Capture a high-level vision of your approach
Timing - 90 minutes
In this activity, your team will develop a shared summary to guide the development of your learning leadership approach.
Back to Phase 2 overviewOverview
Start by drafting a shared, high-level vision for your leadership approach. How will your system look, feel, and function when you’re Leading Through Learning?
Let’s get started.
Think to the future and imagine that you’ve achieved your goal of equity at scale. In this scenario, how does your system (e.g., network, organization, school, district, team, classroom) look, feel, and function?
Tools & Materials
Suggested Preparation
- Review Playbook Drivers A-D as needed
- Review the Partners in School Innovation case study
Need support? Learn more about working with CPRL.
Protocol
Suggested Warmer
As a group, reflect on the Partners in School Innovation (“Partners”) case study.
- How would you describe the organization?
- What values, mindsets, and behaviors have allowed Partners to learn and improve?
- What actions and design decisions have Partners’ leaders taken and made to foster those values, mindsets, and behaviors?
- What elements of Partners’ leadership strategy resonated with you? How might you apply those ideas in your own context?
Capture a high-level vision of your system as it achieves equity at scale
Think to the future and imagine that you’ve achieved your goal of equity at scale. In this scenario, how does your system (e.g., network, organization, school, district, team, classroom) look and function?
Select adjectives you’d use to describe your system in this scenario. Each group member independently identifies 3-4 adjectives, drawing from the word bank or creating new stickies as needed.
Come together as a full group. Invite each member to share the adjectives they selected and why.
As a group, narrow down your list to 5 adjectives that describe your system as you imagine it in a scenario where you’re achieving equity at scale. Drag those stickies to the boxes at the top of the Leadership Vision activity template.
Drawing on the adjectives you brainstormed and the question prompts below, detail how your system would function, look, sound, and feel. Consider, but don’t limit yourself to, the following prompts:
- What beliefs and mindsets do system actors hold and live out?
- How do stakeholders behave?
- How do they interact with each other? Learn? Improve?
- How do various stakeholder groups contribute to strategy development, leadership, shared work, and ongoing improvement?
- How do they interact with each other? Learn? Improve?
- What does being part of this community feel like?
- How do they communicate challenges?
As you discuss your vision, take notes on the template.
If your team is feeling creative, consider sketching out your vision (as we did with ours in our busy campus illustration). Sketching can help you see your system holistically, unlock novel insights, and prompt stronger, quicker collaborative behavior.
Review your vision notes
Review and clean up your vision notes as a team, and shop them around to other stakeholders who can help you clarify and refine them.
Keep your vision front and center as you embark on developing your Theory of Leadership. Ask: “Are the leadership actions we’re outlining bringing us closer to our vision?”