEF. My favorite is the VLT and LCT because I can work directly with listeners to help them develop their skills, feel supported in a one-on-one way, and problem-solve. I also really love being a mentor making sure that I provide a warm welcome to new listeners and assure them that their time is appreciated and that I am here to support their success. I LOVE this part!

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

My tip would be to find a good mentor. I think having a "go to" person when you have questions, feel frustrated or just need to check-in is super important. Learning together and using our resources is really helpful.

What can we do to make the program better?

I am not sure if it would be possible, but I think if there could be an LDP dashboard type thing set up to help keep everyone on track and have that one stop to find all the resources that you need would be awesome. I had an issue with submitting work and then something would happen and it would not go through, but I had no way to check that it was received other than messaging a leader and asking them to check.

Thank you for reading till here! Thank you so much for doing this, @KindnessMatters2020, please give them a big shoutout!

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.