On October 24th and 25th of 2011 and again at the end of January of 2012 LTG will conduct a two day Management & Supervision Course for the The Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS). The two day course is offered in the Citywide Training Center Catalogue which is available for download.

Course Reference Number: C9322
Days of Training: 2 | Professional Credits: 1.2CEU/8CPE | Tuition: $250
Dates: Oct 24-25, 2011; Jan 30-31, 2012

The pressing fiscal demands and diminished staffing every agency confronts can cause a toxic work environment that leads to burn-out and illness as the seemingly unending urgency to agency life goes on and on.

This seminar offers a corrective to traditional models of time management and places at its center tools and techniques that help leaders engage in self-care on the job. By offering a model of transformational leadership based on 'leadership from within,' this seminar frames leadership in ways that build resilience, expands reliance on teamwork, and connects staff to "legacy work" that inspires and energizes even in times of genuine difficulty.

Activities, exercises and reflections will be offered throughout on addressing dynamics of urgency, burn-out, self-care, handling difficult staff, and how to heal while remaining productive.

For more information contact Citywide Training Center by calling (212) 487-5600 or send an email to citywidetrainingcenter@dcas.nyc.gov

SEMINAR OBJECTIVES:

• Learn a new framework for assessing leadership and self-care through "leadership from within"


• Examine your urgency index and assess levels of burnout


• Learn ways to diminish anger and reaction first within yourself and then your staff


• Examine the character-driven qualities within your work that help balance your approach to work


• Develop an "internal strategic vision" that becomes a foundation to your daily work


• Practice forms of self-care that emphasize resilience and personal mastery that can model such behaviors for your staff

Target Audience: Managers, directors, supervisors, and professionals who want to develop a leadership framework and leadership skills that can used for self-care, ending burn-out and provide a powerful model of "internal leadership" that diminishes stress while remaining focused on the tasks at hand.

LTG partner, Steve Burghardt has just published a textbook with Sage Publications, Macro Practice in Social Work for the 21st Century. Combining his earlier work as a community organizer and his recent years as an LTG consultant and executive coach with human service agencies, the book develops an integrated "macro meets micro" approach for social workers and community organizers. By using a story-telling approach at the start of each chapter that features two young organizers at the start of their careers and as they develop into a field director and agency executive, the work follows the life span of those who work in the field, arguing that a commitment to social justice need not end at the grass roots level.

One of the most exciting chapters was written by LTG consultant Mohan V Krishna, who explored the use of the Internet as a vital organizing tool. By focusing on the explosion of "virtual organizing" after the defeat of Proposition 8 in California, Krishna goes on to analyze both the power to mobilize nation-wide actions that the internet provides as well as the possible limits in the creation of "virtual trust" and the implications for long-term organizing efforts.

The intention of this interactive training/co-learning retreat was to expand and deepen the understanding of what is possible when we create structures and practices that keep our primary purpose and passion in the center of our work.

This training was an opportunity for me to enter a learning journey that I have been going through for 2 years, with worldly hosts/trainers who have deep practices of participatory leadership. I began my journey practicing circle meetings with my business partners and then extending it to dream circle and congress of women circle meetings.

The business strategic and healing circle meetings are held every other week where our collective wisdom and intelligence are engaged to find best solutions on any issues we are having. We practice speaking and listening with intention and always tend to the well being of each other. There are principles and practices to the circle and four agreements that are kept. These agreements are:

1. Listen without judgment
2. Whatever is said in circle stays in circle
3. Offer what you can and ask for what you need
4. silence is also part of the conversation.

We are having the best business meeting we have ever had and we have been together for over 16 years.

In their book Stories of Transformative Leadership in the Human Services, LTG Partners Steve Burghardt and Willie Tolliver offer us guidance and tools for taking care of ourselves so that we can reconnect with our highest intentions. Actively committing ourselves to lifelong learning, the authors say, is a key to fostering a culture of inspiration, innovation and openness in our organizations.

That over 35 people showed up that evening while the first hard snowfall fell outside is a testimony to people's yearning for and interest in this kind of conversation. Using a World Cafe format to start, Willie and Steve soon found the room abuzz with expressions of connection and insight as people spoke about why they were there on this windswept night. Seeking connection with others, feeling a need to let go of anger, and a desire to heal by listening and sharing were the kind of themes that folks quickly discussed. People who had never known each other were sharing personal stories of real intimacy that made people laugh sometimes, cry sometimes, and sometimes do both.

