The one that particularly stood out to me is leaders as teachers. “Great teachers create space for learning and invite people into that space” (Senge, 2006, p. 329). As leaders we are always looking for areas in our organization that need improvement. From there we create the environment that allows for learning. I also latched on to the part where Senge (2006) talked about letting go of some of the control as you are leading and teaching. This is an area that I have struggled with. This quote really hit home, “How do you lead an organization of this scope and scale when you cannot be involved in everything directly?” (Senge, 2006, p. 330). Just two years ago I led a team of four people in one office at one location. I now lead a team of almost 250 people, spread out a crossed multiple cities and multiple locations. It is impossible to be involved directly with everything and as a new leader that was a tough transition for me. I still find myself having to remember that I can’t be that deeply involved, that I have to give some control up to the managers of my areas. I have to be that teacher that Senge (2006) is referring too and teach them to lead on their own.
The one point that I would say I struggled with in regards to Senge (2006) is the leaders as designers. I picked that because as I was reading over the material I kept saying that I wish I had control over how that was designed or how that piece of the organization was structured. At least in my organization that design seems to be pretty set. The decisions on that seem to come from the executive level. So I struggled with conceptualizing the designer section. I related a lot more with the teachers and stewards sections of the readings.
Resources
Senge, P.M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art & practice of learning organizations. New York, NY: Doubleday.
Post #2
“New Work”
In Chapter 15 of The Fifth Discipline, Senge (2006) asks leaders to be designers, teachers and stewards. I agree with Senge that all of these aspects are an important part of leadership. First, leaders need to design learning infrastructures to support learning work done within the organization. Without the proper infrastructures in place to coordinate and support actions toward systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, team learning, and building shared vision, organizational efforts will be for not. Next, leaders need to be teachers who create space, time, and opportunities for employees to learn. These leaders use the tools and practices of the five fundamental disciplines to help employees gain a “’empowering view of current reality’” (Senge, 2006, p. 331). As well, when leaders are teachers, they are also students who continually strive to learn and grow to better facilitate growth in others. Finally, leaders need to be stewards and do what is best for the organization rather than for themselves. servant leaders put others first, are committed to the development and betterment of others and the organization, with a focus on the larger purpose.
Personal Leadership Impact
These ideas have a great impact on the view of my own leadership. Through a review of these leadership characteristics, I can see that I have areas of leadership weakness to address. While I view myself as a learner and promoter of others, I need to provide more opportunities and space for employees to learn. As a servant leader, I can put the well-being of others first, empower and develop them toward self-actualization, and create a community that encourages continual commitment to a shared purpose. Greenleaf (2008) states, “All that is needed to rebuild community as a viable life form for large numbers of people is for enough servant-leaders to show the way, not by mass movements, but by each servant-leader demonstrating his own unlimited liability for a quite specific community-related group” (p. 40).
Leadership Perspective Change
One of the great insights learned during this course is that of a system view, of reviewing all parts as interconnected, interrelated, and interdependent. My view of leadership has changed considerably in review of the archetypes and learning disabilities that exist in my organization, and how my thoughts and actions contribute to those patterns. As well, I have a better understanding of how adaptive and servant leadership can encourage personal mastery, which in turn supports the collective intelligence of the organization.
Challenges
The greatest challenge I found with Senge’s (2006) discussion of the “new work” was that strong learning infrastructures are developed “over time in ways that depend on leaders who appreciate and are comfortable with an open, iterative design process” (p. 322). This is most challenging because the trend of new generation leaders is that they jump from one organization to another, so seeing the work through from one leader to the other over time will be a challenge. As well, many learning initiatives start out strong, but rarely are leaders committed to continual evolution and improvement of learning infrastructures to support these initiatives.
References:
Greenleaf, R. K. (2008). The servant as leader. Westfield, IN: The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership.
Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: the art and science of a learning organization. New York, NY: Currency/ Doubleday.
Post #3
Creating a learning organization boils down to leadership and what it truly entails in order to promote personal and professional growth for employees, the organization, and more importantly, how to promote sustainable learning. When I re-think leadership and the role leaders have in creating environments, Confucius reminds us that leaders have to first become human (Senge, 2006, p. 318). Being a leader is one of the most rewarding roles, and simultaneously one of the most difficult functions, as an effective leader should be able to wear multiple hats. There is the manager hat in order to focus on objectives and tasks, the designer hat to consider all aspects of the business to ensure it is built from the ground up with a solid infrastructure, a teacher hat that is full of wisdom in order to find out what is lacking within the organization and provide coaching, and finally the steward hat that supports humility, trust, and the ability to serve others.
I agree with Senge’s views as he describes the hats I mentioned above by having a triad of leaders that are needed in an organization. He explains front line leaders as the innovation an organization needs to sort through mental models, hold deep conversations, connect people’s realities with shared vision, and ultimately support a learning environment. Additionally, leaders such as network leaders, are the seeds of the organization that help with integration. Finally, executive leaders help shape the overall environment to support innovation and implement change (Senge, 2006, p. 319 – 320). If a team is comprised of these elements, it can support effective leadership and a safe environment for employees’ personal growth as well as a learning organization.
My overall view of leadership has not changed. However, I have become more focused on expanding my own personal and professional learning, in order to best support my organization as they have vested in me exponentially over the years. What I find most challenging is having the patience needed to sustain and promote learning as well as knowing where and how to look for the right people to engage (Senge, 2006, p. 326). I need to be open-minded, position myself to influence change and trust where my senior leaders believe I will be most effective in achieving personal mastery. I also need to do better at embracing the fear of the unknown. According to Ray Stata, CEO of Analog Device, “The rate at which organizations and individuals learn may become the only sustainable competitive advantage” as products, services and processes can be copied, but if you are learning at a more rapid rate than the competitors, an organization may be able to compete stronger within our evolving and rapidly changing world (ASHP Foundation, 2012).
ASHP Foundation. (2012). Leading in the learning organization. Retrieved from http://www.ashpfoundation.org/transformational/TransformationalChange11021214.html
Senge, P. (2006). The fifth discipline: the art and science of a learning organization. New York, NY: Currency/ Doubleday.
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