About L+D
Leadership+Design is a nonprofit organization and educational collaborative dedicated to creating a new culture of school leaders - empathetic, creative, collaborative and adaptable solution-makers who can make a positive difference in a rapidly changing world.
- We support creative and innovative school leadership at the individual and organizational level.
- We serve school leaders at all points in their careers - from teacher leaders to heads of school as well as student leaders.
- We help schools design strategies for change, growth, and innovation.
- We bring creativity, collaboration & co-creation, empathy, a "yes, and..." mindset, and experiential learning to all of our work.
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Upcoming Programs:
The Santa Fe Seminar
November 12-15, 2014
Santa Fe, NM
Only 2 spaces available.
Learn more and register
Innovative Leadership
June 22-25, 2015
Boulder, CO
Information and Registration available on the L+D Website on November 1. We anticipate this will sell out, so register early.
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Leadership+Design
Collaboration Cards
Order your deck today.
This card deck is a tool to enhance group work. The paradox of group life exists in any group - those that form in places of business, schools, churches, sports teams and even families.
As human beings, we crave group life and we also find it to be hard, messy and complex. Groups that have tools to identify and manage conflict, to get "unstuck" and to move forward, are more productive and also more joyful.
These playful L+D Cards offer over 70 suggestions for managing group life, increasing productivity in groups and deepening the connection between collaborators.
$25.00 per deck + Shipping and Handling. Click on the icon below to place your order.
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L+D Board of Directors
Lee Burns
Head of School
The McCallie School
Chattanooga, TN
Sandy Drew, President
Development Consultant
Sonoma, CA
Trudy Hall
Head of School
Emma Willard School
Troy, NY
Brett Jacobsen
Head of School
Mount Vernon Presbyterian School
Atlanta, GA
Barbara Kraus-Blackney
Executive Director
ADVIS
Philadelphia, PA
Carla Robbins Silver (ex-officio)
Executive Director, L+D
Los Gatos, CA
Mary Stockavas
CFO
Bosque School
Albuquerque, NM
Paul Wenninger
Leadership Consultant
Albuquerque, NM
Christopher H. Wilson
Head of School
Esperanza Academy
Lawrence, MA
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| When the Going Gets Tough, Stop and Re-calibrate. |
| Carla Robbins Silver, Executive Director |
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Dear Friends:
When we offered our very first leadership seminar in the spring of 2010, we described it as an opportunity for school leaders "to do the inner work necessary to effectively meet and manage external demands." What we envisioned then is still what we hope to deliver each November when we bring together a cohort of school leaders for our annual Santa Fe Seminar - an intentionally designed experience that enables participants to take time away to reflect, renew and attend to their inner and most human needs and to explore questions and answers that enable them to function at their highest capacity as authentic leaders.
The theme of the October Recharge is "Authentic Leadership."  What does it mean to lead "authentically?" And who is to say what leading with authenticity looks like? Personally, I believe that when a leader is acting with clarity of his or her own values, motivations, perspectives priorities and emotions, then he or she is much more likely to lead with authenticity and, in the end, greater success and joy.
Often times, it is easier to recognize what it feels like when we are not leading true to ourselves. Life becomes tiring, forced, and we stop liking our jobs. We get edgy and irritable, especially with the people we love the most. There is a heaviness that we experience when we are not connecting with and leading from our authentic selves, or as L+D Cofounder Ryan Burke calls it, our "signature presence." When the going gets tough, the best leaders call it a day and find a way to recalibrate.
The busy-ness of our work in schools stands as an obstacle to leading authentically - if we do not make time to reconnect with our personal "whys," to reassess our values, and to explicitly define our personal missions and visions so that we might better align these with the organization and individuals whom we lead. I have seen many bright and capable leaders, falter when they have simply lost touch with their purpose - what originally called them to lead - and with the fulfillment and joy that leadership brings them. As external demands get more intense, even the most capable leaders see it as a sign that they should work harder and longer hours, when in fact, what they really need to do is to slow down, breathe, and take their personal inventory.
It is in this spirit that we continue to offer the opportunity for school leaders to come to Santa Fe. It is also, why we work with administrative teams and team members on ongoing group and individual maintenance and facilitate leadership team retreats. It is why Leadership+Design continues to balance the work of developing skill sets and mindsets of creativity, collaboration and design with the practices of reflection and renewal.
