LEADERSHIP AS AN ACTIVITY

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Change in Action Maximizing Success
Minimizing Fatigue ILC Passport to Leadership
Program Dr. Graham Dickson Royal Roads
University
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Change In Action Maximizing Success Minimizing
Fatigue

• The Approach
• What is change in action?
• How are change and leadership linked?
• What are the leadership lessons to maximize
  success, minimize fatigue during your leadership
  challenge?

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What one concept do all these words or phrases
have in common?

• Vision
• Weather
• Improvement
• Learning
• Transformation
• Creativity
• Restructuring
• Growth
• Action research
• Surgery
• Makeover

• Development
• Adjustment
• New years resolution
• Dieting
• Action plan
• Strategic directions
• Strengthen
• Diminish
• Better
• Buffing up
• And, Leadership

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• Change comes in many sizes and forms

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Leading change in action

• Our job as a leader in leading change, is to
  maximize success, minimize fatigue, while
  steering to our constructive purpose.

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But first, lets talk about change in
actionnothing ever stays the same not for a
day, not for an hour, not for a minute
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Change in Action interactive, turbulentoften
not linear
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For example Clear air turbulenceinteractive
effects

• There are several notable problems with clear air
  turbulence
• It cannot always be foreseen so
• there is no warning.
• It is usually felt at its mildest in
• the flight deck and is generally
• more severe in the aft section.
• It can occur when no clouds are
• visible.
• Aircraft radars can't detect it.

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Stress in the Workplace Stress Test Look at
the following picture of two dolphins jumping out
of the water in tandem. The research has shown
that the more differences you notice in the two
dolphins, the more stressed you are. This is
attributed to the concentration and recognition
influences intensifying when stressed. The two
are VERY similar, so if you can tell the
difference without looking hard, you should
monitor your stress. The test was devised as
part of a stress test developed by researchers at
St. Mary's Hospital in London. It is the final
picture of a series of stress determinators to
gauge the amount of stress a patient has built
up over a short time.
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Change is why we need leadership

• Leadership is the capacity to influence others to
  work together to ensure that change achieves a
  constructive purpose.
• The constructive purpose in this instance is
  improved student performance.

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Leading change defined Educators creating value
by implementing new ideasi.e., your leadership
challenge.
The value, in this case, is improved student
performance.
But it must add value Not like this!
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But why change schooling?

• The evidence suggests change is inevitable
• Student enrolments (57,00036,000)
• Plateauing graduation, student literacy and
• numeracy performance rates
• Aboriginal student performance
• Distance learning take-up
• Ritualistic labour relations
• Pair up with someone at your table and discuss.
• Which ones are more meaningful to you?

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Framing our mindset to change

• The leaders job is always to overcome success
• The nature of innovation is changing at a pace
  unheard of in modern history -- it is now
  increasingly open, collaborative,
  multi-disciplinary and global. And to reap the
  benefits of this evolution, an organization's
  processes and practices must adapt.

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Leadership is always about change and innovation
The Action Component of Leadership
The Known Knowledge and Values Component
of Leadership
The Unknown, or Intelligence
Gathering Component of Leadership
The Wisdom Component of Leadership
Ronald Wright said, We are clever, but seldom
wise Can we afford that approach with our young
people?
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Individual wisdom is needed your individual and
your collective voice
Wisdom
M o r a l i t y/be l i e f s
E x per i e n c e
K n o w l e d g e
How much potential wisdom is at your table?
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Forces that foster/delimit change
Social values
Structure
Culture
Global forces
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Activity 1 Using your wisdom

• We have tables in the room
• That means tables per change force, or change
  limiter.
• Choose a change force or limiter to discuss at
  your table
• Take 10 minutes to brainstorm all of the aspects
  of the change force or limiter that occur to you
• What effects might they have on student learning?
  The delivery of student learning?

