Leading with Soul

A friend recently gave me a copy of Leading with Soul: An Uncommon Journey of Spirit by Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal. The book has two parts. In one part a story unfolds about a business man who is searching for something different in his work life and his interactions with a woman who assists him with finding a different kind of leadership. In the second part the authors add more insight in what is actually happening in these interactions. Below are some thoughts, quotes and reflections that I want to hold onto from this book.

“You can’t start a journey until you let go of habits holding you back.”

I have been consciously trying to incorporate more transformational leadership into all of our projects. The changes I have been incorporating haven’t gone unnoticed. Consultants have commented that this is some of the best work we have ever done. I agree. However, not everyone is real comfortable with change. Some have tried coercive tactics to get us to do things like we used to. Some have actually come out and asked us not to change. Acting as a change agent vs. just managing projects demands more of us. It takes a lot of resolve to change and not slide into how you used to do things.

“The challenges and dangers of the spiritual journey are so great that few are likely to succeed without help.”

“The spiritual journey that leaders must take, and inspire others to take, begins with ourselves but necessarily by ourselves.”

I have been reflecting more on what makes The Stephens Group work. The consultants that make up our company are very diverse. We all come from really different backgrounds. However, as I have been learning about leadership theory I see strong servant leadership in every one of us. The amount of humanitarian work that consultants do as part of our company and on their own is amazing. When we work on a project as a group, we are very powerful. I think we are drawn to each other because we get energy and strength from one another.

“You’ve begun your journey. At the start, confusion is to be expected.”

Currently we are in a time of transition. We are finishing up a lot of projects and have a number of requests for work in the new year. I have been even more careful on what projects we take on. I’m less interested in projects that don’t require us to lead rather than manage. It is always scary to pass by work and hope that more will come along to meet our financial obligations. Lately I have had to field a lot of questions about where we are headed and what new kinds of work we might grow into. I have had to be honest and say at this moment I’m not sure. I guess we will have to keep moving forward and find out.

Do Women Lead Differently than Men?

This is something that has come up in our readings and an assignment in which we had to interview leaders in our field. I interviewed influential female leaders in technology in educational organizations. When asked what role do they see women playing in leadership and what advantage or disadvantages do women face in leadership positions I received a variety of answers. When I emailed them my paper to review I received a number of email comments from participants. They were really interested in what other women had to say about this issue and all of the different perspectives that came out in the interviews. They said the paper had caused them to think more about whether women lead differently than men.

Some of the respondents felt that it was not really a male/female thing but had more to do with differences in personality. Others felt strongly that women definitely lead differently. Prior to this course I had never really considered if women lead differently than men. Research shows that women tend to have more interactive and participatory styles of leading. I agree with both sides of what respondents said in interview questions. I believe your natural personality has a strong influence on your leadership style and that many women have personalities that lend themselves to more open and participatory forms of leadership.

Leadership Wiki

Today I attended a session entitled Endless Resources for Leadership Development at the Iowa Technology Education Connection Conference in Des Moines, Iowa.

The reason that it was called "Endless Resources" is the people that put on the session, Gordon Dahlby, Ann Wiley and Leigh Zeitz, started a Leadership Wiki (Click on Leadership Resources on the left) that participants can continually add to of leadership resources for Eductational Technology.

One of the quotes from the presentation that I liked was “The service we render others is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth.”

I did a Google Search to find out who the author of the quote was and a number of interesting people are given credit for various versions of it. Two of the earliest I found were Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005), the first African-American Woman to win a seat in the Unitied States Congress (she was also a teacher with a master's degree in Elementary Education and author) and Wilfred Grenfell (1865-1940) a medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador.

I also found that this quote was used in a Commencement Adress by Karen Schoefeld at the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse on December 18th, 2005. Her third tip for success was "Earn your rent on earth. Have you heard this saying, "Service is the rent we pay for our room on earth?" You know, you are really renting space here, using up air and other pretty important resources. So earn it. Do things for the world. You don't have to join the Peace Corps to earn your rent. Just look around you as you go through your day. Don't rush through your days intent on your errands and responsibilities. Slow down a little and look, and you will see people who could benefit from you being there. People who are lonely and scared, people who you could benefit with a kind word or action. Be involved in your community. Find out the needs, and share your talents and energy. Little things, big things--but just do something to earn your rent! "

My Mission

To empower others to use their creative talents to help others effectively use educational technology. ~ 9/30/06

What Does Leadership Mean?

Kim Desotell, a consultant I work with and the person who inspired me to apply to go to Pepperdine, shared a definition for leadership.

“Leadership is making happen what you believe in”~ Roland Barth Phi Delta 2001 .

I really like this definition and will be pondering this more as I explore Leadership in our Leadership of the Human Endeavor Course.

The Journey Begins

In our text Leadership: Theory and Practice by Peter G. Northouse Figure 1.2 Functions of Management versus Leadership really applied to some of the leadership challenges I am having. I am an exemplary manager. I am really good at planning, budgeting, organizing, staffing, and creative problem solving.

However, on the other side of the diagram entitled Leadership “Produces Change and Management”, I can only say that I am good at building teams and coalitions. The rest of the chart is new territory for me.

My leadership goals are to:
· Improve on communicating my vision
· Opening up communication between myself and the consultants I work with
· Becoming a little more dynamic, especially in public speaking, to motivate and inspire others

I am extremely lucky to be surrounded by some amazing leaders in my consulting practice. Over the past couple of weeks I have been able to talk with some of them about my challenges in management vs. leadership. Their insights and ideas have really helped me in determining what I should work on first. I appreciate their commitment in supporting me in my journey from management to leadership.