Tag Archive for: leadership

How Innovative Leadership Keeps Cooperative Extension Strong: An Interview with Karl Bradley

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Introduction

In a rapidly changing world, innovative leadership is critical for Cooperative Extension’s success. Leadership development equips Extension professionals with the skills to navigate complex issues, build collaborative teams, consistently adapt, and create programs to meet emerging needs. This ensures Cooperative Extension remains a relevant and impactful force.

The Extension Foundation actively supports this goal through the expertise of Karl Bradley, its Leadership and Team Development Specialist. Karl joined the team in 2020, bringing over 25 years of experience from the U.S. Air Force and football coaching, where he honed his leadership skills across various areas.

Originally from Branson, Missouri, Karl has a proven track record leading teams of various sizes. His experience spans public relations, operations, fundraising, and more, across 49 states and 20 countries. This diverse background positions him perfectly to guide Extension professionals in building strong alliances, fostering partnerships, and driving positive change.

In this Q&A, you’ll learn about the ways Karl and the Extension Foundation can support your organization and team. Listen in as Karl chats with Dr. Aaron Weibe about effective leadership strategies on the latest episode of the Connect Extension podcast. Discover Karl’s passion for leadership in the short video we’ve included at the end of this piece. Connect with Karl on LinkedIn to learn more about his expertise.

 

What do you do for the Extension Foundation?

My job is to positively influence the 32,000 Cooperative Extension professionals across the country so they can continue creating meaningful experiences for the people of our nation. My primary purpose is to awaken everyone to the power of their leadership!

Peter Drucker says “Only three things happen in organizations; friction, confusion, and underperformance. Everything else requires leadership.”

The most important thing to remember about this is that these things “happen naturally” when we start collaborating. Friction is present when people don’t understand one another. Confusion happens when communication isn’t effective. Underperformance shows up with skills mismatch and culture issues.

When we seek to understand each other before being understood ourselves, friction begins to fade. When we align what we say with what we do, confusion begins to fade. Engagement increases as we connect through our shared humanity.

We help teams realize it doesn’t have to be this way. You can have the positive experience you want together. It takes everyone’s leadership to move from surviving to thriving!

To make this happen, the Extension Foundation offers individual and team coaching, grant support, and quality membership offerings. The people we serve are very busy professionals so the flexibility of our services is paramount. If your team is at a “7”, we can help you and your team members take action to move to an “8” which will feel remarkably different!

What do you want people to know about your services and offerings?

No matter where you are on your leadership journey, we will listen, learn, and help you lead in the most authentic way for you. We strive to be a strong success partner so everyone can become the best version of themselves. We promise you will be seen, heard, and valued no matter where you are in your career. It’s an honor and privilege to be a trusted partner for the people doing such vital work for our nation. 

How might teams use the recently updated Healthy Teams Handbook and the Team Health Survey tool?

I am so excited to share the newly updated Healthy Teams Handbook! It’s a resource we originally developed to support New Technologies for Ag Extension (NTAE) project teams. This practical guide offers insights and strategies to help you build and maintain high-performing, collaborative teams. Designed to complement the Team Health Dashboard, a research-backed tool based on Google’s “Project Aristotle”, the Healthy Teams Handbook delves into the five key “conditions” essential for effective teamwork:

  • Psychological safety
  • Dependability
  • Structure and clarity
  • Meaning
  • Impact

By understanding and fostering these conditions, you can create a more positive and productive team environment, ultimately leading to better Extension outcomes.

People come together for many reasons. They all desire to have an impact in some way to make our world a little better. To do this they need to become a team. With the survey and handbook, they can have a common language to discuss timeless aspects of how to become a highly effective team. Taking time to reflect on the experience you’re having together in any endeavor is time well spent because healthy teams have more impact. The connection and extension of their talents is what great teamwork is all about.

What do you see as the most important leadership trends that are relevant to Cooperative Extension?

We hear from people all across the country about how Cooperative Extension is the best-kept secret. To build on the success of the first 100 years of Extension and serve the nation in the next century it will take everyone’s collective best. It will take leadership rooted in courage to grow as individuals and blossom into people who get things accomplished with others. Caring for each other and the people of our nation will take truly human leadership. Trends with labels will come and go just like they always have. By embracing the impact we can have together on critical issues, we can transform Extension from a secret to an even more significant force for good.

