Relational
Leading
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Masters program in
Relational Leading
and
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By focusing on the positive aspects of aging, and the availability of resources, skills, and resiliencies, research not only brings useful insights into the realm of practice but creates hope and empowers action among older people. By moving beyond practices of repair and prevention, to emphasize growth-enhancing activities, practitioners also contribute more effectively to the societal reconstruction of aging.
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Ideas, News and Resources
June 2015
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We hope you enjoy receiving our newsletter which includes constructionist ideas and practices as well as news and resources from the Taos Institute.
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Brief Encounters from the Taos Institute
This month we welcome Ann L. Cunliffe as she shares thoughts on Relational Leading...
There are three interwoven issues I'm passionate about in my work - relationality, reflexivity and imagination. I try to incorporate all three in my research and teaching. I also believe these issues are central to leading and managing responsible and ethical organizations. Yet while they are often interesting to practitioners, they seem less so to academics. I say this based on experience...I've lived and worked in business schools in the USA for 25 years, moving back to the UK in 2012. When applying for academic positions in the US, I was often asked what reflexivity meant and what it had to do with management and leadership - after all, it wasn't a topic covered on organizational behavior or leadership courses. My simplified response was that reflexivity is about critically questioning what we take for granted, what is said and not said, and what the impact might be, and that reflexivity had EVERYTHING to do with management. Even more challenging was the social constructionist /hermeneutic phenomenological perspective underpinning my research into management, leadership and sensemaking...perhaps because most US business school academics have not studied philosophy. And my use of non-positivist qualitative research methods and non-traditional forms of writing, including more imaginative narrative forms, makes getting published in top journals in my field challenging because of the conventional structured writing norms. For example, imagination is something to be 'objectified' - hypothesized, tested, propositionalized, and put into a nice self-assessment questionnaire - not actually used in research and writing. Objectification gets us out of all kinds of responsibility! But I persisted, continuing to research and teach with these ideas in mind, with the aim of encouraging leaders, managers and Ph.D. students to be more imaginative in the way they see and act in the world. I teach leadership, not as techniques, theories or competencies, but as a relational, reflexive and moral activity[i]. This means going back to fundamental existential questions about the meaning of life: the nature of social realities, what it means to be human, and the implications for designing, managing and studying organizations. And what has become more important to me over the last few years, is exploring our lived experience from an intersubjective perspective[ii]. What if we begin to think about ourselves not as individuals, but as selves always in-relation-with-others? Those others might be individuals, communities, cultures. How might we begin to think about leading and managing differently from a relational perspective that foregrounds relationships with people not relationships between objects or relational mechanisms? This way of leading relationally brings a moral and ethical responsibility for and with 'others' - what Matthew Eriksen and I have called relational integrity[iii], which means enacting ethics not just as institutional codes of ethics, but more importantly as interpersonal - situated in the way we relate with and treat people. The need for an interpersonal form of ethical leadership comes sharply into focus when we consider that organizations such as Barclays Bank and (dare I say) FIFA have quite extensive codes of ethics and yet are still enmeshed in scandal. I believe the M.Sc. in Relational Leading is an important and pretty unique programme that brings the need for relationality and imagination to the fore. It encourages reflexivity and responsibility, rather than conveying conventional leadership theories and techniques, which have been criticized for resulting in managers perceiving themselves as morally-neutral technicians engaged in value-neutral activities which can be justified because they are 'rational' and 'efficient'.
[i] See Cunliffe, A. L. (2009) The philosopher leader: On relationalism, ethics and reflexivity - A critical perspective to teaching leadership. Management Learning, 40: 87-101.
[ii] Cunliffe, A. L. (2011) Crafting qualitative research: Morgan and Smircich 30 years on. Organizational Research Methods, 14: 647-673.
[iii] Cunliffe A. L. & Eriksen, M. (2011) Relational leadership. Human Relations, 64: 1425-1449.
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For information on the Taos Institute MSc and Certificate program in Relational Leading,
click here.
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Summer Institute 2015
July 1-3, Copenhagen, Denmark 
Attractor/Ramboll and the TAOS Institute welcome you to a conference where we will discuss topics such as management, organizational development, change management, coaching, process consultation, and communication.
Through the unique atmosphere at the conference, we will create space for dialogue, curious questions and a chance to network with participants and presenters. This will give you the desire and energy to make your organization even better. Come join us and meet:
- Harlene Anderson - Psychologist and founder of Houston Galveston Institute
- Karl Tomm - Professor of psychiatry and the man who introduced the four question types
- Kenneth Gergen - Founder of the Taos Institute and the man behind social constructionism
- Christer Windeløv-Lidzélius - CEO of Kaospilot
- Cliff Oswick - Professor of organisation theory at Cass Business School, London
- Reinhard Stelter - Professor at the University of Copenhagen with a focus on coaching psychology.
- Ginny Belden Charles - Facilitator, teacher and consultant within the areas of relational leading and complexity
- Mary Gergen - Founding member of the Taos Institute and active in the development of social constructionism
- Frank Barrett - Professor in management and organisation behaviour.
