9th Edition: Educated, Zones of Proximal Development & Learning To Speak Up

Thanks for being here

Hey everyone, hope you’re having a wonder-full week :)

Winter has landed in Montreal.

There’s a sheet of snow on the ground as I write this from the coziness of my apartment, with a large cup of tea in hand. Thankfully blue skies make the ground sparkle, emanating magical vibes leading up to the holidays. Something I appreciate since moving back to Canada.

One of Winter’s simple pleasures is curling up with a book by the fireplace. Which brought me to a realization.

This year I got back into writing. But it came at a cost. I’ve been so consumed with writing and editing that I’d abandoned my love of reading—books, anyway.

Then something incredible happened.

I met one of my newest subscribers for coffee (shout out to Lori!) and she recommended Tara Westover’s book Educated. Fast forward a few hours and I was consumed by it. I blew through it even though I didn’t want it to end.

There were so many profound takeaways. Which inspired me to write a Twitter thread. You can click on the image below to read through it:

Alexandra Allen 🦋 | L&D Freelancer @AlexandraAllen_

Profound educations are bred from experiences that rock our foundations and force us to establish new means of stable ground. Other takeaways from "Educated"—@tarawestover's inspiring story of leaving her "survivalist" family to become a Cambridge scholar—include: 🧵

A line that hit me hard was when Tara realized her worth. Even though she’d never felt good enough to be amongst the other students, she finally understood she was.

She wrote:

“It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs.”

—Tara Westover, Educated

People talk a lot about “imposter syndrome” and how women and minorities are most susceptible to it. It’s what holds us back from dream jobs and other fulfilling opportunities we might shoot for if it weren’t for this nagging insecurity of “unworthiness”.

I’ve shared a personal story in which I succumbed to imposter syndrome in the ‘A Resource To Consider’ section below. And it’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.

How many opportunities do we knock ourselves out of the running for without giving them a fair shot? How can we break free from the mental prisons we self-impose?

I still consider myself a work in progress but I’ve definitely made big strides in terms of launching a freelance career. It’s been a long road here. And I’m excited to share my upcoming projects for 2022.

💌 Stay tuned!

In the meantime, here are three gems I want to share with you:

An Experience To Inspire: Livit Workshop

I kicked off my week by running a workshop for a startup based in Bali. How cool is that?! And what’s even cooler, is the concept of the workshop was inspired by an article I wrote during an online writing course.

What’s ironic is I nearly didn’t publish the article. I didn’t think it was as strong as my other assignments. But I was hell bent on making the most of Write of Passage (that’s the name of the course), so I published it anyway. And that’s when one of my peers reached out to say she’d resonated with the message and asked if I could turn it into a workshop for Liv.It’s Sharing is Caring event.

At first I was touched. Then I was nervous. The topic was far removed from the usual workshops I run. But I decided to say yes and figure it out. And I’m grateful I did.

Hearing comments from the group on how the session helped them appreciate their authenticity was really special. And I was extra touched that a few of my fellow writers (aka Write of Passage friends) joined from Australia, Indonesia and the US.

It goes to show good things happen when we put our ideas out there. Even when we don’t think they’re “good enough”.

📖 Here’s the article I wrote that inspired the workshop.

📽️ Here’s a recording of the session if you’re interested in customizing your career.

A Resource To Consider: Zone Of Proximal Development

When you’re teaching others, it’s imperative to understand the concept of “Zone of Proximal Development” (ZPD). In other words, the range of activities students can perform with your guidance. Think of this range as the middle ground between what students can already do independently versus what’s completely out of reach, even with assistance.

Here’s a thread I wrote on how I apply this to my career—inspired by Dr. Julie Gurner’s post on how women tend to undersell themselves in their job applications in comparison to men:

Alexandra Allen 🦋 | L&D Freelancer @AlexandraAllen_

I’ve been guilty of this myself. In the end, I felt the sting of not being challenged enough in the new role. But I’ve learned to change my mindset by evaluating opportunities against Vygotsky’s “Zone of Proximal Development” (ZPD). Here’s how you can do the same: 🧵

Dr. Julie Gurner @drgurner

Something I notice: - Women often apply to jobs with lateral moves. VP of Marketing -> VP somewhere else. - Men skip steps more. VP -> CMO. Ladies, if you are applying to jobs, up your game & stop waiting for someone to give you a title. You'll rise faster.

Alexandra Allen 🦋 | L&D Freelancer @AlexandraAllen_

Your ZPD encompasses the projects, activities or tasks you can complete *with guidance* from someone with more expertise. Vygotsky describes this guidance as "scaffolding”—temporary structure that's eventually removed.

Alexandra Allen 🦋 | L&D Freelancer @AlexandraAllen_

Here’s a *high level* overview of how I applied Vygotsky's ZPD to evaluate potential roles when I made a career change into Instructional Design: • Can work unassisted: project management • Can learn through scaffolding: designing programs • Out of reach: marketing

Alexandra Allen 🦋 | L&D Freelancer @AlexandraAllen_

Suddenly, I had a strategy. I was confident in communicating the value I could add to potential employers: • Immediately (through unassisted work) • Longterm (through initial scaffolding—and eventual unassisted work) • Potentially longterm (by bringing stuff into my ZPD)

Alexandra Allen 🦋 | L&D Freelancer @AlexandraAllen_

TL/DR: Job descriptions are wish lists meant to be tailored to promising candidates. And you'll be bored fast if you've already done everything on the list. Don't knock yourself out of the running without truly evaluating opportunities. A quick ZPD analysis might surprise you.

Alexandra Allen 🦋 | L&D Freelancer @AlexandraAllen_

P.s. This thread applies as much to those making a career change as it does someone changing jobs within the same field. So if you're in the former camp, be sure to read @wes_kao's article "You don’t need to start at entry level". bit.ly/2ZV6xoP

Alexandra Allen 🦋 | L&D Freelancer @AlexandraAllen_

The only way more women will rise to senior leadership is if we summon the courage to reach for it. Here's a great program empowering women to do that: Ascend's Leadership Program by @shivanisberry bit.ly/3IoEMXc. What other initiatives do you recommend?

bit.lyAccelerate Your Career NowNot sure how to get buy-in? Struggling with imposter syndrome? Read a bunch of leadership books but still don’t know how to lead? In Ascend’s Leadership Program for women, you’ll learn actionable strategies to overcome your challenges and level up with a community of high caliber, low ego women. You…

🧵 Here’s a link to the actual post.

A Question To Ponder: Goal Setting

I shared above that marketing has long been outside of my ZPD. But as I plan to launch a course in 2022 (more info to come!), I’m dead set on bringing course marketing “into the zone”.

💭 What’s something currently outside of your ZPD that you aim to bring into it in the next few months? How can you speak up at work to make this happen?

Thanks for reading my *ninth* newsletter

My goal is to prompt reflection within this vibrant community of ours, so I’d love your feedback on how I can make future editions beneficial.

Got an idea or burning question I could address? Hit reply and we’re off to the races!

Have a wonder-full week,

Alexandra

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