Transformational leadership
- »The Art of Participatory Leadership«
Every year in Croatia, leaders, representatives of various sectors, trainers, consultants and change makers from around the world take part in an 'Art of Participatory Leadership' programme. 2 years ago, I joined the team who has been running this event for the past eleven years. The training programme enables participants to develop new leadership skills to support the development of their company or organisation. We present participants with a new approach to solving complex challenges; one which strengthens cooperation and inclusion. At the end of the programme, participants talk positively about the experiential learning that has taken place, the new knowledge, methods and tools they have gained, the interpersonal connections they have created, the relaxed earning environment and the inspiration, innovation and feelings of gratefulness they have experienced. Time and time again, all of us in the team feel enriched by the people we have met during the programme and with whom we have co-created the foundations for new forms of leadership.
ZGODBE, ki navdihujejo, povezujejo in nam omogočijo novo smer
V svetu, kjer smo neprestano obkroženi z ogromno količino informacij, velikokrat iščemo smisel, pripadnost in enostavnost. Kot story coach in grafični facilitator sodelujem na različnih dogodkih, kjer skupini ljudi pomagam prepoznati in ubesediti bistvo. Eden izmed takšnih dogodkov je bila tudi tridnevna Quality in Enterprise Development (QED) konferenca namenjena IT vodjem, managerjem in strokovnjakom s področja industrije. Tema konference leta 2018 je bila »Eksperiment«. IT strokovnjaki, vodje, psihologi in medijske osebnosti so delili svoje poslovne in življenjske izkušnje, kako se lahko razvijamo kot organizacije in posamezniki, če imamo pogum, »skočimo v vodo« in naredimo eksperiment. Moja vloga je bila poslušati, narisati in ubesediti ključne elemente, ki so različnim posameznikom omogočili to, da so naredili stvari izven okvirjev. Veliko je bilo povedanega in izrečenega. Ključna sporočila govorcev, ki so nas navdihovala, povezovala kot udeležence ter nam omogočila, da tudi sami naredimo korake naprej, sem narisala. Na koncu pa je nastal tudi plakat, ki je prikazoval ključno sporočilo konference.
Participation is the key to genuine learning and collaboration
After an initial collaboration, the innovative leader of the EURES (European Employment Services, Employment Service of Slovenia) network decided she wanted to equip her team with the skills to run workshops, training programmes and individual interviews in a participative way. I prepared a four-day programme tailored to their individual needs, starting with a two-day initial course and a two-day continuation course. Through experiential learning, participants gained knowledge and skills in process planning, creative methods for group leadership and communication. Participants also explored the authenticity of their own leadership and became familiar with narrative approaches to working with their clients. They experimented with approaches to encourage their clients to be proactive and raised awareness on how inner dialogue and body language can influence leadership. The training programme really helped the employees to connect with each other and enabled them to learn in a safe and encouraging environment. Together they solved professional dilemmas, developed new ideas and co-created new projects.
Linking diverse stakeholders and creating a common framework
One of the things I most like doing is bringing together diverse stakeholders with the aim of searching for common and novel solutions. In 2020, the Ministry of Public Administration organised a thematic workshop for the trainers of a programme to prepare Slovenia for the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (PSEU 2021). The aim of the workshop was to bring together different trainers and enable them to design a joint framework for upcoming training sessions, which they would carry out independently. With the help of visual aids, story work and mutual sharing of experiences, participants discovered new ways to deliver content and came up with new ideas and solutions which they hadn't considered before.
