Events – Collective Leadership for Scotland

08:00 - 08:20 | Wednesday 1 September

The Sanctuary

Each day we will offer different practices, including journaling and mindfulness to help you restore a sense of balance. Join us in the morning or the evening to prepare for the day ahead, or a pause in your day, using practices for self-reflection and a stable mind. We invite you to join the sessions in the way that suits you. You can choose to keep your camera on or off and you have the option to join in with any open discussions. This is event is hosted by the Leadership-as-Practice Events Committee and Collective Leadership for Scotland team.

08:30 - 09:20 | Wednesday 1 September

Collaboration Café

Pop in to the Collaboration Café to hear about what’s happening that day at the Leadership Campfires and any reflections from previous events. It’s a chance to cross-pollinate ideas, meet people you never knew and continue discussions in an informal way. It’s also a great opportunity to give a shout out for an event you are running. Our collaboration cafes run twice a day during the festival so bring your breakfast or lunch - but most of all - your curiosity. This is event is hosted by the Leadership-as-Practice Events Committee and Collective Leadership for Scotland team.

09:30 - 11:00 | Wednesday 1 September

The Conversational Role of the Individual in Powering Collective Leadership

A provocation has come up regarding the role of the individual in collective leadership, in particular, how individuals can introduce and exemplify the benefit of collective leadership practice in their own setting that has otherwise only known the experience of directive individual leadership. What if there is a simple way to get this started, namely by talking with others? What if we can demonstrate that naturally within the flow of conversation, we can have the very source of the power for change? Let’s try out my conjecture as we talk it over! This session will be hosted by David Fearon.

09:30 - 11:00 | Wednesday 1 September

What can we learn from communities and can we support community learning

We have been gathering stories of collective leadership from a community enterprise context and would welcome wider conversation on these practices and how they relate to the wider world. Our work via an Erasmus project with partners in Scotland, Finland, Estonia and Romania has assisted in development of tools and resources to support collective leadership for community-led enterprise. We will explore how these tools and resources can be used effectively to support communities and gather feedback to continue to build on this work. This event is hosted by InspirAlba.

11:00 - 12:30 | Wednesday 1 September

Experiences of collective leadership and development in non-Western culture

What are our shared experiences of collective leadership and development in a non-Western culture? An opportunity to explore experiences of leadership and development in non-Western cultures in order to extract lessons from practice. In keeping with collective leadership models, the session will embrace the notion that lasting success is only possible with diverse perspectives and contributions and encourage these to be shared. Questions such as what constitutes authentic engagement will be considered, together with approaches to managing ambiguity, resolving conflict and ensuring people are connected, engaged and aligned with a common vision. This session is hosted by Eric Sandelands and Dr Richard Hale.

11:00 - 12:30 | Wednesday 1 September

Using Your Brain To Collaborate

We are wired to work together, but it still takes skill and awareness. We want to have a dialogue about how our brain fires in different ways when we are collaborating (sometimes this is helpful, sometimes it is not helpful) and this is why we need to have an aliveness to what’s really happening. Join an exciting conversation which takes us inwards so that we can better reach outwards. We are wired to work together which is fun and challenging. Let’s talk about it. This session will be presented by Jenny Robinson , Profs Claire Collins and Patricia Riddell

12:30 - 13:20 | Wednesday 1 September

Collaboration Café

Pop in to the Collaboration Café to hear about what’s happening that day at the Leadership Campfires and any reflections from previous events. It’s a chance to cross-pollinate ideas, meet people you never knew and continue discussions in an informal way. It’s also a great opportunity to give a shout out for an event you are running. Our collaboration cafes run twice a day during the festival so bring your breakfast or lunch - but most of all - your curiosity. This is event is hosted by the Leadership-as-Practice Events Committee and Collective Leadership for Scotland team.

13:30 - 14:20 | Wednesday 1 September

What dialogic interaction is necessary to emerge collective leadership?

