[Springboard] Transformational Leadership Lab (TLL)

[Jack Gilles]

George,

Sorry, wrong email!!  <jpatterson at abbeynorth.ca>


On Oct 1, 2007, at 12:54 AM, M. George Walters wrote:

> 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
>
> <M. George Walters (m.george.walters at verizon.net).vcf>
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