What can organisations learn about leadership from Indigenous kids?

During 2008 I had the pleasure of developing and delivering a leadership program for AFL Indigenous Academies involving high school kids aged 12–16. The academy is a social responsibility program of the Australian Football League (AFL) in Western and South Western Sydney designed to encourage indigenous kid to finish high school and eventually take leadership roles in their community.

As my usual gigs are with adults in the corporate sector, I knew that working with kids would be a challenge for a non-teacher. To cover the bases I enlisted the help of university student, Daniel Nelson who at 19 was closer to the age group involved and therefore a ready-made role model. Daniel also had some invaluable facilitation experience with disadvantaged youth through YCS and YCW.

Starting with no expectations whatsoever, I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed that facilitation tools and simulation game frameworks that I had developed and used used for years with adults in business, worked just as well with indigenous youth. Only the context was changed.

We kept the approach simple:

One Rule – “One at a Time”

Structure: 3 Positions. Circle, small group and standing up.

Values: The 3Rs – Respect; Responsibility; Role Models

Outcomes: The 3Cs – Confidence; Communication; Connections

Daniel and I saw remarkable and promising changes in confidence and communication skills among all kids in all groups over 22 weeks. This was true experiential learning. I learned as much (probably more) from the young aboriginal kids as they learned from me. At very least, I came away with new insights into the universality of leadership and especially more clarity on the differences between leadership and management.

My 3 key insights

Leadership is Universal

Leadership develops experientially (starting before 16yrs)

Leadership expresses itself from the inside out

Leadership and management are not the same. Here is my view of the differences:

Management is for the designated few with responsibility for budgets, people, resources, assets

Leadership is for everyone and just as relevant for mothers and youth as it is for middle and senior managers

Management is situational

Leadership is universal

Management is hierarchical with layers of responsibility

Leadership is individual- every leader is different

Management is external whereby you manage something or someone

Leadership is not driven by ego

Management is about, performance, compliance, results and competency

Leadership is an experience based Inner journey. Leadership requires being open to change

Management can be taught in accredited programs

Leadership is an experiential journey that starts early in life – before 16. Sometimes a leadership legacy lasts beyond a persons lifetime (e.g. Gandhi, JFK, Martin Luther King)

Management is mostly organisation related and is identified with a position and/or designated responsibility

Leadership exists with or without a management position

Management is hierarchical and therefore directive

Being a leader involves providing choice

Management is about maintaining the status quo

Leadership is about change – it facilitates change both in the leader and those being led

The challenge for those in management positions is to be aware of the difference.

When is it the right time to lead?

When is it the right time to manage?

This challenge can only be addressed when the differences are clear and understood.

My mentor at the beginning of the AFL Indigenous Academies endeavor was David Rock www.quietleadership.com. David was very helpful in guiding aspects of the program design. The subtitle of his book ‘Quiet Leadership’ is thought provoking. It reads “Help People to Think – Don’t Tell Them What to Do’.

I delivered workshops on this topic at AFN Conference Bathurst http://www.markbutz.com/afn/afn_08_conference/index.html and the ICEL Conference Sydney http://www.education.uts.edu.au/icel/. I will present this topic at the Sydney Facilitators Network meeting Feb 9, 2009 http://facilitatorsnetwork.blogspot.com/

What was your first leadership experience?

Discussion Topic:

What was your first leadership experience?

How has this first experience played out in your life?

Any ‘first time’ is significant. Do you remember your first drive, first kiss, first love or first day at school”

What about leadership. What was your first leadership experience (before the age of 16)?

I've posted this exercise on the TinCAN learning Blog.

What do you think? I invite you to do the following:

Discuss with 3 people separately and develop a story about your first leadership experience

Join a conversation on the Blog to share your experience

Is Change Implementation the new frontier for change agents?

How do we make change stick? This is a big question for any leader of any type of organisation.

Typically the top team make the strategy for the organisation. It’s no surprise that they are also the ones who get rewarded on the success of the strategy. Whilst developing strategy is an art, some of the best plans either never get done or fail during the execution. There is often an enormous gap between the plan and who and how it’s going to be implemented.

The secret of successful change implementation lies in engaging all parts of the organisation.

Let’s start with the formal structures. The formal organisation is expressed in the organisational charts. Formal structures sustain the organisation through regulatory compliance, governance and control the purse strings.

The informal organisation is based on the reality of day-to-day interactions. Informal structures develop because people find new and better ways of doing things which are easier and save time. Patterns of interaction are shaped by friendships, practice, interest groups and other relationships. Most new ideas and innovations emerge from the informal structures.

Here’s where things come unstuck. Just because strategy is made at the top and there is a management structure, doesn’t mean that the formal organisation is the best way to roll out strategy. Organisations that implement change top down through the hierarchy will inevitably fail. Top down doesn’t work because of egos, push back, politics, ‘not my idea’, blame, over worked managers, poor communication, lack of buy in etc.

Even if the strategic plan is a work of art, the quickest way to kill off change is push it down through the hierarchy. The biggest hindrance with top down implementation is that it fails to take the informal organisation into account.

Implementation is holistic Sustainable change is only possible when the formal and informal structures are fully engaged in the change process. Everyone who is a stakeholder in the game wants to be part of the action.

There are champions and supporters in the informal organisation that are both passionate and better equipped to take change implementation to the next level than often burned-out and overworked managers.

The role of the change agent is therefore a political one bridging the competing needs and wants of the formal and informal structures. Without such a bridge change is even more painful than wants be and will almost certainly fail.

I call the process of including and engaging all levels Collaborative Change Implementation.

Here are the 3 stages of Collaborative Change Implementation:

- Alignment Stage

- Traction Stage

- Integration Stage

I’ll write more about these stages in future editions of Changing the Game. The practices and tools for implementing successful change are incorporated in the UFacilitate Suite: QUEST Change Track and QUEST Dynamic Meetings www.tincanlearning.com/tincan_u_facilitate.htm