Tuesday, March 15, 2011

ELP 2011 Retreat (part 1)

Our first immersion into the Emerging Leaders Program was held at the Turtle Creek Pump House and was led by Dr. Pete DeLisle.  In his engaging and energetic manner, Pete touched on a few concepts throughout the day, the morning began with a slightly awkward but informative communication exercise in which partners had to interpret a phrase the other had written; however, one partner was not allowed to speak and the other was not allowed to see.  This introduced a discussion on the Triangle of Awareness, (Effective Leadership requires a leader have Awareness, Commitment and Ability in order to be successful).  The morning concluded with various topics of interpersonal dynamics communicated through varied four square graphs including the Dynamics of Competency, the Farm Gate and the Johari Window.  The group was then given a survey to take during lunch that set up the afternoon session of the retreat.  
 
Following lunch we explored the ‘secrets’ of the survey (the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory), which revealed to us if we were Adaptors, Innovators or Bridgers.  These terms pertain to how people approach problem solving, not necessarily how creative they are (see Greg’s blog entry for more info.).  Since the retreat, much like my inability to take vacation photos of more than just buildings, I have been unable to stop analyzing my friends and co-workers as Innovators or Adaptors.  As the retreat wrapped up, I began to get that feeling when you realize there isn’t enough time for your favorite TV show to wrap up the story and you are left with a cliffhanger.  We took in large amounts of information and had many questions that will be answered at later dates and class sessions.
 
Wes Henckel
Brown Reynolds Watford Architects

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