Responsible Leadership

Responsible Leadership Workshop

Aim & Context

What is the aim of the exercise?	This exercise aims at exploring the concept of leadership and establishing some common reference points regarding what it is, and what it isn’t.
In what context is this exercise useful?	This exercise is useful as it creates a general understanding of what is leadership. This allows people to understand better what constitutes a responsible leader and can provide guidance on how to improve on certain leadership traits.

Quick facts

Preparation time: 10 min Workshop time: 80 minutes Ideal group size: 16-20 people (groups of 4) Contact of Workshop Developer: [e-mail]

Equipment and tools needed: Papers Pens

Detailed Description of Activity & Method

Please list step by step how the activity should be facilitated

Activity & Format	Time	Instructions	Facilitation Notes
Check-In...	5 min	Introduction of facilitators Present agenda If a small group, check-in on participants mood, expectations, or other. Get people to ‘arrive’ in the space. This will be a highly introspective session and participants will need full presence. Ask them to get comfortable, turn off any distractions. Take 3 deep breaths.	Start with answering the check-in question by yourself and let everyone share and then hand the word over to someone else.
Individual reflection	3 min	Individually, take three minutes to write down all words that pop into your mind when you think about leadership. Anything and everything goes. Suspend judgement, just write whatever comes to mind. No good or bad answers.
Work in pairs	4 min	In pairs, run your individual list of words by each other, and try to define recurrent words/ associations/ trains of thought, as well as the words that are most different between the two of you. No good or bad answers.	Allow about a minute between team making to allow people to get together.
Work in groups of 4	10 min	In groups of four, discuss your lists of words built as pairs, and try to identify overlaps, common denominators, and the ‘outliers’. Try to discuss briefly what are the common themes, and the most specific occurrences. Look for most surprising words in comparison to your individual lists.	Ask two pairs to join together (will save time instead of making completely new teams)
Discuss together	10 min	Building on the previous outcomes, jointly discuss common themes and outliers. Contribute with background info (e.g., highlight group findings). Discuss what is the most surprising word/ association/ Train of thought, and what idea it sparked in your understanding of leadership.	Get people to join in a circle (space allowing). Open the discussion to everyone, allow people to speak freely.
Contribute some input and short reflection	5 min	Present the different leadership dimensions (see table bottom of page). As you present get participants to think… do they have some words in common with the ones presented? Which ones do they think are most important?
BREAK	5 min
Individual work	15 min	Please identify at least 3 common traits across the leadership models. Based on the common traits, identify one figure of each of the following: An obvious leader A less obvious leader in your life	Make the table at bottom of page available for viewing by participants (e.g., project it on a wall, share digitally)
Present to group	15 min	Please make a short presentation of your work to your colleagues, explaining the traits you focused on, and how your ‘leaders’ display those traits.	Anyone that feels comfortable can present. If people hesitate, the facilitator should jump in to present.
Check-out	5 min	Debrief activity, ask them if they enjoyed it, gather quick feedback. Provide logistical info about next planned workshop (if any) Invite people to try the CARL leadership assessment. Once you get the results, CARL suggests readings and exercises to improve on the dimensions. Check-out suggestion if small group: Get each person to say how they feel in one word after this workshop Thank people for joining.

Feedforward: Tips for future facilitators

Please write us an email to [e-mail] with your tips for future facilitators. Please copy-paste this webpage URL in the email so we can easily update the page.

Resources (Helpful websites or books for further reading)

CARL website: https://carl2030.org/ CARL Leadership Assessment test: https://carl2030.org/survey/index.php

Leadership dimensions: Servant, Authentic, Ethical and Socially Responsible

Servant Leadership	Authentic Leadership	Ethical Leadership	Socially Responsible Leadership
Listening	Self-awareness	Justice	Self-understanding and Personal Integrity
Empathy	Lead with heart	Respect others
Healing	Focus on long-term results	Honesty	Taking seriously the perspective of others
Awareness	Integrity	Humane
Persuasion	Lead with vision	Focus on teambuilding	Contributing to a larger community
Conceptualization	Listening skills	Value driven decision-making
Foresight	Transparency	Encourages initiative	Knowledge and Intellectual Competence
Stewardship	Consistency	Leadership by example
Commitment to the Growth of People	Share success with the team	Values awareness	Striving for Excellence
Building Community	Drawing on experience	No tolerance for ethical violations