BATA Book of Leadership Artfully Returns

Yesterday I received the altered book back that the Buckeye Art Therapy Association (BATA) Board of Directors have been working on in a round robin mail art exchange since January 2009.  I first made note of this project focusing on the theme of leadership in my post The Art of Leadership when I started off the book.  Since then, ten other board members have contributed to the book’s pages with their reflections, thoughts, images, photos, and quotes around this topic. 

As I eagerly looked at each page carefully, several themes surfaced about being a leader, what it means and feels to lead, what cultivates this, and helps it grow.  Art about what it means to be a leader, the leadership experience, role models, qualities of good leadership, and the impact one has in this type of role were just some of the few themes that surfaced throughout the pages.  Themes about integrity, trust, openness, creativity, and vision were everywhere from my fellow board members.  It is good to see us all on the “same page”. To view a slideshow of the book’s pages to see for yourself, click on the image below.

BATA BOD Altered Book- Art of Leadership Slideshow

I sincerely thank each BATA Board Member for taking the time to be part of this project, thoughtfully considering the theme, and sharing what leadership means to them through their images and writings.  

This book will be available to bid on at BATA’s Symposium Silent Art Auction September 11 and 12, 2009 to help raise money for our Legislative Fund and efforts to help license art therapists in the State of Ohio.

Creative Intentions on Leadership

This past week-end The Buckeye Art Therapy Association (BATA) sponsored a Leadership Workshop for Art Therapists in Cincinnati, Ohio facilitated by Cathy Malchiodi to discuss the importance of transformational leadership and service in the art therapy community, as well as an opportunity to learn and explore skills important for art therapists to practice and become agents of change. I believe this workshop was very valuable  to those who attended and inspired a lot of my own art-making before, during, and after around the topic of leadership.

Before coming to the workshop, registered attendees received Where Leadership Comes From: A Leadership e-Zine for Art Therapists written by Cathy. The e-zine included information about leadership styles, destructive vs. creative systems, common needs for leadership, leadership characteristics, and intentions motivating service.  Cathy’s zine inspired me to do a mini altered book on some of these topics and content before coming to the workshop. Below are a few pics from this book.

Leadership Mini Altered Book

Lead Well

Leadership Needs

During the workshop participants were invited to do art around the idea of intention. Our first image was to focus on an intention connected  to your own leadership: a phrase, quote, or saying that really captured this motivation.  Some intentions that were included in the e-zine that really spoke to me were: “No matter what the weather looks like, we have to go ahead now. Waiting any longer could be even more dangerous“… and “Real, authentic change emerges only from a place of deep focus and intention“.

However, the intention that spoke to me the strongest was the one I chose to do my first image about: “We don’t grow unless we are tested.”

We Don’t Grow Unless We Are Tested Intention

This intention speaks to my own experiences related to becoming more aware with what it means and takes to be a leader, my own growth in understanding this better, and the positive impact that these “tests” (opportunities, changes, or people) have had in my life. There are many things that I never thought I could do (or would do), but through these challenges I have grown in ways I would have never dreamed of.  Again…the theme of growth continues…

The second image we were invited to create was a leadership intention related to the success of the group, organization, or system we work in.   My intention for this includes visioning hope, openness, and the freedom that exists in something new. I believe in the potential, energy, and ideas that will become inspired by this intention and through being a part of a collaborative effort in the world of art therapy. Again…imagining new beginnings…

Something New Intention

Thank you to Cathy for facilitating this workshop for BATA and to all the art therapists who attended and shared this experience with us.  Hopefully we can do this again sometime in the future!

Notes on Finding & Doing Great Work

The idea of finding, doing, and commiting to great work has been crossing my path a lot lately.  I have been challenging myself to think thoughtfully more about my own decisions, relationships, expectations, intentions and trying to learn more about what goes into great work. 

The short ad spot below from the creativity and image gurus at Corbis I think speaks to important qualities that distinguishes good work into the level of great work.  Don’t settle for less, cut corners, or give up.  Have high expectations for quality, seek help from others & work together to achieve what needs to be done,  and most importantly, remember that great work is hard work. Don’t make excuses for why a mediocre job is OK.

Finding Your Great Work Movie by Michael Bungay Stanier and his 5 Great Work Truths is another inspiration that I have taken notice to recently:

1. Take full responsibility for the choices you make.  Own them.   Have conviction, commitment, and the accountability that comes with the decision making of doing great work.  Are you in for more great work or out?

2. Changing your focus changes what’s possible.  Look at who you are,  what is important to you, what you are passionate about, and what is around you.  Seek opportunities and others that enrich, support, and inspire possibility. Will you look for great work or just hope it shows up?

3. You must make the full choice. Hold strong to the no so you can commit to the yes.  I think this could become my new mantra!

4. To do great work you must be willing to take a stand. Get focused on what you want and go for it. Don’t let resistance or fear stop you from finding and doing great work.

5. Great work involves not only working with others, but finding the right people to partner with and opening the door to invite them in.  A recent posting on Bungay Stanier’s The Possibility Virus Blog  reminds us that with sites such as LinkedIn and other on-line global networking tools, there is no reason we all shouldn’t be discovering, connecting, and collaborating with people all over the world who are amazing at what they do and can help us find and do great work.  In addition, take a closer look at who and what existing relationships you need to let go of and are exhausting you of your energy, effort, spirit, and time.

Are you ready to go and find your great work?  I know I am! Do you want to join me? Click on the image below and watch the film for more.  Also look for Bungay Stanier’s  new book coming out soon: Find Your Great Work: Napkin-size Solutions to Stop the Busywork & Start the Work that Matters.

Thanks to Nicole for sending this to me- it was perfect timing!