Editor’s Note:  The Extension Foundation offers a wealth of leadership development resources for Extension professionals. Take the Team Health Survey and gain valuable insights into your team’s strengths and areas for improvement. Access the Healthy Teams Handbook for practical strategies to build high-performing teams. Explore the Extension Foundation’s Leadership Development offerings to further enhance your team’s capabilities. 

This work is supported by New Technologies for Agriculture Extension grant no. 2020-41595-30123 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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Juntos Publication Now Available in Spanish

“El Programa Juntos: La trayectoria de un programa de Extensión al servicio de una comunidad en crecimiento” is available on the Extension Foundation bookshelf in a flipping book format. This publication is a Spanish translation of the Juntos eFieldbook produced in 2021.

The Juntos program focuses on educating high school Latinx students and equipping their families with the knowledge, skills, and resources to ensure high school graduation and increase college access and attendance rates. In the publication, the team shares how they are expanding the program beyond North Carolina.

The publication provides information about the history of the Juntos program and helpful case studies. One section explores strategies that the Juntos team used to amplify the voices of immigrant youth. The publication includes a section on digital communications where readers will find ideas about how to effectively use social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, blogs, and email marketing programs such as MailChimp in their Extension work.

The publication’s author is Diana Urieta, MSW, the National Director of Juntos and the program’s co-director. 

The project was supported by a grant from the New Technologies in Agricultural Extension (NTAE) program. The team was supported in their work by the Extension Foundation. 

Additional titles have recently become available in the Extension Foundation library on topics such as creating mass media campaigns, game-based education, wellness in “tough times,” innovating curriculum, prescribed fire, emergency preparation and response, understanding food labels, and building farm and farm family resilience. You can find the entire library of publications here.

A note about our Publications: 

 

After listening to the feedback of our Cooperative Extension partners, the new Publication bookshelf serves as a replacement for our old eFieldbook library. We greatly value and appreciate the feedback we received, including eliminating a LinkedIn login to access titles on the bookshelf. All titles are publicly available on our Connect Extension platform. Titles that were on our former eFieldbook bookshelf are in the process of being migrated.

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1890 Extension Leadership Academy Prepares Future Leaders To Act As Change Agents, Creates Culture of Innovation

By Rose Hayden-Smith, Digital Engagement Specialist, Extension Foundation

The 1890s Extension Leadership Academy (ELA) is designed to prepare future and upcoming leaders in Cooperative Extension to act as change agents, with the goal of creating a culture that encourages and sustains innovation. The academy seeks to equip leaders to respond to critical challenges proactively. The ELA is offered in collaboration with Fort Valley State University & Extension Foundation, alongside key partners from Kentucky State University and Lincoln University. The most recent 6-month cohort experience was facilitated virtually and featured guest speakers, assessments, Extension Foundation’s Impact Collaborative curriculum, and leadership development activities.

The ELA utilizes tools from Extension Foundation’s Impact Collaborative, with a focus on program and leadership development. The ELA also incorporates a framework from Google’s Project Aristotle. Project Aristotle assesses five characteristics of highly effective teams, including psychological safety; dependability; structure & clarity; meaning; and impact. Over the course of the ELA, teams saw improvement in each characteristic. 

Recently, Extension Foundation’s Aaron Weibe sat down with ELA participant Nahshon (Shon) Bishop of Lincoln University in Missouri for a podcast interview. Mr. Bishop serves as a regional small farm specialist with Lincoln University’s Innovative Small Farmer’s Outreach Program. Other members of the Lincoln University team are Clement Akosten-Mensah; Adrian Hendricks II; Marion Halim; Brenda Robinson-Echols; and Marla Moore Collins.

The Lincoln University team, which has named itself Lincoln University Cooperative Extension – Technical Connection Team (LUCE – TET), was given the question about how to address equity issues created by the digital divide. Mr. Bishop said that the team used the Impact Collaborative tools and the ELA framework as a step-by-step process to work through the process of developing their ideas. “The digital guide encouraged us to ask good questions about who we are serving; how we solve problems; what is the “ask”; and what do we need for our project.”

As part of their work for the ELA, the team created this “pitch” of their project:

“Today, there is an expectation that every citizen is afforded equal access to technical resources and services via the internet.  Our initiative aims to strengthen Missouri communities by improving digital accessibility serving hard-to-reach stakeholders and therefore improving social equity.

