This weekend I had the privilege of attending a workshop on Inquiry Leadership with the majority of our Admin Team. I honestly was not sure what to expect. I thought it would be a workshop on how to lead in an environment driven by inquiry. It wasn’t really about that at all. It was about leadership theory, mental models, personal vision and problems of practice.
What did I discover about myself and others as the result of this professional learning?
You cannot force others to lead: There were several individuals in attendance who clearly did not want to be there. Their body language, energy and participation was negative. They could or would not open their minds to learning or reflecting. They felt they had bee voluntold and were not willing participants in the journey.
Negative crowds are hard to manage when you are a presenter. They bring down the focus of the group and really impact how all participants are feeling. They create an unsafe learning space and often detract from the learning of others.
My team is BRIGHT! They are a group of like minded individuals who share a passion and interest in improving themselves and others around them. They are all leaders but have different strengths and areas for growth.
I am more focused on being present and enjoying each moment of this adventure than I am looking forward. One of the exercises involved us doing a visualization activity that asked us to picture overselves in our lives and in our work 2-3 years from now. This was very hard for me as I feel like I have spend the better part of a year getting to the place I envisioned and I am not ready yet to look ahead. I just want to stay in the present, learn, explore and be content. I know that a year from now I will have to engage in this exercise as I try to figure out what to do next but for the moment I am good right here.
I love learning about leadership, I love talking about leadership, I love pushing others thinking about leadership. Leadership is my passion.
My professional learning experiences through TVDSB and other endeavours really have strengthened my knowledge and understanding of leadership.
Not everyone is comfortable being a leader.
There are many many types of leaders and leadership styles. Often times we must be chameleons and go between these styles in order to get the results we want from our teams.
As part of the workshop we were given an opportunity as a team to work through a problem of practice as it related to our work. It was interesting how our team identified the same problem from different perspectives. This exercise allowed us to identify, discuss and refine our thinking. It allowed us to unpack our feelings and thoughts about the issue and to examine each others perspectives, roles and understanding. The goal of the exercise was to work towards solutions but we did not get there as a group but we did recognize the need to identify a manageable place to start in the problem solving process.
As part of the process we were asked to share our problem “story” with the other groups and to answer clarifying questions. Members of the larger group provided feedback and possible solutions.
This work was valuable for our team. It led to a shared understanding and purpose for our group. Moving forward our team will need to uncover how we can use this exercise to work through possible solutions to the problem in an effort to improve the organization.
Although it is always difficult to give up your weekend, it was nice to learn in a different context with different colleagues and with our AMAZING team. I look forward to putting this learning into action and to sharing with our colleagues who were unable to join us what we uncovered.
