Week 2 LeadWise Academy Assignment

Published in

Greaterthan

5 min readApr 15, 2017

Week 2 of LeadWise Academy is wrapping up and our focus this week was Relatedness. Our group project was to create a social contract which outlined the ways in which we will work together (see below). My group was great, each member was able to contribute something to the way our project came together. Our individual assignment was to create a Personal Mission Statement. I chose to write mine in narrative format. This week felt very practical (which I enjoyed) in part since I’m kicking of a project next week in my own organization to define how we work together. I will be incorporating some of the ideas the group shared and arrived at this week.

Personal Mission Statement:

1) As an individual, why are you here?

I’m here to be challenged by new perspectives that are different from my own. I believe that traditional ways of working are inadequate for creative, knowledge intensive, virtual organizations like the one I am now part of, and I’m exploring alternative ways of working and being part of an organization by joining the Leadwise Academy program and my fellow participants.

· My objective is to change and be changed by this experience.

2) What does a great experience look like for me as a participant?

A great experience would be exposure to practices/stories/ideas about alternative ways of self-organizing from Susan, our coaches, guest speakers, readings, and my fellow group members, AND getting to experience these in practice. A great experience would be feeling safe to not know much about these ways of working, but being welcomed to share my views and experiences anyway. For me to contribute to this great experience I must suspend some of my natural skepticism and be open to trying approaches that might feel very contrary to my past experience or training.

· My objective is to think expansively, laterally, and obliquely about ways of working, and always try to reflect on how I can make the insights that provides practical and relevant to my organization and professional focus.

3) How does my participation support the mission of this project?

I am seeking approaches that I can return with and offer to my team and organization as ways in which we can continue to challenge ourselves to self-manage as we grow. I would like to share with others in my professional community the opportunities and advantages of self-organizing.

· My objective is to be a conduit (even in a small way) to share what I learn in this program with others.

4) What support do I need to ensure I achieve my personal participation mission?

I require the continued openness of my fellow participants to share their experiences, and their willingness to engage in discussions with someone (me) who does not ‘speak the language’ of the self-management practitioner community, and in fact comes from a corporate background.

· My objective is to make room for my fellow participants and our coaches and host to influence and challenge me.

Project week #2 — Leadwise Academy

We arrived at this social agreement through a process Henry suggested (which I was unfamiliar with) called a Dragon Dreaming Circle, which involved each of us reflecting individually on the question: “What must this social contract have in order to be 100% mine?” We then shared our “musts” to this organization contract would be one we could 100% endorse and embrace it. We then spent time together identifying areas of overlap and congruence and grouping them into categories which we then refined into statements that described the state of our social contract as already existing. Instead of dictating what we must do, become, change into, it identified our ideal state as already existing, only requiring our continued participation to maintain it. I cannot believe how quickly, easily and seamlessly this all came together. I feel I have a whole new approach to add to my toolkit. It was a fantastic experience — thanks Henry, Valentina, and Unnai!

Royal Palm Team social agreement

This is Royal Palm and this is who we are:

TRUST

This is a high trusting environment. You are safe to act as your best self.

EVOLUTION

We have an evolutionary purpose, our social agreements are strong and, yet, adaptable to our constant evolution.

HUMAN TO HUMAN CONNECTION / COLLABORATION

First we connect, then we participate. Collaboration is a natural result of the quality of our relationships.

COMMUNICATION

Providing a space for people to be heard is often the beginning of a relationship of much greater trust and transparency. Have you had a meaningful conversation today?