Author Archives: womanofpeace

COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIP

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COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIP

From Healthiest Wisconsin 2020: Everyone Living Better, Longer
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 http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/hw2020/

 

Slide Show: http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/hw2020/pdf/collaborativeleadership.pdf

Additional: http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/P0/P00187c.pdf

 

“People want to be engaged in civic life. They want their views heard, understood and considered. They want to know that their involvement will make a difference, and that the public, not governments or special interest groups, defines the public interest.” Chrislip and Larson, Collaborative Leadership, http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/hw2020/

Collaborative Leadership, What is it? Taking a leadership role in a coalition, organization, or enterprise where:

• Everyone is on an equal footing.

• Participants work together to solve a problem, create something new, or run an organization / initiative.

• The leader relies on the group to work with both content and substance.

• The leader promotes and safeguards the process 

PRINCIPLES

-Inspire commitment and action

-Use collaborative problem-solving and decision-making

-It’s an open process with no set end-point when it begins

-The end-point is worked out by the group – that’s collaboration.

-Lead as a peer problem solver

-Build broad-based involvement

-Sustain hope and participation

 ADVANTAGES

-Buy-in

-More involvement in implementation

-Trust building

-Eliminate turf issues

-Access to more and better information / ideas

-Increased opportunity for results

-Generates new leaders

-Empowers collective action at the community and  organizational levels

-Offers a fundamental “change for the better” in the ways communities and organizations operate

 A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE

This is consistent with John Kesler’s vision of inclusive, consensus-oriented civil discourse. This strongly aligns with the concepts of the “healthy communities” movement. John Kesler, Healthy Communities and Civil Discourse, 2000

 CHALLENGES

-Time consuming

-Demands an ability to face conflict directly

-Need to overcome resistance to the whole idea of collaborative leadership

-Some may accuse the leader of not doing his/her job

-Some prefer authority figures making decisions or telling them “what to do”

-Some people may be used to authoritarian approaches

• Discomfort with uncertainty

• Old notions of the leader as “hero”

 

WHEN NOT TO USE IT – Collaborative leadership may not work well in:

– Command-and-control environments (military combat, epidemic control)

– Rigorous approaches to ascertaining scientific evidence / scientific approaches

 WHEN TO USE IT:  Collaborative leadership works well:

– When the timing is right

– When problems are serious / complex

– Where there are a number of stakeholders with varied interests / perspectives

– When other attempts at solutions have not worked

– When an issue affects a whole organization or large portion of a community

– When inclusiveness and empowerment are goals from the beginning

 

Thought to Consider– “The strategies and approaches we take may not be the ultimate solutions to today’s problems but they must be an improved evolving expression of an ideal.” Adapted from How Your Child Is Smart, Donna Marcova, page 31

 Creative Tension– Tension here does not mean anxiety or stress or emotional tension.

– It’s a force when we acknowledge our vision is at odds with current reality.

– When we feel the vision is too high, we naturally ask to lower the vision.

– We lower the vision when we fear failure (including personal failure). We are tempted to quit.

– We should do the opposite – elevate current reality instead of lowering the vision – keep our visions high. Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline

 

Balancing Advocacy / Inquiry

-Advocacy can cut off inquiry; most importantly, it can cut off learning.

-Without inquiry, advocacy begets more advocacy and positions become hardened. There’s no forward movement. Creates escalation of problems.

-Inquiry (asking questions) such as: – “What leads you to that position?” – “Can you illustrate your point for me?”

-What questions might you ask to foster inquiry? Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline

 DIALOGUE:

-When we balance inquiry and advocacy, we create opportunities for dialogue.

-Remember: dialogue is generative. It creates new knowledge; Knowledge stimulates learning by people and by stakeholders.

Suggested reading: Dialogic Leadership – William Isaacs, Vol.10, No. 1, Systems Thinker

Peter Senge and William Isaacs, combined sources

 

Characteristics / Traits of Collaborative Leaders

-Trusted and respected

-Relate to people easily

-Good facilitators

-Catalysts

-Nurture new and emerging leaders

-Safeguard the process

-Motivated to find solutions to real problems

-Focus on what’s best for the group, the organization or the community as a whole

-Focus on broad rather than narrow-interest issues

 

Effective Collaborative Leaders – Five practices:

1. Lead the process

2. Understand the context in the given situation

3. Motivate

4. Be flexible and persistent

5. Set aside one’s ego

 

Collaborative Leadership Practice #1: Establish, maintain and safeguard the collaborative process. Help the group to:

       -Set norms

       -Assure everyone gets heard, Encourage and model inclusiveness

       -Foster real connections between people

  -Mediate conflicts / disputes

– Create mechanisms to solicit ideas

– Maintain collaborative problem solving / decisions

– Push the group toward effectiveness

– Choose doable projects first, to build confidence and demonstrate group success

 

Collaborative Leadership Practice #2: Know the leadership context:

–The community or organization

–The nature of the problem

 

Collaborative Leadership Practice #3: Motivate, motivate, motivate

–Be upbeat even when things look bleak

-Keep the group focused on the future –

-Keep focused on the bigger picture

-Identify and celebrate small successes

-Guard against discouragement and burn-out

 

