We have begun publishing evergreen courses on UDEMY, so that anyone can take them at a time that is convenient for them. The first one focuses on the Transformative Leadership capability: “Giving Encouragement”.
The course is called Motivate Your Team by Giving Effective Encouragement. It consists of 10 videos divided into four main sections. Each section begins with a reflection question to think about before watching the videos and ends with a downloadable file that summarizes the main points presented in the videos, together with an application exercise to guide you in the first steps of applying what you learned in the section.
The following reviews give an idea of what people like about the course:
Crystal Lee: I am so impressed with the information presented in this course. I learned simple, yet very useful skills that will help me to motivate and develop capacity in any team or group I am a part of. This could be a professional team. family group, and/or anything in between! I believe that everyone can benefit from the skills presented in this course.
Raelee: Peirce: I loved the easy flow of content. Joan is direct and succinct in each module. I have taken a lot of trainings and I appreciate the examples presented. I gained a new understanding of a Growth Mindset, and how to accompany someone who is new to a process. The 4 stages of accompaniment were really helpful and new to me. Understanding the power of expectations was excellent and such a key part of any relationship – at work, in family relationships, friendships. I am definitely going to go back and rewatch it again to take notes. In the first round, I was able to just listen and take the information in. Now, I will go back again so I can think about my application of the content, knowing the big picture. Thanks, Joan!
Lua Hancock: This course offered great practical suggestions based on research. It serves as a good reminder that a positive approach and tools used from a place of appreciation can make a great impact.
Check out the course for yourself and take advantage of the 50% discount that is available until November 25, 2023. To get the discount, sign in with the following link: https://tinyurl.com/Halfprice-motivation-course
The popular e-book Transformative Leadership for Community Organizations is now available as an audiobook at https://tinyurl.com/TLCommunityaudio.
Sharla Benjamin
There is an interesting back story about how this audiobook came into being. In 2020 – 2021 Sharla Benjamin and other community collaborators from Boulder County, Colorado, took the courses Cultivating Transformative Leadership and Cultivating the Capabilities of Transformative Leadership offered by Wilmette Institute.
During the course, they formed a creative group to consult on how they could apply what they were learning. To date, they have studied either the adult or the youth version of the book with a number of groups:
Latino/Latina youth studying Robotics under the auspices of the organization Casa de la Esperanza, a residential community dedicated to helping agricultural workers.
Adult mentors of the program at Casa de la Esperanza and other local community programs.
A team of local government colleagues at Sharla’s workplace with Boulder County Parks & Open Space
The group was also actively participating in the regional organization Alliance for Racial Healing, where they frequently mentioned concepts from Transformative Leadership. As the next step, Sharla and her collaborators decided to study the recently-published book Transformative Leadership for Community Organizations with their race unity community group, which seeks to address ablism (discrimination in favor of those who are not disabled) as well as racism and other othering systems. To enable a group that was welcoming to their present and future members who prefer or require an audiobook, Sharla wrote and asked if it would be possible to publish the book as an audiobook.
I had formerly prepared some of the capabilities of Transformative Leadership as short audiobooks – with a length of 60 – 90 minutes. In contrast, Transformative Leadership for Community Organization has over 4 hours of content. However, I usually do whatever I can to assist others who are trying to spread Transformative Leadership, so I accepted the challenge and now, a few months later, the audiobook is available for anyone who wants to use it.
Since the book includes a number of images and diagrams, with the help of Sharla and her colleagues, we developed a companion PDF to accompany the audiobook. In addition to the images and diagrams, the PDF includes discussion questions and suggestions for simple projects that can be used when a group listens to the audiobook together. However, if someone only wants to become acquainted with the content, they can listen to the book without referring to these activities.
Now that the audiobook is published, Sharla’s group is going to proceed with the study, also inviting friends from the Colorado Center for the Blind and from a race unity book club in which members of the core group are involved.
We hope that the audiobook proves useful, not only to Sharla and her colleagues but to many of you who may find it a useful addition to the materials that you can use in sharing Transformative Leadership with others.
