A lot of the work I've been doing since retirement from principalship has been around supporting leaders and/or schools to take action, to actually do things that move them along on their transformation journey. All leaders, at least the ones I'm working with, want to make a difference and know that to do that they have to lead in doing things differently.
I build a lot of the work around my leadership model:
While doing this work and expanding my own learning through reading and attending webinars I've moved towards directing the model towards taking action:
I've found Gallagher & Connor's Embracing Messy Leadership a great help in focusing on taking Action.
M for Meaning Making
This section really aligns with Moral Purpose: Driving Action from the model above and sets out to answer the question, "How might I create a shared purpose and bring others along with me?" I find working with Julia Atkin's Circles a huge help as we try to define our Moral Purpose and to help us make meaning.
E for Emotional Connection
Of course, if we want this Moral Purpose to drive our action we have to focus on answering the question, "How might I build trust?" I like working with Viviane Robinson's material on Open to Learning Conversations to drive this work but Messy's model of D x V x F > R explained below:
S for Sensing the Future
This model leads us to developing the Courage: Taking Action part of my model and asking the question, "How might I imagine the future to be?" Messy outlines a great framework they call Breakthrough Thinking which I have included here from Gallagher & Connor's Embracing Messy Leadership
S for Seizing Momentum
After pondering the questions of "Where do I want to go?", "Where am I know?", How do I think I can get there?" and "What help do I need" it's time to launch a short, sharp experiment to get the momentum underway and to have something short (in timeframe) and doable for people to focus on (see the F in D x V x F > R). A short, sharp experiment can be quickly reviewed, inform next steps and drive the momentum.
Y for Your Presence
This requires us to ask the the question of "How might I own whom I am as a leader?" Am I clear on my moral purpose, and do I have the courage to take action while at the same time be Open to Learning: adapting action. Can I suppress the Imposter Syndrome voice in my ear and take action and lead with this moral purpose and with courage?
I highly recommend Gallagher & Connor's Embracing Messy Leadership and I'm going to continue to enjoy mining it for more gold.
One of the reasons it has so resonated with me is the alignment I see in it's messages and the work Derek Wenmoth and I have collaborated on in our Refresh, Refocus, Reconnect programme we are currently operating 14 15 primary and secondary principals. We plan to offer a similar programme to principals next year (watch this space) and already have more than 20 APDPs registering an interest in a similar programme we are offering for those senior leaders.
If you're an AP or DP and want to register an interest I encourage you to do so via the link.