How are dialogic conditions negotiated, influenced, and expressed in order to navigate disagreement productively? What dialogic conditions are required to produce sensemaking and meaning-making processes necessary for CL/LAP? The objective of this event is to identify, explore, and unpack dialogic interactions and conditions required to support CL/LAP activity. A focus will be on dialogic capacities, dispositions, and conditions necessary to support the types of sensemaking, meaning-making, and productive disagreement closely associated with CL/LAP. The discussion will be framed through the categories of leadership learning and development, practice, and research. I will offer some initial framing that draws upon Anthony Gidden’s conception of “dialogic democracy” and Karl Weick’s understanding of “sense-making” and “meaning-making.” The implication of my initial framing will be that CL/LAP is particularly well-suited to respond to the practical and theoretical challenges of leadership in social systems, organizations, and structures of democracy. This session is hosted by Brandon Kliewer.

13:30 - 15:00 | Wednesday 1 September

How to lead in projects? Leadership as practice for delivering organisation

Government policy and organisational strategy is increasingly being delivered through projects as flexible and temporary organisational forms that dissolve once their goals are achieved. While leadership is often claimed as an important ingredient for the success of projects, the dominant narrative of leadership is still one that emphasises features of individuals and their accomplishments, without sufficient emphasis on the collaborative actions and practices needed for leadership in a temporary organisation defined with its end goals. The goal of this campfire event is to explore and discuss the aspects of L-A-P in projects that achieve policy, strategy and operational objectives. This session will be presented by : Vedran Zerjav

15:00 - 16:30 | Wednesday 1 September

Leadership, technology and precarious work

Is there space for leadership in an era of Total Management? During the pandemic, collective ingenuity and leadership came to the rescue. Yet many workers have been paid back with an intensification of control, precarity and surveillance through technology. From warehouses, to call centres and now to knowledge work in homes, automation is increasingly closing off space for leadership. We will discuss the potential of collective leadership to adapt to and drive more empowering technological futures. Can we seize tech for emancipatory, democratic ends? Or should we embrace our Luddite heritage, destroy our machinic overlords and seek tech-light alternatives? This session is hosted by Owain Smolović Jones.

15:00 - 16:30 | Wednesday 1 September

Place-based System Leadership: Police & Local Government Work in Scotland

This year Collective Leadership for Scotland has been working with colleagues in Police Scotland and The Improvement Service to offer a suite of bespoke Collective Leadership Pilots in three localities, drawing in partners from the locality. The intention of the pilots is to offer a place-based, focussed learning experience on the theory and practice of Collective Leadership, including supported exploration of complex/wicked issues by participants. This campfire offers the opportunity to find out more about the Programme and to hear the stories of how Collective Leadership practice has been developed and is now being used by participants in the Programme.

16:30 - 18:00 | Wednesday 1 September

“Master(s) Of This Design”: Leadership-As-Practice in Theatrical Production

Given that ‘leadership-as-practice’ (L-A-P) 'looks for leadership in its music and activity rather than in the traits and heroics of individual actors', what might that look like in a collaborative theatre production? Similarly to organizations, the world of theatre and other performing arts has focused often on the 'who' of leadership in the person of directors and authors. What kind of social interactions (including the establishment of antecedent conditions) might lead to particular pragmatic outcomes such as a successful artistic experience, commercial success, continued existence of a company, etc.? (The quote in the campfire’s title is that of Prospero in The Tempest alluding to the condition on his island). This session is hosted by T. J. Elliott.

16:30 - 18:00 | Wednesday 1 September

How do we introduce and grow Leadership-as-Practice in new regions?

