Workshop 6

Hardwiring Discretionary Thinking

This two-hour workshop describes how great leadership begins with great followership. The workshop focuses on actions leaders must take to encourage the hearts and souls of employees, through which they willingly engage and dedicate their discretionary thinking to address complex “sticky” problems and challenges. Participants will also learn why creating a High Reliability Organization (HRO) is essential for sustainable business success.

Key Learning Objectives in this workshop include:

• Demonstrating the importance of followership to innovation and growth
• Describing effective followership competences and linking these competences to EI leadership styles discussed in Workshop 4
• Relating the practices for High Reliability Organizations (HROs) with specific leadership behaviors that sustain high organizational performance and long-term effectiveness
• Connecting the dots between proactive crisis leadership and a resilient, sustainable entangled enterprise

Topics Addressed:

• Follower Competence and EI Leadership Styles
• The Organization as a System
• Crisis Leadership
• Critical, Systemic Thinking
• The Hallmarks of HROs
• Application of HRO Practices to one’s own organization

At the end of this workshop participants will have:

• Used the Mike’s Carwash case study and the story on pages 234 to 236 to examine and explain discretionary thinking
• Linked discretionary thinking with good followership, innovation, growth, and leadership development
• Connected the concept of mindfulness with discretionary thinking and organizational performance
• Gained an appreciation for crisis versus “routine” leadership and the need for a systemic view of company operations and determinants of organizational success
• Updated their Individual Leadership Development Plans to incorporate two followership practices for improvement and at least two essential leadership behaviors for encouraging high performance in others.

For this workshop, participant readings include Chapter 7 of It’s My Company Too! and three relevant articles from leading business journals. Prior to the workshop participants will have completed an exercise related to encouraging others (part of the Workshop 6 homework).

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