- Lone Hersted - Certified coach and teacher in management and change management at the University of Aalborg
- Patrick Kenis - Academic Dean of Antwerp Management School and expert in organization theory and -design
For details and registration information visit:
www.attractor.dk/english/summer-institute
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- International Summer Institute
| June 14-18, with Harlene Anderson, Isla Mujeres, Cancun, Mexico
- Collaboration: From Chaos to Creative Flourishing - New Practices for Challenging Times | June 19-20, with Ken Gergen and Miriam Subirana, Barcelona, Spain.
- Social Construction: Premises and Practices, an Online Workshop | Oct. 26 - Nov. 22, with Celiane Camargo-Borges and Dawn Dole. Participants can join in from anywhere in the world.
For information visit:
http://www.taosinstitute.net/upcoming-workshops
More workshops will be listed soon.
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- Contact the presenters to register for these workshops:
Workshops sponsored by the Corporation for Positive Change
The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: Theory and Practice
- June 16-19, European Center, Amsterdam, with Ralph Weickel
- June 25-28,- Hong Kong Center for Positive Change, Hong Kong, with Dorothy Tsui
- Oct. 19-22, Virgina Beach, Virginia, Linda Berardi
- Nov. 19-22, Hong Kong Center, with Dorothy Tsui
Appreciative Inquiry Summit (On-line)
- September 24, 2015 through November 12, 2015 (8:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m. MDT) - Rocky Mountain Center for Positive Change, with Amanda Trosten-Bloom and Barbara Lewis
Appreciative Leadership Development Program
- July 20-24, West Coast Center for Positive Change, Orange County, CA, with Tenny Poole and Ralph Weickel
- September 17-20, Hong Kong Center for Positive Change, Hong Kong, with Dorothy Tsui
- Nov. 24-27, Amsterdam, Netherlands, with Ralph Weickel
- Dec. 10-13, Hong Center, with Dorothy Tsui
Appreciative Coaching
- Sept. 15-16, Amsterdam, Netherlands, with Ralph Weickel
Capturing the Moment 2 - Reaching New Heights on Single-Session Therapy and Walk-In Services
- An International Symposium, Sept 28-30, Banff, Alberta, CA
For details and registration information for the above, see:
www.taosinstitute.net/friends-of-taos-institute-workshops
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Sponsored by the International Certificate Program in Collaborative Practices, TI is a co-sponsor:
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Third Conference on Collaborative and Dialogic Practices, Canary Islands, Spring of 2017. Details to come.
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Conferences: www.taosinstitute.net/upcoming-conferences
The Taos Institute is a co-sponsor of these events:
The Taos Institute is a Friend of the Conference at:
- 2015 World Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Building Flourishing Societies Together: Elevating, Aligning and Reflecting our Best to Create a Prosperous World for All, South Africa, July 6-10, 2015. www.2015waic.com
For details, registration and more workshop listings, visit our website.
www.taosinstitute.net/friends-of-taos-institute-workshops
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Relational Welfare - a Conference
- June 26th - 28th 2015 - Copenhagen, Denmark
TAOS Institute Europe, COK, Mandag Morgen, joint action and partners are honoured to officially invite you to a new annual international conference, where new research, new results, new experiences and thought-provoking ideas wll highlight the development of relational welfare.
During the course of this three-day event, you will get a chance to meet many of the leading researchers and practitioners within the domain of relational practices, sharing their experiences and knowledge. But the conference is much more than just experts and workshops; it is an event in itself, where participants can meet engaged colleagues from different countries in comfortable and exclusive premises in the heart of Copenhagen - The Mogens Dahl Concert Hall. Beyond the rich offering of keynotes and workshops, there will be plenty of opportunity to network and reflect together with other participants as well as the presenters. Every day is concluded with live entertainment and snacks.
For details visit: www.taosinstitute.net/europe-events
Also visit the Taos Institute Europe website at
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 By Emerson Rasera, and colleagues In this delightful and highly readable volume created by our Brazilian colleagues, we discover new and highly creative practices that emphasize the relational approach to group work, whether in the family, the school, the organization or the community. These gifts to the world allow practitioners in any context to maximize their transformative potentials working with groups. Its an exciting contribution to the literature in social construction! Mary Gergen Professor Emerita, Penn State University, Brandywine Co-Founder of the Taos Institute |
WorldShare Books
Free Download Books - Check it out - More free books are available all the time!
www.taosinstitute.net/worldshare-books
Sharing Ideas and Practices From Around the World
The Taos Institute offers free-of-charge books for downloading to your computer or favorite reader. Our ultimate aim is to offer books in all languages. Like all the Taos Institute Publications, WorldShare Books represent significant contributions relevant to social constructionist theory and practice. More books are being added all the time.
Check them all out!
All books are available in PDF format. Visit WorldShare Books
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 International Certificate Collaborative Practices is an international learning community and network. Sponsored by Taos Institute and Houston Galveston Institute To find a program in your part of the world, take a look at: Collaborativepractices.ning.com |
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The Taos Institute's mission is to bring together scholars and practitioners concerned with the social processes essential for the construction of reason, knowledge, and human value.
We are committed to exploring, developing and disseminating ideas and practices that promote creative, appreciative and collaborative processes in families, communities and organizations around the world through a social constructionist lens.
We look forward to your participation in the dialogue.
Dawn Dole, Executive Director
The Taos Institute
info@taosinstitute.net
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