BMA eBook - Manual / Resource - Page 86
Intervention and Leadership
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How do I know I am ‘making things better and not worse’?
Effective leadership development requires a double loop learning – bringing
ones actions much closer to ones intentions (Argyris 1982), processes which
allow participant managers to see themselves and others in action and
understand more deeply their own tendencies in the face of pressure, distress,
authority and peer collaboration. Dealing with these class based pressures has
direct parallels in the world of work and, in both domains, requires risk taking,
personal insight, trust in self and others, in an effort to bring the skills, talents
and experiences available in a group to bear on the issues at hand.
Through the use of the learning framework outlined in this paper, we find that
not only are manager participants more able to contribute effectively to their
professional development but to their leadership efforts where it most counts –
on the frontiers of change.
References
Argyris, C (1982) Reasoning, Learning and Action, Jossey Bass, San Francisco
Harkins, P (1999) Powerful Conversations, Linkage
Heifetz, R (1994) Leadership Without Answers, Belknap Press, Cambridge MA
Heifetz, R and Linsky, M (2002) Leadership on the Line, HBS Press, MA
Heifetz R., Grashow , A. and Linsky M. (2009) The Practice of Adaptive
Leadership, Harvard Business Press, Boston, MA.
Osterman, K and Koltkamp, R (1993) Reflective Practice for Educators, Corwin
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Not to be reproduced without the author’s permission
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