|
Our Future Depends on Dynamic Leadership: Is it in you? |
 |
 |
 |
|
Written by Michael J. Hynes, Ed.D.
|
|
Our Future Depends on Dynamic Leadership: Is it in you? Michael J. Hynes, Ed.D. Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to attend two professionally and personally life-altering symposiums: The Principals’ Center at Harvard University and Personal Leadership Development: Tapping into the Spirit of Leading at The Jorgensen Learning Center in Jacksonville, Florida. The two experiences confirmed for me some of the wisdom of the ages that has always inspired me. Sir Arthur Helps said, “It takes a great man to be a good listener.” That point was reinforced many times in the Jorgensen Learning Center symposium. With its emphasis on Learning Conversations as the way adults best learn, the importance of listening to each other was stressed over and over. It seemed to be the underpinning of the five Learning Conversation Guidelines: 1. listen for understanding, 2. speak from the heart, 3. suspend certainty, 4. hold space for difference, 5. slow down inquiry. Certainly each one of those guidelines assumes people are listening to each other. At the Jorgensen Learning Center, I realized that “success is in the conversation,” and that means the focus must be on relationships. Think about it. If a “dynamic leader” is to make a difference in any organization, it truly comes down to relationships. The “R Word” is what dynamic leaders need to embrace and utilize to move any agenda forward in their respective organizations. We were told, “Success of any venture depends upon the people involved in the change process.” The dynamic leader in the 21st century needs to understand and accept the fact that conflict will take place in any living organization. Mental models are the second of Senge's five disciplines for the learning organization (Senge, The Leader’s New Work, 1990). Much of the work involving mental models comes from Chris Argyris and his colleagues at Harvard University. A mental model is one's way of looking at the world. It is a framework for the cognitive processes of our mind. Simply put, it determines how we think and act. Dr. Jorgensen’s Learning Center addresses peoples’ mental models. One of the most important statements I heard that weekend was, “A belief is not something you possess; it is something that possesses you.” Talk about the importance of mental models! And it is so true, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” The Jorgensen Learning Center feels that “leaders initiate and sustain an influence in a relationship that embodies purpose and confidence in a person or group.” As Howard Gardner’s latest book Five Minds for the Future informs us, “We live in a time of vast changes that include accelerating globalization, mounting quantities of information, the growing hegemony of science and technology, and the clash of civilizations. Those changes call for new ways of learning and thinking…” This reminds me of the wisdom of Napoleon: “Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.” Our role as dynamic leaders is to nurture the relationships that help groups decide wisely through effective learning conversations. Then, as Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, “We do our best that we know how at the moment, and if it doesn’t turn out, we modify it.” I have learned too that, as dynamic leaders, “We must resist the urge to focus on short-term results by placing our emphasis on long-term results and the systemic improvements that will generate the lasting change we are seeking.” (Ray Jorgensen) The whole concept of systems thinking and systems leadership for change is exhilarating to me. Once again it takes me back to the wisdom of a bygone era, when Henry David Thoreau said, “It is not enough to be busy…The question is: what are we busy about?” As the Jorgensen folks taught us, “An example of an amazing system-wide improvement is always based on building relationships, instilling a moral purpose, and understanding the change process.” I would say that type of leadership will help us know what we’re busy about—and help us make positive systemic change to our “busy-ness.” Based on these two amazing learning opportunities I have had at Harvard and the Jorgensen Learning Center, I feel prepared to begin my new journey: To be WHO I AM, BE WHERE I AM, LOOK AROUND, DECIDE AND DO. I know I’ll still make mistakes; I need to maintain my sense of humor and keep it all real, but I have a better sense now of how to do the best that I can. So I’ll live by Mark Twain’s rule: “Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”
|
