Community of Practice

Online

This year, we were humbled to be invited by our friends at DCSC to facilitate an online Community of Practice that centers around developing Leadership capacities through our Compass Leader Framework. In keeping with DCSC's Annual Theme of "Better Together," we were inspired by the willingness of our participants to bring their vulnerable selves, to authentically wrestle with concepts alongside other leaders, and to be open to growth from within.

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Compass Leadership Framework

Intro to the Framework

At Valor, we believe that effective human-centered leadership requires ongoing development within three nested domains: Self, Community, and Systems.

SELF - This domain asks leaders to develop their Leadership Compass to help them access and maintain authenticity to their leadership self as they navigate ups, downs, and unprecedented situations.
COMMUNITY - This domain asks leaders to foster a community of commitment and belonging so all adults and students feel safe, productive, known, and celebrated for who they are.
SYSTEMS - This domain asks leaders to use systems thinking to create, manage, and meaningfully improve teams’ collective work.

We see these as nested domains because the larger domains hold, rely on, and are thus impacted by those held within. For example, systems require community investment and the enactment of strong relationships. In turn, strong relationships require confident, reflective, and equity-minded individuals.

Looked at from a three-dimensional perspective, we can also visualize these domains as intersecting cycles, signifying ongoing, iterative development within all three. None of the domains operate in isolation.

The Six Leadership Capacities of Self

also known as our Leadership Compass

Each week, we explored one of the six leadership capacities of the self, giving leaders an opportunity to reflect on how they currently exercise each capacity. Through honest reflection and the validation of peers, Leaders designed a new tiny experiment to test what happens when they try something new from an adaptive stance of curiosity, rather trying to apply a technical fix that might conflict with their Leadership Purpose or Story.

S1

Finds Leadership Center

I take action to find my Leadership Center and remain present and balanced, especially in critical moments.

S2

Has a Flexible Identity

I am aware of my multifaceted self story and can flexibly navigate between limiting and preferred storylines.

S3

Leads with Purpose

I make decisions that align to my leadership purpose/values and factor in others’ perspectives.

S4

Expands Worldview and Capacity

I seek the edges of my own understanding and invite knowledge and perspectives that evolve my leadership.

S5

Has a Strong Sense of Inner Knowing

I am comfortable navigating my thoughts, emotions, and sensations with self awareness and trust.

S6

Embraces Discomfort to Confront Bias

I work to develop awareness and embrace discomfort as I confront my biases and positional power.

Leading from Within

The strength that arises from within leaders through an examination of the self is often difficult to quantify, or even describe. So, at the conclusion of our time together, we invited participants to illustrate their growth in their own way, with one option being a structured poem that we use with our high school students at Valor called, Just Because I Am... A selection of their reflections is shared below.

Reconnection

I used to think…

I knew myself with my feet, like roots, firmly planted in how I wanted to lead, my mind healthy and whole, never lonely.

In this new place

A cold wind always blew. My worth uprooted and reduced to a row on spreadsheet, a number, a set of keystrokes.

Twisting myself into knots to please others - sending sets of validations to the city, while seeking validation in this place.

Sitting next to computer and math whizzes yet feeling alone.

Silencing myself, hardening that outer layer because leaders are measured, leadership is dissected, leadership is dangerous.

Then I felt the silence rising up and getting stuck in my throat.

I learned…

Speaking my truth, and being in agreement and sometimes disagreement ;

Giving myself grace to say “no…not yet” to others and framing my own not knowing as “a not knowing yet”;

And seeing my team thrive;

Has let the sun and warm breeze back in

And I remember the person who is often the harshest judge is the face we see in the mirror.

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