21st Century Learning and Teaching

Being Conscious About Our Unconscious Biases

I attended a very interesting workshop a few weeks ago on the topic of “Unconscious Bias” facilitated by Smita Tharoor. I was interested in this topic because I explored the intersection of critical thinking and leadership a few years ago. This was a good opportunity to get back to the topic and add to my understanding.

What is Unconscious Bias
The term ‘cognitive bias’ was coined by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman in 1972 which quite simply means “our tendency to filter information, process facts and arrive at judgments based on our past experiences, likes/dislikes and automatic influences.”

How do these biases show up in Leadership?
A lot of leadership is about taking decisions involving group of people. Instinctive leaders often tend to decide quickly based on limited information or experience they have at hand. The result is that they end up taking wrong decisions (which may have worked for them in past but may not work in a different context), or discriminating with people of a certain color, race, sex or nationality based on their past experiences with similar people.  At work, biases (or the perception of bias) is the biggest contributor to people disengagement and cost of disengagement is huge. Lack of critical thinking also leads to short-termism where decisions are taken for immediate gains and solutions of today become thorny problems of tomorrow.

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Look for the contrary. It helps playing a devil’s advocate and taking a contrarian view of things. It not only challenges others to think harder but also helps you in really understanding if they are just defending their own biases.

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In common parlance, a devil's advocate is someone who, given a certain argument, takes a position they do not necessarily agree with (or simply an alternative position from the accepted norm), for the sake of debate or to explore the thought further.

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Bigger issues:

#1. Unfairness is necessary. Giving second chances, for example, isn’t fair to those who perform on schedule and within expectation. But, not giving second chances is cruel.

#2. Fairness is merciless. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. In other words, mercy isn’t fair.

#3. Equal opportunity must include reward or lack of reward. Those who seize opportunities earn reward. Those who don’t seize opportunities don’t earn reward. It’s important to note that it’s not necessary to punish those who don’t seize opportunity.

Rewarding teams always includes some unfairness.

#4. Fairness – treating everyone the same – de-motivates high achievers and rewards low performers.

#5. Fairness, when it means everyone is treated the same, promotes inaction. If you can’t be do something for everyone then you can’t do it for anyone. The result is you don’t do much.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=Counterfeit+Leadership

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=Growth+Mindset

Every day, it seems, we’re bombarded with news of leaders, corporate heads, politicians and other key figures in our society whose behavior shocks and deeply disappoints us.

Whether it’s egregious lying, or a lack of accountability, or rampant narcissism or indifference to others, we’re reminded daily of how important character is in our lives and in the successes (or failures) we create and achieve.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=LeaderShip

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=LeaderSkills

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=Character

Leadership is not about stability, it is about growth. Leadership is about change for the better. While managers can fall into the trap of believing that strong management can improve a business, leaders know that nothing improves without something changing and they drive that change.

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Like Fangio, leaders must scan the world for signals of change, and be able to react instantaneously. We live in a world that increasingly requires what psychologist Howard Gardner calls searchlight intelligence. That is, the ability to connect the dots between people and ideas, where others see no possible connection. An informed perspective is more important than ever in order to anticipate what comes next and succeed in emerging futures.

As the saying goes, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” But how can business leaders make meaning of a playing field that is constantly changing shape?

Learn more / En savoir plus / Mehr erfahren:

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=LeaderShip

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/learning-path-for-professional-21st-century-learning-by-ict-practice/

https://globaleducationandsocialmedia.wordpress.com/2014/01/19/pkm-personal-professional-knowledge-management/

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/success-story-of-life-long-learning-best-practice-ict-eskills-for-jobs/

The architect leader knows that the ability to create a nourishing and challenging environment for people to grow in is more important than any technical skill she can possess.

Continuous Improvement – The leader of tomorrow will regularly challenge old beliefs and be passionate about learning and about applying that learning in the real world. She will often ask my favorite question “Who is doing something differently then I am and what can I learn from them?”

The New Leader is Authentic. How and who you are is just as important as what you know! Hold yourself to the highest standards – don’t talk the talk unless you are prepared to walk the walk. Don’t expect of others what you don’t expect from your self. Be real, tell the truth. The leaders that are the most revered are those that let the light of who they are shine through in all they do. They are honest, forthright and clear.

Coach/Facilitator – A leader needs to be a coach not a commander. He needs to hold space open for things to happen. It is said that when leaders do their job properly people believe they have done it themselves. Leaders are there to help people see things from a different perspective, to provide questions that encourage learning and to help turn work experiences into learning experiences.

Our new leader is a Visionary. It’s clearly documented that visionary leaders are successful at mobilizing human potential. A vision provides focus. It’s a tool for aligning energy. Clear vision and purpose provide people with a framework from which to make decisions, it organizes action and effort.

