Transformative and Transformational Leadership

 My colleague and classmate Margie wrote about leadership the other day and we had a chance to chat about it. There were two things that came to mind when I read her post. The first is that transformative learning and how it "fosters a critical change in an individual's meaning structures."

We have been hosting leadership training for many years and across the board the students wrote reviews that expressed how fundamentally eye-opening and life-changing the training course was to them.

It was only after learning more about Mezirow's theories on transformative learning that I realized we had without trying to create the framework and structure needed to support a transformative learning moment for the learners. How many other courses are like this or how many other leaders do this without really knowing that they are?

Additionally, the second thing I think about is what you wrote about reflective journaling. In a recent class I took on Adult Learning and Adult Development with Dr. Fishback we were introduced to an Army Tradoc class by one of the developers. 

A class called Red Teaming. In this instance, it is a class that is in some ways designed as a series of exercises designed to help military leaders move closer toward self-authorship in their adult development journey. One of the first exercises is to start a "Red Team Journal" dedicated to self-authorship. I've been keeping this journal for months now and as a reflective learning practice can't be beaten. 

As with the above, where I plan to update our leadership training to include more on social capital, I am also going to be promoting more journaling. 

More on Leadership and Social Capital

 I wrote the other day about Social Capital and leadership (see HERE). I will follow it up with this entry. 

I find it interesting that social capital isn't linked to leadership more ubiquitously. When I read the article and considered it as a part of my own organization, I had an epiphany. Social capital is used as a part of leadership often in my world and in my organization. 

We are a non-profit, but the good graces, and social capital of our members. If we lose that we take a pretty bad turn in the negative direction. And I'm constantly seeing leaders with greater social capital try to bring others into fold and instill in them the same degree of power and moxie that they enjoy. Some sink, some swim, and some, as the article mentions, don't exercise their efforts enough and lose their social capital. We teach leadership to supervisors, crew leaders, managers, and more. 

We discuss the importance of communication, situational leadership, urgent vs important tasks, etc. But nowhere do we discuss, even in passing, the importance of social capital and how and why to use it. That needs to change.

Backyard is my Fave

I was talking to one of my managers the other day and found out that she and I both enjoy gardening. No, nothing too serious, but we were comparing weeds we deal with, design ideas etc. I'm a bit of a gardening enthusiast. 

Mostly, I'm the gardener in our family because my wife isn't. If it was left up to her, it would be grass to the fence line without a single bush, tree, or flower to change things ups. Maybe we can say she likes zero-scaping. We can say that to be nice. But really I think she just doesn't want to be bothered. 

Me, I don't mind the bother. I rather enjoy it. I like that we have place with a fire pit and pergola and pool. A place for shade and coffee or working outside. A place to cool off and hang. Or even to kick the soccer ball (I took down the ninja course last year). 

I like that we have so much variety and craziness in the backyard. I once ran along the levy and was able to look into the backyards of hundreds of our neighbors, and the best ones, . . . the ones with variety and ornamental yard art. So, that's what I've done in our backyard.

 There's a turtle, a butterfly house, several bird feeders of all types, wind chimes, clay pots of all sorts and sizes, and more. There's also a ton of variety in terms of the plants. Everywhere you look you see an explosion of different types of plants, plumbago, mint everywhere, rosemary, succulents all over the place, traveling jew, English ivy, agapanthus, elephant ears and variegated ginger, a huge butterfly bush, butterfly weed, eggplants and tomatoes and peppers, a huge fig tree and a half dozen crepe myrtles. But then, when you look closely, you see themes as well. I like that a lot. 

What I like the most is that there might be a burst of color or overwhelming growth, then next to it perfectly cut and shaped grass. It's one of my favorite places the backyard. I wrote a while back about how much I love my pool, this year, I think it's the backyard in general. 

Social Leadership and Capital

I'm reading a book on leadership and team leadership. I was asked to write about the strengths and weaknesses of a related article on Social Capital (SC) and leadership and how does it relate to adult learning theories and leader development?

Van De Valk's article on SC and Leadership and leadership development programs (LDP) is an interesting and unique take on the relationship between LDPs and SC. The relationship between SC and LDPs is not one that I have considered before, yet is one that I deal with daily. The instance on page 54 where Van De Valk (2008) writes that Human Capital is to Leader (Individual) as Social Capital is to Leadership (Group) made the pieces of what the author was trying to establish come together. 

However, when looking for weaknesses, there seemed to be a weak definition of leadership that was designed to fit the needs of the paper. Van De Valk writes, referencing Yukl, that "leadership is defined simply as an influence process" and then modifies that definition a sentence later to add a social aspect to the definition. This seems like a jump too far to make a definition fit the needs of the paper. 

The area of the paper that held the greatest interest for me was near the end when Van De Valk (2008) discusses how the "imbalance in the SC network tends to limit the development of new leadership pools" (p. 58). I work for a non-profit in an industrial contracting community. There is a wide variety of very powerful leaders represented within that community who are active participants within the organization. As Van De Valk states, those leaders that continue to work within and network with other leaders form cliques that are hard to break into. 