Unlocking enterprise agility in new regions through collective leadership practices such as Leadership-as-Practice. How can we introduce and assimilate Leadership-as-Practice and collective leadership models in new countries and regions? Traditional command and control organizations are striving for greater agility. Collective leadership models such as Leadership-as-Practice (L-A-P) allow for this agility when embraced correctly. Self-organizing IT teams have showed what is possible at the team level. Collective leadership models can have the same impact at an organizational level. There are naturally questions in the minds of organizational leadership when adopting this in new regions and countries. They will be wondering why they should embrace collective leadership and how to mitigate the risks of pursuing this? Join us if you’re interested, learn from and contribute to this important discussion. This session is hosted by Baz Barends, Steve Davis, Davina Zietsman ,Dave Kudas and Chetan Goshalia.

18:00 - 19:30 | Wednesday 1 September

Moral Foundations of Leadership Theory

In relationally oriented social science theories, inconsistent moral foundations (see Alasdair MacIntyre’s Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry) can increase the threat of what Albert Bandura refers to as moral disengagement, which can eventually lead an increased propensity for self-destructive behaviours, including suicide. This issue may be more precarious in the context of leadership in pluralistic organizations due to problems related to coercion, influence, power, authority, and a culture that minimizes or disregards respect for individual moral agency. It can be argued that democratic and collective forms of leadership may actually, when implemented in practice, increase a moral agent’s propensity to disengage from their own moral self-sanctions utilizing mechanisms such as diffusion of responsibility, euphemistic labelling, and palliative comparison. This session will be presented by Kirk Mensch.

18:00 - 19:30 | Wednesday 1 September

Know thyself...the beginning of leadership?

According to Socrates, true wisdom is knowing what you do not know. The idea that in order to truly know oneself, it is essential to recognise the limits of your own wisdom and understanding; appreciating your inner strengths and areas you have yet to grow. Practical application of ‘knowing thyself’ can be seen in the fields of sport coaching, therapy and research. Effective practitioners are considered to be those who develop deep self-awareness and recognise how their own perspectives shape their interactions with the world. Crucially for leadership, these people are then able to build and sustain effective, genuine relationships to work collectively in diverse teams in challenging circumstances. In recent years there has been a growing recognition that for authentic leadership to flourish, ‘knowing thyself’ is vital. Join us, an artist-educator-psychotherapist, a creative learning advocate and a leadership innovator, as we explore why knowing ourselves matters and why we think…that just maybe...leadership really starts with ‘I’. This session will be presented by Jane Booth, Lorna Brown and Sophie Hadaway

19:30 - 20:30 | Wednesday 1 September

Launch Event

Wherever you are in the world, join us for our global Leadership Campfires Launch event to spark and spread the word about this international leadership festival! This will be an opportunity to explore together what kind of leadership practices are most likely to serve us well for the times we are living in and to learn a bit more about Collective Leadership and Leadership-as-Practice, and where these fit together in our contemporary world. There will also be an opportunity to talk together about what events have been attended so far and look at what others are coming up with, sharing the highlights and any recommendations. – perhaps suggesting some highlights for you to consider. This is event is hosted by the Leadership-as-Practice Events Committee and Collective Leadership for Scotland team.

20:30 - 20:50 | Wednesday 1 September

The Sanctuary

Each day we will offer different practices, including journaling and mindfulness to help you restore a sense of balance. Join us in the morning or the evening to prepare for the day ahead, or a pause in your day, using practices for self-reflection and a stable mind. We invite you to join the sessions in the way that suits you. You can choose to keep your camera on or off and you have the option to join in with any open discussions. This is event is hosted by the Leadership-as-Practice Events Committee and Collective Leadership for Scotland team.

08:00 - 08:20 | Thursday 2 September

The Sanctuary

Each day we will offer different practices, including journaling and mindfulness to help you restore a sense of balance. Join us in the morning or the evening to prepare for the day ahead, or a pause in your day, using practices for self-reflection and a stable mind. We invite you to join the sessions in the way that suits you. You can choose to keep your camera on or off and you have the option to join in with any open discussions. This is event is hosted by the Leadership-as-Practice Events Committee and Collective Leadership for Scotland team.

