thanks @greenleafcenter

and dr. kent keith, @jeffmiller79, isabel lopez, and dolores jones. i cannot say enough about how much i value the greenleaf center's role (and timing) in my servant leadership journey. and as part of the reminiscing that regularly occurs during the december-january months, i am glad to share tidbits of my 2011 journey, along with the first two pages of my key practices paper.

and once again, 

with much gratitude,

thank you all.

the greenleaf center for servant leadership certificate programs (over here) - the foundations of servant leadership and applying the key practices of servant leadership - were intensely thought-provoking for me and very energizing (internally and externally). more than a month after the last key practices class, i am already going through withdrawals not regularly being part of a servant leadership community - those learning, studying, and practicing. yet, meanwhile, i am excited to engage what i have learned as part of the self-discovery that is inherent in the greenleaf servant leadership programs. 

a little background of my greenleaf journey ... on this blog, i've occasionally posted about my class experience and related thoughts for the foundations class (over here) and the key practices class (over here). (also under my blog's greenleaf label)

for the foundations course

for the key practices course

in short, we read, we wrote (on the class wiki), and we talked as part of monthly class calls. and there are many opportunities to go beyond the required reading and discussions. most notably, however, are the many AH-HA moments! i shared about my first class with the foundations course over here, where i included the text of my 3:38 minute intro - why i was taking the coures. and i shared about my key practices paper in the making over here.

wordle from my key practices final paper

key practices ah-ha moments ... in addition to refining and defining my credo (as part of feedback from the foundations course), i am engaging in further exploring servant leadership through language.

key practices paper, p. 1

key practices paper, p. 2

For Now, I Choose the Petri Dish:

Unwritten Rules and Alphabet Soup

 

There are BRIDGES yet to be constructed by those who live and

breathe in their ENVIRONMENT - Air, Land, and Water.  Egos stand firm

on the ground that they were born and choose not to acknowledge that

being one step closer means choosing to be one step FURTHER.

My VISION is to Create Those Bridges. – Shirley Rivera

My journey as a member of the Greenleaf Academy’s class, Applying Key Practices of Servant Leadership (Key Practices), has been not only an extension of my introduction to the Academy through the Foundations of Servant Leadership class (Foundations) but also a a series of unplanned, experiential learning moments in the workplace.  I have affectionately referred to my workplace as my “petri dish of improv comic gold and servant leadership lessons-in-the-making”. Whether by coincidence or by being present – through awareness, reflection, embodiment, contribution – more than often my workplace seemed to manifest our Key Practices readings and discussions.

A petri dish, by definition from the American Heritage® Medical Dictionary, is a –

“shallow circular dish with a loose-fitting cover, used to culture bacteria or other microorganisms”

I suggest that the workplace analogy, using the format of this definition, may be reworded as –

“cubicles used to culture staff and management personnel”

 Meanwhile, another definition (from Merriam Webster) that is not as tongue-in-cheek may be considered more comparable for describing the workplace setting –

“something (as a place or situation) that fosters development or innovation”

While I have frustrations about the workplace, I have come to appreciate better and do acknowledge what my petri dish offers as I continue my curious discoveries through my servant leadership journey. Whether it is through observing and participating in day-to-day peer interactions and in communications across hierarchies, with the added knowledge from of Key Practices, I believe that I have much to offer to foster development of better workplace experiences, as well as much to be reminded of about circumstances not demonstrative of servant leadership characteristics.

As an extension of my reconnecting with my epiphany during the Academy’s Foundations course, Key Practices has provided the added context for understanding how to weave together servant leadership attributes and engage with others the ten characteristics of servant leadership, particularly as part of organizations and institutions. By observing and reflecting on my workplace, I intend to explore the use of language – written, verbal, artistic expression – to affect workplace satisfaction. Three topic areas that I am pursuing include: 

• systems - while being mindful of the value of foresight, the goals of rethinking complexity, and similar ideas, increasing my understanding of and making more accessible systems theory;
• storytelling – through my creation of anthrocubeology (i.e., a web-based format for story-telling workplace possibilities and alternatives), express ideas about approaches for catalyzing organizational cultural shifts through reflection and self-awareness; and
• philosophy – by bringing together servant leadership and my other interest in the epistemology of knowledge and ignorance, develop my voice about my belief of a person’s ability to make a difference through our connectedness.

If you try to find meaning in everything you do,
you will imbue everything you do with meaning.

- James Autry

deep thoughts in class paper

@jeffmiller79, THANKS MUCH 

for your inspiration and support!

"for now, i choose the petri dish:

unwritten rules and alphabet soup"

such is my affectionately titled class paper for my greenleaf academy course (more here), applying the key practices of servant leadership (related posts over here). and while writing my paper, i revisited quotes that i've kept around to ponder. one of them -

"The greater part of our knowledge and beliefs
has been communicated to us by other people 

through the medium of a language

which others have created."