While those who are new leaders "come into an SC network, they are often the first to drop out" (Van De Valk, 2008, p. 58). What the author describes in this section is plain to see within our organization and is constantly forcing new leaders into the scrum, or forcing them out based on their ability to network and work within the social system. 

The second aspect of LDPs and SC that I found intriguing is the idea that the author brings up regarding the fact that if the LDP alumni are not actively working on and honing their skills then they risk losing the SC that they might have built up over time. 

This again makes me think of my own organization. One aspect our organization fosters is information exchange through gatherings, lunch and learns, breakfast meetings, lectures by subject matter experts (SME), and committee meetings to help advance safety and skills training initiatives and best practices. Those leaders who attend these meetings, banquets, cocktail parties, dinners, lunches, and golf outings are constantly building up their SC and improving their network connections. Those who do not risk being forgotten about. 

References

Van De Valk, L. J. (2008). Leadership development and social capital: Is there a relationship? Journalofleadershiped.Org. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://journalofleadershiped.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/7_1_Van_De_Valk.pdf

Holy Shit!

There are times when I say things at work where I know . . . I know! . . . that Julie and Tommy, and I'm pretty sure Russell and Paul think to themselves  . . . "uh, dude,  . . . you're full of shit. You're just using a bunch of big words to try and pretend to know what you're talking about."

Am I? Could be, but not really. 

I ran into my own "uh, dude, . . . you're full of shit" moment. 

We had a PhD student come in and talk to us about their own dissertation defense and her own Vee Diagram (see mine in the image above). She used her Vee diagram as the basis of her defense. There was more to it, but the first page of the presentation was just that Vee diagram. 

When I saw it (and I asked her to send it to me so I can see it) I tried to get process it, and I could tell immediately I was in for a doozey. Basically, her dissertation was a qualitative review of K-2 Kansas Education Dept policies to determine if there was perceived culturally responsive language to support social justice education for teachers. 

So, a couple of questions:

• How does this have anything to do with Adult Learning?
• Why do I want my K-2 teachers to teach culturally responsive social justice education?
• How can you judge these values and if they are in the policies?

Ugh . . . I know how Tommy and Julie feel!

Problems with Ducks

 Anyone who reads this blog knows I have a problem with ducks. 

I have a long history with ducks, none of it good. And it keeps getting worse. I don’t know which I dislike more, ducks or squirrels. Kinda a toss up really. 

Concept Mapping

Concept mapping is fun, . . . especially if you have Bubbl.us!

We were asked to try some concept mapping. Even the professor admitted that I was at the run stage of concept mapping. Mine, for my proposed dissertation on VR and Emotion, is above. The one that I used for our "entrance assignment" for our Kansas Residency Class is below. 

I'm a tad stunned by this. I find them easy and fun and they help form relationships. But for others in the class it was tough. Not here. 

Keep it between us, but I'm a tad unimpressed with some of my classmates. My study buddies, Will, Anne, and Andrew are bad asses, but there are a few who I think are stuggling, and I'm a tad stunned by that. Why? Cause we've been workiong on this stuff for years now. Some of these folks should be further along. 

Ethics and Digital Innovations

Scenario: A Hard Ethical Decision to Make

A&K Milling Co. is a family-owned grain milling company located in West Kansas. Though not a large company, A&K has been offering job opportunities with decent pay to people living in the surrounding areas for over 80 years. The owner attributes the success of the company to having loyal employees because most employees have worked for the company for many years and have developed strong bond with the company. Due to increased national competition, A&K leadership team has recently decided to launch a digital transformation (Dx) plan in the next 12 months by investing in modern technologies to help increase flour production. If this Dx plan is executed, it is estimated that about 500 skilled workers will lose their jobs and it’s not easy for them to find another job quickly that matches their skills and pay. Taking care of their employees is deeply embedded in the company’s culture but the company has to go digital if to survive. Tonny, as the company’s HR director responsible for training new employees and providing continued education to existing employees, is charged to look into different ways to minimize the Dx’s impact on these 500 skilled workers.

Examine the scenario below and list one or two ethical issues that you see may arise after A&K launches their Dx plan. Apply one of the ethical analysis frameworks/approaches discussed this week to rationalize your concern and offer an ethically sound solution.

A&K faces a challenge of modernization. On the one hand, what has made them the company that they are is their processes, procedures, their workforce and their culture. They are faced with a challenged of adopting a potentially more proficient process or procedure at the risk of undermining their culture and losing their workforce. This does not however mean that they should sacrifice the digital transformation for the sake of maintaining their culture and staff. 

Culture isn’t just about the staff and the employees, but rather is a way of being and working. The culture of the company, regardless of the processes and procedures or even the workforce is a part of the leadership, the social connections with the surrounding environment, the benefits, the talents of the company, not just the number of personnel who might be a part of the company. Additionally, there is the sacrifice that A&K might be making if they do NOT move forward with a digital transformation. There is the risk that their competitors will gain market share and overtake their place in the market, or that by not transforming they could be left behind. 

