Building Learning Community
by Marybeth Fidler

A process of mutual inquiry and discovery that creates new knowledge will be a key to
success for chief executive officers in the 21^st century.

Sunshine, warmth, desert beauty and elegance are in abundance as I check into the
Ritz Carlton-Rancho Mirage in May 1994.  Despite the abundance, my heart is beating
faster than normal, and there is a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. 

I am wondering if the new design for ASAE’s Ninth Invitational Leadership Institute, 21st
Century Leadership: The Personal Characteristics, will be well received by the 24
experienced and competent executives I will soon meet.  My instincts tell me we are on
the right track; my trusted and inspiring co-facilitator, Mike Carruth, has assured me
repeatedly; but I continue to have that nagging fear I experience whenever I venture into
the unknown of innovation.

The source of the discomfort is simple.  We have designed an institute that is experiential
and based on the premise that the leadership solutions required for tomorrow are not known
by any one individual.  It is based on the assumption that these solutions can not be
obtained from an expert.  And that to find these solutions chief executive officers will need
to learn to build new knowledge together by having direct experiences, discovering new
perceptions, and then translating these experiences and perceptions into new knowledge
for themselves and for the profession. 

The Institute includes physical challenges, games, journals, and authentic dialogue --
not yet well accepted learning modalities for many executives.  Its success does not depend
upon the group sharing similar viewpoints or experience levels, but it does depend on
participants’ willingness to be open, vulnerable and authentic, to take off their game face,
and to honestly explore their own leadership behavior. 

I am wondering, will these chief executive officers be open to a new, authentic
experience of dialogue and learning?  Or will they drag Mike and me out in the middle of
the night to tell us that we have missed the mark?  Will there be resistance, or worse,
revolt?

A diverse participant group
It does not take long to know that, yes, this group has come to explore, to wonder, to
examine, to move beyond beliefs of right and wrong, and to play on a open field of exchange
and creativity.  They are courageous, witty, tenacious and curious. 

Participants – 78 percent of whom are male – are ethnically diverse, range in age from 30 to
80, and represent a wide range and size of organizations, including trade (eight), membership
(six), philanthropic (one), and others (two). Despite their many differences, participants share
an enormous common ground of worries about the future, ethical concerns, limited resources,
and dreams of making an inspired contribution to their industry and members.  They also share
a common reality of executives--few, if any, opportunities to rest and reflect, be nurtured or
nurture themselves.  And for most, there are still fewer opportunities to sit with other executives
in authentic dialogue to go beyond industry rhetoric to talk about what really matters to each
of them.

Focus of the Institute
Our task is to examine “21st Century Leadership: The Personal Characteristics,” based on the
book, Successful Association Leadership: Dimensions of 21st Century Competence for
the CEO, which Glenn Tecker and I co-authored in 1993.  In chapter five, we articulate the
characteristics emerging as personal attributes required for the future.  These include the
following:

• Systems thinking: has a holistic, multi-dimensional view of the interdependence of
  people, actions and resources.

• Intuition: cultivates and trusts instinct and intuition.

• Risk: is willing to risk success without assured outcomes.

• Opportunity: is opportunistic, looking for what is emerging that might be turned to
  advantage.

• Trust: trusts self and others, is open, vulnerable and speaks with authenticity.

• Support: inspires and serves others by providing the tools they need, creating a
  supportive environment for creative expression and risk-taking.

• Vision: cooperatively builds, effectively articulates, and is focused on an inspired vision
  of what success will look like.
   

This chapter was inspired by several of the association executives interviewed regarding the

competencies.  In a surprising number of cases, these CEOs talked about the emerging

importance of these personal characteristics.  They also spoke candidly about their yearning for

an opportunity to talk about what really matters to them with other colleagues.  In several cases,

they expressed the belief that colleagues are not likely to be willing to participate in such

candid exchange; there is a sense of isolation among CEOs. 

The conversations  with these executives re-doubled my already strong vision of a new learning

and community building format within ASAE and other associations.  The invitation to do the

leadership institute provided the perfect experimental laboratory to test the waters.

Why a new approach is important
The world we find ourselves in as leaders has changed greatly from the days of our predecessors. 
We are living in the reality created by emerging technology -- a world in which we are all now
instantaneously connected electronically.  This interconnection results in a speed and
unpredictability of change and a level of complexity never dreamed of before.  It has
fundamentally changed what we as leaders are called on to do. 

Gone are the days of effectiveness through control and planning.  Today, we are being required
to be prepared to meet any challenge by having a clarity of vision and purpose and a deep
reservoir of personal confidence, and -- perhaps most difficult -- self-knowledge and a willingness
to continually transform ourselves.  Success is now dependent upon our ability to create new
knowledge together with colleagues. The day of the "great man or woman" approach is truly
gone.