Collaborative Leadership Practice #4: Be flexible, yet be unyielding

–         Be flexible:

•         Try new ideas including ideas from unusual or unlikely sources

•         Change course as the situation demands

•         Let go of something that isn’t working

•         Create opportunities for more participation

 

–         Be unyielding:

•         Protect the integrity of an open, collaborative process

•         Practice inclusiveness

•         Keep the group on track

•         Advocate for the best interests of the group as a whole

 

Collaborative Leadership Practice #5: Check your ego at the door

-Let go of your own ego

-Forget about being a “hero” or taking credit

-Contribute to problem-solving as a member

-Accept the decisions of the group

 Aligning Problem Type and Leadership Approaches:

1. Directive leader – role as expert- Solves the problem; gives instructions

2. Dual leader – role as directive and coach- Solicits group involvement; asks for input; encourages; meet people’s needs; may bring in an expert. Leader may ultimately make the decision.

3. Collaborative leader- Listens; praise; asks for input; gives feedback; facilitates and encourages confidence and motivation; creates learning through dialogue by balancing inquiry and advocacy.

 Closing Remarks: “Leaders know some of the most critically important tasks require lateral leadership, boundary crossing leadership involving groups over whom one has little control. They must exercise leader-like influence beyond the system over which they preside. They must do what they can to lead without authority.” John Gardner, On Leadership

5 PRACTICES

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THE FIVE PRACTICES OF COLLABORATIVE LEADERS

from “The Leadership Challenge, How to make extraordinary things happen in organizations”

by Kouzes and Posner

  1. Model the way
  2. Inspire a shared vision~ find a common purpose,envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities.
  3. Challenge the Process ~search for opportunities, take initiative, experiment and take risks.
  4. Enable Others to Act ~foster collaboration, create a climate of trust, facilitate relationships, strengthen others, 
  5. Encourage the Heart ~ recognize contributions, celebrate values and victories, create a spirit of community, get personally involved.

 Case study: Barby—- at Zeno: Fearless

 Quotes:

-“Every single personal best leadership case involved changing the status quo.”

-You need to know what your values and guiding principles are.”

-“Innovation comes more from listening than from telling.You have to be constantly looking outside yourself and your organization for new and innovative products, processes and services.”

Key words: Innovation, change, experimentation, taking risks, support for good ideas, willingness to challenge the system. “When you take risks, mistakes and failures are inevitable. Proceed anyway.”

 Characteristics most looked-for in a leader: 

-Honesty

-Forward looking

-Competent

-Inspiring

For more about Kouzes and Posner, http://www.leadershipchallenge.com/about-section-our-authors.aspx

DARE TO DISAGREE, by Margaret Heffernan

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FIVE RULES FOR PRODUCTIVE CONFLICT, 

from TED Talk “Dare to Disagree,” by Margaret Heffernan        

mheffernan003

http://www.ted.com/talks/margaret_heffernan_dare_to_disagree.html

In her talk, Heffernan shared a stunning statistic — that 85% of executives had concerns with their company that they were afraid to raise, out of fear of the conflict that would ensue. Heffernan warns that this not only means that businesses aren’t getting the best work out of their employees, but that issues which could be nipped in the bud internally perpetuate themselves.

How do you foster conflict that leads to nimbler thinking rather than hurt egos? Heffernan shares her guidelines for productive disagreement.

1. Appoint a devil’s advocate. Someone whose excellence is demonstrated by the quality of questions they ask. Great questions include: “What are the best reasons not to do this?” “What don’t we know that, if we did know, would change our decision?” “If we had more money or time, what would we do?” “If this were a documentary, what would be the narrative arc?” It’s important that different people play the role of devil’s advocate: if always the same person, they’ll get tuned out and burned out.

2. Find allies. If you have concerns, try asking others privately, “Are you okay with this? Does anything about this bother you? Is there another way to frame this question?” Having allies allows you to work together to be creative and solve the problem.
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3. Listen for what is NOT being said. If the conversation is being framed about money, consider what is not being talked about. If everyone’s talking technology, what have they left out of their equation? Sometimes it’s helpful to bring in an outsider to help with this. They should do nothing but listen. Then, ask for their impressions — not recommendations. They may notice trends that people embroiled in the conversation simply can’t.
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4. Imagine you cannot do what you all want to do. In other words, think about what you would do if you could fire someone, if you could change the timetable, or if you were allowed to cancel the deal. If you could do any of those things — would you still proceed with your plan? What are the hidden orthodoxies nobody is challenging?

5. After a decision is made, declare a cooling off period. Ask everyone to go home and think about the decision on their own as well as discuss it with their family. Come back after a prescribed amount of time and ask the group: does the decision still look great?

Explains Heffernan, “All of these guidelines are neutral and designed to aid exploration rather than judgment. There’s never any reason not to try these — who doesn’t want to make better decisions?”

