Sunday, July 30, 2006

Coming and going...

This is a very interesting time for me. There are a number of people who have been very important to me who are moving on to other things and there are others who are coming into my life. These comings and goings bring hope that we'll maintain the relationships that we've had and anticipation about what the new relationships will bring.

We went to a going away party for Ron Slepitza and his family last night (Saturday, 8-29-06). Ron and I have been colleagues for 32 years. Ron was actually the first grad student who I ever had the chance to work with. He was so totally into his masters work that he bugged me until I joined him in doctoral study at the University of Maryland. Ron and I have stayed in contact throughout the years. We've enjoyed being near each other for the last ten years but now he's moving on to the presidency of Avila College in Kansas City. Ron is very excited about his new work and will do a great job. But, we'll miss not having them close.

In addition to losing the immediate friendship of Ron and Suzanne, all the grad students with whom I worked over the last two years are now off on their own. Julie is married and working at UNC-Chapel Hill, Matt is working at the Kettering Foundation (it's easier for us to stay in contact), and Dave is off to Doha, Qatar, working for Carnegie Mellon University.

While these treasured friends are on their way, others are reentering or entering my life. Darbi (youngest daughter) just returned from an incredible 6 week wilderness and spiritual adventure in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. It was difficult having no contact with her for 6 weeks and what a relief to have her back. Liz Housholder is joining me in the next two weeks as a new grad student. Monica Ways and Nick Longo have just joined Miami as Directors of Community Engagement & Service and the Harry T. Wilks Leadership Institute, respectively. Both are unbelievable new colleagues who will make a huge difference at Miami.

This next Wednesday, Diane, Darbi, and I are off for a 10-day vacation up north. We're looking forward to being free of the press of regular life in Oxford (sounds impossible in the summer, doesn't it?). We'll be back just in time to begin the fall ramp-up week on August 14. If I have a chance to blog, I'll put some travel pictures up while we're gone. Otherwise, come back after the 14th for a look at what we did.

Comings and goings - part of the rhythm of life. The only thing that I've learned over time and that makes it easier to accept this ebb and flow is that the good ones are never really that far away!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Conclusions

I was thinking the other day about how I/we come to conclusions in our pursuit of leadership. It caused me to formulate a new signature for my e-mails that read, "Problems and challenges are always part of organization life. In the production-oriented rush of leadership, how do we restrain ourselves from formulating conclusions in search of evidence?" I wasn't really expecting anyone to pick up on my use of the statement until Deb Hackney, one of the Cluster Facilitators from session #2 of the LeaderShape Institute this summer, commented on it. Hmmh? Maybe this is something worth developing.

There are several influences that stimulated me to think about this. One is clearly Ron Heifetz' "adaptive leadership" model. I'm sure that Jean Lipman-Blumen's and Barbara Kellerman's books on bad leadership also influenced my thinking. My work experiences have also caused me to think how many times I encounter situations where it is clear that someone's perspective is already set. It may be provisional or not so provisional but, in these cases, the inclination is to scan for evidence that confirms the hunch - thus the "conclusions in search of evidence."

I realize that I am guilty of this in my own affairs. It is the stuff of which stereotype, biases, and patterned relationships are made. The very unfortunate impact of conclusions in search of evidence is that we generally seek evidence that only confirms our beliefs rather than the information that contradicts them. It seems to me that, when we engage in leadership, it is very important to attempt to escape the old models of leading based on leaders knowing the answers. When we move out of this positivist view, engaging with others through curious exploration, we help others to create their own conclusions and possibilities. We also tap others' talent, insight, and motivation rather than falling prey to simply looking for ways to subtly or not-so-subtly impose our agenda. When we resist the temptation of searching for evidence that reinforces our conclusions, we also avoid the more catastrophic potential of arriving at false-positive conclusions that could be devastating to us and others.

In "Blink" (Malcolm Gladwell) times, when things move so quickly and impressions are so powerful, it is extremely difficult to resist falling into the trap of searching to confirm our biases. But, because of the complexity of the times, it is even more imperative that we withhold judgment so that we can discern the field of the future - the new possibilities and insights that may not even be in our present consciousness. As Otto Scharmer and others have written, the field of the future is frequently not on the surface and obvious during our initial glance. The field of the future emerges as we allow ourselves to see new and contradicting evidence, or evidence that may be totally outside of the awareness that we've previously been able to access.

Note to self - How can I cultivate the pause between my conclusions and the evidence that flows to confirm them? Maybe this could be one of the primary ways to see the new possibilities that lie before me.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Native American perspectives on education in the U.S.A.

A good friend, Anne Magnan, read the previous posts regarding LeaderShape and the difference in cultural perspectives expressed by native American students who attended the Institute in June. Inside Higher Education included a June 30 article on "Shoe Leather Recruiting," an analysis of why native American students mistrust education. "Education was used to force assimilation in an organized government fashion," noted Cynthia Lindquist, president of Cankdeska Cikana (Little Hoop) Community College in N.D. "There's that whole Great White Father myth that we live with, and educated Indians are sometimes seen as 'thinking they're better' than reservation Indians." Native populations have the lowest college graduation rate of all student groups in the U.S.A., an example being California, which has 200,000 native Americans in the state yet only 2,850 enrolled in the Cal state system. The article goes on to explain that native Americans have been told by their elders and family members of the required boarding schools of the 19th and 20th centures, where Indians were forced to leave their culture behind by adapting to the standards of the European settlers who took over their land.

Universities that have been successful in increasing the success of native students have established relationships with specific tribes, a model embraced by Miami University in its relationship with the Miami tribe that inhabited Ohio and Indiana prior to settlement. A key issue in attracting and retaining some tribal students is the idea of returning to their communities. In an attempt to protect their heritage and maintain a critical mass in their tribes, some native Americans fear that going to college and receiving a degree will result in their not returning to their family and communities. Finding ways to enhance career opportunities in tribal communities through education institutions that prepare young adults for these prospects is key. While a progressive view would embrace the idea that all citizens would have the opportunity to pursue education and careers wherever they liked, providing opportunities to gain education, improving one's standard of living, and maintaining one's cultural heritage is also valid and critical if the presence of native peoples is to be maintained in North America.