Learn more / En savoir plus / Mehr erfahren:

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/reflections-on-a-professional-strategy-for-eskills-eleadership/

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2016/05/19/a-holistic-view-of-what-will-influence-education-in-the-future/

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2016/02/18/the-new-possibilities-to-learn-and-teach-with-ict/

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2015/12/19/teaching-was-yesterday-today-is-coaching-the-learners-students-for-learning-to-learn/

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/learning-path-for-professional-21st-century-learning-by-ict-practice/

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=LeaderShip

Wherever you find success you’ll find complacency. Achieving success is hard; staying successful is even harder. Complacency is the enemy of success.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Rise+of+the+Professional+Educator

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Growth+Mindset

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Frank+SONNENBERG

Situational Leadership Theory is really the short form for "Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory" and draws major views from contingency thinking. As the name implies, leadership depends upon each individual situation, and no single leadership style can be considered the best.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Situational+Leadership+Theory

The Situational Leadership Theory stresses that different situations demand different kinds of leadership. How does the Situational Leadership Theory work? How does a leader adapt to situations?

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Organizations face more complexity in the type of work they do, the problems they face, and the markets they interact with. This is due to increasing connections between everyone and everything. To deal with this complexity, organizations should loosen hierarchies and strengthen networks. This challenges command and control management as well as the concept that those in leadership positions are special. Leadership in networks is an emergent property.

In networks, everyone can be a contributor within a transparent environment. Effective networks are diverse and open. Anyone can lead in a network, if there are willing followers. Those who have consensus to lead have to actively listen and make sense of what is happening. They are in service to the network, to help keep it resilient through transparency, diversity of ideas, and openness. Servant leaders help to set the context around them and build consensus around emergent practices.

Traditional management and planning models strive for order and use periodic change management to deal with complexity and chaos. But complexity is becoming the more common state in the network era. This means shifting the focus from analyzing situations, to making constant experiments and learning from them.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=listening

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=LeaderShip

Does the character of our leaders matter? According to research done by KRW International it really, really, does!

Welcome to a Leadership Channel Podcast on TotalPicture. Joining Peter Clayton today is Fred Kiel, PhD, co-founder of KRW International, the author of Return On Character. For more than thirty years, he has helped Fortune 500 CEOs and senior executives build organizational effectiveness through leadership excellence and mission alignment.

Strategy+Business considers Return on Character one of the best business books of 2015.

With Credit Suisse replacing their CEO after years of fines and the future of companies like Uber and Yahoo! being questioned because of bad CEO behavior, (or the current CEO poster boy, infamous former Turing CEO Martin Shkreli), could this be the wakeup call we need to start measuring how the character of a leader impacts their organization's performance?

For the first time we now have data to measure the correlation. In Return On Character (Harvard Business Review Press,), the findings are revealed from KRW International's seven-year study on the financial impact of character.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=LeaderShip

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=LeaderSkills

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=Character

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?&tag=Soft+Skills

Check also:

- http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching?tag=Emotional-Intelligence

- http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching?tag=Emotions-and-Learning

- http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching?tag=Empathy

- http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching?tag=EQ

- http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching?tag=Daniel-GOLEMAN

A smart and witty illustration from @simonheath1 summarising Dr. Martyn Newman’s 10 Leadership Skills that are fundamental to successful emotionally intelligent leaders. The 10 skills are measured by RocheMartin’s ECR Report which we use extensively in our Leadership Development programmes at Sheffield Business School.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Empathy

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Soft+Skills

Mindset is extremely important when it comes to great leadership. Mindset is the set of beliefs or way of thinking that determines your behavior, outlook and...

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By Linda Fisher Thornton There are many important roles leaders play. They are supporters, developers, guides, team builders, and imaginers. They are culture caretakers, roadblock removers and inspirers.

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=LeaderShip

9. Inspiration Put it all together, and what emerges is a picture of the truly inspiring leader: someone who communicates clearly, concisely, and often, and by doing so motivates everyone to give his or her best all the time. They challenge their people by setting high but attainable standards and expectations, and then giving them the support, tools, training, and latitude to pursue those goals and become the best employees they can possibly be.

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TEACHER LEADERSHIP & DEEPER LEARNING FOR ALL STUDENTS

In this new paper commissioned by the Ford Foundation, Barnett Berry makes the case for how a system of teacher leadership and learning can fuel deeper learning for all students. 

Here is what the paper tackles:

examines current reforms’ limitations and notes some promising emergent examples, (like Social Justice Humanitas Academy in LAUSD); summarizes 30 years of research about how teachers learn and lead (also drawing on stories of teachers CTQ has worked with since our founding in 1998); identifies three promising shifts that could be leveraged to create an effective system of teacher leadership and learning; and
describes next steps that stakeholders (including policymakers, USDOE, state education leaders, superintendents, and others) can take to advance teacher leadership toward a more equitable public education system.  

The infographic below reveals 3 big changes we can leverage now to improve public education for all students.

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Learn about transformational leadership, charismatic leadership, bureaucratic leadership, transactional leadership, servant leadership and more.

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Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey’s situational leadership model tells us that managers could use different leadership styles depending on the situation.

Traditionally the model allows you to analyse the situation that you’re in and then use the leadership style that is most appropriate. Also, your style is likely to change depending on the competences and commitment levels of your staff and so from person to person. You might lead the same person in one way in one situation and another way in a different situation.

The pair characterised leadership style in terms of the amount of direction and support that the leader needs to give to members of the team and created a simple matrix:

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