I appreciated all of the thought that went into Daniel’s plan for training the AV personnel at his church on the new technology. He drew attention to the fact that the development of people working at the church—whether staff or volunteers—is extremely important because it impacts the ability of the church to deliver its message. When I read this post I wondered if Daniel has noticed a difference in how open people are towards change and personal development if they are volunteers vs church staff? If so, would his approach differ when addressing each of these two different groups regarding staff development?
Unit 6 Learning Activity 3
An example of an employee development plan for my organization, the Toronto District School Board, is the performance appraisal process for principals and vice-principals (click on the link below). This performance appraisal process is oriented around 5 core leadership capacities: setting goals, aligning resources with priorities, promoting collaborative learning cultures, and using data (The Institute for Ontario Leadership, n.d.). The capacity to both collaborate and build collaborative opportunities within and across schools is a competency embedded in provincially-sponsored professional development opportunities for school administrators (The Institute for Ontario Leadership, n.d.). Collaboration is highly valued in my organization because it enables “schools, school communities and districts to work together and to learn from each other with a central focus on improved teaching quality and student achievement and well-being” (The Institute for Ontario Leadership, n.d., p. 8).
Innovation is promoted through dialogue. The ability to have ‘courageous conversations’ focused on challenging current practices allows for new ideas and innovation leading to improvements in student achievement and well-being (The Institute for Ontario Leadership, n.d.).
Principal Performance Appraisal
Ministry of Education (2013). Principal/Vice-principal performance appraisal. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/leadership/ppa_manual.pdf
The Institute for Ontario Leadership (n.d.). Ontario Leadership Framework. Retrieved from https://www.education-leadership-ontario.ca/application/files/8814/9452/4183/Ontario_Leadership_Framework_OLF.pdf
Response to Ruiz Riviera’s Blog X: Devil’s Advocate to Andragogy
Ruiz wrote an interesting post in which he challenged Knowles’ six assumptions of Andragogy outlined in Unit 6 of our course website (Leadership 500, n.d.). He argued that each of the six assumptions about adult learners could support or inhibit their learning. I think Ruiz was successful in making the point that teaching adult learners cannot happen without looking at them from a holistic perspective. Their life circumstances and life experiences have an impact on their ability to be successful learners. Therefore if one is to successfully teach an adult learner, you have to take all of that into consideration.
Having professional conversations with people about their goals and professional development are probably no less complicated for leaders. The individual in front of you is the sum total of their beliefs, experiences, and circumstances. The questions I am wrestling with currently are how to motivate someone to change if they don’t see the need to change, and how to have difficult conversations involving critical feedback without the person becoming defensive. I would love to see more practical examples of transformative leaders in real life so I could observe their approach in this regard.
Leadership 500 (n.d.). Unit 6 notes. In Unit 6 [Web page]. Retrieved from https://create.twu.ca/ldrs500/unit-6/unit-6-notes/
Response to Monica Grace – Good fruit vs bad fruit
When Monica wrote in her post: “It is important to keep in mind, that sometimes leaders have to make hard decisions or voice difficult things, that first seem negative, but actually in the larger perspective are positive and produce growth” it really resonated with me. I am faced with having to have a difficult conversation with an individual at work that I have been putting off out of fear that it will negatively impact our working relationship. However, the behaviour displayed by this individual is known to everyone, including our administrators. Having this conversation may be difficult, but your post reminded me that I should think of the bigger picture. In the larger perspective, if this individual becomes more aware of their behaviour and changes, it will positively impact all those he works with. Your post also aligns with this week’s focus on conversations about professional development.
I am reminded that transformational leaders “empower followers and nurture them in change. They attempt to raise the consciousness in individuals and to get them to transcend their own self-interests for the sake of others” (Northouse, 2016, p. 175). I recognize that this begins with a positive attitude, and with making a conscious decision to look beyond what the individual is currently producing and seeing them accomplishing more your mind’s eye. It involves being first convinced within yourself that he or she can change for the better, then acting out of that faith. Thank you for inspiring me to look at my current situation from another perspective.
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Unit 6 Learning Activity 2 – Introducing Jessica
Jessica works for the Fraser health care system. She coordinates home support for seniors who at the end of their life, or who are sick and wish to remain at home while they recover. Her job also involves staffing health care aides at various health care facilities. Jessica works on a multidisciplinary team with doctors, nurses, occupational therapists and social case managers. She is at her best when all the members of her team are working at their best and all are able to collaborate well together. An example of a time when she functioned at her best was when there was a flu outbreak at one of her facilities and she had to coordinate a plan to deal with the outbreak effectively. This involved quarantining affected individuals, contacting those who could have been exposed, and sending out written communication regarding the situation.
Three essential skills for Jessica’s role are: critical thinking, emotional intelligence and innovation. Jessica needs to be able to think on her feet and solve problems as they arise. There are many variables and things tend to change at the spur of the moment. She often has to drop one thing to address something urgent that has arisen. Emotional intelligence is important because her clients are often dealing with the end of a loved one’s life and emotions can run high. She needs to be able to respond rather than react, and to be empathetic and compassionate towards their situation. Innovation is necessary because one approach does not often work for every client. Jessica needs to think of new ways of getting tasks done according to each particular each situation. Fortunately, these skills are areas of strength for Jessica, and this contributes to why she loves her job so much. One area of weakness for her is conflict management. She has identified that she needs to learn how to better address situations where she needs to have a difficult conversation with someone without putting them on the defensive. She identified that her organization offers free courses in conflict-resolution and she is planning to take them.
