This post is from Dr. Lindsey. . .it was originally posted on her blog. . .please read and respond accordingly. jeff
The book that you have read, Culturally Proficient Leadership, was written to provide you a self-directed experience toward cross-cultural leadership development. Self-directed leaders, as we discussed at last session, are efficacious, self-determined, self-monitoring, self-aware, self-assessing, and self-modifying learners. As you are constructing your cultural autobiography, what modifications are emerging for you about the kind of leader you are becoming? What are you learning about self as you assess who you are as a culturally proficient leader? In what ways might you use your knowledge of the 4 Tools for Cultural Proficiency to construct an action plan for culturally proficient practices in your current context? By now you should also be making connections among the work of Pink, Christensen, and Lindsey. In what ways are you connecting your personal insights to Pink's "6 senses" and Christensen's "disruptions"? So, you have much to think about and process as a leader. Use this Blog space to comment and connect to my questions comments and to the comments of your colleagues. It is through this social context/media (Karl Weick called this social construct "sensemaking") that we can make sense of our own stories and journeys.
CSUSM/UCSD JPD - EDLD 730/740 Class Leadership Blog. This blog will be a place to gather course information, connect to peers and professors, and to share reflections and research!
Today, thinking for me is about autonomy. This figured proximately in a response to Jeff on my blog. Pink talks about it more than it is mentioned in the book. He sees it as key to motivation. In fact, Self-Determination Theory has shown over the last decade that support for autonomy is essential to student motivation, achievement and well-being. Christensen makes a strong point that for organizations to embrace disruptive innovations they need to create autonomous units. Culturally isn’t that what we all want. The ability to be who we are without society imposing cultural stereotypes or “norms” on us. To choose our gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and race. I know, choose our own race? If race is a culturally constructed entity, as I believe it is, then why can’t we construct our own race? Why does society have to dictate my race? The dominant culture is granted by its dominance greater autonomy is defining themselves and the systems that either support or repress other cultures. To flourish and reach their individual potential everyone require an environment that supports some fundamental level of autonomy.
ReplyDeleteAs a leader I am most intrigued by Pink's ideas of symphony and the importance of relationships. At my school site and within my district, there is a great need for connecting people of diverse backgrounds and talents for a common good. I am not always a "big picture" person. I have discovered that my talents are best utilized when fleshing out details or asking clarifying questions. However, as I develop my leadership skills I seen the benefits of stretching beyond my comfort zone to illicit the help of others whose talents, when combined with mine, give rise to a better product, a more interesting professional development or even a different way of differentiating classroom instruction. The old adage "two heads are better than one" rings true for symphonic leadership.
ReplyDeleteThis all leads to the bigger topic of trust. And in the words of Dr. Alan Daly, "trust matters". I have seen the waxing and waning of relationships between principals and teachers based on this simple, yet complex word. Research shows that principals who encourage open lines of communication are more likely to earn the trust of teachers. When teachers trust the leadership of a school, they are more likely to give of their talents for the greater good of the school - creating the sweet sound of symphony.
I suppose I am a self-directed leader, but I cannot do it alone. I am a "big picture" person, but, like Cheree, I also believe in relationships. In fact, I view my job as dependent on positive relationships! Therefore, Pink's ideas on symphony resonate with me: I know that I would not be anywhere near as efficacious without the team of people I work with. In terms of Pink's work, I see symphony in my leadership as synthesizing ideas and fostering the relationships between others in various areas: content areas, grade levels, office workers, etc. I endeavor to bring these diverse, seemingly separate areas together.
ReplyDeleteLike Tim and Cheree, I connected most to Pink's ideas of symphony and the importance of relationships. In fact, the main topic of my dissertation is meaningful relationships. A leader that values the importance of relationships generates conditions in an organization where information sharing, trust, risk-taking, and knowledge thrive. Modern leadership skills depend on the ability to understand relationships and emotions, specifically emotions that deal with how one motivates and addresses the needs of others.
ReplyDeleteGuiding Principles
ReplyDeleteI will use the charter school on the campus where my office resides as the model for my commentary
Although this school is 95% African American 3% Latino and the other 2% Mixed Race there are other prominent cultural dynamics taking place. We have a very large foster child population this year because of targeted recruitment last year to increase the dwindling student attrition. The challenge is to create a culture that acknowledges the differences in home life and parental diversity. We need to expand our guiding principles beyond just race to include the social issues that divide us as a race. As Pink would contribute we need to enhance the design for optimal satisfaction for all students. Disrupt the cultural norm that makes a stigma of a family nucleus that does not consist of a mom and a dad.
