We are happy to report that many friends who have participated in the course Cultivating Transformative Leadership given by Wilmette Institute have taken initiatives to share their learning with others. Here are a few examples.
A number have formed study groups in which they read the Transformative Leadership book together, at times using the complementary workbook Transformative Leadership: Mastering the Hidden Dimension as a source for discussion questions and group activities.
Raelee Pierce is meeting every Friday with a group of 5 – 7 youth, studying the book Transformative Leadership for Youth. The youth especially enjoy the different art projects suggested in the book.
Renee DePew reports:
- We are just finishing up our second semester of leadership training for our Latino Robotics group of students (8th – 10th grade) and will complete this round with 6 students.
- The class was so useful to the other mentors taking it, that I also started an adult class so they could learn more. I shared the Spanish version with them as well as the English version. Our adult version of the class has about 10 participants, some who are reading through the material and attending the weekly discussion call and some who are just reading and asking questions privately. We need at least one more adult class for those who could not make the time slot we selected.
- I am also planning to do a Transformative Leadership: Anti Racism Edition, probably during the break between the Wilmette Anti-Black Racism classes, so I can pick up the many Teaching Assistants and instructors interested in learning this material. This will be looking at the book’s contents through the lens of fighting racism in all its forms and helping us to better understand the journey of those who are just learning about racism and its effects on humanity.
- Sharla is ordering several copies of the youth and adult books (in English and Spanish) so we can put them in the community center that sponsors the youth classes, so they are available for easy reference for the community.
Nadia Mora who studied the Spanish version of the book — Liderazgo Moral – is using it with a number of groups in California. She informs:
- We have conducted trainings using elements of the Transformative Leadership conceptual framework with a Community Action Team, composed of a group of women who are natural leaders from the Hispanic community in Mountain View, CA. We had three meetings to strengthen the leadership capacity among the members and to achieve the proper functioning as a community organization.
- We also met with the leaders of the board of directors of Latino Parents Outreach with whom we shared elements of the conceptual framework.
- We have been asked for another meeting with the parents at two schools focused on “Motivation and Leadership” for Hispanic parents.
In Germany, Nan Chen gave four half-day sessions on Transformative Leadership during their Winter School in December. Two youth helped her translate the slides into German, and one of them helped her during the School. The sessions focused on three objectives:
- Exploring prevailing mental models of human nature, society, and leadership that impede progress towards a just, united global community.
- Examining service-oriented leadership, personal and social transformation, and the conviction of the essential nobility of the human being.
- Exploring and applying truth, transcendence, and the development of capabilities.
Nan reports that after the first day, she got very positive feedback on the topic of mental models. The participants came to the understanding that our unconscious brain activity causes us to download selective data which distorts the truth we need to see.
A very touching moment came after 20 minutes of self-reflection on the purpose, vision, and service each one wants to contribute for the betterment of the world. One friend welled up after she shared her plan with the group. Another shared that she finally found her life purpose which she wants to pursue!
The participants enthusiastically agreed to have a follow-up meeting after the Winter School. This will consist of a planning meeting to engage each participant in a journey to apply Transformative Leadership in their community, workplace, or family.
We hope these brief reports have given you ideas of what you could do to apply or share Transformative Leadership. If you need someone with whom to consult your ideas, you can write to translead9@gmail.com
The next course of Cultivating Transformative Leadership offered by Wilmette Institute will begin on February 10. If you have friends, family members, colleagues or acquaintances who might be interested in the course, please let them know. If you want, you can share this promotional video with them.
For more information and registration, go to https://bit.ly/TLcourseFeb.