Leadership Challenge 6

LdC Template #6

Influential Practitioners (Leadership Challenge): Leading in a COP

Enhancing Action Research and Leadership Possibilities

through the Development of your Collaborative Skills

Module 6                                                                    Name: James D. Lett

Why does identity matter in CoP functions?  For individuals?  For groups?  For organizations?

Identity brings the focus of the framework down to a social view of the person. Additionally, the focus broadens and extends beyond the communities of practice to include more extensive identification processes and social constructs (Wenger, 1998).

Also, concentrating on identity grants an opportunity to address participation and nonparticipation as well as exclusion and inclusion. Identity involves the ability and inability to develop meanings. These meanings help us define our communities and help us form connections (Wenger, 1998).

Identity cannot be narrowly viewed as completely individual or completely collective. A person often defines the work based upon the organization's definition of the role, the individual tasks to be performed in the role, and how these behaviors relate to the cultural and professional norms of one's prevailing work group. 

e. Preparing for an on-line Conversation

Quote/ideas from the book; applications/instances from your workplace setting	Page number
The concept of identity serves as a pivot between the social and the individual, so that each can be talked about in terms of the other.	145
Talking about identity in social terms is not denying individuality but viewing the very definition of individuality as something that is part of the practices of specific communities.	146
It is therefore a mistaken dichotomy to wonder whether the unit of analysis of identity should be the community or the person. The focus must be on the process of their mutual constitution.	146
Each act of participation or reification, from the most public to the most private, reflects the mutual constitution between individuals and collectivities.	146
Conversely, membership does not determine who we are in any simple way; hence generalizations and stereotypes miss the lived complexity of identity.	146
It is misleading to view identities as abstractly collective as it is to view the as narrowly individual.	146

f. Holding an on-line Conversation

After participating/viewing the “fishbowl” conversation record notes here (below) about your responses to your peers or new thoughts based on their postings.  Be certain your notes here are comprehensive, as were your responses to peers. (If you participate as a “fish,” in the fishbowl your notes, which should be entered below, can be much more succinct.)

Membership doesn't determine who we are (146). Membership is how we negotiate our meanings within the context of our communities. Participation is a source of identity (55). Our participation is not who we are. We need to make sure we don't lose sight of who we are within the group. Identity shapes how we function within a CoP. We define who we are through reconciling our forms of membership (55). Thinking about identity with respect to interviewing students and the power plays that are at play. Being cognizant of ethical issues and knowledge production. All connected to their problems of practice. Inherent tension between identity and negotiability. Being sensitive to adjusting from being a student in higher education to being a professional in higher education. Be welcoming to our newcomers.

   

g. Determining your Leadership Challenge

Note:  We are directing the Leadership Challenge for this module.

Expand your social network to include knowledgeable individuals beyond your workplace setting.  Find 1-3 others not in your institution, who have a similar problem as yours.  Establish a dialogue with them whereby you compare situations and learn from one another’s experiences. 

Submit the channel your used to connect (Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Alerts, discussion boards, email, phone call, etc.), who you connected with (a group or individuals), and a summary of your interactions thus far.  

Leader two defined himself as a caring and thoughtful leader. He uses an incentive program to support his staff and reward their efforts. One program he uses is "days off." He offers days off to his soldiers for outstanding performance. Soldiers have may not have adequate time to conduct personal business. Giving personal days is gives them an opportunity to take care of themselves and it gives them motivation to do more than the minimum. Also, it instills commitment in the department and the organization as a who. 

I cannot give off days this way in my work. personal days are given each fiscal period. However, I can use a another method utilized by the leader. He sits and talks with them his staff about their lives. He invests time in knowing who they are and what they aspire to be. This connection has probably done more in terms of engagement than any of his other efforts. I noticed that administrators disappear for a conference and they often go off email. This is completely understandable. However, I am finding that many workers need an opportunity to just connect. Therefore, I text and email every other day just to check in and let my folks know that I am available to assist them. I have gotten good results from doing this.