Continuum
We need to work at recognizing that there are many different family units and they may all work. We create a dialog about the value and normalcy associated with each type of family unit. Impress that different is not a negative.
To better serve our students we need to know who we serve.
Essential Elements
Essential elements mean managing all the components that make embracing diversity successful. Using Pink’s element of the “story” to make it work.
Barriers
We have to address all of the issues that students and teachers bring to the table that resist moving toward cultural competence. For example we may encounter religious objections to same sex parents, and the stereotypes that Black, Latinos and same sex parents’ harbor. We all have prejudices. We may have developed them based on incorrect assumptions or information or negative experiences we have personally encounter from others who may be less enlightened or just plain ignorant. We must understand that we cannot change everyone, so we develop a plan to move around these barriers, while minimizing the impact they have on the strategy and the whole. We need to embrace differences and accept our differences as options or variety.
Pink’s six senses and Christensen’s disruption in my opinion may at some time all need to work in concert to move a people, a policy or an organization to cultural proficiency. Each is a tool, that depending on the issue or circumstance, may come into play to bring clarity or focus on the real issues.
In terms of my cultural autobiography, my experiences have shaped who I am today. I am facing realities and challenging myself about exactly where I am on the continuum- scary!!!
The reflective processes outlined in Culturally Proficient Leadership make this approach amenable to any organization wishing to expand their thinking to become more inclusive of the whole human being who is a part of their organization. An idea that has emerged in my mind through this process of self-reflection is that of Holistic Leadership. The idea that we bring our whole selves to work and so do our colleagues. This is unavoidable, even if we try to pretend that personal beliefs must be avoided in the workplace. In Holistic Leadership, people are encouraged to discuss and share the many dimensions of themselves. In being ones whole self at work, one brings a depth of self, of meaning, and purpose to their work. Holistic Leadership allows people to share their whole being, creating a depth of funds of knowledge that promote a truly diverse atmosphere. I remember in one of the research articles we read our first diversity class, the authors talked about creating a diverse environment was not just about the percent of different ethnic groups represented, it was about the percent to which their beliefs and experiences were shared and were impactful. The contribution of one’s passions to a person’s work can re-awaken a meaningful life for all members of an organization and will move us from being cogs in the machine to human beings fulfilling a life purpose. “People have enough to live, but nothing to live for; they have the means but no meaning” (Robert William Fogel, From Pink’s A Whole New Mind)
ReplyDeleteFrom a leader's perspective, I link Pink's symphony and design ideas to motivating, influencing and capitalizing on existing human resources leading to powerful collaboration and student outcomes. With Pink's symphony idea, leaders could help teachers from different subjects areas make connections between their classroom practices. Also, applying the notion of Pink's design, I think as a leader it is important to become intentional about the changes we want to make and the details of implementing those changes while we motivate. From my own experience and all the readings I have done about leadership, I think it is important to motivate teachers by turning them loose and giving them autonomy while keeping them accountable.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the application of Christensen’s disruption idea is to use creativity while making changes. With creativity leaders can find ways to motivate their staff and reduce resistance to change.
The leader that I am becoming is one that assesses self before assessing others to make sure that the problem isn't with me before the blame is placed, or seeing what I can do differently before making or suggesting change with someone else. So far, I learned quite a deal about myself. One thing that I really have noticed is that without adding an opinion or feedback to what another person gives you information, it is hard to stay engaged. When I need to be unbiased and respecct the value of the person, I often find it hard not to add an opinion to what another person may think or try as an idea. We are taught to be so critical that I often think that sometimes it becomes a weakness. At my work, I plan on trying to capture the voices of those on the campus that are least heard, and in my campus that is the ESL population and the Native American populations. Often many decisions are made at the school that affect them, yet they don't have much say so in what happens on the campus. I beleive this is becuase they just don't know or have the time to spend at the school to keep informed. I beleive that they want to be there, but just don't have the time. So I believe maybe by creating a newsletter that is distributed to all students to bring home, or translating announcements on our new school website, may help us out.
ReplyDeleteFor me Pink's concept of human capital is really important. I believe that money and time are very important, but I also see hat knowledge, networks, mentorship, and leadershp are priceless and lead to more more money and time being earned. Also, the investment in the person is more valuable, becuase the person with motivation and mentorship can reach higher than we could ever imagine and produce a return that really is worth waiting for.
Continue to connect with each others' comments. In what ways are the 4 Tools of Cultural Proficiency supporting your self-directedness as a leader? What's getting in the way?
ReplyDeleteI did a final class reflection. Here is the link. For some reason my blog won't let me have pages linked to different websites.
ReplyDeletehttp://abigailjdp.blogspot.com/2011/11/class-reflections-holistic-approach.html