UnitOfWork

I'm half way through the personal leadership module on Diploma of Leadership. It is based on the premise, that one cannot successfully lead others, if one cannot lead one self.

It is about theories, that hypothesize how information cannot be transferred from one person to the next. You cannot choose to teach another person anything. You can provide exformation, but it is entirely up to the other person, which parts of the exformation, if any at all, become actual information. In other words, reality is constructed by each and everyone of us as we choose what to take in and how to interpret it (constructivism, Jean Piaget). We are closed, self referencing systems (autopoietic systems).

Another theory explains that reality is created in the context of interpersonal relations and by the language and words we choose to express ourselves by (construcsionism, Seymour Papert).

We learn communications theory and how leadership has evolved and changed meaning through history.

The module does not try to teach us what personal leadership is, for this is indeed a difficult, perhaps impossible task. It is up to each student to explore, how he or she will fill the role of leadership in an effective and trustworthy way.

It aims to teach us how to become deeply reflective about what we do, how we do it, and why we do, as we do. I have come to the conclusion, that it is really about becoming a better person through a cyclic process of studying and self exploration which, if wholeheartedly embraced, can be very rewarding on a personal- as well on a professional level.

I think that true leadership is rooted in:

• a deep understanding of one's self,
• humility,
• empathy,
• patience,
• reflection,
  
• true interest in the people you lead,
• being true to your own values while respecting those of others,
• being open to the possibility that reality as you have constructed it may lack pieces that others may supply

Labels: Leadership

I recently finished my Fundamental Leadership and Management education and what I have learned so far has been very rewarding.

So this November I begin a 2½ year long Diploma of Leadership education which covers the many aspects of leadership and management in much more depth and detail.

The education is made up of three mandatory modules, two optional modules and a finishing thesis. Al in all the education is worth 60 ECTS points. The mandatory modules are:

Personal leadership
Personal leadership as narrative and interpretation in a science- theoretical perspective
Professional competency development
Leadership and communication

Leadership and employees
Leadership in competency development
Leadership in dynamic processes
Decisions, conflicts, power and representation

Leadership and the organization
The organization and surroundings
Organization as structure, culture and values
Leadership, control and strategy

During the three mandatory modules we are going to read some 6000 pages and write several reports based on theory and our own experiences.

At this point I don't know the subjects available for the optional modules.

It seems that fate and chance wants me to explore the possibilities and challenges of the leadership task and I gladly accept. (Yes, yes, I know, I'm toying with the dark side, but I can back out at any time, truly I can...promise....)

Labels: Education, Leadership, Learning

While I have many responsibilities at my current position as head of development at Transsoft, I think I can generalize what I do and what my purpose is.

I spend a lot of energy on being aware of what is going on in our current project. I look out for problematic as well as opportunistic issues and try to tackle them before they run out of control or take advantage of them before the opportunity passes.

I see collaboration and communication as fundamental premises that must be maintained and developed for a project to succeed. I participate in the numerous daily design sessions, in finding and correcting bugs, in debates to uncover the directions we take. I think about technical consequences as well as non-technical and help explain these thoughts to the team.

In short, my primary role is that of the guide, the teacher - a person who mentor the development team and who raise their level to tackle ever more complex issues - and more importantly, through this ability to understand concepts of higher complexity, reduce it in the software they produce through good design.

So in this light I try not to make the desicions. I always strive to empower the team to make the right desicions and when they cannot, I guide them to discover the right desicions. In some ought way I find it a personal loss when I have to make the desicions - it somehow reflects that I have not done enough to empower my team.

Labels: Job, Leadership, Thoughts

As I have accepted the position as head of the development department at Transsoft, I've just started on a 6 month education in fundamental leadership and management at act2learn competency center in Aalborg.

It's very interesting and both theory and practical tools are immediately useful. I'll post more on the subject of leadership and management in a software organization as I progress.

Labels: Education, Leadership, Management