Thought Leader Session on Leadership in Challenging Times: Insights
A recent conversation with the executive director of a community not for profit about navigating challenging situations within the context of diverse needs via community collaboration, reiterated the value of several core aspects of our Thought Leader session with Fred Brown:
-
Knowing ourselves,
-
The importance of relationships,
-
The importance of being cognizant of the language we use, and
-
Having the skill set to facilitate / hold challenging conversations,
Fred’s comments were timely, and an affirmation of the work outlined in Age of Identity: Who Do Our Kids Think They Are… and How Do We Help Them Belong? by Dennis Shirley and Andy Hargreaves, who joined our LFBC Book Club the week before. A core takeaway from the book club session is that identity is complex and bringing ‘our best selves’ to our work. As leaders, our perspective impacts how we interact with the world. Knowing our own values, why we believe in what we believe, and allowing ourselves to have an openness to listen to the perspective of others, is essential. Opposing perspectives and beliefs can be a huge divide, especially in the era of social media. An essential ingredient to moving forward is in providing a time and a place for conversation.
Forming a relationship with others so that we see the ‘person’ as well as listen to their ideas is fundamental. Leaders knowing and staying focussed on their core purpose and mission/vision in their work is key. Taking care of yourself in the midst of the ‘noise’ around us is important, as is having a community of support, space to engage with each other.
The language that we use requires that we are mindful about the context of our work and the community that we are engaged with. A skill in the conversation is to actually hear what the other person is saying. Are we able to ask ourselves if our perspective might require ‘tweaking’ – that, in fact, there is another way to look at an issue, and move forward? Using a structure / protocol is useful. As leaders, we might also ask ourselves “How do we support staff, and teach students to have productive social dialogue? We wondered how well are we utilizing the core competencies in the BC Curriculum to do so?
As the Learning Forward BC Board deliberates on its work for next year, these core aspects of leading in challenging times will frame much of our work in bringing together our network of educators. Cross role / cross district perspectives provide robust insights that fuel powerful conversations.
Contact Learning Forward British Columbia for further information on 2025-2026 Program.
info@learningfrowardbc.ca
Comments are closed.