Leading with and Leveraging

Polarities: A Both/And Approach to Flourishing Schools

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Everyone in a complex system has a slightly different interpretation. The more interpretations we gather, the easier it becomes to gain a sense of the whole.

Margaret Wheatley

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Learning Objectives

• Develop a competency to identify the most strategic polarities in your respective school.

• Identify those action steps and early warnings that will ensure that your school leverages their polarities to achieve desired results.

• Develop a capacity to cascade polarity thinking across all school domains.

The Purpose

• Identifying action steps and early warnings that will ensure our capacity to leverage our polarities, achieve desired results, and sustain success within our School.

• We will work on developing plans to build on what’s already going well, improve on what to do better, track progress and course correct over time.

• Our School can become more successful – immediately and over time by staff co-designing systemic and strategic action steps through leveraging polarities.

Principle number 1: Everyone makes a difference.

Principle number 2: Everything is built on relationships.

Principle number 3: You must continually create value for others.

Principle number 4: You can reinvent yourself regularly.

Maximize the Upsides and Minimize the Downsides• Trust

• Honesty

• Genuine

• Energy

• Advocacy

• Competence

• Criticism

• Gossip

• Telling me how to do my job

• Territoriality

• Division

• Hypersensitivity

WYSIATI

• Strategy

• Culture change

• Stakeholder Engagement

• Transformation initiatives

• Project management

• Building Capacity

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When We Don’t See Systems

When we don’t see systems,

We fall out of the possibility of partnership with one another;

We misunderstand one another;

We make up stories about one another;

We have our myths and prejudices about one another;

We hurt and destroy one another;

We become antagonists when we could be collaborators;

We separate when we could remain together happily;

We become strangers when we could be friends;

We oppress one another when we could live in peace;

And our systems –organizations, families, task forces, faith groups – squander much of their potential.

All of this happens without awareness or choice – dances of blind reflex.”

Barry Oshry

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Moral Tribes

• Why should any creature be social?

• Why not go it alone?

• Tension between individual and collective interest?

• Us vs/and Them: Our interests and values vs. Others

• Morality binds and blinds – The Great Common denominator for Tribal cooperation.

Polarity Partnerships has developed a 5-Step process to leverage polarities which integrates the Polarity Map™ and the Polarity Approach for Continuity and Transformation (PACT™)

The 5-Step Process

ENGAGE

Key

Stakeholders

Seeing

Mapping

Assessing

Leveraging

Learning

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STEP 1 – The Team understands what polarities are and how they work. We identify polarities that have the greatest impact on whether they achieve their preferred future/strategy or not.

Generic Polarities

Umbrella polarities that contain many other polarities. For Example:

Yin and Yang energy is a polarity within which can reside many parallel

polarities. One pole fits within Yin and the Other fits within Yang:

Yin and Yang

Unconditional Love and Conditional Love

Support and Accountability

Feminine and Masculine

Mercy and Justice

Relationship and Task

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Common Education Polarities

• Academic Achievement

• My School Team

• Parent Accountability

• Student Directed

• Whole Child Achievement

• The Whole School

• Staff Accountability

• Teacher Directed

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12 Leadership Polarities

from Polarity Partnerships

I believe that the central leadership attribute is the ability to manage polarity.

-- Peter Koestenbaum

Conditional Respect AND Unconditional Respect

Task AND Relationship

Candor AND Diplomacy

Responsibility AND Freedom

Confidence AND Humility

Analysis AND Encouragement

Control AND Empowerment

Focused AND Expansive

Structure AND Flexibility

Logic AND Creativity

Individual AND Work Group

Planning AND Implementation

STEP 2 – The Team builds polarity maps for each of the key polarities identified as being most important to the organization.

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How Polarities Work

• Each pole has an upside and a downside.

• Goal is to maximize the upside of both poles, while minimizing the downsides.

• If you over focus on the upside of one pole to the neglect of the other pole, you get the downside of the first pole.

Culver Polarities• Rights and Responsibilities

• Tasks and Relationships

• Structure and Flexibility

• Planning and Implementation

• Direction and Empowerment

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Negative

Results of

Over-focusing

on Left Pole to

the Neglect of

Right Pole

Neutral or

Positive

Name of

Left Pole

Positive

Results of

Focusing on

the Left Pole

Mapping – Content Guide

Negative

Results of

Over-focusing

on Right Pole

to the Neglect

of Left Pole

Neutral or

Positive

Name of

Right Pole

Positive

Results of

Focusing on

the Right

Pole

GPS = Greater Purpose Statement

Why?

Result of both

upside quadrants

Deeper Fear

Result of both downside

quadrants

*

* Thanks to John Scherer, Center for Work and the Human Spirit

and

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

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STEP 3 – ASSESSING – Assess how well Key Polarities are Being Leveraged by the Design Team

Values = positive results of focus on the left pole

Values = positive results of focus on the right pole

Fears = negative results of over-focus on the left pole to the neglect of the right pole

Fears = negative results of over-focus on the right pole to the neglect of the left pole

*

**

and

Assessing

Almost Always - 5

Often - 4

Sometimes - 3

Seldom - 2

Almost Never - 1

5 - Almost Always

4 - Often

3 - Sometimes

2 - Seldom

1 - Almost Never

Almost Never - 5

Seldom - 4

Sometimes - 3

Often - 2

Almost Always - 1

5 - Almost Never

4 - Seldom

3 - Sometimes

2 - Often

1 - Almost Always

High Quality Decisions and More Commitment

Poor Quality Decisions and Less Commitment

STEP 4 – LEARNING – The Team captures what we have learned and agree on how these lessons can best be shared with the rest of the organization.