Creative Group Working for Justice that Asked for the Audiobook
Transformative Leadership continues to influence the staff, steering committees, and membership of DACU, as well as the general public.
Doña Ana Communities United, an NGO in Las Cruces, New Mexico, focuses on health equity and a Time Bank, as well as supporting other NGO’s in the area that work with people with mental or physical disabilities, such as Beloved Community. They also have a program financed by the City during this pandemic called “Las Cruces Contigo” that communicates with people in the community at least once or twice a week to ensure that they do not feel isolated or alone.
Early in 2020, my wife and I joined the Time Bank sponsored by Doña Ana Communities United (DACU). The Time Bank is designed for people to share their skills and abilities with the Time Bank membership. If one member needs a service, another member may respond and carry out the service. That person is credited for the time spent in the service. This exchange of services is not remunerated.
During the orientation of the Time Bank that we attended, one question asked was what skills or abilities we could offer the other members. Among the things that I had to offer was the facilitation of a workshop on Transformative Leadership. I had taken both the Moral Leadership workshop and the facilitation workshop from Eloy Anello some twenty years ago.
A few weeks went by, and I received an email from the Director of DACU, asking if I would be willing to facilitate a workshop for the staff. Of course, I immediately said “Yes.” After some time, we began the first workshop with the Director and staff. Even though the staff completed the workshop some months ago, I still attend a portion of their weekly meetings to discuss the progress with Transformative Leadership.
When we were studying the last few chapters of the book with the staff, we began discussing our “next steps” with Transformative Leadership. The idea that resulted from our consultations was to offer the workshop to the members of the two steering committees and, if there was room, to other agencies with which DACU has a relationship, plus some people from the general public.
In November, we began two workshops. We sent out invitations and consulted with those who wanted to participate about time frames and availability. We decided to have two sessions, one on Thursday afternoons for 1 1/2 hours for ten weeks and another session on Saturday mornings for 3 hours during five weeks. Before each session the participants read the assigned pages of the book, and in the call we discuss what they have learned and how to apply it. There are 21 people currently involved. DACU and I are now consulting about holding another workshop a bit later in Spanish as there is a large Spanish-speaking population here.
In the first workshop with the staff of DACU, we took our time studying the book and were able to go into greater depth. As a result, I feel that any of the staff and the Director are now capable of facilitating a workshop. In the current workshops, one of the staff members assists me with the Thursday group, and the Director assists me with the Saturday group. This has given them experience in the process of facilitation.
The experience has been and continues to be very enriching. We have discovered that the reflection on the material presented in the book in light of the community’s needs demonstrates that there is a thirst for meaning and more depth to life. The participants are all very open to the ideas presented in the book, and together we are working on ways of taking what we learn into the realm of action.
As we go through the book together, we have formed “creative groups” with two or three people in each group. The groups are to find some way of expressing what they are learning in action. We wanted to make sure that the workshops do not just lead to discovering and learning but also produce some action based on the principles studied.
Another initiative that we will start soon is forming a “learning community.” The learning community will be composed of those who have taken the workshop and wish to participate in an on-going dialogue to deepen their understanding of the capabilities. We are finding that even the intensive 5-week workshop or the 10-week workshop do not permit going very deeply into the subjects in the book due to time constraints, which led to the decision to begin the learning community.
We are on a learning journey with this program. We hope to extend workshops to an ever-widening group of community members to contribute to local community-building
Do you have Spanish-speaking friends who might be interested in Transformative Leadership? If so you might want to share the following information with them.
On October 7, UNIDA (NGO from Argentina) will be offering a free seminar on Moral (Transformative) Leadership. In this seminar we will briefly look at topics such as:
– The Transformative Learning Process
– How to Respond to the Processes of Integration and Disintegration
For those who want to learn more, from 25 October to 13 December there will be an 8-week course with virtual sessions of 2 hours each Sunday. You can find more information at https://www.unida.org.ar/liderazgo-moral/
Both the seminar and the course are based on the book Liderazgo Moral which can be purchased at Amazon in digital or printed form.
On Sunday, September 13, in the graduation ceremony for Liderazgo Moral (Transformative Leadership), 22 people from 9 countries received their Certificates of Participation, having attended at least 75% of the 2-hour virtual sessions.
