Tag archives for Leadership

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Inquiry as a Tool for Leaders (B204)

Inquiry should form the basis for leadership decision-making and action, because without productive inquiry you cannot be certain what needs to be done.  Here's a bit I wrote for an assignment while studying B204 Leadership, Influencing and Change with the Open University. What is Inquiry? Dewey defines it as “determination of an indeterminate situation” in his book Logic: the Theory of Inquiry (1938). He sees patterns of inquiry as a sequential process which iterates following experimentation. Dewey links this to the scientific method, there is a need to gather information, and to make conscious practical tests of theory developed through reflection. Cook & Seely Brown (1999) expanded on Dewey’s theory by bringing in organisational theory, distinguishing between knowledge and knowing, and interaction with the real world. In blending these ideas Cook & Seely Brown show that there is more to learning than simply…
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B204 Leadership, Influencing and Change – Tutorial Two Tips

Three models of change in scientific theories, depicted graphically to reflect roughly the different views associated with Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, and Paul Feyerabend. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) I went to the B204 Leadership, Influencing and Change tutorial in the LSE a week or so ago, and I learnt quite a bit about TMAs and engaging with B204's course material. In summary there's a lot of material on this course, and you can't read it all. So don't try. A key part of the critical thinking required is choosing what to read, and knowing when you've got enough theory to answer the questions. B204 doesn't have an exam, so you don't need to cram everything in your head. Useful B204 Leadership Theories The tutor suggested that a good strategy for B204 Leadership, Influencing and Change was to focus on a small…
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B204 Leadership, Influencing and Change started

B204, my last Open University course for my Business Studies degree officially started on Saturday. It's about Leadership, Influencing and Change. You might have guessed this from the title. B204 Course Materials These have some novel features.  B204 is the first OU course where I've had a commercial DVD to watch for the coursework. Leadership and Change There's a large practical element to B204. The key part of the end of module assessment is a work based initiative to identify and implement a change using the things that you have learnt on the course. Although there is a practical angle there is still a strong academic background. Unlike B628 there aren't marks just for doing things in B204, you need to have the right academic quality. I'm happy about this, because to get good marks in B628 required a lot…
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Tending Leaders – Looking after our own leaders

The Kings of War (KOW) blog asked an interesting question a week or so ago. How good are we at tending leaders? Leadership is Lonely Me helping to promote the Rugby World Cup as part of tending leaders at work! While the KOW blog has a military perspective the original thought came from a police blog. I think the sentiment of loneliness of command also applies to civil servants too. Probably also to leaders in other spheres. I've had a few roles involving leadership of large numbers of people. I've also been fairly close to people who have done the same thing, more senior people than me. I've certainly seen them get isolated, and in some cases surrounded by sycophantic yessers. We need to keep tending leaders if we want them to be good. From my time running a passport office…
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reviews

E.Q. Librium by Yvette Bethel [Book Review]

Librium Unleash the Power of Your Emotional Intelligence: A Proven Path to Career Success by Yvette Bethel My rating: 4 of 5 stars Librium Librium is a very useful reference work aimed at helping people understand their emotions and interactions with others better. Primarily aimed at people working in office environments, especially managers and those hoping to become managers. The book is laid out in two parts. The first part of Librium explains emotional intelligence in easy to read language yet without being dumbed down. As well as explaining the concepts there are case studies and it's also referenced to an academic standard, so if anything piques your interest then you can follow the references to as much detail as you can handle. Librium also draws the links between good emotional intelligence and business success. English: Robert Plutchik's Wheel of…
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