[Springboard] Transformational Leadership Lab (TLL)
M. George Walters
m.george.walters at verizon.net
Sun Sep 30 15:24:12 EDT 2007
On the TLL
Excellent articulation of the kind of work those who care for those who care
should engage in.
I have been going through a computer crash recovery. Can you send me John
Patterson's email address and telephone?
George
4240 Sandy Shores Dr
Lutz, FL 33558
USA
Tel: 813-948-7267
Fax: 813-948-4167
Em: m.george.walters at verizon.net
-----Original Message-----
From: springboard-bounces at wedgeblade.net
[mailto:springboard-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Jack Gilles
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2007 09:15
To: Springboard Dialogue
Subject: [Springboard] Transformational Leadership Lab (TLL)
Larry, Randy & Carolyn (and others),
I will attempt to summarize our Transformational Leadership Lab and
share some of the models we work with. The TLL was originally
designed to create effective change agents within organizations. We
found that when we worked with companies that had, what we would call
"Spirit People" we got results. When we were working with people who
just wanted to improve their organization we were less successful.
So we decided to create a program that would help produce the
effective change agents.
We built the program as a three module, 10 day (3-3-4 but actually
starting the evening before the first day) format with at least one
month to six weeks between modules. The first module focused on
Personal Transformation as a necessary criteria for understanding and
executing organizational transformation. The second module focused
on working with others and creating the change team. The third
module was about the "hows" of transformation, the practical tasks
and strategy of change. Another way we viewed the three modules was
"Head-Heart-Hands", the first module was more about understanding
what transformation is, the second about the spirit/courage to being
a change agent and the third is the practical work one has to do.
We have used many different tools and resources over the years in
each of the modules. Each module used movies and training videos
where appropriate. For instance, for many years we used Covey's 7
Habits training videos in modules I & II. Habits 1,2 & 3 in module 1
and 4,5,6 & 7 in module II. We would show them and then have small
group discussions and have created workshops for each Habit. But we
no longer use them, although we still share some of the concepts in
the first two modules. Each module would have a full length
hollywood film and discussion in it. Again, these have varied, but
some of those we have used are: Gung Ho (people love it and it is a
great teaching tool for teamwork, motivation, goal setting,
projects), The Doctor, Apollo 13, Bruebaker, Man of La Mancha, We
used training videos including several Tom Peters ones (Germany's
Quality Obsession, Go Fast or Go Broke), Blanchard's One Minute
Manager, Even Eagles Need a Push, In the last module we often used
Campbell's Power of Myth tapes (1,2 & 6) along with The Global Brain
or A White Hole in Time. We have watched Margaret Wheatley's video
on Leadership & the New Science. We would bring a table full of
books from our library for each module and each participant was
expected to read one during the month interval. We collected a
series of papers for each module that we would pass out and have
people read between modules including copies of The Image Journal.
We also used chapters of books for a seminar in each module. We have
used Syncronicity, Covey's 8th Habit, Katzenbach's Real Change
Leaders, Senge's Fifth Discipline, Mahesh's Thresholds of Motivation,
and several others. Each participant selects a "Change Project" and
reports to others on progress and learnings each module. In the 2nd
module we do our ORID and Workshop Methods work.
Each module would start with early morning Body Work led by Judy. We
did yoga, The Five Rites of Immortality, Body Poem and used a lot of
Depak Chopra as context (Ageless Body, Timeless Mind). We read
poetry at each session, create rituals, sing, and do something
different with the seating arrangements. We did a lot of short
courses on the role of Space and Spirit, as illustrated in our
setups. For example, we always have something living in our space,
lots of plants. We would create different spaces for different kinds
of work. One is Square Time versus Circle Time. Square time is when
we are sitting at tables dealing with temporal dimensions. Circle
time is when we would sit in a circle, usually on pillows/mattresses
on the floor and we would talk about more eternal things. We also
had a celebration on the last evening of each module. Great times
for creativity and always a highlight.
The last day of module III was always a great happening. We (much of
the whole TLL design was done in a creative partnership with
Marguerite Theophil and Homayun Taba) created a closing ceremony that
was very powerful. it involved each person writing and then reading
a statement of personal intent, a sharing of affirmation of someone
who's name you drew, a quote you selected from a large number placed
on beautiful paper and a symbol of transformation which we gave
them. The symbol was a geod, representing the power hidden in the
center of ordinariness. The program changed a lot of lives and led
to some very profound life decisions, including leaving one's present
line of work. We have put hundreds of people through the program
over the years, but recently I and Judy have been doing it in a
slightly shorter version as an in-house program.
Now what I have outlined is but the framework on which the real work
of transformation is done. We are about doing two things: one,
getting people to grasp the power of Spirit, the implicate order (OW
in the midst of TW) and the source of Spirit found within oneself and
within the situation. We are about allowing people to affirm the
gift that their life is, the situation they find themselves in and
the people who are part of their lives. We are about allowing people
to re-source the depth dimensions of their lives. We do all of this
in dozens of different ways, but mostly in reflections on personal
experiences and short courses. The second power center is pulling as
much as possible through the Indian ethos. This is crucial to
transformation in India. It is the source of their empowerment and
unless they grasp their gift of humanness, they will always be
"importers" of someone else's insight, be that HBS or Tom Peters or
the Japanese quality models. So we have worked hard on this. I
won't try and share these with you but you will see terms like,
Vahana, Sahaja, Sewa, Sadana and Paunchabuta throughout our work. It
is always an address for a westerner to reveal depth meaning in their
spirit dimension to them. We see the Indian ethos as a depth
understanding of Spirit and Energy. We drill these dimensions into
them in many different ways, including the poetry and singing. We
are about enabling them to become a gift of that ethos to the world,
on behalf of all.
We are about to conduct the first module of a TLL starting this
Tuesday for an aluminum factory belonging to the Birla Group. Here
is what we are doing during the three days, although we don't have as
much time as it is not residential. The first day we have an
exercise in individual affirmation (having two people introduce each
other to the group and then we have them draw each other's picture.
This is always a big hit and a bit of transparency. We then
encourage people to write statements of affirmation on other's
pictures during the program (based on ORID - four different types of
affirmation they can choose from). I will then do an extensive
context on what is transformation, some work on Spirit and Energy and
outline our time for the three modules. After the lunch break we
will be watching An Inconvenient Truth and having a discussion on
it. The company has agreed to have everyone work on transforming the
plant into a "green" model, so this will be the common project. We
will brainstorm work areas, divide into teams and set 6 month goals
for each area. The second day we will be doing Learning Styles,
Signs of Life exercise and then in the afternoon we will work on life
journey (creating one's life timeline) and then an extensive
conversation in circle time. This is always a very powerful event
for people. The third day we will work on Motivation using VS
Mahesh's east-west model and exercises. We will conclude the first
module with Blanchard's Situational Leadership model and exercises.
Not sure we will be doing any singing, but we will be playing some
music and of course lots of poetry, incense and meditation.
Attached is one of the models we created some years ago that we use
in module III. I won't go into the meaning of each of the terms of
the Transformation Tasks Triangles, but there is a trans-rational
flow to them.
Finally, after conducting many of these modules with people of
different levels, Managing Directors down to Dept. Heads, we are
convinced we have the core of a new program that needs to be put
together on transformation and vocation. That is why I am so
passionate that we work together to create a program like an Academy
that is based on our historical wisdom and combined with our years of
working on new models and insights that make all of that wisdom
relevant and applicable.
I hope this gives you a feel for what we have been doing here for the
last 10-15 years.
Grace & Peace,
Jack
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