So far, 15 of them have sent their final paper, qualifying them to receive the Certificate of Approval for the Course. This paper consisted of:
1) A report on how they had shared some part of the topic that they studied each week with others and the conversations that ensued.
2) A project proposal of how and with what group they will share one or several topics of what they learned. For some, this will consist of giving a two-hour workshop, and for others, a project that will last several weeks, including numerous meetings.
The important thing is that what they learned is not stored in the brains of the participants, but that they practice it in their daily lives and begin to share it with others.
Some of the graduates and their guests
More than 40 friends and relatives accompanied the graduates at the closing ceremony. Upon receiving their Certificate, each graduate shared what had most impacted them about the course and how they plan to apply it. You can see the full ceremony on Facebook on UNIDA’s page. The graduates’ words start at 1:14:00
Since the course was so successful, UNIDA will be offering it again starting on October 27th. But first, so that more people can become familiar with some of the fundamental ideas of Liderazgo Moral, there will be a free seminar on October 7th. Registration for the seminar is now open.
And for graduates — both of this course and the course that begins in October — we will offer a second course at the beginning of 2021 focused on the development of ” Capabilities that Contribute to Collective Transformation.
In the meantime, if you would like to learn more about Liderazgo Moral, please note that the book is available on Amazon in Spanish, both in digital and print form.
If you have friends who speak Spanish who may be interested, please inform them about the free seminar and the course in October.
What does “leadership” mean, once it’s been stripped of the mindset of domination? How do we go about transforming ourselves and the social environment we find ourselves in?
Since its initial formulation over 25 years ago, Transformative Leadership has been successfully applied in education, health, youth empowerment, community development, and in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations on five continents.
The course questions existing mental models of human nature, society, and leadership that impede progress toward a just, united world community, proposing an explicit, principle-based framework that can bolster cooperative action in teams, organizations, and communities.
The course is open to adults and older youth and is especially useful to those who are involved in social action or participating in the discourse of society. It is a requirement for those who wish to serve as facilitators in the program Transformative Leadership for Youth.
Over 40 friends participated in the first offering of this course in February and several are applying what they learned in their communities and organizations. We have formed an international Creative Community Group to support these efforts. Those who participated in the first meeting in August were very enthusiastic and want to continue meeting regularly to share their activities and enrich their ideas through consultation.
Check out the contents of this inspiring course! There are discounted prices for groups of 2 or more, so invite your friends and enhance your learning by forming your own creative learning group.
Transformative Leadership for Youth
Since March we have offered this seminar twice with over 100 different youth, ages 11-17.
The seminar inspires youth to exercise empowered leadership at home, at school, and in their community. Inspired by Gandhi’s words “Be the change you wish to see in the world”, Transformative Leadership addresses how each youth can “be the change”, going beyond our current understanding of leadership and indicating what each and every youth can do as an active agent of transformation.
Transformative Leadership for Youth promotes a culture of cooperation, ethical principles and scientific evidence, which is motivated by the investigation of truth, attraction to beauty, and thirst for knowledge.
During the seminar, the youth build and strengthen friendships with youth from communities throughout the world, use art to develop their appreciation of the beauty of diversity, and cultivate a culture where they contribute to personal and collective change through learning and action.
The seminar includes readings based on the books Transformative Leadership: Developing the Hidden Dimensionand Transformative Leadership for Youth. Facilitators accompany the youth as they study the readings and respond to discussion questions in small groups, using the breakout rooms available on Zoom. There are also special hangouts in which youth can learn to express their understanding, using varied art forms, such as music, photography, graphic art, or poetry.
Releasing Society-Building Powers of Youth: Cultivating a Framework for Social Action
This is the third seminar in the Transformative Leadership for Youth program. It is open to youth ages 11-17 who desire to contribute to the betterment of their community by applying spiritual principles to material and social development through service-oriented leadership. Youth will continue to apply the 6 elements and 18 capabilities of the Transformative Leadership conceptual framework that empower personal and social transformation and will integrate multimedia art in an expression of transformative learning.
