Brave Hearts Bold Minds

SA Cummins Dr Philip

Description

What is it that compels one person to make something happen, while others sit back and wait?How can we be prepared to embrace the possibilities of the future?Who am I? Where do I fit in? How can I best serve others?Brave Hearts, Bold Minds answers these questions which confront all young Australians. For the first time, young people can learn about leadership in a way that makes sense to them and can apply it to their own lives.Through their experience as leaders and educators, the authors build a solid foundation for the personal journey of discovery that is intrinsic to becoming and developing as a leader.Every young Australian will become a leader, even if only of themselves at first. This book shows them how.

Sujets

• Gestion et management

Informations

• Publié par: eBookPartnership.com
• Date de parution: 07 novembre 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780987286994
• Langue: English

Extrait

Brave Hearts, Bold Minds
Leadership for Young Australians
Dr Ian PM Lambert and Dr Philip SA Cummins
Published by CIRCLE - The Centre for Innovation, Research, Creativity and Leadership in Education Pty Ltd, Crows Nest, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
First edition published in 2009 Standard Publishing Second edition reprinted with amendments 2012 CIRCLE
1st Edition Dr Lambert and Dr Cummins 2009 2nd Edition Dr Lambert and Dr Cummins 2012
All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Copyright Act 1968 of Australia and subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright owner.
CIRCLE - The Centre for Innovation, Research, Creativity and Leadership in Education, 108 Alexander Street, Crows Nest, New South Wales 2065 AUSTRALIA T: [phone] [e-mail] www.circle.org.au
Design, Proofing, Layout and Cover by imageseven www.imageseven.com.au
Printed in Australia
ISBN 978-0-9872869-9-4
Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge copyright. However, should any infringement have occurred, the publishers tender their apologies and invite copyright owners to contact them.
For our boys and girls.
Contents
Introduction: The Adventure of Our Lives
Reflection: Respect, Tradition, Diversity, Identity and Service - a Culture of Leadership for Modern Australia
Part 1: Who Am I?

Reflection: The Quest for Excellence - A Great Culture
Chapter 1: What Do I Believe In?
Chapter 2: Being a Leader
Chapter 3: Understanding Leadership and the Leadership Model
Chapter 4: Fundamentals of Leadership
Part 2: Where Do I Fit In?

Reflection: Faith and Tradition - A Caring Culture
Chapter 5: Human Behaviour - Individuals and Groups
Chapter 6: Leading Teams
Chapter 7: Team Culture
Chapter 8: Leadership and Leadership Style
Part 3: How Can I Serve Others?

Reflection: Leadership Through Teams - A Group Culture
Chapter 9: Functional Leadership - the Team, the Task, the Individual
Chapter 10: Problem-solving and Decision-making
Chapter 11: Communication Skills
Chapter 12: Contemporary Leadership in Action
Conclusion: A Winning Culture
Introduction: The Adventure of Our Lives