08:30 - 09:20 | Thursday 2 September

Collaboration Café

Pop in to the Collaboration Café to hear about what’s happening that day at the Leadership Campfires and any reflections from previous events. It’s a chance to cross-pollinate ideas, meet people you never knew and continue discussions in an informal way. It’s also a great opportunity to give a shout out for an event you are running. Our collaboration cafes run twice a day during the festival so bring your breakfast or lunch - but most of all - your curiosity. This is event is hosted by the Leadership-as-Practice Events Committee and Collective Leadership for Scotland team.

09:30 - 11:00 | Thursday 2 September

Practising change together – how do we know we are doing good work?

Open and routine reflection within any group is an uncommon experience but holds out the prospect of (re)-creating a mature, ‘authentic trust’ and ability to talk to each other about the quality and impact of our work together. We will explore ‘new territories for evaluation’ by introducing and testing a series of provocative propositions drawn from the work of Collective Leadership Scotland. These provocations are a practical tool, to bring new qualities to our talking to each other about our various and shared visions of a better future. This session will be hosted by Cathy Sharp with colleagues from the Collective Leadership Scotland team.

11:00 - 12:30 | Thursday 2 September

Leadership as if people were human

Think about a time when you have shown or witnessed leadership-in-the-moment, something valuable or precious in our working life and leadership practices. Tell us about it as a first-person short story or snippet in no more than 4 minutes. What happened, what was said and how did you feel? This workshop will begin to explore how we can harness the power of sharing stories to enlarge our human sense of possibility, practice listening and create a receptive environment for other stories to be heard. This session will be hosted by Cathy Sharp with colleagues from the Collective Leadership Scotland team.

11:00 - 12:30 | Thursday 2 September

How can we harness the power of unremarkable/everyday acts in leading?

Whilst notions of heroic leaders performing remarkable acts, with grand plans and loyal followers continue to dominate, the pandemic brought into view the potential of the everyday and unremarkable. Within weeks, while strong, formal leaders dithered and pirouetted, companies, communities, neighbourhoods, individuals picked-up the leadership mantle. Acting with spontaneity and paying rather than seeking attention, they took timely, thoughtful action, making the best contribution they could with the resources available. We have termed these leaderly practices ‘unleading’. Join us to explore together how we can continue to set these little fires everywhere and release the leadership potential of unremarkable, everyday acts as we practice (un)leadership in organisations in the post-pandemic world.

12:30 - 13:20 | Thursday 2 September

Collaboration Café

Pop in to the Collaboration Café to hear about what’s happening that day at the Leadership Campfires and any reflections from previous events. It’s a chance to cross-pollinate ideas, meet people you never knew and continue discussions in an informal way. It’s also a great opportunity to give a shout out for an event you are running. Our collaboration cafes run twice a day during the festival so bring your breakfast or lunch - but most of all - your curiosity. This is event is hosted by the Leadership-as-Practice Events Committee and Collective Leadership for Scotland team.

13:30 - 15:00 | Thursday 2 September

How can we see starring as a collaborative endeavor?

Through team sport experiences, we may challenge heroic stories of organizational success and instead reveal manifestations of starring as a collaborative endeavour. In team sports, individual excellence seems to be celebrated. Individual achievements by star players and heroic coaches are seen decisive when dreams are made true. Teammates, media, fans, all may put these extraordinary saviors (or scapegoats) on the pedestals. However, while we have evidenced many times how individual success (e.g. in terms of scoring goals) is not transferable from one context to another, we may have noticed how that excellence stems rather from a collaborative agency. It is questionable to praise individual actions (onstage or offstage) by team sport heroes without noticing how they invite others to supplement in an appropriate manner and how those supplements co-decide if team collaboration will be harmonic and successful. This session is hosted by Arto Ryömä.

13:30 - 15:00 | Thursday 2 September

Young System Changers - How do we break the mould?

