If you have interacted with Transformative Leadership, you are aware of its power to change lives for the better. Because of that, you may want to share it with others in your organization, without being sure of the best way to go about it. If so, the recently published book Transformative Leadership for Community Organizations is for you!
Whether you want to improve the functioning of the team in your workplace, or the quality of service offered by your community organization, a group study of this book can help.
The book includes abridged versions of the topics in Transformative Leadership: Developing the Hidden Dimension, combined with discussion questions and simple projects that help to consolidate understanding and move from learning to practice.
Since the book is divided into sub-sections that are usually only 1-3 pages long, followed by one or two discussion questions, it lends itself to group study in relatively short periods of time.
If you have been wondering what you can do to help your team or organization to become more harmonious and productive, this book is for you!
On February 10, 2022 the 5th offering of the popular course “Cultivating Transformative Leadership,” offered by Wilmette Institute
Students from this course are incredibly enthusiastic and are sharing what they have learned in a variety of ways. Some have formed groups to study the core book of the course Transformative Leadership: Developing the Hidden Dimension.
Others have made presentations or conducted workshops with organizations in which they are involved. One used the material both in a high school class and a community college.
We received the following unsolicited testimonial from Lua Hancock, who has worked in higher education for more than 25 years and is a leadership consultant and coach:
“I have taken a lot of leadership courses that have been helpful, but general. The transformative leadership course was relevant and applicable to the leadership challenges of today. I love the work we did to work on individual capabilities to transform ourselves as leaders so that we can be more impactful catalysts for the community transformation so desperately needed today.”
Talibah Sun and Zayda Vallejos spoke so positively of the course during the last zoom call that we extracted their comments and prepared them as a short video, which you can see at https://wilmetteinstitute.org/courses/cultivating-tl/ This page also explains more about the course and has a link to the registration page.
The course is 7-weeks long, ending on March 30. Each week there is a reading from the book, together with short videos that summarize and deepen in the content, as well as application exercises in which the participants work with what they have studied. Registration for the course will remain open until February 17th
We hope you will join us and that you will share this news with friends, relatives, and colleagues who may be interested,
Have you signed up for the 5-day challenge that will start on Monday, November 4? You can find out more about it and sign up at bit.ly/LoveEncourage.
Those who participate in the challenge will receive 4 sections of this audiobook.
To prepare for the challenge, today I am sharing one of the topics we will explore.
FILLING OUR MINDS WITH THOUGHTS OF LOVE
Love exercises an attractive force and is the source of unity. The greater the love among the members of a family or organization, the stronger the power of attraction that maintains the unity of the group. Unity facilitates cooperation and motivates service, two attitudes that are necessary to achieve significant results.
The more we fill out thoughts, words and actions with love, the better relations we will have with others and the more effective the actions of our group. Together, love, cooperation, and service form a virtuous circle, reinforcing one another.
The reality of human beings, what distinguishes us from animals, is thought. What we think, sooner or later, influences our actions. These reflect what we really think, which at times differs from our words. Thoughts are like seeds and actions, their fruit.
In Real Magic Wayne Dyer tells the story of a boy from Jamaica who dreamed of becoming a doctor. Even though they lived in extreme poverty, his grandmother encouraged him, saying that he should always keep in mind his desire and act to achieve his vision. After graduating from high school, the youth applied to hundreds of universities for a place in a pre-med program; but they all rejected him. He didn’t give up. Finally, he was accepted by a university in Europe. He moved there, working to pay for his studies. When he finally became a prosperous physician, his friends and relatives commented on how ‘lucky’ he had been. (Adapted from Wayne Dyer, Real Magic, chapter 5)
Just as concentrating on positive thoughts
and acting on them gradually brings them into existence, dwelling on negative
thoughts leads to harmful actions. People who are full of resentment may constantly
think about how they were wronged and complain about how badly someone treated
them. It would not be surprising if one
day their anger explodes and they get into a fight with that person. Even if they control themselves and avoid a
fight, their ongoing negative thoughts can lead to depression and even illness.
Once we are aware that thoughts have the power to influence our actions, we can consciously influence our thoughts, by making wise choices about what goes into our minds, selecting:
The movies and TV programs we watch: Are they inspiring or are they full of conflicts, lies, deceit, explicit sex and violence?
The books and articles we read: Do we usually choose content that inspires us, makes us think or teaches us something useful?
The web pages we visit: What thoughts and feelings do they generate in us?
The topics about which we converse: Are we positive and hopeful, or are our conversations full of blame, complaints, and pessimism?
Our friends: Studies indicate that we tend to reflect the values, habits, and lifestyle of the five people with whom we spend the most time, whether personally or by exposing ourselves to their ideas through reading their books or interacting with them on the internet. With whom do we spend most of our time?
Everything that goes into our minds influences whether we generally have positive or negative thoughts. To a considerable degree, we can select that content.
If we want to strengthen our capability of loving, we can experiment with the following practice.
Identify specific people to whom we wish to show greater love (certain members of our family, colleagues, members of an organization to which we belong).
Every morning we ask ourselves: What can I do today to show love to each person I have chosen?
Throughout the day we can check in with ourselves to see if we are carrying out what we have planned.