Find Your Great Work Movie

Art of Leadership

Leadership Altered Book Page / February 2009

As President of the Buckeye Art Therapy Association(BATA), I recently invited our Board of Directors to participate in a mail art round robin altered art book around the theme of leadership.  I’ve started the book off with the pages that you see here in this posting.  I’ll be bringing the book to our next board meeting in a couple of weeks for the next board member to work on and then it will be mailed to the next individual on the list and so on until July.  Everyone will have two weeks to work on at least two or more pages. I hope this project will be a fun and creative opportunity to explore what being a leader means with a group of my colleagues.  

What I’ve done focuses on leadership themes related to action, hard work, integrity, and the courage to take risks:

Action:  There’s a quote on this page that says, “Vision isn’t enough unless combined with venture. It’s not enough to stare up the steps unless we also step up the stairs.” It’s exciting to brainstorm ideas, talk about our good intentions, make to-do lists, and set goals we would like to achieve.  But action is what makes things happen. Action turns our thoughts, wishes, and goals from intentons into doing, making our ideas real, and bringing them to life. Action comes from energy, commitment, hard work,and individuals dedicated to making this happen. I value this a lot in leadership and try to remember this in my own responsibilities as a leader.

Hard Work:  Paying attention, listening, remembering, advocating, learning from others, working together, seeking feedback, recruiting, cultivating, teaching, and following up are all actions I try hard to do with sincerity and passion.

Leadership Altered Book Page 2 / February 2009

Integrity-Those people in my life that have been good role models in leadership have all shown strong and inspiring integrity. They lead by example with honesty, openness, trust, and purpose. These are actions that left an impact on me, earned my respect, and what I have tried to learn from and apply in my own life and work. The power of integrity goes a long way and I believe is one of the qualities for the foundation of strong leadership. Questions that I was drawn to from the text on the above page were: “Could you lead by your example? Can you inspire others with your integrity?”

Courage- Leadership often requires taking risks and making decisions that can be difficult. There are obstacles, issues, conflict, change, and opportunities that surface along the way. It can be easy to make decisions rooted in fear, what is already known, or what will just get things by. Responsibility and accountability help guide me in speaking the truth, staying the course, and doing what is in the best interest of the bigger picture.   

This completed altered book will be available for members of BATA to view in September at our Annual Symposium, as well as will be included in our Silent Auction to help raise money for BATA’s Legislative Fund.  I also hope that I can create a short film of the book that hopefully you will be able to see here later in the year.

The Creative Leader & Creating an Environment for Innovation

 

rev o’ lution for leadership

Here are my first of many thoughts surrounding the topic of leadership and creativity. As I wrote in my rev o’ lution posting a few weeks ago, good leadership is something I want to see, be, and understand more this year.  

The article Leadership As Creativity: Finding the Opportunity Hidden Within Decision Making and Dialogue, published by The National Endowment for the Arts was a good read to get me thinking about the qualities of creative leadership and its impact on success, achievement, and motivating others. Author John M. McCann references the work of Malcolm Knowles and his book The Adult Learner, A Neglected Species where eight beliefs about The Creative Leader are identified:

1. The Creative Leader has a positive belief system and outlook about the ability of others to get the job done and step up to the challenge.  

2. The Creative Leader understands the relationship between acknowledging that people are stakeholders and how this effectively influences their level of commitment and dedication to the work that needs to be done.

3. The Creative Leader creates a vision and expectation for success that others will contribute and rise up to.

4. The Creative Leader understands and values the unique contributions of the individual and recognizes that when people are able to work in an environment that empowers their strengths, ideas, skills, and knowledge, they will thrive and create great things.

5. The Creative Leader embraces creativity in others through cultivating, celebrating, and validating its use.  Also important is leading by example and showing others that the power of creativity is essential to surviving change.  

6. The Creative Leader is aware of the power of change and skillful in its management to create new opportunities and possibilities rooted in innovation.

7. The Creative Leader highlights and rewards gratification that encourages success, achievement, responsiblity, and integrity from within.

8. The Creative Leader promotes others to be self-directing and driven.

As I was reflecting on the list, each of the eight qualities towards creative leadership has important value to me.  Many of the examples I can recall when I was empowered by a Creative Leader in my own life applying these principles. Creative leadership has encouraged and taught me to do new and growth producing experiences, have belief and trust in my ideas, direction, and decisions- even in times when I did not even see this yet myself or know what exactly to do.    

I’ve also witnessed and experienced the opposite by working in systems or with individuals in positions of leadership that attempted to exercise control, isolation, micromanagement, and  ultimately kill the collaboration and fullfillment that comes with the process of developing new ideas.  These experiences have been valuable lessons in helping to identify what I truly need and want in good leadership, and to understand more about what is destructive and damaging towards fostering dedication, participation, and postitive morale in others.

The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) and their podcast, Creating an Environment for Innovation, sites three steps that can impact the successful creative growth within organizations:

The Elements of Destruction are Present at Creation- Creative leadership knows how to take appropriate action and is aware of possible inherit destructiveness that can threaten the innovation of the organization.

Soft Values Drive the Organization- CCL describes this as “how the game is played”. Valuing and cultivating qualities such as passion, dedication, and spirit is what fuels the organization’s energy and direction.

Trust is the Means and Love is the Unspoken Word- A foundation of trust and compassion are essential to helping the organization face and deal with conflict and problem- if left unchecked this can weaken and slow down the organization’s ability to move forward with new ideas and goals.  What is CCL’s idea of love in the workplace? “Love means caring for others, being concerned about their personal and professional well-being and placing a high value on their interests. It means listening and trying to understand their concerns. It means respecting their intelligence and giving credit to their ideas. Loving the people within the organization gives innovation its best shot. “

Enough said. At least for now…