There are number of policy drivers, issues and strategies in Scotland and globally (e.g. United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Citizens Assemblies, Climate Change) influencing why young people should be front and centre of how we shape a future post-COVID world. Although there is a desire for young people to be systems changers and collective leaders in their own geographic and thematic communities as well as key influencers of future national policies, it can often feel there is a tension between engaging with young people in traditional forms, devised by adults and really letting go of control. As part of the work of Collective Leadership for Scotland we have been offering a reflective and inquiring space for sharing learning, raising challenges and increasing our understanding of how we are working together to support and ensure young people can take up their role as systems leaders. In this campfire we, and some of our collective will be exploring some of our experiences and welcome with an interest and/or experiences in young systems leaders/change makers to join this conversation.

15:00 - 16:30 | Thursday 2 September

The Craft of Leadership

It’s not unusual to hear professional athletes talk about how they are “working on their craft”. Musicians and actors also speak about “their craft”. It’s commonplace to hear the phrase “the art of leadership”, but with a few exceptions, we don’t hear much about the craft of leadership (especially from leaders themselves). What would it mean to approach leadership as a craft? How would that inform the Leadership-as-Practice perspective? This session is hosted by Steven Taylor.

15:00 - 16:30 | Thursday 2 September

Toasting Marshmallows – Avoiding a Burnt Bottom

The best conversations happen in the twilight hours when you get to toast your marshmallows over the fire and ideas get a real roasting to see if they survive scrutiny or burn to a crisp. We explore the ‘bright-side’ of shared models of leading where people join together as a single unit to create direction, alignment and commitment. But we also explore resistances and holding-back where people demand and expect a certain style of leading. How do new ideas of leadership that are not individualistic and not heroic look and feel to others and what do you do when people feel that this is not what leadership should be. Join this amazing group of leaders and academics in conversation to hear about how collective ideas of leadership work in practice. This session will be presented by Jenny Robinson

16:30 - 18:00 | Thursday 2 September

Getting Going with Collective Leadership and Leadership-as-Practice

The current times have highlighted a need for more collective leadership practices, and the current political focus in Scotland is very clear on the need for much enhanced collective practice to support Covid recovery and wider reform. However, amidst the intense and competing pressures we often find ourselves in, we might be wondering where to start with Collective Leadership? We will turn to some development opportunities that can spur collective leadership and that may do so at multiple levels of action (individual, interpersonal, team, organization, network). Among the interventions might be action learning in which particular practices, such as learning team dialogue, can produce a receptive environment for collective leadership. We would also like to say a word about how to work with key executives who might be sponsors of leaderful development. We will also consider the role of fear, and how it can prevent us from taking small steps in our practice towards collective leadership. To give you a bit of a flavour of how collective leadership can be utilised, the session will model Collective Leadership-in-Practice. This event will be hosted by Janet Whitley and Joe Raelin.

16:30 - 18:00 | Thursday 2 September

The Village Works: Melting, Smelting and Reforming

Come join the village melting pot where every state of being is welcome: if you care too much or too little, are too much, are too little, feel all wrong when everyone else is right, are right and they are all wrong, when no one is listening and you can't bear to hear another word.. come melt or smelt and try on some new shapes at the Village Works. Let's see what collective wisdom our bodies come up with, just as we are. Unsticking ourselves, one Stuck at a time with social presenting theatre. This session is presented by Joan O'Donnell.

18:00 - 19:30 | Thursday 2 September

Moral Foundations of Leadership Theory

In relationally oriented social science theories, inconsistent moral foundations (see Alasdair MacIntyre’s Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry) can increase the threat of what Albert Bandura refers to as moral disengagement, which can eventually lead an increased propensity for self-destructive behaviours, including suicide. This issue may be more precarious in the context of leadership in pluralistic organizations due to problems related to coercion, influence, power, authority, and a culture that minimizes or disregards respect for individual moral agency. It can be argued that democratic and collective forms of leadership may actually, when implemented in practice, increase a moral agent’s propensity to disengage from their own moral self-sanctions utilizing mechanisms such as diffusion of responsibility, euphemistic labelling, and palliative comparison. This session will be presented by Kirk Mensch.