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EWS – Early Warning Signs

• What story can you tell about _____________based on this polarity’s result?

• What results confirm what we thought we knew and why?

• What results are surprising and why?

• Early Warning Signs: What are the measureable indicators that will let us know that we are getting into the downside of the left and/or right pole?

• In what areas do we need to improve in the future?

STEP 5 – LEVERAGING – Achieve the Greater Purpose of Each Polarity.

Outcomes

• Understand what’s been learned in this process and agree on steps to identify, assess, and manage critical polarities in their organization over time.

• Develop plans to build on what’s already going well, improve on what to do better, track progress and course correct over time.

Values = positive results from focusing on the left pole

Values = positive results from focusing on the right pole

Fears = negative results from over-focusing on the left pole to the neglect of the right pole

Fears = negative results from over-focusing on the right pole to the neglect of the left pole

Deeper Fear from lack of balance

Greater Purpose Statement (GPS) - why leverage this polarity?*

Polarity Map™ © 1992, 2008 Polarity Management Associates, LLC / * Thanks to John Scherer, The Scherer Leadership Center / ** Thanks to De Wit & Meyer BV / *** Thanks to Todd Johnson, Rivertown Consultants

Leadership Education Staff Map

**

MY LEVEL - PARTOUR LEADERSHIP –

WHOLEand

Action StepsHow will we gain or maintain the positive results from focusing on this left pole? What? Who? By When? Measures?

Action StepsHow will we gain or maintain the positive results from focusing on this right pole? What? Who? By When? Measures?

Early Warnings***

Measurable indicators (things you can count) that will let you know that you are getting into the downside of this left pole.

Early WarningsMeasurable indicators (things you can count) that will let you know that you are getting into the downside of this right pole.

We All Thrive

A Dysfunctional Team

• A) There is a cohesive experience for students among all sections at our level.

• B) We explore and innovate with multiple ideas at our level.

• C) We are comfortable collaborating with fellow instructors and curriculum at our level.

• A) The whole curriculum is disjointed in relationship to the whole department - goals, grading, narrative

• B) There is repeating or assuming content is covered elsewhere.

• C) There is silo thinking at our level.

• A) There is a lack of curricula cohesion at our level.

• B) There are false assumptions about what students already know.

• C) There is silo thinking among the different levels of the department.

.

• .

• Stale Curriculum

A. Regular meeting time

B. Frequent observation

C. Share out levels and listen carefully

D. Looking for connections and shape our expectations.

A. Maintain regular meetings

B. Goal/Project to work together to accomplish (LCT Day)

C. More support across levels

D. Participate/observe residential leadership program/athletics/Honor Council.

E. Regular check ins

F. Support in the classroom

G. Build community outside as well.

A. Students not able to demonstrate understanding of leadership at Culver

B. Lack of preparation for next level.

C. Unrealistic expectations of student ability/understanding between levels.

D. Defensive/Territorial

E. Lack of engagement and sense of tribe.

F. Loss of motivation and creativity.

A. Leave meeting without plan fo class

B. Work harder to cover for others

C. Curriculum gets blurred (not taking care of imp. Details – not granular)

D. Tougher to challenge the process – Group Think

• A) There is a cohesive experience for students across all levels of the curriculum.

• B) There are opportunities to innovate and challenge the process at the whole department level

• C) There is a healthy working relationship between members of different levels.

CMA Regimental Polarities – February 1, 2016

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University Student-Athlete – Coach Differentiation

Individual and Team - Learning Step

• Strong team atmosphere that fosters individual success

• High level of commitment to one another

• Need people to feel more free to be themselves and be vocal while working within this atmosphere

• The downside of being so committed to one another happens through group think

• In the future we should cultivate individual members’ unique abilities and foster an environment where people can speak their own opinions more freely

Individual and Team – Leveraging Step

• Goal 1: Encourage people to pursue their own interests in and out of the pool

• How it’s achieved: everyone on the team will be aware of what their teammates are passionate about, and everyone will feel completely supported by their teammates

• How to receive feedback: individuals that are usually more quiet about their own opinions will be more vocal

• Useful Strengths: Communication, connectedness, developer, includer, relator, individualization

• Imagined Future: a team that works well together and supports each other by recognizing each person’s unique talents

• Goal 2: Make sure our goals and focus are oriented towards what is best for the team

• How it’s achieved: people gauge performance based on what is going on with the team not the individual

• How to receive feedback: when people talk about meaningful experiences and success they will consider the team before the individual

• Useful Strengths: Belief, competition, focus, harmony, includer, positive, maximizer, responsibility

• Imagined Future: every individual is proud of team success.

Pro Lacrosse - Assessment

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Our Deepest Fear

• Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

• There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.

• And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

- Marianne Williamson

When we change ourselves, we change how other people see us and respond to us.

When we change ourselves, we change the world. This is living in the fundamental state of leadership.

Robert Quinn, Building the Bridge as You Walk on It

focus . shift . maximize