The youth will develop and, if they desire, initiate grassroots social action projects by forming collaborative creative groups, elaborating a principle-based vision, identifying elements and capabilities that will support their efforts, and deepening on the dynamic role and society-building power of youth today.
This seminar will have a special emphasis on the Baháʼí-inspired approach to social and economic development while engaging in a study and application of concepts and principles of social action and societal discourse.
Baháʼí-inspired social action promotes and applies spiritual principles for the social and material progress and betterment of all members of the community while it avoids proselytizing.
Our focus will be on cultivating and building grassroots capacity through sustainable initiatives and promoting unity through learning, service, and art.
Youth who have taken the seminar Transformative Leadership for Youth or Being the Change: Cultivating Capacities, are especially invited to participate in this third seminar in the series. We invite those who have not participated in these seminars to take this seminar simultaneously with the seminar Transformative Leadership for Youth so that they become familiarize with the conceptual framework of Transformative Leadership.
In February and March, Transformative Leadership Education gave a virtual course through Wilmette Institute with over 40 participants from all over the world. In the course, we encouraged the participants to identify initiatives they could take to share Transformative Leadership in their communities.
One of the participants was Fabrice Mouketa Doha from Congo, who formed two groups to study the Transformative Leadership book. He has shared the following information about his activities
“The first group is in Nanga (my neighborhood).
This group is comprised of my wife, who is a school principal, another school teacher, and two other friends, as well as myself. The group participates in a Ruhi Institute study circle during the week and has a Transformative Leadership session on Sundays.
With this group the aim is to help every member to grow personally and professionally and to build a creative group of friends serving the community together. Among the actions this group has taken was an informational campaign about Covid-19, which included the distribution of free simple masks and information about home gardens.
Studying Transformative Leadership in Amour du Pays, Congo
The second group is in Amour du Pays.
This group started after a friend who attended a session of Transformative Leadership shared the ideas with a few of his friends in his neighborhood. The young people with whom he spoke were interested and thought that leadership would help them build capacity and better manage their band.
So I have a 60 to 90 min session with them every Tuesday. The aim is to help these youth reach their potential and become aware of how this potential can serve them not only in their work with the band but also with the community at large.
In all cases, I encourage them to foster friendship and participate in group dynamics where they learn and serve together. My challenge is to find ways to adapt my teaching/learning style to the needs and context of each group and to give sessions a structured approach.
Recently, I have decided to take my two junior youth children with me to help as assistants during sessions. I’m attaching a drawing of the last study session in Amour du Pays made by Nabyl (my 13-year-old son).
Fabrice has also begun to translate Transformative Leadership into French.
In what seemed like overnight, the world transformed before our eyes. As COVID-19 spread throughout nations, countries and communities, life as we knew it became a recent memory. Our new reality was no more school, going to work, or basic community activities. Schools, businesses, churches, community centers closed down everywhere and stay-at-home mandates were put in place to prevent a widespread outbreak and needless deaths. We are living in unprecedented times that are historic and have potential detrimental effects on people from all backgrounds and cultures.
As challenging as our “new normal” has been, there is one group of our human family that was especially challenged with our current conditions, but has arisen to face them with resilience, perseverance, loftiness of purpose, and the fortitude to bring hope and unity to their families and community.
Through the collective vision and partnership with Wilmette Institute, our team was able to launch a 6-week Transformative Leadership seminar for youth 11-17 years old with the goal of meeting the immediate needs of youth who were cut-off from school and friends due to quarantine policies. Over 60 youth completed the course on May 8th and are eagerly awaiting the course on Capabilities that Contribute to Personal and to Social Transformation, open only to graduates of the first course. Both that course and a course for new participants will begin on May 25. It is important that interested youth sign up now before the new course fills up.
