introduction to the 2008 nols leadership educator notebook

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comfort. Overall, the atmosphere is supportive, energetic and open.The leadership norm is peers guiding and coaching their peers.But beware: Stewardship takes lots of effort on the part of theinstructors and the group. Some people may not buy into it. Inthe time span of a regular course, it is not likely to work perfectly,particularly if there is a wide range of maturity levels in the group. Itcan be held as a vision more than something we believe we can arriveat easily. Most courses use large aspects of this model and semestersare able to take it further still, often with excellent results.Peer expeditions have tried this model with various degrees ofsuccess. It works well in easy times and with well-bonded, maturegroups, less well in stressful times if the group doesn’t take the timeto collaborate. Collaboration means taking time to discuss all thepros and cons and listen to other viewpoints. People venture intotrips or situations thinking they are using this model, when actuallythey have entered into leadership abdication and laissez-faire, or, allpeople aren’t speaking up honestly and so only a few are actuallyrunning the expedition.DIMENSIONS OF LEADERSHIPAll leaders exhibit some of the behaviors encompassed in thesefour dimensions:• Being Authentic• Respecting• Conceptualizing• DirectingBreaking down leadership behavior into these four categoriesmay help you coach a student who is performing better in someareas than others.Being Authentic occurs when you share what is going on foryou—in the moment—as it pertains to your current experience inthe group. This is leadership through being open and honest aboutwhat you think, feel and want.Examples:1) “I am really frustrated that people keep carrying on side conversationsduring our classes.”2) fnigle“I’m frustrated that only two of the five members of thishiking group are reading the map. I want to hear input fromeveryone.”Too much or too little “authenticity”:• If I hide who I am and what I believe, then people around memiss much of what I have to offer.• If I am so ‘loud’ with my beliefs and personal presence it leaveslittle room for others to share their leadership.• I am most effective when I share who I am and what I believewhile still leaving room for others to express themselves.Group Outcomehighmediumlowlow medium highdegree of AUTHENTICbehavior expressedCoaching on AuthenticityUse direct feedback with specific examples of when you have seenthe student be authentic or inauthentic with others.Discuss self-leadership and self-awareness as ways of working onleadership, even one is not in an LOD role.Respecting is just like it sounds. It occurs when you offer friendship,affection, support, praise and encouragement. Respectful leadersexpress warmth, acceptance, genuineness and a real concern forus. Respecting is about caring and supporting. This isn’t limited tobeing “warm and fuzzy”—genuine respecting can be conveyed ina “tough love” style. Simply put, this is leadership through beingsupportive, treating others with respect, and showing people youbelieve in them.Example: “Alan, you seem down about your efforts as leader ofthe day. I want you to know that I respect your efforts. I trust in yourability to turn these lessons into future success.” In general the morerespecting is done by the leader, the better the group outcome.Group Outcomehighmediumlowlow medium highdegree of RESPECTINGbehavior expressedCoaching on RespectVisualize a leader or mentor who has had a positive impact on yourlife. Now ask yourself, “Did I feel respected by this individual?”Think of some different ways this person conveyed their respectfor you or for your potential, like trusting you to hear critical feedbackor letting you make a mistake and then supporting your learning.Conceptualizing describes the skill of helping the group makesense of behaviors, group dynamics and events that effect the group.This includes knowing the how’s and why’s of individual and groupbehavior, and helping people understand their current situationfrom a new angle. Have you ever seen a leader who could help agroup see the “big picture” when they are stuck? Such leaders helppeople reconstruct their understanding of what is going on. Perhapsthey pointed out that conflict is “normal” and expected during thestorming phrase of group development. When done well, you canalmost see the light bulbs light up over people’s heads, the proverbial,“Oh, now I get it!” Conceptualizing helps people make senseout of their experiences.Example: “I’m noticing that the group keeps rehashing this sameissue in every evening meeting. Perhaps that is because we are allpeers and it isn’t clear who should make this decision.”Coaching ConceptualizationOutline basic tasks so your students can understand the variousparts and how they all fit together.Explain why the safety rules exist. Help students to create genericparameters for applying the concepts to other wilderness situations.Coach students on subtle improvements, leading them to a deeperunderstanding of leadership skills and behaviors.Defining Leadership 142008 NOLS Leadership Educator Notebook