Believe me, please. Strength is more sensible than weakness, happiness is more enjoyable than misery, honesty simpler to stick to than dishonesty, having an aim is more fun than drifting, building is healthier than knocking, knowledge is more useful than ignorance, unselfishness is warmer than selfishness, making friends is a better investment than making enemies. So decide what is worthwhile in life, and go for it with all your might, then you ll be worthy of your forefathers.
Rear Admiral Sir David Martin (1933 - 1990, Governor of New South Wales and Student of the Scots College 1939 - 1946)
What is it that makes one person go out and make something happen, while others sit back and wait?
How is it that we can prepare ourselves to be successful in a world which has increasingly high expectations that we will use our imaginations to find new and better solutions to problems?
How many of us will be prepared to discover the potential for enterprise and initiative that lies within each of us?
The Old Testament Book of Proverbs, in Chapter 6, talks of how the lazy man can learn from the industrious ant; it is clear that a lack of effort will never get us to our goals. Yet what might be even more constraining to us is laziness of thought, an unwillingness to go beyond preserving the status quo and a reluctance to contemplate what might be.
It is very important for us to cherish our heritage. Nonetheless, we need to be clear about the difference between essential, honourable traditions and those other past practices which should always be open to reinterpretation and reformulation to suit the needs of the present and, most importantly, the future.
If our habits become a prison from which we cannot escape, then we lose the capacity to embrace the possibilities of the future.
If we are well-prepared for the world that was, and not ready to meet the challenges of what will be, then we will fail to achieve our goals.
Processes of education and encouragement need to operate throughout our community, but must start on a personal scale with each and every one of us. All of us should come to realise that there is little point assuming that someone else will come up with a good idea; we all need to use our initiative to become the authors of our own destinies and then seek to influence the futures of others in a positive fashion.
This process begins with an honest appraisal of one s own strengths - who am I? What am I good at? What can I do?
And then we should ask about the team around us - who else is on my journey? What are they doing? What are their strengths? Where do I fit in?
Finally, we should contemplate our aspiration to serve - what needs to be done? What works? What doesn t work? How can I find a new way of fulfilling people s needs?
When we set our goals, therefore, we must be mindful not only of enterprising thought, but also of the personal qualities we will need to see the challenges posed by these three sets of questions. We must recognise the opportunities and use the gifts that God has given us, whatever field we choose to pursue. We must be courageous and pursue our aims with tenacity and creativity.
We must be ready to perceive prospects that others have not yet seen, to try things which have not been done before and to have the resolve to see things through to a successful conclusion. We need to have a vision for the future and to work out ways to achieve this. We need to give ourselves options and back our judgment.
At the same time, we also need to be prepared to work out an alternative or even a whole set of alternatives when an unexpected obstacle appears. Sometimes things will go wrong and when they do, we need to make good decisions about pausing, regrouping and trying again.
And again and again, if need be.
Thus, armed with our values and the flexibility to see through to what a problem really needs (as opposed to simply adopting the way it s always been ), as individuals, teams and as a whole community, we give ourselves the best chance of an exciting, enterprising adventure and a happy future.
Go for it!

Dr Ian PM Lambert and Dr Philip SA Cummins
December 2009
Reflection: Respect, Tradition, Diversity, Identity and Service - A Culture of Leadership for Modern Australia

As a leader, I try to turn the pyramid upside down so that I m at the bottom and bubbling away and encouraging people and energising them so that they are all empowered so that they can do what they need to do. Now that s the dream.
Janet Holmes a Court (Australian business woman and patron of the arts)
What does it mean to be Australian in the 21st century? What does it mean to be a great Australian in the 21st century?
For over two centuries, Australians have been dealing with these questions personally, locally, nationally and internationally. We have reached a point in our history where we can now reflect on our past and from these reflections, we can assemble a list of characteristics and values which most Australians would recognise as constituting our national identity.
Once, in an Australian society that was more singular in its focus, we might have looked to our leaders to tell us how to be Australian. A directive model for being Australian would have been handed down and we would have been required to follow the recipe obediently. If we lived up to this image, to the role models put in front of us, we could call ourselves Australian .
Recently, the government of Australia published a list of values by which it sought to guide the education of all young Australians: Care and compassion Doing your best Fair go Freedom Honesty and trustworthiness Integrity Respect Responsibility Understanding Tolerance and inclusion
In constructing this list, Australians from all walks of life were consulted. From their thoughts was derived the essence of Australian identity as it has been understood for generations. These are noble qualities that all people, regardless of their station, can and should embrace. They are valuable statements that can help us to live productive and meaningful lives.
But it s not as simple as adhering faithfully to this list. We can t just say that we are Australian just because we believe in and demonstrate all of these values. And we cannot stop at a list of ideals which has been frozen at a certain point in time. There is more to it than this.
Identity is not that easy to create and define. We construct our individual identities as Australians by negotiating the relevance of values such as these in our daily lives. We try to answer some penetrating questions: Who am I? Where do I fit in? How might I serve others?
Some of us provide answers to these questions on a heroic stage, creating legends which inspire all of us. Others do this more privately, going about our business and quietly constructing a legacy which we hope to pass on to our children and friends in our families, schools and other community organisations.
Some find it easy to live these values, while others struggle to understand and articulate them. If you are less responsible than you would like to be, or you know you should be, does that make you less Australian or, even worse, un-Australian ?
What about integrity or trustworthiness? How many of us can say that we are always honest or always truthful? Yet that does not stop us from seeking out the truth that we know will be unfolded for us. It does not stop us from being Australian.
What of our changing world? Who could have imagined the remarkable changes to technology and to political and economic ideas that have made us look