Leadership Links

Fellows' Guide 2005 (This is a .pdf file, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to open this file.)
This document was developed as a training tool for the PLD Project Fellows. For more information on this training please see our Adaptive Leadership Practices section or About the PLD Project - Design of Training section.

About the PLD Project PowerPoint Presentation- This is a program that will load a PowerPoint presentation, 2 video clips, and a free PowerPoint Viewer (in case you don't have PowerPoint). To open this file, download/save it to your desktop and then double click on the icon. It is packaged this way in order to keep the video clips with the presentation.

PLD Training March 14th-16th PowerPoint Presentation- This PowerPoint Presentation represents a portion of the training session that took place on March 14th-16th 2005. This is a program that will load a PowerPoint presentation and a free PowerPoint Viewer (in case you don't have PowerPoint). To open this file, download it to your desktop and double click on the icon.

This Leadership and Systems of Care diagram was developed during a training session/workshop by the PLD Fellows. It is based on the social-ecological systems theory perspective (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) described below.

In terms of understanding chronic childhood illness, the social-ecological systems theory perspective of human development formulated by Bronfenbrenner (1977,1979) has the most impact. The theory proposes a series of concentric circles that represent settings that have bidirectional influences on the child. The child is at the center. The closer rings represent family and settings such as school, and medical. The more distant circles represent societal values and culture. The major tenets of social-ecological theory include (a) reciprocity, the environment affects the child, but the child also affects the environment; )(b) interconnections and relationships between settings, which influence the child’s development; and (c) transitions, shifts in role and setting across the life span that have a developmental influence (Thompson & Gustafson, 1996).

ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP PRACTICES:

Identify adaptive challenges
Identify what learning, new skills, behaviors need to be acquired
Identify what loss will occur
Center Yourself- Find a quiet place within yourself/breathe.
Give work BACK- Involving others and holding them responsible for their piece of the work.
Holding Steady- Not backing down.
Get on the “Balcony”- Step back and see the big picture. In the midst of action, recognize each person’s position. See what they can offer and the constraints that are holding them back from acting in the situation.

• Distinguish between Technical and Adaptive Challenges
  • Technical Challenges- Are problems we know how to solve
  • Adaptive Challenges- Require learning and changing people’s hearts and minds. Most social problems are adaptive challenges.
    
• Find out where people are at.
  
• Listen to the song beneath the words- Listen to what’s not being said by reading authority figures (and others) for clues by looking at non-verbal signals such as body language and other social clues.

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Additional Adaptive Leadership Readings

Article titled, "A conversation with Ronald Heifetz: Leadership without Easy Answers" By Joe Flower for The Healthcare Forum Journal. (This is a .pdf file, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to open this file.)

Ronald Heifetz, M.D. is co-partner with Marty Linksky of the Cambridge Leadership Association (CLA) and co-author of Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading*.

* Heifetz, R., & Linsky, M. (2002). Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.

For more information about Adaptive Challenges and Leadership Practices see our Adaptive Leadership Practices page.