Leadership and Management Programmes

Follow-up from Module 2

Immunity to Change - Observe and test big assumption

Between now and the next session, as a first step in questioning your big assumption, observe what does and does not happen as a consequence of holding the big assumptions true. The purpose of this is to become more aware of your actions in relation to your big assumptions, and develop a better appreciation for how and what contexts, and what extent, big assumptions influence our lives.

Then, use new behaviours (your goal) to test your mind-set. The purpose is to collect data about what happens as a consequence of our action, and then interpret those outcomes to confirm or revise your big assumption. The aim is to get information, not to try to immediately improve. Does your big assumption hold true, either completely, partially e.g. just in this context, or not. Record your learning in your Reflective Log – and plan your next small test. Again, come prepared to discuss your learning in the next Module.

Observe team working at your workplace, and come prepared to discuss the following, with examples where appropriate:

• Do the team members openly and readily disclose their opinions?
• Are the team meetings productive (and compelling)?
• Does the team come to decisions quickly (and avoid getting bogged down by consensus)?
• Do the team members confront one another about their shortcomings?
• Do team members focus on the good of the team (i.e. sacrifice their own interests for the good of the team)?

Also, reflect on the following:

• What is your most important behavioural quality that contributes to the strength of the team? (your strength)
• What is your most important behavioural quality that detracts from the strength of the team? (your developmental area)

Preparation for the day

View the Creativity and Innovation eLearning module and do the self-assessment at the end.

For preparation of the Communication III session (Dialogue): Think of a Leadership challenge at work – a wicked problem that you/your team/your organisation are currently facing.

Read Building Resilience: Five Key Capabilities by Lucy, Pooravoos and Thompson. You may wish to reflect on the questions in the template below.

Resilience Capability Index (RCI) Strategies Template (Word doc). 

Self-leadership

Reflecting on, understanding and developing yourself as a person and as a leader:

• Demonstrate willingness to change ideas or perceptions based on new information or contrary evidence
• Demonstrate critical self-reflection and judgement
• Seek to understand reasons for obstacles and to find ways to overcome
• Invite feedback from colleagues and partners to improve own behaviour

Creativity and innovation

Finding different ways of thinking and doing:

• Seek opportunities for development in order to achieve desired change

Collaboration and influencing

Leading and working together for better outcomes:

• Choose communication strategies that make own and others' assumptions visible
• Observe personal impact in interactions with others and adapt behaviour appropriately

Empowering

Enabling others to develop and use their own leadership capacity:

• Identify ways to support others in making improvements

Leadership Links webinar Managing my Resilience by Joanne Kerr, Coach and Coach Supervisor, looks into our wellbeing at work in a context of complexity, ambiguity and change, where managing our resilience is essential to our effectiveness and our wellbeing at work.

Leadership Links Health and Wellbeing Festival resources. 

The National Wellbeing Hub - wellbeing resources for those working in health, social care and social work in Scotland.  

Developing Resilience - Overcoming and Growing from Setbacks is an article from MindTools that brings a few ideas together and provides 10 helpful tips.