Arielle Ford reminds us: “Love is both a choice and a behavior. Every day we choose whom we love and we choose to express this love through loving behaviors.” (Ford, Arielle, Turn Your Mate into Your Soulmate, p. 31)
If you haven’t yet done so, sign up for the challenge at bit.ly/LoveEncourage. One of the participants will win a free copy of the audiobook.
One of the key capabilities necessary for practicing
Transformative Leadership is the capability to make group decisions using
consultation. The following story illustrates
how consultation leads to better, more just decisions.
Mark listened attentively as Janet expressed her idea. It was so different from how he had seen the situation, but made perfect sense, now that he thought about it. Once again his heart filled with joy, as he looked around at the members of the team. Each one came from a different department of the organization in which he worked. Not only did they have different professions, but they also came from different cultures and had diverse life experiences.
At first, the diversity made it difficult to reach decisions. Everyone thought so differently, and each person was sure that his idea was best! But after the training they received in consultation, the group’s dynamic had changed. Rather than coming to the meeting with fixed ideas, they were now committed to learning from one another and broadening the understanding that each had of the reality of the situation they were analyzing. They no longer reacted negatively to unusual ideas; rather, they were curious and asked questions to better understand how the other person perceived the situation. Once the group began to do this, their ability to reach consensus had skyrocketed!
Mark reflected on how he now appreciated the group’s diversity. He learned so much by listening to the other members! He felt that he was deeply experiencing the truth of the quote from that they had studied in the training:
“Consider the flowers of a garden: though differing in kind, color, form and shape, yet, … this diversity increaseth their charm, and addeth unto their beauty… In like manner, when diverse shades of thought, temperament and character, are brought together under the power and influence of one central agency, the beauty and glory of human perfection will be revealed and made manifest.”
As he reflected, the last part of the quote caught his attention, and he realized that the central agency that helped them to integrate their ideas was their shared understanding of the vision and principles that guided the organization, especially their commitment to justice.
Available in Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/benefitsdiversity
It then presents certain guidelines and personal qualities that contribute to Availasuccessful consultation, as well as steps in successful decision-making, such as:
Delimiting the
topic to keep the consultation focused.
Writing down
the known facts and identifying further areas to investigate
Identifying
relevant principles
Brainstorming
several lines of action or possible solutions.
Selecting a
solution or a set of appropriate lines of action.
Applying the
solution or lines of action and evaluating the results
This book is helpful to anyone engaged in group decision-making, as a member of an organization, team, or family, including those who are already familiar with the practice of consultation.
University students study Liderazgo Moral (the Spanish version of Transformative Leadership)
Our Transformative Leadership course, which lasted 16-weeks, was characterized by joy and love. The aim of the course was to develop analytical thinking about mental models of leadership. Furthermore, the course had the purpose of providing a space where students could reflect and share their reflections on their experiences with the theme of leadership. The students generated solutions to personal and social problems, evaluated the leadership style of Latin American leaders and demonstrated – through a video-project at the end of the year – their new conceptual framework of what it means to practice Transformative Leadership.
The book Liderazgo Moral was the catalyst for moments of perception and vision and established the framework within which each student explored their role in the university, in the community and in their own family, with the intention of applying what they had learned.
As a professor, one thing that surprised and pleased me greatly was the willingness and eagerness of my students to learn how to implement the capabilities of Transformative Leadership. There was no rejection of the idea that we need to examine reality and seek the truth, and that it is important to abandon mental models that do not correspond to reality.
A particularly transformative moment occurred the day that we talked about competition versus cooperation. As I participated in the discussion on the subject, I saw what every professor wants to behold: faces illumined with the light of understanding.
Learning does not end at the end of a semester. I have extended to my students the invitation to participate voluntarily in the study of other related topics. While I do not expect them all to respond, I feel this is a coherent step in deepening the process of capacity building and community service, and some will definitely participate.
Here are some comments from the students in the course.
“It was very interesting to learn about different types of leaders. It was something that captivated my interest. And the gems! If a person has ten bad qualities and one good one, then we focus on the good one.” ~ Paulina García Zavala
“The best lesson I take from the book is to always be aware that we can change toward the good, as long as we reflect on our behavior. There is always room for positive change because in some way we are always going to influence others. Even though we are not perfect and egotism lives in us, I think we have the strength to fight it when making decisions that affect others.
The greatest satisfaction comes from service and seeing positive change not only in ourselves but also in others. Life is full of opportunities in which we can grow emotionally and wisely. In order to do that, we have to be humble, accepting our mistakes with an awareness of the changes we need to make.” ~ Margarita Howard
“This book has opened my mind to think about how I can help others with a spirit of service and humility. It also made me reflect on my mental models. Today I am aware of how our thinking can change our perception and how we see the world around us.
Furthermore, I learned to value mutual support and reciprocity through the exercises in the book that we do in groups. Taking into account the ideas of others helped me to put into practice what the book teaches.
Finally, family dynamics are important to me. Another important lesson I learned from the text was to consult as a family and talk about the problems that exist among family members. I have put this into practice with my family and it nurtured our souls and minds. ~ Alex Velázquez
Dr. Mary Sobhani is responsible for the Department of Languages at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, USA. Each year she gives a course in Spanish on “Cultural Topics” to students in their last or penultimate year of Spanish studies. This year she chose as the text for the course the book Liderazgo Moral (Transformative Leadership).