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Some forces creating change in your world

• New roles for boards of education
• Health expectations
• The accessibility and appeal of technology
• Research in learning
• The exponential growth in cultural diversity
• The new worker

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Lesson 1 Never abandon your vision
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Lesson 2 Manage Expectations
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Lesson 3 There are models to help youbut they
are only a beginning
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Lesson 4 Change and innovation is confusing, and
frightening to manysometimes the simplest things
to us, are difficult for others. For example
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• Lesson 5 Be flexible, and vigilant We
  dont always choose the waves

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• Lesson 6 No-one likes to be done-to

"Personally, I hate change," acknowledges
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ernest L. Arbuckle
Professor of Business Administration at Harvard
Business School and author of 15 books, including
Evolve! "But I love renovating my house." Her
point nobody likes change when it's something
that's done to us. But change that we think up
or embrace on our own is differentthat kind of
change we never grow tired of.
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• Lesson 7 Sometimes there are winners and losers

As reports of damage to southern sawmills and
forest lands began filtering in Wednesday, lumber
prices for western spruce, pine and fir framing
lumber surged 18 US to 315 US per thousand
board feet
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• Lesson 8 Recognize You, and your colleagues
• limitations

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Lesson 9 Change happens over time Charles
Minards Portrayal of Napoleons Invasion of
Russia. Edward Tufte The Visual Expression of
Quantitative Data
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Story-telling

• Directions Think of change initiative that you
  have been part of in which leadership played a
  key role in the successful implementation of
  change. Remember what the leader/s did that was
  so effective (or not effective).
• What happened in this situation that required
  leadership? Describe the situation and/or
  circumstances.
• What leadership efforts did you, or the person
  observed, make to address the situation? What was
  the effect?

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• Lesson 10
• Resistance is inevitableand has a purpose.

• Resistance reminds us that there is some value in
  the status quo.
• The challenge to the leader is to determine what
  is to be retained from the current state, and
  what is to be transformed.

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Lesson 11 Be vigilant seek kairos opportunities
KAIROS was the god of opportunity and the
youngest immortal child of Zeus.
The Greek word "kairos" indicates the ability to
know when something needs to be done, as opposed
to being concerned with getting things done
according to a schedule. Leaders anticipate
events and actions
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Lesson 12 Leading change is not a zero sum game

• Change Leadership
• A leader is a person who has an unusual degree
  of power to create the conditions under which
  other people must live and move and save their
  being--conditions that can be either illuminating
  as heaven or as shadowy as hell Palmer, 1996

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Lesson 13 The devil is in the details
Devils Golf Course, Death Valley
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Lesson 13 The devil is in the details
Lesson 14 Remember change bridge. Without
moral leadership,
Power trumps expertise
Expertise trumps passion
Passion trumps needs
Needs trumps logic
Play hearts, instead
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Lesson 14 Develop a resilience mindset

• A mindset is a collection of mental
  predispositions that shape our responses, and
  therefore in large measure our level of
  effectiveness. They are a set of psychological
  orientations of feeling, thinking and willing by
  which the individual influences the directions of
  flow that constitute organizational life and
  practice.
• A resilience mindset is one that is committed to,
  passionate about, and constantly guided by a long
  term purpose. Resilient individuals do not fight
  against disruptive change because they seek
  opportunities in new situations they recognize
  the dynamics of change, and simply see the future
  as territory to be navigated. They are motivated
  by exploration and adventure, and are not
  deterred by impediments and barriers, but see
  them as natural bumps in the road on a long
  journey. They also seek to utilize them to
  achieve their constructive purpose they adjust
  their responses to achieve positive outcomes in
  new situations.

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Lesson 15 Learning is an ethical form of
changeso remove impediments to learning
A man who swings a cat by the tail learns
things he can learn no other way Mark Twain

• Learning is a natural instinct.
• What can we do to convert change to learning? At
  the personal, organizational, community level?
• Learning is not teaching.
• The power of action learning

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What are the implications of these concepts to
desired changes in your school or district?
Discuss at your table.
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The potato theory of visionary leadership
And in conclusion, remember the Potato Theory
of leadership