Boise State University Shared Leadership
Leadership Void - Lego Representation of the Nautical Flag for Setting Sail and Leaving Harbor
In April 2011, Experiential Adventures LLC was invited to facilitate a workshop for the Shared Leadership Program at Boise State University. Shared leadership empowers all individuals to step into the void and help lead an organization. Shared leadership does not eliminate the need for a strong individual leader; rather it encourages each of us to lead within our capacity to make improvements and to better our workplace.
Leadership voids are common in our workplaces, in our communities, in our churches and in our personal lives. Voids are especially common for those working in middle management. As middle managers, we are asked to follow and support our leaders/managers, as we try to lead/manage the employees that report to us.
- Exploring New Roles – Boise State Shared Leadership 2011
Managing upward and managing downward creates the perfect opportunity for leadership voids to develop. Stepping into a leadership void is a conscious choice that does not always feel safe. The problem is once we recognize that a void exists, if we don’t step into it, we are abdicating our responsibility to the community.
Once we have stepped into a void to provide leadership and vision, we need to encourage others to step into any voids that still exist. No single leader can accomplish every goal. We are only human, and we make decisions that might leave a detail, a concept or a task left undone or unfinished. This is the void. Communities engaged in shared leadership use followership to reach quality outcomes, because each group member is willing to step into the leadership void when needed.
Interspersed with great conversation, we used Legos and a rubber chicken to discuss leaving safe harbor and stepping into a leadership void, and in the end had a wonderfully successful day.
Flexibility - Prepare for the Unexpected
Stories of Returning
On December 27th 2010, Mat Erpelding, co-owner of Experiential Adventures, was a featured presenter for Story Story Night. Story Story Night is a monthly story telling performance based in Boise, ID.
Story Story Night is a live storytelling program that provides a forum for the Southwest Idaho community to come together to share real experiences, live on stage and without notes.
Each Story Story Night centers on a theme and follows the same format, with featured storytellers followed by a story slam. Story Story Night strives to be relevant, empowering, educational and exciting to our audience, community and world. Story Story Night is a community- and partner-driven program.
This is a story about coming home to a family after missing Christmas to Rope Solo Moonlight Buttress and realizing how much a parent can do when forced to make decisions for others.
For more information about Story Story Night, please go to http://www.storystorynight.org
We hope you enjoy this story!
