module iii: leading in context a service of the children’s bureau, a member of the t/ta network

Module III: Leading in Context

A Service of the Children’s Bureau, a Member of the T/TA Network

NCWWI Leadership Model: Leading in Context

2Leadership Academy for Middle Managers • www.ncwwi.org A Service of the Children’s Bureau, a Member of the T/TA Network

Module III Training Competencies

10.Understands the importance of developing partnerships internally and externally in implementing sustainable systems change.

11.Able to orchestrate conflict as well as to integrate and defuse opposition to create partnerships.

12.Understands the importance of partnering with families.

13.Able to demonstrate commitment to continuous learning as a leader and address systems change issues.


The Leadership Competencies of Leading in

ContextThe ability to develop networks and build alliances

Building consensus through give and take; gaining cooperation from others to accomplish goals

Persuading others to act toward a point of view or course of action 4

Partnering

Negotiating

Influencing

Leadership Academy for Middle Managers • www.ncwwi.org A Service of the Children’s Bureau, a Member of the T/TA Network

Continuum of Power

Power

Over

Power

For

Power

With


Ecomaps on a Systems Level

Identifying and Assessing Partnerships in Systems

Change


Cultural Responsiveness: A

Leadership Competency Respects and relates well to people

from varied backgrounds Open to understanding diverse

worldviews Sees diversity as an opportunity to

learn about cultural groups while appreciating the complexity of individual differences

Challenges bias and intolerance Seeks ongoing learning on cultural

issues


What is Cultural Humility?

A process, not an outcome An approach to interacting with

others that is humble (not arrogant or prideful, marked by modesty in behavior and attitude) and respectful

A stance of leaning toward collaboration and attention to power differences


Cultural Humility

Requires:

Self-reflection and self-awareness

Check for power imbalances

Focus on mutual respect, partnership, and advocacy


Ask the following questions: As a leader, how might you approach

addressing the values about the importance of engaging an absent father?

What would be some of the cultural considerations?

How might different worldviews affect this perspective?

Apply Concepts of Cultural Humility to Group Change

Initiative


Leading in Context:Culturally Responsive

LeadershipLeaders/managers must: Engage in collaborative leadership

(power with, rather than power over)

Be less deterministic/rigid and more flexible

Engage in continuous self-reflection

Check for the effects of power imbalance within the organization

Attend to the organizational culture and climate


The Leadership Competencies of Leading in

Context Partnering—The ability to develop

networks and build alliances

Influencing—Persuading others to act toward a point of view or course of action

Negotiating—Building consensus through give and take; gaining cooperation from others to accomplish goals 12


Change Means Movement

“Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict.”

~ Saul Alinsky


The Artful Use of Conflict

“Conflict is an essential resource in getting to the real, as opposed to superficial, [organizational] harmony.”

(Heifetz, Grashow, & Linsky, 2009, p. 151)


Seven Steps to Orchestrating Conflict

1. Prepare: Do your homework and talk in advance

2. Establish ground rules

3. Get each view on the table

4. Orchestrate the conflict

5. Encourage accepting and managing losses

6. Generate and commit to experiments

7. Institute peer leadership consulting

(Heifetz, Grashow, & Linsky, 2009, p.152-153) 15


Orchestrating Conflict: Find the Courage

Push the boundaries of your own tolerance

for conflict.

Interact with antagonistic or even hostile individuals and engage them on their own terms.

Accept support from those with whom you would not necessarily agree.

Adapt your style of communication as needed.

(Heifetz, Grashow, & Linsky, 2009, p. 154)


Regulate the Temperature

To Raise the Temperature To Lower the Temperature


Regulate the TemperatureTo Raise the Temperature

Draw attention to the tough questions.

Give people more responsibility than they’re comfortable with.

Bring conflicts to the surface

Tolerate provocative comments

Name and use some of the dynamics in the room

To Lower the Temperature

Address the aspects of the conflict that have the most obvious and technical solutions.

Provide structure by breaking the problem into parts and creating time frames, decision rules, and role assignments.

Temporarily reclaim responsibility for the tough issues.

Employ work avoidance mechanisms.

Slow down the process of challenging norms and expectations.

(Heifetz, Grashow, & Linsky, 2009, p.160)


“Perceive all conflicts as patterns of energy seeking a harmonious balance in the whole.”

~ Dhyani Ywhoo, Etowah Cherokee


Partnering With Families



Family partners are individuals who:- Have experience- Are currently experiencing - Are at risk of experiencing child welfare services

Family partners include:- Birth parents- Adoptive parents- Guardians/custodians- Foster/resource parents

Each family partner brings

a unique perspective

- Adults formerly in foster care - Relative/kinship caregivers- Youth


Partnering With Families: Purpose

Engage your mind and heart

Demonstrate why family involvement is

a key strategy

Promote change leadership that includes family members as full partners in carrying out change

Provide strategies for family involvement at all levels of your organization


3 Domains of Family Involvement

(From the National Technical Assistance and Evaluation Center, 2008) 23


Ruth’s Story

“Some of your best traits and some of your finest works will grow out of the incredibly painful periods in your life.”

~ Charles R. Swindoll


Angela’s Story


2003

Kansas was one of nine states to receive a federal

grant initiating Family Centered Systems of Care


2004

Conflict: natural tension between two valid perspectives

“Self-inquiry must lead to shrewd, persuasive, and self-confident action if it is to be an effective tool.”