And if you truly believe you can't find a way to step out for a day or two, here are a few short and ongoing reflection exercises you might try to better attend to your inner work.
1) By yourself or with a partner, spend 15 minutes doing a "5 Whys" exercise. Ask yourself or your partner "Why do you do this work?" Then dig a little deeper with each new "Why." Ask Why 5 times. See where it goes.
2) Do a values sort exercise to get back in touch with the values that drive your decisions and motivate you. Here is one online version.Do it alone and be honest with yourself. When you have identified your top three or four top values, go back to the most recent hard personal and professional decisions you have made to see how they align with your values. Were there moments of values conflict? How might you better align your decision making with your most sacred values?
3) Take one of your top three core values and create a journal that is dedicated to observing that value in action for a full month. Let's just say "Relationships" or "Integrity" or "Health or Wellbeing." Write specifically about moments when you have personally nurtured that value and when others have exhibited it as well.
4) Make a list of all the things you love about your work. Then make a list of the way you spend your time at work. Where are the gaps? Can you more intentionally spend more time doing the things you love? If not, can you be more present when you are doing those things?
5) At the beginning or end of each day, unplug for ten minutes and ask yourself openly and honestly, How am I feeling? Why? Do I like how I am feeling? If not, what do I need to do to change my emotional state?
Many thanks to Crystal Land, Associate Head of School at Head Royce School in Oakland, CA, and Christopher Wilson, Head of School at Esperanza Academy, for sharing their reflections this month.
Warm Regards,
Carla Silver
Executive Director
Leadership+Design
PS Although we have almost filled in the November Santa Fe Seminar, we have 2 spaces remaining If you think you might want to have your personal and professional bucket refilled, click here to learn more. We will also happily put you on the list to be contacted next year. The 2015 Santa Fe Seminar will run November 11- 14.
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Authentic Leadership:
Look Inward First |
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Crystal Land, Assistant Head of School/Academic Dean, Head-Royce School
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"Great leaders are awake, aware and attuned to themselves, to others and to the world around them. Great leaders are emotionally intelligent and they are mindful -- they seek to live in full consciousness of self, others, nature and society."
-Annie Mckee,
Resonant Leadership
As I start a sabbatical year, a true year away from my day-to-day
school life of the past 25 years, I shouldn't be surprised how much easier it is to contemplate the challenges of leadership with just a bit more breathing room. It can be daunting to be an effective school leader, much less a truly authentic one, when faced with a deluge of emails, back-to-back meetings, as well as the often time-driven need to take care of a truly urgent crisis of the day. But this year with time to reflect, consult, travel and write, I am reminded of the value of attending first to ourselves before we set out to lead institutions and others.
The word "authentic" is a frequent buzzword in the world
of leadership and education. Everyone wants to be authentic, but defining it and then practicing it, can be challenging. What does it mean to be authentic, and how do we work towards it? As a long-time teacher and school administrator, there are many adjectives I would use to describe my strengths - strategic, efficient, thoughtful, and even intentional. Yet, I am often consumed by the challenges of an overly full schedule, which can lead to others to a sense that I am "too busy" to have that chat in the hallway or to sit down and really listen to what was happening in the classroom that day. In an ideal world, I aspire to be fully present, even in the face of a packed schedule.
In current research on what makes one a truly present and effective leader, the message is consistent -- tend to your inner and physical self first. Be attentive to your own needs and stress level before you begin to lead others. Annie McKee of the Telos Institute and co-author of Resonant Leadership writes about how easily leaders become trapped in the sacrifice syndrome where they are "fighting fire and fire after fire and then scraping themselves off the floor each evening." Her advice is to use mindfulness, compassion and intentional change as a way to manage the cycle of sacrifice and renewal. Unless we are fully attuned to ourselves and our shortcomings, we cannot successfully lead others.
