Leading with Courage   In our many years of work in and with organizations as leaders and consultants we have observed and heard a hunger for a different way of leading and being in organizations. The pace of change has accelerated and organizations are not built to change – they have been built to last! (Lawler and Worley 2006).  People try to manage change – and while management may work with technical challenges that require us to apply existing know-how, it will not work with adaptive challenges (Heifetz 2006). These challenges cannot be solved with the current knowledge and cannot be resolved with existing know-how. They demand leadership that engages people in facing challenging realities and then changing the priorities, attitudes, and behaviours necessary to thrive. Rather than learning from the past, we are called to learn from the future – something that requires leaders to work from a deeper source.  To do that, leaders need to work on the inner self as well as developing new leadership competencies. Many business schools and health care administration programs focus on traditional approach to the components of their leadership programs, preferring to focus on more tangible management skills and practices. A recent study of health care leadership programs conducted by Health Canada and the Canadian College of Health Service Executives (Snell, 2010) identified critical leading practices that should be part of a leadership development program. The knowledge, skills and mindsets that build capabilities to lead include Leading Self, Engage Others, Achieving Results, Developing Coalitions, and Systems Transformation (LEADS in a Caring Environment capabilities framework).  One of the lowest scores in the evaluation of current leadership programs was Leading Self, which includes competencies such as awareness of one’s own assumptions, values, principles, strengths, and limitations as a leader or potential leader.  Current leadership theory emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and self knowledge in developing effective leaders. The Genuine Contact™ approach works with the interior condition of the individual, assisting each person to develop the knowledge and skills to lead self while learning practical tools and skills that build capability to lead with courage. The two workshops offered below can help you to build your leadership capabilities. They take learners on a journey of self-knowledge as a leader through genuine contact with self. In addition, Working with Open Space Technology provides participants with a methodology to engage others, achieve results, develop coalitions and lead systems transformation. The Genuine Contact Organization workshop assists leaders to integrate the principles and practices learned in the Genuine Contact program to build the capabilities of the organization to successfully navigate and thrive in a rapidly changing environment.  The workshop design allows each participant to apply their learning to their unique context and benefit from the diversity and experience of other participants. Courage Group also can customize our unique “Leading with Purpose” leadership capacity program modules or any of our workshops for your organization. Contact us for more details. Heifetz, R. A. (2006). Anchoring leadership in the work of adaptive progress in F. Hesselbein & M. Goldsmith (Eds) The leaders of the future 2. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Lawler III, E. E. & C.G. Worley. (2006). Built to change: How to achieve sustained organizational effectiveness. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons Inc. Snell, A. (2010). Canadian Health Leadership Network-Health Canada Leadership Development Inventory Project: Objectives Two – Five. Final Report: Centre for Health Leadership and Research, Royal Roads University. Working With Open Space Technology August 21-24, 2010 – Hamilton, ON What if there was a pool of experts available to help you as a leader meet complex challenges in a way that current expertise and thinking cannot do? This potential surrounds you in your organization or community, waiting to be accessed. Complex times demand leadership that engages and mobilizes those facing tough challenges to thrive in a changing world. Open Space Technology is one way to do that. Join us for this 4 day highly experiential workshop to learn how to: Facilitate meetings using Open Space Technology when there is an important issue to be addressed, a diversity of people involved, complexity and when decisions need to be made quickly. Apply a holistic approach to work with the sponsor to achieve maximum benefit from the meetings. Prepare yourself as a facilitator to be in genuine contact with yourself, to hold space for courageous and meaningful conversations to happen and to use practical and simple “how to” skills, tools and knowledge to work with the whole system. This workshop will interest you are a formal or informal leader, consultant, facilitator, community developer or policy maker in any sector. Workshops draw participants from all sectors – from corporate to health care and nonprofit to education and the arts – and this mix adds to the richness of your learning experience. Mentorship and support is available from the facilitators and an international community of Genuine Contact™  professionals to assist you to apply and develop your new learning and skills. Develop the adaptability and capacity of your organization or community to take responsibility to successfully navigate transformational change. Register now or click here to learn more! Genuine Contact Organization August 25-28, 2010 - Hamilton, ON Imagine having an operating system in your organization that allows you to navigate the turbulent waters of change with creativity and excitement. You love to come to work because the spirit, passion and energy of people are fully engaged. You work in a liberating structure with the skills, resources, freedom and responsibility to face complex challenges and to thrive. We call this a Genuine Contact Organization. Participants in the workshop will learn: To apply the Genuine Contact Way as a leadership practice that supports genuine contact with self, one other, the collective and the community in order to lead with courage, compassion, authenticity and openness To support, inspire, sustain, and regenerate growth and exceptional performance and to build capacity to successfully navigate change To attend to their interior condition as leaders, to make meaningful connection with the collective and practical and simple “how to” skills, tools and knowledge to work with the whole system. This workshop is about pushing beyond the immediate benefit of great meetings, toward exploring and creating the conditions we need for effective self-organization, natural learning, health and high performance in organizations and communities Discover how to develop and sustain an organization of excellence and create a custom approach that fits your culture. Register now or click here for more information.