The event, held at the Hunter College School of Social Work in New York City, was led by Chris Corrigan, a “change practitioner/professor at large”, and First Nation activist engaged in supporting people committed to change in South Africa, North America and other parts of the world.

Wheatley is the author of the classic and widely influential, Leadership and the New Science, Turning to One Another, and Finding Our Way. Meg is President emeritus of the Berkana Institute, a global charitable leadership foundation, dedicated to serving life-affirming leaders and to supporting women's leadership in our inter-generational global community since 1991.

We invite you to participate in a full day of learning and development on March 25th from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm at the Riverside Church in New York City. The Women's Leadership Revival Tour has already been held in Toronto, St. Louis, Vancouver, Louisville, Seattle, Boston and other North American cities. The proceeds of the tour support the work of women who courageously step into leadership in their communities and organizations.

Our work is so important, we might call it "sacred"; the daily grind is so great, the meaning may be lost.

The value of recognizing emerging leaders at the Chapter's Third Annual Awards Dinner was underscored by Willie Tolliver, Associate Professor Social Work at the Hunter College School of Social Work. Dr. Tolliver was asked to relate the idea of emerging leadership to the publication of his new book, written with Hunter Professor Steve Burghardt. The book is titled Stories of Transformative Leadership in the Human Services.

Since 1997, The Leadership Transformation Group has been facilitating supervisor management trainings, workshops, retreats, leadership forums and trainings and continues in its desire to heal the adults who work with children and families in child welfare.

Our facilitators have been trained to think outside of the box when using our curriculum and to use teachable moments whenever an issue arises. Whether it's a complaint about a situation in their unit, the department or they need information on how to handle a complex issue, the LTG facilitators have been there to assist them in any way.

In these trying economic times, I am asking facilitators and training participants – How have we helped you to stay the course and continue to remain positive at work and at home?

From schools to non profits to large public sector agencies, there are leaders throughout the fabric of organizations. Many of these people do not have fancy formal titles or hold high ranking positions. Much of their work may go unnoticed and unrecognized. Many of their voices are rarely heard until we take the time to listen. They are the janitors, the front desk staff, the computer technicians, the cooks, the administrative assistants, the van drivers,... They are people who can create the pulse of an organization and who, through many years of dedicated service, have come to know what an organization is really about and can help shape where it is going.

Using lessons from their recent book, LTG Partners Steve Burghardt and Willie Tolliver offered tools to do so at a workshop at the Annual Affordable Housing Conference of the Neighborhood Preservation Coalition of New York State in Albany. They explored how we all can undo racial tensions on the job, end daily crisis management, and move from competition among team members to genuine partnership.

Working in child welfare agencies, I have seen examples of genuine partnerships and teamwork between managers and front-line staff. I have also seen managers miss critical opportunities to nurture the talents of their front-line staff.

How have you and your colleagues tapped into the talents and leadership potential of all of your staff, especially your front-line workers and support staff?

Now no disrespect to you 40 plus-ers, I stop at the age of 38 only because I've found (have a 40 year old sister who will vouch for me) in the exception of a rare few (men & women alike) beyond that age bracket just can't seem to get the system down. I mean you don't understand the smh's and the ROTFLMAO's and you sometimes even take LOL's out of context. Now please, try not to take what I just said as an insult or like I'm calling you old and out of touch but instead take it how it was intended, as a compliment. I mean really, because you dudes still know how to pick up the phone and speak through them like normal human beings. You know the way God okay maybe not God but at least as Alexander Graham Bell intended.

Ok, back to the point I'm trying to make... Who doesn't love the occasional impromptu, off the cuff & out of the blue, virtually unexpected, "Hey babes how's your day goin?" Or quick reminders like “Our date is still on for tonight @ 8 right?" Or even the totally rare, "Just thinking of you" text, email or IM? But c’mon Fellas don't get too comfortable and start using cyber talk as your main form of communication with your lady or should I rephrase that, your better half. Your lady friend can get a text but your better half, your baby, your boo, your girl, your main squeeze should rate and were not asking for much, at least one 3-5 min phone call a day. At LEAST!