 

                        


IN SEARCH OF THE CHEON IL GUK WOMAN

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IN SEARCH OF THE CHEON IL GUK WOMAN:                                                                        Reflections while reading Sheryl Sandberg’s LEAN IN~

by Robin Debacker

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“A feminist is someone who believes in social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.”(p. 158)

I haven’t always been aware of a gender bias per se. Like Ms. Sandberg, when I was a college student I felt we had been liberated and had moved past all that. I also shied away from any association with the word feminist, as those women seemed like such man-haters.

Now, however, I’ve become more aware of the disparities (in the workplace, and in the culture at large) and the subtle and not so subtle messages that women keep receiving from their male bosses, their partners, and even other women.

I recently offered to give the Sunday message at church, as I was inspired about all the Goddess/Feminine Principle writings out there that I’ve been discovering recently, and thought I could talk about the Cheon Il Guk Woman easily (Cheon Il Guk being a term Rev. Moon coined to refer to the place where the male and female principles are equal, balanced and harmonized.) However, on Saturday night I found myself curled up in a fetal position moaning about not being able to face the audience the next day. What happened? I had not expected to feel so SCARED.

I was surprised by the introduction that the MC gave me (he is a man), about the message today being “a little subversive” and so we best prepare ourselves^^. I wondered, why would talking about the feminine aspect of God or humans be considered subversive, but then I remembered, it IS subversive, and that’s the point. Women have not had that freedom, and we all know it on some level. Women feel scared to speak up, and men feel scared when we do.

The fact is that I didn’t know for sure who or what the Cheon Il Guk Woman is, and that was hard to admit publicly, or even to myself. I am confused and have been for a long time about my own femininity, and what it means to be a woman. In my 20’s I became aware of feeling resentful toward my mother for not being a better example in that department, and later toward my husband for not being a stronger masculine force. I’ve felt more like a man than a woman in the relationship with him, often being approached or addressed first when we’re together, and that is confusing at best, and depressing at worst. 

Part of the program involved breaking into small groups of 2 or 3 people to talk about what the word “feminine” means to each of us, and share what we think is blocking women today. I sat with 2 other elder women like myself. One of them said that her daughter and friends complain that the matching candidates all seem to be more like boys than men. I knew what she was talking about, as it was my experience with my husband, but I didn’t have an answer.

I got through the talk, but I felt sheepish about not having said much more than that we are all still searching for the Cheon Il Guk Woman. Who is she? I wonder if she’s gotten over her resentment, or if I can get over mine. I do know she’s still fighting, and gaining ground, and that I’d like to be her friend and supporter.

Looking back on this experience, and reading Sheryl’s book, I’m reminded how important it is to have “the conversation.” To lean in to the problem rather than avoid the painful part of conflict resolution. We need to examine our church culture, our school culture, our workplace culture, and our family culture in order to identify the barriers that are holding women back, and to point out gender inequalities when they happen. It feels scary, on both sides, but everyone benefits when we do.

As I walked back to my seat, one of the young 2nd gen girls in our congregation caught my arm and smiled. “Thank you so much,” she said enthusiastically. “Can I have a copy of your powerpoint?” I felt a surge of joy. If she had found inspiration then I could rest assured. One lone voice speaking up, even with fear and hesitation, can make an impact and shed light for others also groping around in the dark.

THE JOY OF SPEAKING ENGLISH

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Discussion Strategies Conversation Class ~ Student Evaluations, KMU 2007-2008;            Compiled and edited by Robin Debacker at Kookmin University, Seoul, Korea

-“Excellent! Though our class started in the early morning, I attended this class every week, because it was really interesting and exciting. Thank you!”

 -“I really liked the discussion strategies because I didn’t know exactly how to continue conversation smoothly before. I think that rejoinders and follow-up questions are the basis of a good English conversation, and above all, I liked it because it was very easy! I was very shy of speaking in front of a foreigner, but this class taught me that the problem was a lack of self-esteem, not the language. Based on many things that I learned in this class, I will study harder. I really appreciate the teacher’s kindness to us, and I’ll remember all your advice. Thank you!”(정민정)

 – “I didn’t converse with others in English before I took this class. At first I was very shy and nervous, but afterwards I was delighted to make many friends. I think the way of having conversation with people we don’t know is very good and helpful. I was happy that I could practice conversation with other people, and learn the discussion strategies in particular. They will be very useful to me whenever I talk to people, whether in Korean or in English. I really can’t forget this class and the time we had together. Thanks, teacher! ” (조은애)

 – “Our discussion groups were a very self-motivated activity. Each of the group members participated enthusiastically, and it made us rely on and trust each other and shortened the time for us to open our hearts toward each other.” (강용준)

 -“Talking in our discussion groups was the most fun work! Discussing different subjects with different people was really interesting.” (강지헤)

 – “The first day I was a little nervous and embarrassed because I’m so shy, and I couldn’t speak English very well. But our class was fun, and even though I couldn’t speak English I could express my intentions. This was the best class!”

 – “This was a very useful class. It was the first time for me to exercise my English conversation. I realized that speaking in English is not so difficult. I discovered that I can do it!”

 – “Great! I wanted speech practice, and I found it in this class! This class was a shot in the arm for me. Now I try to speak English with my friends and family.”