Provision #746: The ABC's of Leadership
Laser Provision
Without intending to follow any particular pattern at the time, I started to write about
Evocative Leadership on March 21, 2010. That's 20 months ago! Who knew the
topic would prove to be so engaging?! My interest was simple: to apply the
lessons we have been learning through
Evocative Coaching to the tasks of
leadership. That wasn't hard to do, since great leaders are always coaching
leaders. In today's Provision, I summarize the series before moving on to other
topics. Enjoy!
LifeTrek Provision
When I started this series on
Evocative Leadership, I did so because I knew I wanted to write a book
on coaching leaders. That book is intended to be a sequel, of sorts, to our book
on coaching teachers. It will follow the same coaching model but it will apply
the process to leaders in schools and other settings. There is a play on words
here that launches the book with the following sentence: "This book is about
coaching leaders to become coaching leaders." How we coach leaders influences
the kind of leaders they become. If we coach from a "tell-and-sell" stance, then
they will lead from that stance. If we coach from a "listen-and-learn" stance,
then things will shift in that direction.
Of the two, "listen and learn" is the way to lead. In fact, in the new book we
intend to change the acronym for the coaching model itself. Instead of SEID (for
StoryEmpathyInquiryDesign), we will used LEAD (for
ListenEmpathizeAppreciateDesign). Those are the attributes that make for
effective leadership in the 21st century. Gone are the days of top-down,
command-and-control leadership effectiveness. Upon us are the days of
collaborative, coach-and-create leadership. Leadership coaches have the
opportunity to evoke that style of leadership by modeling that style of
coaching, as our book will make clear.
Something happened, however, on the way to that book on coaching leaders:
another book was born. On March 21, 2010 four months before
Evocative Coaching
had been released I decided to explore the attributes of coaching leaders
using the metaphor of what matters. I started with
Focus and
Faith
before moving on to
Results
and
Relationships. From there, I picked up a few more letters of the alphabet
before accepting the self-imposed challenge of writing three things that matter
for every letter of the alphabet. By August 2010, I was well on my way, circling
back to fill in the gap that I left at the beginning:
Feelings
Matter.
It was fascinating, even as the writer, to watch the Provisions emerge and
evolve. Until the very end, when I was consciously choosing to pick up the
letters I had not yet covered, the Provisions would present themselves
spontaneously. Something would happen that would trigger an instantaneous
recognition: of course
Health Matters
to leadership! Of course
Strengths
Matter! Of course
Discipline Matters! Even
Jesus and
Yoda snuck into the equation. Within the overarching framework of covering
the entire alphabet there was randomness, spontaneity, and creativity. I
hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I did.
Now it's time to turn the series into a book, which my wife, Megan, has
tentatively titled, The ABC's of Leadership. I like that title because it
invites me to place the Provisions in alphabetical order and to edit them
accordingly. Putting things in a new order inevitably generates new insights.
The final book will not be the same as the original series, and that's a good
thing, but it will be heavily indebted to the work we have done together over
the past 20 months. As always, your reader replies proved to invaluable grist
for the mill, and for that I cannot thank you enough.
It's interesting for me to read the reorganized list of Provisions. I
immediately find myself wanting to write more. What about Autonomy? What about
Empathy, Honesty, and Integrity? What about Inquiry and Mastery? I could easily
add one more Provision for every letter. But to everything there is a season,
and 'tis the season to end this series. You'll just have to wait for the book to
see how the following Provisions turn out:
Let me know if you see other opportunities for substituting one word with
another. There is a lot of overlap, so I often covered one topic under the
umbrella of another (for example, I covered Empathy when I wrote about
Understanding, and I covered Honesty and Integrity when I wrote about
Trust).
Still, if you think I'm missing a crucial word when it comes to leadership, I
would like to know your thoughts.
I would also like to know whether you think this should be one book or two.
There is a certain appeal to covering the entire alphabet, A to Z, in one book.
But that could make for a very long book, and people tell me that two shorter
books may be better. Your thoughts, along with those of my publisher, will
influence the way this turns out.
Over the next year or two, as I finish these books, I think I will reprise my
now five-year-old series on Optimal Wellness. That will give me a chance to
revisit the health side of the leadership equation, including new research and
thinking from the field. I hope you will join me for the journey.
Coaching Inquiries: What matters most to you when it comes to leadership? Which
of these words speak most powerfully to your own heart? How can you take that
truth and carry it with you on a daily basis? What would people then say about you as
a leader? What's stopping you from making it so?
To reply to this Provision, use our
Feedback Form. To
talk with us about coaching or consulting services for yourself or your
organization,
Email Us
or use our
Contact Form
to arrange a complimentary conversation. To learn more about LifeTrek Coaching
programs,
Click Here.
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LifeTrek Readers' Forum (selected feedback
from the past week)
Editor's Note: The LifeTrek Readers' Forum contains selections from the comments
and materials sent in each week by the readers of LifeTrek Provisions. They do
not necessarily reflect the perspective of LifeTrek Coaching International. To
submit your comment, use our
Feedback Form or
Email Bob.
Thanks for reminding us that
Uniqueness Matters. Too often I have tried to conform myself to the
expectations of others, even when that did not fit my personality. I know it's
important to be sensitive to the feelings and needs of others, but your
Provision gives me the courage to do that without abandoning my own, distinctive
style. Thanks!
I was really pleased to see your announcement about the
January
training program in evocative coaching. I've attended several workshops with
you guys and I impressed with your skill, know-how and especially your empathic
conscientiousness. Aiming this program at teachers and educational
administrators as well as personal coaches and consultants is a perfect
combination. Our schools need this! Thanks for bringing it forward. Top
May you be filled with goodness, peace, and joy.
Bob Tschannen-Moran
President, LifeTrek Coaching International,
www.LifeTrekCoaching.com
CEO & Co-Founder, Center for School
Transformation,
www.SchoolTransformation.com
Immediate Past President, International Association
of Coaching,
www.CertifiedCoach.org
Author, Evocative Coaching: Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time,
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Skype: LifeTrek Twitter: @LifeTrekBob
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