Archive

• What Am I Missing?

  This entry was contributed by Vaughn Upshaw on September 1, 2016 at 9:41 am and is filed under Collaborative Leadership, Group Process, Implicit bias, Leadership Development, Tools and Practices.

  

  Pierre-Auguste Renoir -La Grenoullere (1869)

   

  Try an experiment. Grab three or four people and ask them to look at this painting for 30 seconds then close their eyes and describe what they saw. Don’t be surprised if each person sees the painting in ways others do not.

  If we see things so differently, what might each of us missing? Leaders need to be continually aware of what they and others may be missing. Our brains are constantly painting a picture of the world around us. Leaders need to understand what others do and do not see in order to tap into and shape a common picture of the future—whether that means convincing people to launch a new business or take action to protect the environment. Effective leaders look for ways to bridge their own and others’ mental pictures so everyone shares a sense of why their work is important, how they will get things done, and what they will accomplish.

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• The Art and Science of County and Municipal Government in NC (and the book that discusses it all)

  This entry was contributed by Margaret Henderson on May 22, 2015 at 1:35 pm and is filed under Tools and Practices.

  

  “I never dreamed I would be expected to know so much about so many different topics!”
  –  A newly elected county commissioner

  There is the “What” of public work, and then there is also the “How” of it.  Success as any kind of public leader – as staff or as appointed or elected officials – requires mastery of both the art and science involved in the topics and processes of local government.

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