Upon reflecting on our experience, we found that the youth were eager to learn and enjoyed building friendships with peers from different parts of the world. Our daily 1-hour zoom sessions included study, discussion, and reflection on the Transformative Leadership conceptual framework. Some of the topics included:
Our context: humanity’s past and current stages of social evolution
3 key functions for a group to progress and succeed
Questioning common mental models of human nature, society and leadership
The 6 elements of the conceptual framework of Transformative Leadership
Service-Oriented Leadership
The Purpose of Leadership: Personal and Social Transformation
The Fundamental Moral Responsibility: Investigation and Application of Truth
A Conviction of the Essential Nobility of the Human Being
Transcendence
Development of Capabilities
Learning and applying the 4 capabilities that better interpersonal relations
Imbuing Thoughts & Actions with Love
Giving Encouragement
Effective Group Consultation
Promoting Unity in Diversity
Formulating a Change Agent statement and a Transformative Family Action plan
Youth expressed their learning through music, graphic art, photography, writing, and multimedia art. Special guests visited weekly and presented on topics, such as: COVID-19, how music can contribute to the betterment of society, and the importance of developing capabilities in science and engineering.
Below, we share comments and artwork from some of the youth.
SERVICE-ORIENTED LEADERSHIP
The Transformative Leadership conceptual framework defines the purpose of leadership as personal and social transformation. It is service-oriented leadership motivated by love or by commitment to an ideal. One project that helped participants identify and express a principle to which they were committed was to create a poster highlighting what was important to them. Below is one example with the youth’s comment.
“I loved learning about different ways of thinking and about leadership. …I have applied the learning to my life which has been very helpful, thinking about the higher nature and lower nature of humans. The inspiration was cool and I love all of the arts.”
“During this time I have really enjoyed learning about the different models of leadership that we see around us. It has helped me think of myself as a leader and I am looking forward to applying consultation skills and leadership when we get back to school. I have been able to think about the idea of service and gratitude.”
ESSENTIAL NOBILITY
One of the 6 elements of the Transformative Leadership conceptual framework is seeing others as essentially noble. The youth of today often experience difficulties in relationships that are hurtful, contentious, competitive, and disunified. We found that this element was especially important in our collective learning. As we strive to see the good and nobility in others, we in turn recognize and acknowledge the good and nobility in ourselves. This is expressed through the following photograph taken by one of the participants.
Mail Truck
“I chose to capture a picture of our mailman who I think shows Essential Nobility. Throughout the virus, we always see him, doing his work happily with a spirit of service. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says that “Work done in the spirit of service is the highest form of worship.” I think that our mailman does his work with a noble spirit every day and especially during this time, we are grateful.”
Light painting
Another participant shared, “it was fun doing the project Illumined Youth where I learned long exposure and ‘painted with a flashlight’. I believe youth are the spark in the dark. Through our essential nobility we can illumine the world!”
INVESTIGATION AND APPLICATION OF TRUTH
The period of youth has been referred to as the “ choicest time in human life”. Strength and vigor are characteristics with which young people are endowed. Youth from all backgrounds expressed their connection to personal and spiritual beliefs through art that brought inspiration, beauty, and knowledge to all the participants. One example is from a Bahá’í youth.
Photo by TL Change Agent
“For me, the Bahá’í Faith is a way that I am able to find the truth. I love reading the Writings and being able to relate the words to my life. Independent Investigation is very important in the faith so I found a quote by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and then tried to capture what he was saying in a picture.
‘Be like a well-cultivated garden wherein the roses and variegated flowers of heaven are growing in fragrance and beauty. It is my hope that your hearts may become as ready ground, carefully tilled and prepared, upon which the divine showers of the bounties of the Blessed Perfection may descend and the zephyrs of this divine springtime may blow with quickening breath.’
This image shows how God is like our roots, our lifeline, and the provider. This plant is growing on a steep hill. The hill can be a metaphor for our lives. There are times when life seems steep but there is still great potential.“
TRANSCENDENCE-CONNECTING TO ETERNAL, UNIVERSAL VALUES
Photo by TL Change Agent
“During quarantine, I’ve been going kayaking with my friend to watch the sunset and explore the mangroves, whenever the weather allows. I always see something new, or as my mom calls it, “the little beauties of nature”, and decided to take my camera to try and photograph some of my experiences. It was a lot harder than I thought, because a kayak constantly moves and I kept floating into the bushes and getting attacked by mosquitoes, but after a couple times, I finally started to get the hang of it. I love taking pictures of nature and am happy that I decided to take my camera with me. Kayaking is an amazing experience I am very lucky to have.”
