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Teachable Moments of Leadership

28 Videos to Make Leadership Real in your Team

STAYING OPEN (5 video clips)

What now? Defining the Agenda Together

Unlike other forms of adult pedagogy, Case-in-Point is
based on the idea that the “system in the room” will
exhibit the dynamics that become the subject of study.
If we teach freedom we need to exercise it in the class.
So the agenda in a Case-in-Point session is
co-designed with the participants in the moment.
Managing those suggestions and handling the
answers from participants creates a shared sense of
direction while establishing more firmly the norm that
participants will ultimately shape the course of the
session.
In this segment notice how Jill handles the different
answers from a group of participants about how the
session should proceed.

 QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION

  • What would it be like to start a session without a rigid lesson plan and instead a simply general idea of a possible path forward?
  • If we assume that “what we teach” (content) is “how we teach” (how that content materializes in the class), what would that mean for you?
  • What would it mean for your lesson planning to be emergent in the “now”? What would your planning look like?

 

  

 

 Looking for Another Way – To the Balcony

In this balcony moment, Adriano asks the group to
reflect in the midst of the action, to try to make sense of
themselves as a system. He offers contrasting
snapshots and notes a gap. While this is a
confrontational moment, he continues to serve the
group as a steady presence in the disequilibrium.
Managing the conflict that erupts in the room is often a critical juncture in many Case-in-Point sessions;
managing that conflict properly is possible if we are ok
with conflict ourselves.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION

  • How do you deal with learners not taking responsibility for their learning in your classes?
  • Whose work is it to create the conditions for learning motivation in the class?
  • How do you confront students who are unwilling to do the work?

 

  

 

 Handling Many “Balls in the Air” – What is the work?

It is difficult to identify the learning and work that the
room needs at any given time. Yet the Case-in-Point 
the educator must improvise this work in the midst of a
series of exchanges.
He must counteract the group's natural tendency to
avoid the work and go for the easy and familiar rather
then for the adaptive "below the neck" learning.
Notice how Adriano confronts the group when he is accused of "stirring the pot." He turns the possible confusion to the core question: "what is the work here in this room?" He does this as a way to avoid too much
intellectualization or learning detached from personal
accountability.

 QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION

  • What is your strategy to deal with feeling overwhelmed when tracking the work of groups?
  • What can you do in the middle of a class when a group feels overwhelmed or fatigued?
  • What can you do in the middle of a class when you feel overwhelmed or fatigued?

 

 

 

 Managing Disorientation and Default Behaviors

We all feel disoriented during a Case-in-Point session:
the instructor and the students.
Again, it is the willingness of the educator to go first
that makes it possible for people to acknowledge their
disorientation and notice their default reactions to it.
Jill makes a point to talk about this in open terms and
without hiding.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION

  • How do you support your class to manage disorientation or confusion?
  • How do you manage yourself to stay creative and anchored in the midst of confusion when you are teaching?
  • What strategies help you find your focus in a session?

 

 

 

 Leadership as Risky Business 

Adriano helps the group see that leadership is risky
business by debriefing the factions that emerge. All of
a sudden one participant attempts to engage in an act
of leadership. We have a live case of scapegoating and
Adriano helps the "system in the room" see this case
and themselves in action. Note the group’s laughter
here and the participants’ interactions.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION

  • What are the implications for people that teach the belief that “leadership is risky”?
  • What acts of leadership do you encourage or notice in your classes as a teacher?
  • What does leadership from your students look like in your class?