In April of 2011, I was caught off-guard by a silly combination of factors:
- I finally
insight
Leaders stay sensitive this time of year
This is a “rerun” from last year; some events of the last month have convinced me to share it anew: We’re just a couple weeks from the Winter Solstice, the shortest darkest day of the year. A contrast to the holiday season, it can exacerbate hidden internal sadness in those around us. I love Christmas … Read more
Group Dynamic Primer Conclusion: Art’s Triangle and the Handwritten Matrix
WARNING: This post is nothing but a story, though you will find usable content at the end. Also, it’s over 700 words. If you’re a long-time loyal reader, though, it’s required reading. (If you’re new to this blog, this is really the last thing you ought to read. I suggest starting here.)
As mentioned at the outset of this series, many in my life performed an “informal intervention” in 1996, and I started reading anything I could get my hands on. From weighty, original source material to popular repacked wisdom, I devoured the literature on leadership and organizational dynamics.
Group Dynamic Primer Chapter Six: Stretching and Growing
Leaders are committed to constant self-improvement. Why use the phrase “stretching and growing?”
Because you can’t grow if you don’t stretch –
Group Dynamic Primer Chapter Three: Integrity
Does it go without saying that leaders must have integrity? If so, sorry. Just a couple of weeks ago, a manager was telling me about having to let a seemingly great hire go. Seeing my surprise, she looked me in the eye and said
Group Dynamic Primer Chapter Two: Vision
Leaders must have vision. Not just in the “creatively imagined future” way, but also in the way of “I have an accurate assessment of the way things are right now.”
Leaders must (in the words of those wise men, Kouzes and Posner) “inspire a shared vision.”
For those who don’t get it…
Something that occasionally presents itself in the world of leadership is that there is one person, also a leader, who doesn’t “get it.”
Maybe it’s another teacher, a member of administration or your direct supervisor. They see what you are doing, they know that those you lead appreciate what you’re doing, but for one reason or another, they don’t think it applies to them. It’s usually one of the following: they think they’re already doing it, they think their team is doing fine and they don’t have the time to “waste,” or they think their way is better.
On owning your leadership style…
Let’s make the assumption that, as a leader, you’ve taken a number of human behavior assessments (like the Leadership Practices Inventory, Everything DiSC®, Strengths Finders or Myers-Briggs), and therefore you have some sort of description (or two or five descriptions) as to what kind of leader you are. What happens to those analyses after you finish the assessment? Do they sit on your desk? In a file? Or worse yet, do they take a one-way pass to the recycling bin?