Leading with Leverage

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Leading with Leverage
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Outline of the workshop

• How do we apply the theory and research?
• How can we get better at it?
• How do we create time to lead?
• We want to briefly trace our project, share some
  of our key learnings
• Were keen to connect with and learn from
  like-minded school leaders

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Aiming high

• How can we stimulate our staff to divert precious
  time and energy from their crammed daily
  schedules to work together on ambitious goals?

We live in the world our questions
create. Barrett and Fry
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The Butler Model of Professional Learning
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Why are we focused on Leadership?

• Its all about maximising student learning
• We know from Hatties work that the key
  influences on student learning are around
• feedback
• thinking skills
• teaching and learning
• home encouragement

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What is Feedback?

• Data heres what, so what, now what?
• Cognitive coaching

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The challenges of leadership

• What might be some of the challenges of
  leadership that you see in this cartoon?

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The challenges of leadership
When you think of your work, your context, and
reflect on your career so far, what would you say
are the key leadership challenges? Take a minute
to reflect.
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Bill MartinsSix Challenges of Leadership

• Choose leadership over management
• Know that its about people, most importantly
  about you and your mental models leading is
  about caring for people and knowing them
• Align peoples efforts in the same direction
  through shared vision
• Hold your nerve through the storm love the pit
• Know and tell the truth about your current
  reality so you grow and learn
• As a leadership team be of one mind and one voice

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Vision

• Vision without action is a daydream.
• Action without vision is a nightmare
• Japanese proverb

Our work in Teacher Designed Schools began with
the generation of a shared vision.
John Kotter is the inspiration behind this he
argues that working to a vision allows people to
work both autonomously and interdependently.
Without a vision, every tiny decision becomes an
interminable debate.
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• This is the current version of our vision

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The casual observer will typically only see the
tip of the iceberg
Events
Patterns of behaviour
Systemic Structures
Look below the surface for leverage
Mental Models
Vision
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Aligning Mental Models

• We suspect this is our most critical challenge,
  and offers us the highest leverage.

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Some Mental Models we adopt about Leadership

• Leadership has higher leverage when it
• is exercised authentically
• pursues a shared vision
• is actively developed in others
• is exercised by and within teams
• is informed/guided by data
• is exercised through high quality relationships
• constantly challenges and reflect upon its own
  perspectives, assumptions and practices
• encourages continuous learning, reflection and
  action
• is given the time it needs there are no quick
  fixes
• values habits of wholeness and balance
  (work-life, mind, body, emotion, spirit).

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Brief Breather

• An opportunity to
• share some thinking
• make some connections
• ask a question

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Whole-Staff Learning

• Research Teams worked for a year and reduced
  their findings to two recommendations per team.
  These formed the basis of our long term
  development plan.

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Beware the pit

• John Edwards and Bill Martin cautioned us about
  the pit -

Research is just plain hard work, made more
agonising by the behaviours experienced as your
school sails through its storm. Bill Martin,
June 2007
Innovation implementation
time
0
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Optimism, fun and Rule No 6

• Zander, Quinn and others remind us to consider
  opportunities, strengths and possibilities rather
  than obstacles and problems often easier to
  notice

• Lets have a bit of fun along the way
• Rule No 6

I am always doing that which I cannot do, in
order that I may learn how to do it Pablo Picasso
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Summing up what are we learning about leading
with leverage?

• a genuine, shared vision is the touchstone
• keep the vision alive by strategically working
• on peoples Personal Practical Knowledge to
• change and align their mental models with the
  vision
• surface the predominant values and mental models
  through focused dialogue
• organisational learning and change are more than
  rational processes they are social, so there is
  an emotional dimension
• use robust data to guide action
• ongoing, iterative, action learning in teams
• focus on one clear priority
• develop a long term view
• remain authentic and hold your nerve
• constantly reflect, ask questions and learn

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Recommended Reading

• Bruce Avolio and Fred Luthans The High Impact
  Leader McGraw Hill USA 2006
• Chris Argyris Reasons and Rationalizations The
  Limits to Organizational Knowledge Oxford
  University Press UK 2004
• Frank Barrett and Ronald Fry Appreciative Inquiry
  TAOS Institute Publications USA 2005
• Jim Butler Professional Development Practice as
  Text, reflection as process self as locus
  Australian Journal of Education, Vol 40, No 3,
  1996, 265-283
• Robert Fritz The Path of Least Resistance for
  Managers
• Bill George Authentic Leadership Jossey-Bass San
  Francisco 2003
• Bill George True North Jossey-Bass San Francisco
  2007
• Daniel Kim Organizing for Learning Pegasus
  Communications Inc USA 2001
• Robert E Quinn Building the Bridge as you Walk on
  it Josey-Bass USA 2004
• Peter Senge, Otto Scharmer, Joseph Kaworski and
  Betty Flowers Presence Doubleday USA 2004
• Peter Senge The Fifth Discipline and The Fifth
  Discipline Fieldbook New York Currency
  Doubleday, 1990
• Bruce Wellman and Laura Lipton Facilitating
  Data-Driven Dialogue  A Facilitators Guide to
  Collaborative Inquiry USA 2004
• Margaret Wheatley Leadership and the New Science
  Berrett-Koehler USA 2006
• Rosamund Zander and Benjamin Zander The Art of
  Possibility Penguin USA 2000

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Thank you for your participation!If you wish to
contact us, please do so at lucy.mccarthy_at_educa
tion.tas.gov.augreg.morgan_at_education.tas.gov.au