Doug Guthrie kicked off the session today with some passionate thought provoking ‘Myths’ of leadership then some key takeaways of leadership.

Position: It’s not about the position you’re in;

it’s about how you act in that position

Everyday Action and introspection: It’s less about vision and charisma than you think

and more about introspection, practical action and everyday-decision-making

Organisational Interests: It’s about making responsible decisions

that align with the best interests of the organisation

Empowerment: It’s about creating a culture that fosters creativity

and empowers workers to make decisions

Complexity and Analysis: Effective leadership

is closely tied to organisational analysis and understanding the complexity of organisational circumstances

Empathy: Listening, caring, understanding

On from there a bit of Charles Day then after lunch a fascinating insight into complex agendas and human interaction! I gloss over the first 6 hours of the day as although the discussion was interesting and some good analysis had of Taran Swan and the Nickelodeon team in South America…lets be honest a lot of this stuff we have already heard before on formal and informal organisations, alignment and interpretation of what was next or a bit of  ‘what would you have done in their position’. However after lunch we had a change of tact and believe me I  am so glad we did (yes I have ready through Doug’s 106 page slide presentation) instead we watched 12 Angry men… this ‘idea’ behind 12 angry men and watching it unfold in the context of creative leadership was a revelation. There were so many facets to the movie that drives home the points above but more importantly it showed that compassion, sensitivity, listening (more than you speak), giving space for people to act and in some cases manipulation for the good of all and above all empathy for your fellow man under in all circumstances.

Top Takeaways

1. Important to have a strategy and know what it is ( what outcome are your trying to achieve) this is not a linear process.

2. Listen more than you speak. You need to be able to gather data.and then work out how to act on this data..and possibly what the politics are within the situation. Don’t just jump in.

3. Create space for disenfranchised voices…draw out the people who are not speaking…

4. Important to take risks when necessary…if you are safe then nothing will change

5. Build norms and organise around them. If you all seem normal people are more likely to support you

6.  Facilitation..let it unfold and prod and poke as needed..allow to believe they are building the argument for and against.

7. Sometimes it’s necessary to be angry but use it carefully.

8. Give credit and empower as much as possible

9.  Always use healing and nurturing in group dynamics. Try to achieve a sensitive and positive outcome for all in the end no matter what their position was at the start.