Blog – Becoming Accredited Ahead Of Going HOMEWARD BOUND

This month Human Synergistics speaks with Associate Professor Jen Martin about Homeward Bound, The Circumplex and all things STEMM.

Associate Professor Jen Martin had spent many years working as a field ecologist until she decided the most useful thing she could contribute as a scientist was to teach other scientists how to be effective and engaging communicators. Jen founded and leads the University of Melbourne’s acclaimed Science Communication Teaching Program, and is deeply committed to helping scientists develop the skills they need to be visible, make connections and have impact.

For the past eighteen years she’s been talking about science each week on 3RRR; Australia’s largest community radio station. She writes for a variety of publications, co-hosts the “Let’s Talk SciComm” podcast, MC’s various events and was named the 2019 Unsung Hero of Australian Science Communication. Jen also received the 2020 University of Melbourne David White Award for Teaching Excellence.

Jen is also a member of the Homeward Bound Teaching Faculty. Homeward Bound is a global initiative for women with a STEMM (Science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine) background across all career stages. The program is a gateway into a global network of women who share the same sense of purpose and skills for the kind of leadership our world needs.

JenAndLorraine
Associate Professor Jen Martin with Human Synergistics Counsellor Lorraine McCarthy

What was your first Life Styles Inventory™ (LSI) experience?
I did my initial LSI measure during my first year as a member of the Homeward Bound faculty. That was in 2019, for the fourth Homeward Bound cohort (HB4). I was incredibly privileged to travel with HB4 to Antarctica in November that year, not long before the beginning of the pandemic. The Life Styles Inventory™ (LSI) is an organisational tool that uses both self-assessment and colleague feedback to identify individual thinking and behavioural styles. By providing insights into strengths and areas for development, it empowers people to embark on their own journeys to being better at, and enjoying more, everything they do.

How has the diagnostics helped Jen understand her own behaviour?
The Circumplex is amazing because at a glance, it provides a visualisation of the behaviours you might revert to when under pressure and it also allows you to see and understand behavioural shifts when you resit the LSI 12 to 18 months after your first measure. Using the Circumplex to understand your behaviour is key – to have at your disposal such a well validated diagnostic helps people to understand the stories they tell themselves.

What was the reality of being in Antarctica on this voyage?
To be in this pristine and stunning location with an amazing group of women was life-changing. We all know that climate change is real but to see it first-hand with your own eyes was very confronting. Antarctica was also where I was able to spend time with Lorraine McCarthy from Human Synergistics who incidentally also did my LSI debrief – which was delivered with compassion but also with honest frankness. I remember her saying to me “well it’s wonderful Jen that you are all these things but at what cost to yourself?”

How has the diagnostics helped Jen understand her own behaviour?
The Circumplex is amazing because at a glance, it provides a visualisation of the behaviours you might revert to when under pressure and it also allows you to see and understand behavioural shifts when you resit the LSI 12 to 18 months after your first measure. Using the Circumplex to understand your behaviour is key – to have at your disposal such a well validated diagnostic helps people to understand the stories they tell themselves.

Jen will again travel to Antarctica with a new group of Homeward Bound participants this November, who are now part of a global network of leaders who can collaboratively work towards solving our world’s greatest challenges. Homeward Bound is a unique leadership development program that seeks to change the current leadership model by equipping STEMM women from around the world with the skills to lead for the greater good, to be inclusive, collaborative and legacy-minded. Each Homeward Bound participant undertakes their own Life Styles Inventory™ (LSI) measure and Jen will be there to assist with debriefing and unpacking each individual measure.

So what is she most looking forward to as a result?
As I enter my own Accreditation journey, I hope to support women in STEMM who may work in hierarchal, competitive and sometimes toxic environments. Given the nature of these work environments, it is essential for these women to be aware of, and question, the things they say to themselves: it’s so easy to slip into the negative.

The HOMEWARD BOUND VISION aims to have supported and engaged a globally diverse leadership network of 10,000 STEMM women by 2036 who are ensuring the sustainability of our planet. For more information about this initiative visit https://homewardboundprojects.com.au

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