Introduction to the Reimagining! Discussion Forum
Welcome to this mini-site which supports live face-to-face workshops in encouraging you to think differently about leadership. If you have registered for a workshop you will have recieved a password which will give you access to the workshop introduction and workbook. If you click on menu item at the top of the page and then select the dropdown menu for your workshop you will then be taken to the specific welcome page where you will be asked to enter your password.
I would like to encourage you to take part in debates in relation to the need to reimagine leadership. This applies both on the run-up-to, during and following the workshop.
THE KEY QUESTION: WHY DO NEED TO REIMAGINE LEADERSHIP?
One of the key challenges for leadership in the modern world is that there has been too much management and not enough leadership.
This may be a provocative statement, but it is one that many organisations are now recognising. I address this challenge in my ten minute video which is available for you view in the Discussion Forum menu at the top. The video also explains what I mean by collective leadership. There is also a shorter two minute animated video which illustrates how we can respond to this challenge.
There are many similarities between management and leadership, but the differences are also clear; leadership has been described as doing the right things whereas management can be viewed as doing things right. There is a place for both, but it is critical to understand the purpose of each. There are many other arguments in relation to the differences between leadership and management, but this is the basic distinction. It will serve us well for now!
Having established the basic differences there is also another important statement that needs to be made. A key skill of a leader in the twenty-first century is in balancing the head and the heart in encouraging the hand. It is about putting your ego to one side and being selfless in your leadership practice.
How do we respond to this challenge? One of the key omissions in contemporary leadership is the inclusion of the heart in asking the question:
Are we doing the right things for the right reasons for the right people and in the right way?
This question can be answered by collective leaders asking intelligent leadership questions as opposed to individual leaders who think that they need to provide the answer to the question/s. The role of a collective leader is to ask the intelligent leadership question and then allow collective others to come up with the solutions.
This is a tough challenge, but it is one that can be achieved. But what does ‘success’ look like? How can we assess the collective nature of leadership let alone trying to square the circle in assessing the effectiveness of individual leadership?
It is to determine answers to these challenging questions. We need to engage in reimagining leadership.
Please include your thoughts!
Next Steps >>
If you want to continue reading further blog posts click the progression button at the bottom right to move to the next post. Otherwise, return to the Pre-Session Reading and Task Briefing to continue your preparation.