Many of our financially limited stakeholders do not have access to modern technology, software or services in their homes.  This critical need is compounded by the global pandemic forcing communities to rely on internet services as a tool for daily life.  Our initiative would install a fleet of retrofitted mobile units equipped with satellite technology in order to help thousands of disadvantaged Missourians. Improving digital accessibility will enable Missourians to engage with businesses, health care services online education and connect with their community while following CDC social distancing practices.”

When asked how the Lincoln University team changed over the course of the ELA, Mr. Bishop said “Everyone has specific gifts and strengths. For the team to be successful and get traction, you have to keep these things in mind…to see and understand what role each individual would most comfortably play because of their personality.”

Mr. Bishop also added that “The strength of the ELA is the introduction to 21st century tools, and how useful these tools could be for developing ideas, and focusing the creative energies we have in every department in the 1890s Extension.”

Mr. Bishop noted that participating in the ELA “…was a wonderful experience for myself specifically. The eye-opening self assessments helped me understand myself better and provided a framework to view others. An “aha” moment for me was Karl Bradley’s discussion about trust. Trust takes time; it is a precious commodity and resource. It takes time to build that capacity and you have to do the work.”

Listen to the podcast episode here. 

The ELA is part of the Impact Collaborative’s larger offering on leadership development, including Rev Up Your Virtual Leadership. The Extension Foundation’s Impact Collaborative is a results-driven program that catalyzes innovative ideas through a unique, structured, and supported process. The process enables Extension to work with community partners to find and implement the kinds of solutions that will result in the greatest local impact. The Impact Collaborative program is available to Extension Foundation members. Learn more about upcoming opportunities with the Impact Collaborative program at extension.org or by joining Connect Extension at connect.extension.org. 

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eXtension Foundation Welcomes Karl Bradley as Leadership Development Specialist

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The eXtension Foundation is pleased to announce that Karl Bradley will be serving as eXtension’s Leadership Development Specialist. Karl originally joined the eXtension Foundation team in April 2020 as the Leadership Development Fellow while transitioning from full-time active duty service in the United States Air Force. His internship with the eXtension Foundation was made possible through the Skillbridge program offered by the Department of Defense for active duty service members separating or retiring from the military.  This program provides the opportunity for service members to intern with organizations in the civilian workforce to gain new skills, training, and assist with their transition during their last months in the military. 

Throughout his Fellowship, Karl worked closely with the Impact Collaborative program and its trained Innovation Facilitators from across Extension by offering professional development opportunities and engagements around leadership. He led workshops which were open to all Cooperative Extension professionals and had a critical role with the delivery of the 1890s Extension Leadership Academy in partnership with Fort Valley State University. 

While his internship has concluded, Karl will continue his work with the eXtension Foundation. As part of the New Technologies for Ag Extension program, he is serving as the Leadership Development Specialist to eight project teams from across Extension. Karl is also serving eXtension’s Impact Collaborative program as the new manager for the Innovation Facilitator Network, building upon the five years of leadership and work of Molly Immendorf, Ashley Griffin, and Annie Jones. Additionally, he is offering leadership development services for Cooperative Extension professionals including team workshops and individually-focused services. 

Karl has over 20 years’ experience creating strong, values-aligned partnerships internationally while serving in the U.S. Air Force. He inspires others to find their “why” while connecting passion to profession in his favorite role…coach. He has a lifelong enthusiasm for agricultural leadership growth to help take organizations past what the science of management says is possible.

Originally from Branson, Missouri, he holds degrees in education from Arizona State University & The University of Northern Colorado.  He has led teams ranging from 5 to 250 & held leadership positions in public relations, event planning, fundraising, finance, human resources, corporate training & procurement.  As a collaborative consultant, he secured partnerships across 49 states & 20 countries garnering millions in sponsorships. His areas of expertise include strategic thinking, leadership development & training, public speaking, team building, community engagement & ideation.

Learn more about our leadership development offerings here or by sending a message to:

Leadership@extension.org

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Tag Archive for: leadership

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This website is supported in part by New Technologies for Ag Extension (funding opportunity no. USDA-NIFA-OP-010186), grant no. 2023-41595-41325 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Extension Foundation.

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