This means that leadership is now, more than ever, a very personal, internally generated
quality.  It has never made sense to me that we argue about whether leaders are born or
made.  For me, neither is true, but rather, leadership arises out of the heart, mind and
soul of an individual; perhaps it is lying dormant in each of us.  Its authentic and effective
blossoming depends on the individual's willingness to look inside, to use the rich tapestry
of life experience, and to courageously explore one's personal perceptions, beliefs and
assumptions.  It means removing the limiting veil these beliefs and assumptions create
in order to see new perspectives, new possibilities, new knowledge.

To do this we need each other, in ways beyond those ever before imagined.  We can not
build the new knowledge alone.  We can not read it in a book or hear it from an expert. 
We must put aside our learned need to look "in control."  We must take off our "game face,"
be willing to say "I don't know," and engage in mutual inquiry, discovery and learning. 
We must learn to create learning community together to illumine the knowledge we will
need in the 21st century.

Creating learning community
What is learning community?  In fact, its definition will ultimately be a very personal one
for each CEO and organization, but based on the work of Peter Senge and his colleagues,
it can be described as follows: A group of colleagues who come together in a spirit of mutual
respect, authenticity, learning and shared responsibility to continually explore and articulate
an expanding awareness and knowledge-base.  The process of learning community includes
inquiring about each others' assumptions and biases, moving beyond the boundaries of these
assumptions and biases, experimenting, risking and openly assessing the results.

Why is this important to chief executive officers?  Because mastery of the knowledge-building
process, and the new knowledge which results, is predicted by many to be the competitive
capital of the 21st century.  It is what will differentiate success from failure.

Creating learning community is not a logical, linear process.  It can, in fact, seem a
bit chaotic.  It involves valuing the space between people, the silence, as a dynamic field of
interplay in which old beliefs are transformed into new visions.  It is not problem solving:
making something go away.  It is creativity in motion: bringing something (knowledge) into
being that has never existed before. 

Creating learning community is much like painting or creating a work of art.  The blank canvas
can be thought of as the open field or "container" in which concepts are explored.  Instead of
literally using paints and brushes, however, we participate in direct experiences – we witness
and observe these experience.  We consider the information and perspectives brought by the
faculty and each participants. We engage in group discussion and discovery.

A sense of pentimento
I am reminded of the word pentimento.  In a recent annual report, Walter R. Rogers, President
of the Mary Babcock Reynolds Foundation, defined it this way:

“Pentimento is a process of reconsidering, reshaping, recreating.  It implicitly involves a
re-visioning, a change of perceptual perspective, a deepening of refreshed sight and insight. 
For the great artists, it is earlier images put on canvas and later reconsidered and redrawn.”

This definition captures the essence of the Leadership Institute's learning community: to
reconsider, reshape, and recreate the image of leadership in the 21st century on top of a
20th century canvas that has served us well, but cannot meet the challenges of tomorrow.

The value of non-traditional learning modalities
Traditional linear and didactic learning is excellent to develop mental processes.  However,
true learning -- seeing beyond the veil of current perceptions and beliefs -- requires engaging
all parts of ourselves, including the body, heart and soul.  Being present only from the neck
up has little value in the search for new knowledge. To engage the full range of our
"intelligence," we must engage in processes and activities that disrupt our normal thought
processes -- creating a bit of chaos from which to draw new wisdom. 

Using “21^st Century Leadership Premises” (see box, page 45) we embark on the three-day
process.  Through a variety of learning modalities -- some familiar, some offbeat -- we
participate, observe and re-vision.
 

First, we create a common data-base of experience using a model developed by Kaz Gozdz, 
a consultant and the editor of the new book, Community Building: Renewing Spirit and
Learning in Business, 1995.  By exploring our individual, organizational and societal view
of history and our present view of the future, we develop a sense of our shared losses and
triumphs.  We visually see our commonalties and our unique differences in perspective. 
Here are some of the observations we make as a group following the exercise:

• Often our deepest valleys or losses lead directly to our greatest triumphs.

• What is a peak experience to one, may be a valley experience to another.

• Our personal, organizational and societal experiences are linked, often mirroring
  each other.

• Our personal perceptions are shaped by our experiences, sometimes differing greatly
  one to another.

• Even though we are a highly successful group, we share in common the experience of
  deep personal loss during our lives.

We also engage in a dialogue circle to talk about what matters to us.  For this, we draw
heavily on the work of Bill Isaacs and Edgar Schein at MIT.  We agree to use some ground
rules, such as speaking only about our personal experiences – that is, not making
generalizations.  We agree to state our first names before we speak, and we agree not to
respond to each other.  In other words, we agree to have a non-linear, non-logical exchange. 
Our dialogue evolves as an authentic expression of the participants. 

One executive speaks of his concern that the pressures of today increasingly test his
ability to be true to his values and integrity.  Another speaks of her deep sense of
appreciation for the opportunity to be held and rocked (part of a physical challenge
exercise) by the group, an experience she has not had since childhood.  Still another
speaks of his concern for his association's ability to continue to make a contribution of value
to society.  There is no closure, no consensus.  There is simply the miracle of executives
sharing authentically about what matters to them.  And this creates an opening, a break in
the veil that allows true learning to follow.