18:00 - 19:30 | Thursday 2 September

How is neuroscience enabling leaders to create more humane workplaces?

Our understanding of the human brain continues to increase dramatically through developments in the field of neuroscience. While neuroscience is a complex and specialist field, the practical ‘basics’ of neuroscience are easy for leaders of all types of organisations to understand and apply. Leadership that reduces ‘threats’ and increases ‘rewards’ (our brain’s key orientations) is essential in building more humane, ‘psychologically safe’ workplaces. Join us to explore what a workplace with fewer threats and more rewards can look and sound like – and learn some ‘neuroscience basics’ too. This session will be presented by Joette Thomas and Jo Kennedy from Animate Consulting

19:30 - 20:30 | Thursday 2 September

The Finale

This will be an open space to get together and reflect on which events you have attended during the festival, what has emerged for you and what could be next. Together we want to discuss which topics have stood out for you and which questions you have now. There will be room to explore the impact the events have had on you and to consider any possible developments that could follow. This event is hosted by the Leadership-as-Practice Events Committee and Collective Leadership for Scotland team.

The Leadership Campfires

Wednesday - 1 Sep

The Sanctuary

Collaboration Café

The Conversational Role of the Individual in Powering Collective Leadership

What can we learn from communities and can we support community learning

Experiences of collective leadership and development in non-Western culture

Using Your Brain To Collaborate

Collaboration Café

What dialogic interaction is necessary to emerge collective leadership?

How to lead in projects? Leadership as practice for delivering organisation

Leadership, technology and precarious work

Place-based System Leadership: Police & Local Government Work in Scotland

“Master(s) Of This Design”: Leadership-As-Practice in Theatrical Production

How do we introduce and grow Leadership-as-Practice in new regions?

Moral Foundations of Leadership Theory

Know thyself...the beginning of leadership?

Launch Event

The Sanctuary

Thursday - 2 Sep

The Sanctuary

Collaboration Café

Practising change together – how do we know we are doing good work?

Leadership as if people were human

How can we harness the power of unremarkable/everyday acts in leading?

Collaboration Café

How can we see starring as a collaborative endeavor?

Young System Changers - How do we break the mould?

The Craft of Leadership

Toasting Marshmallows – Avoiding a Burnt Bottom

Getting Going with Collective Leadership and Leadership-as-Practice

The Village Works: Melting, Smelting and Reforming

Moral Foundations of Leadership Theory

How is neuroscience enabling leaders to create more humane workplaces?

The Finale

The Sanctuary

Collaboration Café

The Conversational Role of the Individual in Powering Collective Leadership

What can we learn from communities and can we support community learning

Experiences of collective leadership and development in non-Western culture

Using Your Brain To Collaborate

Collaboration Café

What dialogic interaction is necessary to emerge collective leadership?

How to lead in projects? Leadership as practice for delivering organisation

Leadership, technology and precarious work

Place-based System Leadership: Police & Local Government Work in Scotland

“Master(s) Of This Design”: Leadership-As-Practice in Theatrical Production

How do we introduce and grow Leadership-as-Practice in new regions?

Moral Foundations of Leadership Theory

Know thyself...the beginning of leadership?

Launch Event

The Sanctuary

The Sanctuary

Collaboration Café

Practising change together – how do we know we are doing good work?

Leadership as if people were human

How can we harness the power of unremarkable/everyday acts in leading?

Collaboration Café

How can we see starring as a collaborative endeavor?

Young System Changers - How do we break the mould?

The Craft of Leadership

Toasting Marshmallows – Avoiding a Burnt Bottom

Getting Going with Collective Leadership and Leadership-as-Practice

The Village Works: Melting, Smelting and Reforming

Moral Foundations of Leadership Theory

How is neuroscience enabling leaders to create more humane workplaces?

The Finale