~Joseph Badaracco


Accomplishments- State Fair Partnership- Speakers Bureau- Local Outreach Cards (birth

parents, youth)- Parent Leadership

Conference - Families in Recovery

Staying Together- Received grants for

Cherokee families- Work with SRS at all levels

“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we

can make which, over time, add up to big differences we often cannot foresee.”

- Marian Edelman

- CFS Family Handbook- Customer Service

Enhancement Program- Family Stories- Family Planner- Family Summit (9 grantee

states)- Family Navigator Pilots (Reno

& Cherokee)- Council/Committee

Assignments (KCWQIC, Child Safety and Permanency Panel, CFSR, & PIP)


“Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him.”

~Booker T. Washington

“A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skills of others.”

~Norman Shidle29


Support From the TopKansas Secretary of Social & Rehabilitative Services

“Actively gathering customer voices and providing real opportunities for customers to make decisions about their lives results in a shift to customer empowerment.”

“SRS must place the customer at the center of its planning, policy, program, and practice efforts.”

“Customer outcomes must drive decision making at all levels of the organizations.”


“We are judged by what we finish, not by what we start.”

~Author Unknown


Engaging Families

Meet families where they are; we cannot afford to wait until “They are Ready”

Include fathers from the beginning. We should never think of them as separate from the family

Listen to, and respect their voices

Be open to partnership, so families will be too


3 Domains of Family Involvement

(From the National Technical Assistance and Evaluation Center, 2008) 33


Defining Family Involvement

34

A. Using index cards on your table, answer questions 1 & 2 alone. (If you don’t plan to use a family partner, write the reasons why, and what would happen if you did include one)1. How are you including family involvement within your

Change Initiative? Be specific.2. How will you/are you recruit(ing) family partners for

your Change Initiative?B. Share your answers with one partner.C. Work with your partner.

On each card write one challenge you predict for engaging and retaining family partners.

D. At your table, share your challenges and discuss possible solutions.


Resources

Strategies for Success: Involving Families as Partners (Handout 3:11)

Supplemental Handouts from Jefferson County Colorado System of Care Grant & TANF-Child Welfare Grant (participant materials website)

Examples & Templates on Children’s Bureau Website and Child Welfare Information Gateway

35



1. Systemic family involvement at local, regional, and state levels

– Family participation on advisory councils and other decision-making committees at all levels (Kansas)

– Kansas contracts with private agencies; requires family partners to serve on their committees

– Family partners attend staff meetings (Colorado)

2. Family partners need a mentor or “go-to” person who understands the system and the committee

– They need information and/or mentoring before attending a meeting (who are players, what is purpose, what is expected of the family partner)

36

System Level Strategies 1


1. Prepare the agency workers to partner with families−Parents and agency staff co-train family-

centered practice (Oregon and North Carolina)−Parents conduct training for prospective CPS

staff before they are hired (New York)−Parent partners hired and co-located with child

welfare staff (California)2. Use family partners in trainings

−Partnership and Leadership Strategies—PALS (Kansas)

−Trainings for foster and adoptive parents (Kansas)

−School of social work classes (Kansas) 37



1. Recruiting and retaining family partners is different everywhere—support them and consider their schedules− In North Dakota: Meetings and events occur

after hours in family-friendly locations− In Kansas and Colorado: Social workers identify

potential family partners− Pennsylvania has networks with faith-based

community partners2. Have family partners recruit family partners

− Ask them to invite family partners to meetings− Ask them to bring a guest to their assigned

committees− Don’t set up your family partners to fail

by overworking them38



1. Consider funding for family partners—your expenditures reflect your values− Reimburse family partners for their time through

gift cards, in-kind resources (Kansas, North Carolina, and Colorado)

− Reimburse for travel and child care expenses (Kansas)

− Employ families as consultants and service providers (Kansas)

− Hire full-time family partners (California)

2. Issues when hiring or paying family partners− Hiring criteria relating to criminal or civil

convictions− Money owed to child welfare− Income versus expense reimbursement

39



A Key Workforce Strategy

1. Family involvement is an effective strategy to support workers− Social workers feel less isolated and experience more

job satisfaction when they hear of family successes− Family partners can say things that workers cannot say− Child welfare programs receive more community

support when families are involved

− Consider family partners sharing at your community meeting

2. Mutual perceptions change when families and workers partner− Social workers will view families differently− Families will be more likely to get involved in a variety

of ways

40



Ruth’s Digital Story


Angela’s Family


Day 3 Learning Circle1. What steps will you take when you return to your

agency to confirm that you have adequately assessed readiness for change and stakeholder buy-in?

2. How has today’s discussion on orchestrating conflict informed how you might address these issues in the future?

3. In what areas have you involved families in your program/agency in the past?

4. Based upon today’s presentation, how could you engage families meaningfully in your Change Initiative?

5. What strategies could you employ to overcome barriers?

6. How will your strengths facilitate integration of today’s material?


Key Points From Today’s Training

Partnership/collaboration is essential for sustainable change

Cultural differences and power differences can impact engagement and contribution

Conflict is part of collaboration

Partnering with families at all levels of the organization adds valuable expertise 44


module iii: leading in context a service of the children’s bureau, a member of the t/ta network

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