Ten $10,000 Scholarships Available for OSR Program

If you are someone you know is interested in gaining business and leadership skills required for today's and tomorrow's issues, now is a good time to look at the OSR program at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute. When I got home today, I saw the following message sitting in my LinkedIn inbox from OSR Program Director Bill Koenig:

I am sharing the message below broadly with my LinkedIn Network because it is an exceptional offer that may be of interest to you and would certainly be of interest to someone that you know, so please forward it on. 


In honor of the January 14, 2013 launch of OSR 19, the first cohort at Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI), the 33 year old Organization Systems Renewal (OSR – www.osr-nw.org) graduate program is making ten $10,000 scholarships available to OSR 19 applicants. 

These scholarships are designed to help those with the passion, but not all the resources, to join OSR 19 and complete their Master's in Organizational Leadership. Applications will be reviewed on the basis of financial need, a short essay, and overall diversity needs of the cohort. 

If you or someone you know is prepared to take his/her learning to a new level in this premier program focused on leadership, systems-thinking, design-thinking, organization development, and personal development, we strongly encourage you to Apply Now -http://www.bgi.edu/admissions/apply/osr-application/personal-information/ . 

Excited? Here are some answers to questions we anticipate you might have: 

When are applications due? 
Applications for the OSR Master’s Program and Scholarships are due December 15 unless prior arrangements have been made for an extension. 

How does this work with my overall Federal Student Financial Aid? 
Federal Student Financial Aid is also available. For questions and to start this process, contact Gagan Kaur at gagan.kaur@bgi.edu or call 206-780-6227. 

What do I have to do to apply for the scholarship? 
There are two steps to applying. 
Complete and submit your application to the OSR Master’s Program -http://www.bgi.edu/admissions/apply/osr-application/personal-information/ 
Make sure that your short essay answer to the question in the application packet, namely, " what is your financial plan to support your participation in the OSR program," includes an explanation of why you are interested in this scholarship. 
Please note, if you are receiving tuition reimbursement from your organization, you are not eligible for this offer. 

Why apply now? 
First and foremost, why put off learning how to become more effective and lead the kind of changes you most want? One of the hallmarks of OSR is that you learn skills, theories and techniques that you can use immediately. From the very first session you hone your awareness and mastery in Organizational Leadership. 

Keep in mind that you won’t start paying on your Federal Financial Aid loans until after graduation. 

Take advantage of the timing of the OSR 19 cohort. This cohort offers a first time ever scholarship opportunity that represents 25% of the total tuition. It is 6 quarters in length instead of the normal 7 quarters. As a result the tuition cost is $3,000 less than previous cohorts. 

Please reply to this email if you are interested in pursuing this further. 

Regards, 

Bill Koenig 
Program Director 
Organization Systems Renewal Graduate Program 

BGI - Bainbridge Graduate Institute 

Office: 206.780-6207 
Email: bill.koenig@bgi.edu 
OSR-NW.org and BGI.edu

Tuesday Throwback

Thanks Pandora for playing this song on the Curtis Mayfield station yesterday. I haven't heard this one in a while, but it's definitely one of my favorites by the Isley Brothers.

Satori

“Whether you’re making images, poetry, painting, music, or love, you should be totally enraptured by that, by the experience itself. That’s what it is all about—the location of subject, it’s about passage of the experience itself, in it’s wholeness, through you, back into the world, selected out by your native instincts.”
— Joel Meyerowitz

Wayne Rowe, Zen and the Magic of Photography

Personal Branding Tip: Revisiting the 3 Questions

Can you answer these questions clearly, concisely, and consistently?

  1. Who am?
  2. What do I do?
  3. Why does it matter?

If you can, you’re one of the few. If you’re like most people, these questions are extremely difficult to answer. You might have an idea, but the ability to clearly articulate that idea may escape you. Don’t worry. Honestly, almost every company I’ve asked these same questions fail to answer then too—at first.

 

Why These Questions Matter

This is the fundamental stuff on which everything else is based. However, most of us never stop to really think about it. I know I didn’t. It wasn’t until I started breaking down brands with clients when I grasped the importance of understanding really knowing yourself. I remember asking, “what does your company actually exist—really?” When they couldn’t answer that I knew we had to go back to basics.

 

What I learned from those experiences is applicable far beyond the business world. As it turns out, we have been socialized not to truly know ourselves. I definitely believe that recently our culture is more tolerant of people exploring the things that make us happy and allow us to be our authentic selves. Historically, though, we have been trained to ignore or suppress our inner desires in order to procure secure work and provide for families, often at the expense of our health, sanity, and health. Times have changed. We now live in a world where we have the ability to craft our identity far beyond “what we do,” race, ethnicity, etc.

 

However, new worlds requires new talents, skills, and understandings. The average U.S. citizen will have ten jobs before they retire (if they retire). 3 in 4 of us are actively seeking new employment. We no longer identify primarily with our work or companies. Understanding these facts will help solidify the important of being able to know why you exist in this world (and it IS important that you exist in this world), what you bring to the table, and why you are the person to bring it.

 

How To Answer Them

When answering these questions, it’s important to hold close your values. The idea here is to uncover your essence. “I am a copywriter” is NOT the correct answer to “Who am I?” “I am a person who values clear communication and bridging the gap between people and their needs” is a better response. Try asking yourself theses questions and see what you come up with. Don’t identify with your job. Identify with you. Think back to your childhood. What brought you joy. What could you do for hours that made you forget about everything else. What do these things uncover about yourself in yourself? Once you think you have a solid answer, challenge yourself to go deeper and get even more real.