- Albert Einstein

i have batted around lots of ideas since my '94 epiphany, and in this class, i connected a bunch of dots in my head and unearthed from my grey matter the following -

... I intend to explore the use of language – written, verbal, artistic expression – to affect workplace satisfaction. Three topic areas that I am pursuing include:

• systems - while being mindful of the value of foresight, the goals of rethinking complexity, and similar ideas, increasing my understanding of and making more accessible systems theory; 
• storytelling – through my creation of anthrocubeology (i.e., a web-based format for story-telling workplace possibilities and alternatives), express ideas about approaches for catalyzing cultural shifts through reflection and self-awareness; and
• philosophy – by bringing together servant leadership and my other interest in the epistemology of knowledge and ignorance, develop my voice about my belief of a person’s ability to make a difference through our connectedness.

deep, thoughtful "stuff" came out (and continues to come out) of my writing as inspired by my greenleaf experiences.

 

"If you try to find meaning in everything you do, 

you will imbue everything you do with meaning."

- James Autry

 

thanks again, jeff!

(near finish line!)

DISC me and then dog me ...

wordle me ... i may (or may not) be addicted to wordle, or perhaps i have a crush on it - mentor application, final greenleaf1 paper. for the potential mentor process, here's my wordle of my basic characteristics disc profile (about DISC on wiki) that i recently took this week.

(or view over here)

adaptive and natural style ... on each page of the report, there are two little graphs, side by side, and my little graphs are these. the natural style is suppose to represent how i see myself and who i am. the adapted style is suppose to represent how i respond to my environment. so mine are relatively close. what this means? i dunno (yet).

who am i? ... disc is considered one of those tools to discover answers to this question. but there are other tools (in addition to the voices in your head, the writing in one's journal, the truth serum speak after too many drinks, the catholic guilt that may be instilled in one, 31 days of reverb10, and/or the ba-boom-boom-boom of your heart). as mentioned in a flashback fiber break (over here), there are lots o' other tools.

dog me ... my FAVE EVER in the world of - who am i? who are you? who cares? Gone to the Dogs has a faux "personality" test (see the "Game" link to the left of the website) ...

and woo-hoo!!!
once czesky terrier ...
interim mini schnauzer interim ...
and now ...

got me back that czesky terrier!

"weird hairy undercarriage"
(heehee - now go dog yourself!)

humility - get accountable

key practices ... with @greenleafcenter and @jeffmiller79, the first class was on september 9, and our second class (of five) was september 30.

got started ... the week before our first class, i shared a bit over here, including a description of course requirements, what we've been asked to do as part of preparing for first class, a list of our required reading, and a tools for consideration. and as part of my staycation on sept. 2, i squatted at paddy's finishing up part of the first class reading assignment.

humilty is ... as shared in the preface of hayes/comer book - start with humility (over here) -

"Humility is of course a highly personal thing. It is about one's values and attitudes about oneself, others , and the world in which we live. Humility is affected by spiritual issues, the ego, and practical, daily pressures."

the humility dynamic ... with an emphasis in taking action, start with humility proposes what is called "the humility dynamic" - humanness/authenticity + humble behaviors results in trust/response and can lead to inspired followers.

and then i was reminded of a recent movie,

due date (over here) with a quote (over here).
have a little break for ~ 6 seconds with zack galifianakis

"you better check yourself before you wreck yourself"

check yourself ... i enjoyed the book, particularly given shared stories/profiles of people and the 'workbook' format that encourages self-reflection and action for developing and sustaining humble behaviors. by building upon the definitions, behaviors, actions, and what are characterized as humble responses from the authentic core, part of evolving toward humble behaviors references daniel goleman's primal leadership for the following pattern -

• self-assessment
• motivation
• practice
• feedback

- with these four steps later described as train the brain. essentially, self-improvement doesn't just come from simply saying you understand and agree with something you read. there is a learning do-loop, coupled with behavioral change.

self-awareness ... the key - making adjustments through self-awareness. 5 profiles are shared, linking each person's humble behavior story to a particular key word - accountability, kindness, open-mindedness, appreciation, modesty. following each profile is a workbook format for completing a leadership self-assessment and leadership actions, e.g., actions one would take regarding humility to enhance one's leadership.

coaching tip take-aways ... after the 5 profiles, behaviors associated with 6 humble competency areas are listed. several coaching tips for building behaviors in a particular competency area are provided. the 6 humble behavior competency areas addressed -

• accountability
• kindness
• open-mindedness
• advocacy
• appreciation
• modesty

check myself ... the last chapter of the book - sustainability - putting into action what you have learned - emphasizes the benefits of making and sustaining behavioral changes. a distinction is made between targeting the brain's neo-cortex rather than the limbic brain -