Finally, under the capable and caring leadership of Mike Carruth, we use several experiential
"games," such as Airport and Spider Web, to give the group an opportunity to participate in
new behaviors and observe their experiences.  As an example, Spider Web is a team activity in
which participants must successfully move the entire team through a complex web in
competition with other teams. 

It is an opportunity to observe communication styles, how leaders emerge, when voices are
influential, when voices are ignored or lost, and how the team handles issues of accountability.
Subsequent to the session, several executives say that the memory of "doing" these games is
the most powerful reminder of lessons learned and insights gained.  Not to mention that
these can be FUN in the bargain.

What did we learn?
A critical element of the leadership institute is the opportunity for the group to identify
learnings -- new knowledge and perspectives.  Here are some of the learnings in the words
of the group: 

• There are no absolutes.

• We tend to judge too early and too much, missing opportunities.

• It is important to reflect and look to see what is "trying" to happen.

• We are stewards of vision for our organization.

• Not all problems are solvable.

• Chaos, uncertainty and "not knowing" are useful (though uncomfortable);

  Silence is a profound tool.

• It is OK to be vulnerable, open, relaxed, alone in our thoughts, and trusting.

• It is difficult to stop "doing," but worth the effort.

• Leaders need nurturing and support.

• There is huge and valuable diversity even in an apparently similar group.

• It is important to create empty space in order to allow the new to emerge.
   

What Did We Unlearn?

An important part of learning is unlearning, or letting go of beliefs that no longer

serve us well.  Here are some of the unlearnings of the participants: 

• We don't always need to have the all the answers.

• When we overdo as the leader, we are implicitly discounting employees.

• We can not control everything--control is not always helpful.

• We don't need to do it alone.

• There is value in being more and doing less.

• Consensus is not always necessary or best.

Implications for action
Among the many implications identified during the institute, here is a sample of
the group's ideas for action:

• Listen first and clarify assumptions before reacting.

• incorporate learning community into the organization.

• Begin by Being: observe self and behaviors continually.

• Focus on what is important, not what is urgent.

• Involve staff more in big picture discussions.

Six months later
To determine the impact of the institute after six months, we ask participants to
give us feedback on what has been of greatest impact and benefit.  Some
responses:

• I listen more and don't feel like I have to judge what others are saying.

• I am more comfortable playing games and looking foolish.

• It triggered a process of self-reflection and internal examination.

• I am more comfortable with ambiguity, change, using my intuition, and
  being vulnerable.

• I have more courage to face things I used to avoid.
   

The greatest benefit of the program is viewed by many as the opportunity for renewal,

the removal of barriers of isolation among chief executive officers, the nurturing and

reaffirmation process that evolved from sharing and trust, greater awareness of our

interdependence, and recognition that others are experiencing what "I" am experiencing.

When asked what is uncomfortable following the session, several participants notice that

they are now uncomfortable when they feel the need to control, when they are "not being

themselves" with others, and when they try to find the words to describe the process.  I feel

the same way as I try to write this article about so rich an experience.

Past, present, future
Since May 1994, we have had the opportunity to create learning community with a second
group of chief executive officers – last October in Palm Beach.  This group, too, is
courageous, curious, and anxious to explore new ground.  The session has its own unique
character, but the group shares great commonalty of issues and perspectives with the first. 
I am influenced deeply by both groups as I write this article.

I am grateful for the work of many who have prepared the ground before us.  I especially want
to acknowledge the work of Peter Senge, M. Scott Peck, MD and the Foundations for Community
Encouragement, Bill Isaacs, Edgar Schein and Kaz Gozdz.  I also want to express special thanks
to ASAE's director of education, Anne Blouin, for her courage and support for this Institute. 

This was an opportunity for me to walk my talk, and I am deeply grateful to Anne, Mike
Carruth and all session participants for supporting me as I attempt to carry out a deep personal
vision by seeing what is trying to happen within our association community, making myself
vulnerable and risking success.  It is scary as blazes, but with this support it is possible and
deeply gratifying.

These concepts of learning community are now being applied to many different arenas,
including strategic planning (or strategic preparation, as seems more apt today), board meetings
and orientations, and intentional learning community sessions among  leaders within specific
associations.  For example, one of the largest trade associations has established as its
objective to create a personal and group environment that facilitates the discovery and
articulation of an expanded view of the possible futures for its industry.

In the 10th Annual Leadership Institute in 1995, we will be using the same approach to
explore Keshavan Nair's new book, A Higher Standard of Leadership: Lessons from
the Life of Gandhi.  This theme is inspired by the participants in last year's Institute, as
they courageously surfaced issues of leadership standards and accountability.  It promises
to be challenging and illuminating as we continue our courageous quest to create new
knowledge together.

Marybeth Fidler is an independent consultant, abstract acrylic artist, and co-author of
ASAE's bestselling Successful Association Leadership: Dimensions of 21st Century
Competence for the CEO, available from Association Management Press, (202) 626-2748. 
She has served as both chief staff executive and chief elected officer of international
associations.

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