CAPABILITIES OF IMBUING THOUGHTS & ACTIONS WITH LOVE AND GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
Art serves as a perfect channel to imbue thoughts and actions with love and to give encouragement to others. Throughout our seminar youth created and shared projects filled with love, hope, and purpose to inspire each other, family, friends, and community. Below are a few examples from two youth who used watercolor and letter writing as a way to strengthen interpersonal relationships.
“When so many people are helping, such as doctors, mail carriers, nurses, and teachers, it is opening people’s eyes to how they can help. Personally, I have tried to thank these people with cards and signs. I am able to have meaningful conversations with people about how during this time, we have an opportunity to do things differently. For example, I think that this experience with the virus will plant a seed of gratitude within us and help us think about what we have. Overall, I think this transformative leadership course has helped me develop my skills and think with a broader mind.”
Another participant posted in our seminar forum photos of art designed to inspire friends. She shares, “I decided to create watercolor letters to send to some of my close friends and friends who may need to be checked up on. I was hoping that this could spread positivity to you also.”
CAPABILITIES OF SYSTEMIC THINKINGAND CREATIVE INITIATIVE
Photo by TL Change Agent
“This picture represents to me all of us working together with systemic thinking. I think that thinking as one is especially important now to help each other better. “
Another capability this youth expressed was his creative initiative, as he applied his technical skills by creating a multi-exposure image that represented systemic thinking.
If you want to learn more about what the youth did in this workshop, Tuesday, May 19 at 8:30 p.m. EDT, Wilmette Institute will be sponsoring a webinar, in which some of the youth will share what they learned and how it has impacted their lives. You can register for the webinar at: https://wilmetteinstitute.org/transformative-leadership-for-youth/
We are also happy to announce and invite youth to join a second free, 6-week online Transformative Leadership for Youth seminar from May 25th through July 3. The seminar celebrates the dynamic power of youth and cultivates capabilities for personal and social transformation. The youth of the world embody the change we wish to see!
Youth from all over the world have found themselves at home with schools closed due to the high infectious rate of the Coronavirus. In response, the Transformative Leadership Education team, coordinating with the Wilmette Institute, offered a free 6-week online seminar that empowers junior youth and youth, ages 11-17, for social action, based on the books Transformative Leadership for Youth and Transformative Leadership: Developing the Hidden Dimension. Our goal was to create an online creative learning group that would empower young people in their path toward personal and social transformation and foster their attraction to beauty and innate thirst for knowledge, by integrating the Transformative Leadership conceptual framework with photography and multimedia arts.
The response was immediate and fantastic! Approximately 115 youth and junior youth signed up in the first two days, and the Wilmette Institute had to close registration for the first cohort. However, since youth and their parents continued writing, asking to participate, almost immediately we decided to start another group in May, for which pre-registration is now available at bit.ly/TL4YWait. If you know any youth who may be interested, they should sign up as soon as possible, while there is still space available. In light of our current reality with many youth living in communities that have issued statewide stay home orders, we divided the junior youth and youth into two groups to ensure that all who registered were able to fully engage. We then invited several individuals who were familiar with Transformative Leadership to guide breakout sessions in each group, in which 8-10 youth participate. In our sessions, the youth have the opportunity to study together while strengthening new and past friendships. Many offer each other suggestions on how to cope with the difficulty of not being able to go out, while others find enjoyment when learning is translated through the sharing of art.
Our study is complemented with art projects that empower youth to see with their own eyes and develop basic skills in photography and multimedia arts. By integrating photography, drawing, music, creative writing, and art journaling, the youth translate learning into action that inspires others for positive change. Art from our first project was recently shared in which youth had the choice to photograph their family’s eyes and/or draw an eye with pencil.
Art created by a Change Agent in the seminar highlights what the artist wants to see in the world.
In the first week, participants examined the twin processes of disintegration and integration that are caused by humanity’s rejection or acceptance of the transformation process, propelling us into a new stage of existence…a world civilization that is unified and just.
