Dear Students,
I have been reading novels set in England lately and the characters often speak about “getting on with it” when faced with challenges, even exceedingly difficult ones. I thought I might try that strategy and add in an optimistic spirit too. What do you say? Shall we try for a cheerful resolve this month? We do have Spring Break upon us which is a big help in that regard. The weather will only change for the better as this month progresses. Spring in NYC has been beautiful the last few years and our many parks including Central, Riverside, Prospect, Fort Tryon, Inwood, Queensbridge, and Soundview will surely delight you once the flowers and trees start to bloom. The days are already growing noticeably longer. And, before any of us can believe it, graduation will be upon us. Our S-OP community is strong – all of you are smart, kind, conscientious, generous, fun, and fully able to take on the learning and work of the second half of the semester.
We are wishing you a wonderful Spring Break with lots of respite, relaxation, time with family and friends, good food and much laughter. If you are not able to take a vacation over the break, know that you are not alone, but also try to give yourself permission to relish not having to attend class and find moments of downtime, self-care, fun and joy. Reach out to us in S-OP if you need us. We are here for you and we look forward to reconnecting after this week away. Enjoy.
Warmly,
Sarah J. Brazaitis, Ph.D.
MA Program Director
Current Student Profile
Hallie Pond
Hallie Pond is a second year M.A. student in the Social-Organizational Psychology program. After earning her B.A. in Global Studies and spending a year in Senegal working for the Senegalese National Organization for Human Rights, Hallie launched her career in San Francisco, California. She worked as an outreach speaker for a non-profit organization centered on youth leadership development, and while there, was promoted to her first management role. She carried her learnings into the technology industry where she had the opportunity to lead customer success teams at startups like NerdWallet and Glassdoor.
Through these experiences, she learned that her truest passion is fostering psychological safety in teams and coaching emerging leaders as they hone their authentic leadership styles. After a decade, she transitioned into human resources where she coached business leaders as they engaged their employees, defined company values, and implemented performance management frameworks.
In 2019, she founded Truespace Consulting to assist executives and mid-level managers as they build trust and safety within their teams - she serves as a part-time coach and consultant.
Alumni Profile
Karl Stewart
Karl Stewart (he/him) is an Executive Coach based in Crown Heights originally the “Lenapehoking” or the Land of the Lenape. His purpose is to, from a grounded place, link arms with others to surf the vicissitudes of life [at work].
Before and after graduating from TC, Karl worked in large Human Resources teams. He then led the People Function in smaller organizations designing the total Employee Experience alongside company founders and their direct reports. He realized the most impactful work was helping leaders build their People Practice with deeper authenticity.
The ongoing learning sparked by studying Dr. Warner Burke’s Organization Development model, fueled by Dr. Sarah Brazaitis’s Group Dynamics revelations, deepened by Dr. Lee Knefelkamp’s sage exploration of identity continues for Karl.
Work consumes much of folks’ time on our small blue planet, and Karl’s goal in his executive coaching work is to reduce the “Sunday scaries” for as many leaders as possible through helping them upgrade their operating system. Leaders deeply impact the lives of workers. If work lives become more joyful, then we have more bandwidth for our health, family, friends, our communities and our world.
A graduate of the Organizational Psychology program at TC in 2009, Karl also holds a Master’s Degree in Theater from Brooklyn College and an undergraduate degree in Mathematics from Colgate University.
Recommended Readings
International Women's Month
This research featured in HBR suggests that people tend to prioritize the goal of kindness more when they give critical feedback to a woman versus a man. The researchers explain that the common stereotype that women are warmer than men can lead people to be kinder to women- "the kindness bias". They discuss the harmful implications of these findings for women and highlight the importance of balancing both kindness and candor consistently when offering performance feedback, regardless of who the feedback is given to. You can find the full research publication here.
This recently published list from SIOP outlines the the Top 10 trends from 2022's Q4. At the top of the list include Trend #1: Employee Engagement and Organizational Commitment of Remote Workers and Trend #2: Ensuring Inclusive Environments and Cultures. For a deeper dive, you can read more by clicking on each trend. How are these trends showing up in your workplaces or of those around you?