Image source: Alex Atkinson Recently, my high school junior son co-founded a robotics team at school. After months of budgeting, securing sponsorship, building, and late-night coding (my son’s specialty), the team took part in their first regional competition. What they demonstrated was a perfect example of kaizen. Their early matches went well for a rookieContinue reading “What is Triple Loop Learning?”
Category Archives: Power
Banquet, Potluck, and Thanksgiving Models of Leadership
While the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US has a controversial history and our cultural retelling of it is inaccurate, the traditional Thanksgiving meal can help us reflect on how we lead others. So this week we’ll partake in our annual tradition of revisiting the ideas of Banquet Leadership, Potluck Leadership, and the hybrid model we call ThanksgivingContinue reading “Banquet, Potluck, and Thanksgiving Models of Leadership”
Honoring Years of Service while Seeking Fresh Perspectives
Think back to when you started working for your current employer, even if it was in a different role than you currently hold. How long did it take for you to go from feeling like the newbie to feeling like you belong? How long were you aware of your time in the organization (“I startedContinue reading “Honoring Years of Service while Seeking Fresh Perspectives”
Avoiding Selective Moral Outrage
I showed up to register for my first set of classes at Harvard Graduate School of Education on the morning of September 11, 2001. The World Trade Center attacks played over and over on the small TV screens in Gutman Library with large crowds gathered around, but we all registered for classes without acknowledging whatContinue reading “Avoiding Selective Moral Outrage”
When to Sub in Your Rising Stars?
If you didn’t follow the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, you missed out on some great games. But you may have also missed out on some leadership decisions that you might find useful to reflect on in your own workplace. In particular, mid-game decisions about when and how to replace tried and tested players withContinue reading “When to Sub in Your Rising Stars?”
“Where Are You From, Where Are Your People From?”
When meeting someone for the first time – knowing that you’ll be working with them for a while – what are your go-to opening lines in conversation? Do you ask where they live, what they do for work, how has their day been so far…? I recently learned from some acquaintances who moved from theContinue reading ““Where Are You From, Where Are Your People From?””
Choosing to Stay Confronted in Conversations About Race
How often are you involved in conversations about racism, marginalization, colonialism, and/or other issues related to race? Perhaps these are conversations about systemic issues, or perhaps they reflect personal lived experiences. Often these topics are not an explicit part of the conversation, they are under the surface – not necessarily unacknowledged, but unnamed nonetheless. ExplicitContinue reading “Choosing to Stay Confronted in Conversations About Race”
The Doll Test, and Fault vs. Responsibility
Portraits by Fabrice Monteiro Did you play with dolls (or action figures) when you were a child? If so, did you get to choose them, or were they given to you? What skin tone did they have? Did they look like you? Perhaps you’re a parent of a young child now – what skin toneContinue reading “The Doll Test, and Fault vs. Responsibility”
What is “Corporate Theater?” What Role are You Playing?
Corporate Theater is a term for when interactions take place politely in meetings with nodding and agreements, only for power brokers to swoop in afterwards to make changes behind the scenes. Have you ever left a meeting feeling that there was agreement on a path forward, only to learn later that others in the roomContinue reading “What is “Corporate Theater?” What Role are You Playing?”
What is Poison Ivy Privilege?
Poison Ivy Privilege is a framework to consider the aspects of your identity for which you receive privilege rather than marginalization, and how you can use that privilege to enact systemic changes using the analogy of pulling poison ivy. Prologue: I was wrong. Years ago, I wrote an article about poison ivy and privilege, inContinue reading “What is Poison Ivy Privilege?”
Building Bridges Leadership 