One of the junior youth was inspired to create art that highlighted how we can choose to respond to the challenges we face in today’s world, becoming part of the problem, remaining passive spectators, or choosing to be agents of transformation, consciously contributing to cooperation and unity in our personal, interpersonal, and societal relationships.
The artist states: “This image shows a strong leader who is helping to bring together the spectators and destructive forces to make positive changes along with her.”
Another exciting and empowering component of the Transformative Leadership seminar are the special guests. On Tuesday, Eric Harper – Canadian composer, musician, music engineer and producer — joined our seminar to offer his support, guidance, and advice for youth who are interested in developing skills with music. After introducing Eric’s passion for service and his love for music that is expressed through his style that integrates Flamenco, Fado, Rock, Pop, and Bossa Nova traditions with passion and purpose, Eric asked the youth, “What inspires you? What are you guys interested in? How can I help?”
One youth immediately responded, “I play guitar during the musical portions of study circles and devotional meetings. I would like to take my music to the next level. Do you have any advice?” From that point on, the youth asked questions relating to the purpose of music, where inspiration comes from, and how to write songs. Eric has offered to facilitate a regular music group with interested youth to assist them in developing their instrumental and vocal skills. The group will be writing songs with plans to produce an original piece by the end of the seminar.
On Friday, Dr. Deborah Rana presented facts and responded to questions about the Corona Virus for seminar participants. The youth had many questions relating to how they can ensure the safety of those that are most susceptible to the virus and how best to navigate channels for accurate up-to-date information.
On behalf of the Transformative Leadership Education team, we are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the empowerment and well-being of the youth who are participating in this program and filled with joy to be a part of the dynamic power and vision of the youth. We are also grateful to the Wilmette Institute for providing an online platform for learning and to all our facilitators and special guests.
I recently had the opportunity to give a workshop on Teamwork to over 20 people who serve at the Bahá’í Temple in Chile. The workshop consisted of 4 sessions – one on Teamwork in general, and each of the others dedicated to a capability of Transformative Leadership: Learning from Reflection on Action, Systemic Thinking and Giving Encouragement.
I more frequently give workshops on the conceptual framework of Transformative Leadership and the capability of consultation, which I gave to personal at the Temple last March. So I thoroughly enjoyed delving into these three capabilities , since we usually only have the opportunity to do so in long-term projects.
Since the participants all serve in different teams of the same organization, they were able to consult in depth about how to apply each of the capabilities in their teams and how to better coordination between the teams.
The workshop on teamwork was based on the booklet Commitment-Based Administration and included topics, such as matching each person’s skills and interests to the tasks he is assigned, listening skills, different types of supervision, and characteristics of effective meetings.
In the workshop on learning from reflection on action the participants in each area used the following questions to guide their reflection related to a challenge they were facing:
If and how what they have been doing contributes to the personal growth of those involved and to the quality of their service
Positive aspects of the activity that they want to continue
Aspects that they would like to better and how
Their most important learning from the experience
In the workshop on systemic thinking, the participants practiced identifying patterns and then searching for the generating structure that created each pattern in order to apply solutions that address the root of a problem, instead of simply responding to the symptom.
In the workshop on giving encouragement, they focused on how to give effective compliments by being sincere, expressing the compliment as their personal feeling, mentioning concretely what the person did well, and complimenting effort and perseverance, rather than innate intelligence and capacity. (Those interested in learning more about this topic can sign up for the free digital course at https://transformative-leaders.teachable.com/p/giving-compliments) They also consulted about the process of accompaniment and how to make it more effective.
Group consultation during the workshop
I was impressed by the speed with which the participants grasped the concepts and by the concrete examples they gave of how they could apply the capabilities, including practical suggestions that could be applied in the near future.
After the last
session, one of the organizers wrote: “Thank you for sharing this marvelous
workshop with us. Personally, it
contributed greatly to both my personal and professional growth. What most impressed me was that it was very
practical and concrete, adapted to the services we carry out at the
Temple. Consulting in groups (composed
of people who work in the same area of service) helped to achieve that.”