Scientist and mindfulness expert, Jon Kabat-Zinn, shares
research that shows engaging in mindfulness practices lead to reduced stress, better self-regulation, improved attention and more even emotional reactions. It also allows one to more fully focus on the task in front of us, whether playing with our own children or being fully attentive in a meeting. His
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program provides participants with simple techniques for a more centered self. He suggests scanning one's physical and mental state for emotional status, and then really listening to the answers. What's going on with me emotionally right now? What are my own responses to the meeting I am about enter? Is there something I can do to be more aware and to adjust? Listening to this feedback will allow you to lead with an honest assessment of your emotional state. Anytime we enter into a stressful interaction, we are bound to be more effective if we are attuned to our own emotional triggers. Many universities, such as UCLA, and other mindfulness centers offer on-line and in-person programs with free resources for leaders to use.
After we have tended to ourselves, we are in a better place to be
fully present and address others' needs. Psychologist Daniel Goleman calls this emotional intelligence. Management expert Jim Collins calls it high touch, level five leadership. Annie McKee calls it compassion and empathy. Whatever the term, it's both a skill and an ability to understand where individuals in our schools are coming from and what they need in order to make the institution work as a more effective system. I often think about the challenges of working with teachers, students and parents. Inevitably, implementation falls short when I have decided unilaterally or with an administrative team what my school needs to "do" to address a problem. The solution is always much more effective with input, advice and collaboration from a larger team. That does not mean that every decision is a group consensus, but it does mean that feedback from the constituents, and really listening well to this input, should inform key decisions.
Finally, the capstone of authentic leadership is being clear with yourself and others on your goals and vision as a leader. What are your priorities? Does your team, department, and school know who you are? Do they know what to consistently expect from you? Are you able to adhere to your ethics when the going gets tough? These are huge questions for any leader to tackle, but once the internal work is done, these questions become easier to answer. Annie McKee summarizes that authentic leaders, "inspire through clarity of vision, optimism and a profound belief in their and other people's ability to turn dreams into reality." And, Eleanor Roosevelt said, well before Goleman, Kabat-Zinn and McKee were researching leadership, "to handle yourself use your head; to handle others use your heart."
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Christopher Wilson, Head of School, Esperanza Academy
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I believe that the most important job I have as headmaster is to promote a spiritual fabric that binds together the students, faculty, and school community to promote a sense of "we" instead of "I".
Now, although we are an Episcopal school, we do not currently serve any Episcopalian families, and fewer than half of our faculty are Episcopalian. So when I speak of developing a spiritual fabric, I mean something more, and perhaps quite different, than a fabric born of doctrine or even religious belief.
A spiritual fabric to me means a sense of shared purpose and meaning that connects all of those involved in the institution beyond immediate personal goals. It also means that I hope that our school will be a life-giving place for all involved, which involves balancing the needs of many members of the community.
Too often, our conversations in schools devolve to the immediate - "How will this change affect MY child's chances to attend a good college?" or "But when we changed the schedule ten years ago, I lost ten minutes of my class periods." Cultivating spiritual connections helps mitigate these natural human tendencies. And it can be grown in a school of any context or type, religious or non-religious, public or independent.
Growing this sense of "we" is much like tending a garden - it  requires intentional choice over a period of time before visible results emerge. When Esperanza Academy entered into a mission statement review four years ago, a byproduct was the identification of four core values - Wisdom, Integrity, Leadership, and Service - that were embedded in our work but, we hoped, would be cultivated and "raised up" into the view of students, faculty, and community.
It has taken a number of years and some fits and starts, but our chapel programs, our advisory conversations, and our summer retreat all center on the core values and how opportunities manifest in our daily lives to demonstrate them. Our exclusively underserved students, who so easily could internalize a sense of themselves as "charity cases," are themselves seeking to serve those less fortunate than they.
Concurrently, we have grown the spiritual development side of our professional development program for faculty, offering a number of full-school sessions, and focusing on growing the spiritual opportunities for our teaching fellows. Our teaching fellows then, in turn, lead our full faculty in discussions centering on cultural competency, discernment, and habits of reflection. It is our hope that these habits of reflection and discernment become in due course part of our collective adult practice at Esperanza Academy. Through personal and interpersonal development we hope to spark professional development.
I have found that this process of deepening ourselves is most effective when multilateral - internal/external; inward-focused/outward-focused; student/faculty; school/community. But it also requires intentionality and openness to each other, and to the value that lies in community needs over individual needs.
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