"The neo-cortex is where we learn facts and figures, remember basic concepts, and process analytical and technical concepts. The limbic part of the brain is the part that governs feelings, impulses, and drives (in other words, those behaviors that often get us in trouble at work). ... The limbic brain learns through motivation, extended practice, and feedback."

believe ... the train the brain steps are coupled with the foundation of belief. an overview of The Belief System™ (from authors thad green and merywn hayes, who authored a book over here ) is summarized as -

"basically says that when it comes to motivation, what a person believes is often more important that what really is. ... believe the can make the change ... believed there will be an outcome or consequence if they make the change ... be something they want ... Belief 1 - Confidence, Belief 2 - Trust, and Belief 3 - Satisfaction ... much more to the The Belief System™ ... basics will be enough to show how the concept applies to behavioral change."

train my brain in three areas ... as part of the book's message, when applying the behavioral change concept, three specific changes should be identified. after choosing the three areas to change, the train the brain four steps of self-assessment, motivation, practice and feedback are engaged.

the assessment of "what's what" ... there are certainly several behavioral changes i can make. at this time, the humble behaviors (associated with the humble comptency) i have chosen - with references to a few coaching tips (provided in the book) and lessons learned that were shared as part of the 5 profiles - are a follows -

• being an effective listener (kindness) - understand the ideas and feelings expressed by others. listen entirely to the other person, concentrating on what the other person is saying and recognizing that the person's ideas are important to them.
  
  • practice using silence. you can't listen while you're talking. pause three seconds before answering questions.
  • lessons learned as shared in the profile of alex gregory, ykk corporation
    
    • find your voice ...
      
    • show people you really care ...
      
    • drive change by building trust ...
      
  
  
• managing emotions (open-mindedness) - aware of one's impact on others but also utilize one's own self assessment to tap into the emotions of others to get positive results.
  
  • pay attention to the time between stimulus and response. in order to neutralize the response from your hot buttons, don't respond in the moment. instead leave some breathing room between whey you want to emotionally respond and when you actually respond.
  • lessons learned as shared in the profile of general frederick m. franks, jr., u.s. army (ret.)
    
    • all you have to do is ask ...
    • let go of your ego and you will fuel winners ...
    • have courage to be who you are ...
      

• developing others (appreciation) - ways to ensure others are growing and developing personally and professionally. "other oriented" - interested in the growth of others and not constantly grabbing opportunities for themselves.
  
  • ensure you know others' strengths. check on your perceptions of their strengths by talking with them about their strengths and development areas.
  • lessons learned as shared in the profile of linda combs, former controller OMB
    
    • celebrate the accomplishments of others ...
      
    • be tough on problems - but gentle with people ...
      
    • encourage others to grow and develop their talents ...
      
    • make time to remind people they are important - they really are! ...
      

motivation, practice, feedback ... in a follow-up post (or posts), i'll include more about the three humble behavior improvements i have chosen and the following steps i have already been taking -

• motivation - how to make the behavior stick as in "i believe i can make this change and that its result will be beneficial for me because ..."

• practice - use of coaching tips on a daily basis, specific, measurable, and on-going as in "specifically this is what i plan to do differently on my job, at home, etc.) starting tomorrow ..."
  

• feedback - reinforce the practice (or changed behavior); ensure behavior is constantly happening as in "i will ensure i am getting appropriate feedback on this change by: (example: asking for peer feedback, meeting with my manager, etc.) ..."
  

thank you ... meanwhile, thanks to l.a.g. and shiny penny andy for being part of my feedback process. others are welcome!

"crucible moments are transformational experiences
that often define a person's worldview or philosophy"

got servant leadership?

applying key practices ... with @greenleafcenter, sept 9 will be the first of five classes in the applying the key practices of servant leadership in the coming months with the greenleaf center for servant leadership.

foundations ... last week, i just completed the foundations of servant leadership, as i had described in a previous post - the day after ... i took the first class. here is my final paper's intro paragraph.

getting started ... just as with foundations, we have a class wiki. our instructor is jeff miller (@jeffmiller79) and dolores jones (over here) is our program coordinator. our course requirements include -

• keep up with the reading
  
• be on as many of our conference calls as possible and be open to learning, sharing, and asking good questions
• keep a journal of your thoughts, questions, reflections
• contribute your thoughts and questions to our wiki
• submit a final "reflection paper" at the end of the class
  

- and in preparation for our first class, we are asked the following -

• have the first two sets of readings done
• log into the wiki and introduce yourself
• start my journal on thoughts/reflections
  

- and what a collection of readings(!) -

• start with humility
• seven pillars of servant leadership
• foresight as the central ethic of leadership
• it's your ship
• authentic conversations
• (via dvd) james autry keynote on love & profit
  

- and then there are a couple of suggested considerations for tools -

• mindmapping
• sensemaking

i'm excited
(while reading!)

refreshing & regrouping ... time to start a new springpad note