Group OutcomeTeach conceptual level classes on topics like team dynamics andleadership in addition to technical skills.Directing is providing the more traditional functions of executiveleadership. This is leadership through actively structuring a group,by setting group rules, creating norms for behavior, setting goals,managing time and the like. When directing, leaders either prescribespecific actions, or they stop specific actions and focus on particularbehaviors or events. In directing mode, you might stop the groupand suggest they reflect on something that just happened. Comparethis with conceptualizing, where you might also stop the group andfocus on an event, but you would likely add your interpretation ofthe event. Directing includes organizing, questioning and choreographingkey events.Example: “Before we start our break, let’s decide how long wewant it to be.” Generally groups respond best to moderate amountsof directing behavior.Coaching on DirectingHelp students identify situations when they have felt there wastoo little directing being done by the leader, and what the consequencesof this were. Then ask them to reflect on situations with toomuch directing being and what happened.Ask students to identify cues which help them know they are doingthe “right” amount of directing.Acknowledge that the optimal amount of directing varies—itchanges as the group and the situation change!There are an infinite number of different aspects of leadership youcan coach students on! These are just four to help get you started.Group Outcomehighmediumlowhighmediumlowlow medium highdegree of CONCEPTUALIZINGbehavior expressedlow medium highdegree of DIRECTINGbehavior expressedSELF-DIFFERENTIATED LEADERSHIPThis is the idea that real leadership comes about when you beginto view yourself and your followers as a system that functions aspart of one another. The theory of self-differentiated leadership isall about what makes someone a mature, special leader. Being yourauthentic self is what matters: this means your actions are alignedwith your values.Well-differentiated, emotionally mature individuals, who bringa lot of “self” to any relationship we call “self-differentiated”. Thesepeople are comfortable being who they are and saying or doing whatthey think they need to say or do in any relationship. Highly selfdifferentiatedleaders maintain a good level of emotional calm evenwhen people are disagreeing with them or resisting their ideas. Theykeep things in perspective, seeing both paradox and humor in themselvesand life. They can be very emotional—but they have morechoice about it. People generally have better, more truly connectedrelationships, make better choices and are more effective leaderswhen they have greater self-differentiation (Kerr, 1988).Self-differentiated individuals are inter-dependant, not isolatedand independent. It is arguable that students need high self-differentiationto be able to lead their friends on extended camping trips.At most, we may only get students to understand their ability tostate what they think, feel and want and their ability to stay connectedand seek input from their group.Chapter II References and Resources• Bennis, W. (1995). On Becoming a Leader. NY: Addison-Wesley.• Blanchard, K. (1999). Leadership and the one minute manager.• Block, P. (1993). Stewardship. SF, CA: Berrett-Koehler.• Deluga, R. J. (1992). The Relationship of Leader-Member Exchangeswith Laissez-Faire, Transformational and TransactionalLeadership on Naval Environments. Impact of Leadership. NorthCarolina, Center for Creative Leadership.• French, J., Jr., and Raven, B. (1959). The Bases of Social Power.In D. Cartwright (Ed.), Studies in Social Power. Ann Arbor, MI:Institute for Social Research.• Friedman, E.H. (1985). Generation to Generation. NY: Guilford.• Hersey, P. and Blanchard, K. H. (1963). Organizational Behavior.(6th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.• Hesselbein, F., Goldsmith, M., & Beckhard, R., (1996). Leaderof the Future. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.• Johnson, D., & Johnson, F. (1987). Joining Together: Group Theoryand Group Skills. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Allyn & Bacon.• Kerr, M and Bowen, M. (1988). Family Evaluation. New York,NY: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc.• Lieberman, M., Yalom, I., & Miles, M. (1973). Encounter Groups:First Facts. Basic Books.• Schultz, W. (1975). Not Encounter and Certainly Not Facts. Journalof Humanistic Psychology, 7-18.• Senge, P. (1994). The Fifth Discipline. NY, NY: Currency andDoubleday.• Short, R. (1991). A Special Kind of Leadership. Seattle, WA: TheLeadership Group.• Stogill R. (1974). Handbook of Leadership. NY, NY: Free Press.• Yalom, I. (1975). How effective is the encounter group? The Theoryand Practice of Group Psychotherapy, (2nd ed.), 471-478.2008 NOLS Leadership Educator Notebook 15Defining Leadership
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