Blockbuster video store is a perfect example for what might happen to a company if they do not follow a path toward greater digital transformation or keeping up with technological changes. With a huge member list, an extremely young well known name, and a dominant place in their market, they were perfectly suited to offer their members a streaming platform that could have rivaled Netflix, or they could have found a way to merge with Netflix (Sloan, 2020). Instead Netflix found ways to move from movies through the mail to streaming and Blockbuster is gone. A&K could face the same challenge. 

Technology has been a bogeyman regarding employees for many years, but technology innovation and digital transformation should instead be seen as a way to allow employees to find and do more, rather than a potential employee killer. Elevator operators no longer stand in elevators because of the innovation of push-button operation. The pony express is no longer riding mail across the west. Employees, just like organizations, have been forced to be more adaptable. Instead of slogging through a first-time, minimum wage job, employees can now begin with jobs where technology is king and work from a starting point that is more advantageous than employees before (Heater, 2017). Now, although we’ve lost switchboard operators and elevator operators we’ve gained IT administrators and social media influencers.

Tonny who is in charge of the HR aspect of this digital transformation might want to think about re-skilling some of the potentially affected employees into roles that will help the organization continue to grow and sell their products. Generally, I have found, that dedicated employees, especially those who come from organizations with a stable and deep, positive culture become wonderful brand ambassadors and can be involved in many more aspects of the company. We’ve all heard the adage: hire for attitude, not skill, and here Tonny has a pool of employees with a history with the organization, positive attitude and the opportunity to be retrained with skills that could help the organization in the future. If the new digital transformation yield more work, then these workers will be needed. 

References

  

Heater, B. (2017, March 26). Technology is killing jobs, and only technology can save them. TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/26/technology-is-killing-jobs-and-only-technology-can-save-them/

 

Sloan, M. (2020, June 1). Netflix vs blockbuster - the official case study. Drift. https://www.drift.com/blog/netflix-vs-blockbuster/

Yet ANOTHER on our Homeschooling Project

My colleague discussed my homeschooling project. He wrote about much of our project is designed around SC-F-COP (social media fueled community of practice). 

He hit on an exact aspect of our plan that I think would be very worthwhile for homeschool parents. Right now, I have a neighbor who homeschools their children and they have to be a part of a church, a part of other community groups, in order to have their children play sports and socialize with other kiddos. These same aspects are "baked in" to the traditional school dynamic. 

What we want to inspire is a place with other homeschoolers to go and find that some aspect of a community. I think our KSU community, Canvas, is a great example. I have had several classes with you and many many interactions here via Canvas. We have never met but I betcha if I reached out with a specific question you'd be quick to answer. 

We have created a community in Canvas of our learning cohort going through these classes. Why not inspire and create the same thing on purpose for Homeschoolers. This may already exist, but the (rather informal) poll we took to begin our work showed that none of the homeschool parents we talked to had this capability specifically for homeschooling. Some used Facebook groups, or other groups, but there was no group specifically for, moderated for, or geared toward homeschooler specifically. 

Furthering the Homeschool Project Idea

I heard from the professor about our homeschool project (see HERE). It's a great idea. I wonder if I should develop this sucker further and try and find some funding to help move it forward into reality. 

Dr. K brought up Social Media Fueled Communities of Practice (SM-F-COP). I really liked what he wrote about SM-F-COPs, and he knows about my challenges I have faced in creating those in the past. Another student brought up a great point in her post about having synchronous and asynchronous aspects of our community that help spur interest and to move subjects in a positive direction. 

I think that saying "here you go, have at it" is not a worthwhile plan of attack. There may be some people out there who will take up the baton and run with it, but many more, based on my experience with SM-F-COPs it will take moderation and content. One thing that we should include is worthwhile content that the users can view, use, discuss and build off of. 

Much like you have done by providing books, content, moderation, and a building ground for our work here in Canvas. Some of the thoughts that Catherine inspired in her post was the idea of having homeschooling experts on to help parents, or have kids who have been homeschooled in the past help homeschool kids through the community. This might be enough to help move the COP into something that is self-propelled in the long run. 

Just as we want to provide a community page for interaction for parents and for students, much like our discussion sites in my classes. I can imagine a series of pre-recorded videos that parents can access, as well as live sessions that parents can log into as well. Just as we as students like to come to canvas to discuss and interact with others, we also hear from Dr. K, and in some classes have set aside time for live meetings. 

We should offer the same . . . I can see "talk with experts" from different states, or "hear from someone who's done it" and also guest speakers who are teachers who can help home school parents become better teachers. 

We can also do the same for kiddos and students. We could host pre-recorded sessions with kids who have been through homeschool and gotten the most out of it, we could have guest speakers and live events to help bring home school kiddos together. I really like that you've challenged us in this regard and if we have a version 2 of this innovation it would definitely include a component like this.