Having a professional conversation with Jessica about her development would be very easy. She is a proactive person and has already thought about where she would like to be in five years. Her goal is to become a director of care for an home support site. She already has a plan in place: (1) to complete the Masters program; (2) to build partnerships and a network of people who are managers and directors to give her greater exposure; (3) gain more education through courses offered by her organization; (4) apply for interim management positions to demonstrate her management capabilities. It was a pleasure speaking with Jessica and I am sure that she will achieve her goals in the next five years.
Unit 6 Learning Activity 1
As I reflected upon my experience teaching English to adult seminary students in Haiti, I identified three of Knowles’ assumptions about Androgogy cited in the Unit 6 notes (Leadership 500, n.d.). The three assumptions are: adults are mostly driven by motivation; an adult is more problem- than subject-centered in learning; adults move towards self-direction and away from dependence.
The learners in my class were all there because they were internally motivated out of a desire to use their English in practical ways. It was not a requirement of the seminary. I can recall only one student who seemed to want to develop her English skills for the purpose of being able to carry a conversation. Other students wanted to become travelling evangelists, teachers, and one wanted to become a pastor. Therefore they all were seeking to develop their English skills to be able to use them in the not-so-distant-future, not simply to earn a certificate of some sort.
Knowles’ (Leadership 500, n.d.) notion that the adult learner’s experience is a rich resource for learning is very valid. I wish I had realized this during my trip to Haiti. If I return again, I will capitalize upon this valuable resource by having the learners talk about their personal experiences. As an adult learner of French, I find that I am more motivated to speak in French despite the inevitable errors I know I will make, when I am talking about a topic that I am passionate about. Having the adult learners talk about their own experiences would almost reverse our roles—I would become the student and they would become the teacher. This would help those who are less confident in their English skills to communicate more freely as they speak about things with which they have much familiarity.
With respect to transformative learning, my teaching partner and I used drama and visual images to support our work with our students and we found it to be effective. This is in agreement with the notion that transformational learning can be fostered through critical reflection on media such as music, poetry, art, photography, literature, dreams, drama and fiction (Leadership 500, n.d.). However, I now realize that for the experience to be truly transformative for the learners in Haiti, it should have occurred over time. Sokal and Sharma (cited in Leadership 500, n.d.) found that an ideal program would entail 30 – 100 hours of training over six to 12 months, and include coursework and professional learning communities. This presents a way that the program can be expanded in the future. But prior to that, ‘transformation’ in the context of the adult English-language learners in Haiti would have to be defined. We would have to determine what the goal of the program would be, and how exactly we would recognize when students have undergone ‘transformation’. This leads me to ask the question: how does one define what the end result of transformative learning looks like within the context that you are in?
Leadership 500 (n.d.). Unit 6 notes. In Unit 6 [Web page]. Retrieved from https://create.twu.ca/ldrs500/unit-6/unit-6-notes/
Light from Many Lamps 3
Sam Walter Foss was an editor, humorist and poet (Foss, 1979) who was inspired to write a poem after encountering a kind old man who shared openly with anyone who passed by his house by the side of the road. As I read the first stanza of his poem below,
There are hermit souls that live withdrawn
In the place of their self-content;
There are souls like stars, that dwell apart,
In a fellowless firmament;
There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths
Where highways never ran-
But let me live by the side of the road
And be a friend to man. (Foss, 1979, p. 209)
I reflected upon the fact that servant leaders choose to become the type of leader that is like a ‘friend to man’ (Foss, 1979). Some people become influential leaders because they are visionaries. Like the stars and the pioneer souls in Foss’ poem, they live way ‘out there’ creating new paradigms and blazing trails for the rest. But in my opinion, the most influential leaders of all are those who simply walk alongside individuals to guide and encourage. They are parents, grandparents, teachers, counselors, mentors and friends. They often do not ever attain the notoriety that the trailblazers do. But they win the right to lead and influence because of the power of relationship. John Maxwell calls this the second level of leadership, where people follow because they choose to (Maxwell, 2016). “When people feel liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted, they begin to work together with their leader and each other. And that can change the entire working environment.” (Magda, n.d.). To me, this describes what a servant leader does. He or she wins the right to influence someone through service to that individual. When you add the notion of investing in others’ development in order to empower them, this type of leadership is now transformational servant leadership and it becomes even more powerful. Maxwell calls this the highest level of leadership. How ironic that the path to highly influential leadership doesn’t begin by demonstrating your talents and abilities, but by putting others before yourself. According to Maxwell, leaders at this level “create opportunities other leaders don’t. They create a legacy in what they do. People follow them because of who they are and what they represent. In other words, their leadership gains a positive reputation. As a result, Level 5 leaders often transcend their position, their organization, and sometimes their industry”. I am continuously drawn to this type of leadership because it is not about me; it is always about the other person. Watching someone grow and develop is such a rewarding experience.
Foss, S. W. (1979). Let me live by the side of the road and be a friend to man. In L. E.Watson (Ed.). Light from many lamps (pp. 208-212). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Maxwell, J. C. (2016, August 30). The Five Levels of Leadership. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://blog.johnmaxwell.com/blog/5-levels-of-leadership
Magda, K. (n.d.). The five levels of leadership by John Maxwell. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://psychologyformarketers.com/5-levels-leadership-john-maxwell/