Having attended eight CAIS Leadership Institutes, I am pretty qualified to figure out what made last week’s LI the best one yet. I observed every class at least once, and in some cases, I sat down and participated in discussions. I talked to most people, and asked a lot of questions. Now that I am back and have caught up on my sleep, I have read every feedback form filled out by participants, and this morning, at our Monday Morning Meeting, we discussed the same question – what made this one so good?
My theory might be different from others. What I heard is that the faculty were amazing – they are passionate about their course content and they vary their teaching styles. The speakers were phenomenal, and everyone loved the St. Andrew’s facilities. My team felt that they were better organized and they couldn’t say enough about the SAC team, with particular compliments to Greg Reid for being our On-site Coordinator and to Grace Wyvill for the superb food. Of course, everyone appreciated that Kevin McHenry hosted us at his home.
But what I think made this year’s LI the best one yet, is that we are finally figuring out how to do what our schools know to be true – in order to create powerful learning, you need to establish developmental relationships.
I have recently become acquainted with the work of the Search Institute, and here’s a quick lesson on the developmental relationships framework. There are 20 actions that make a relationship developmental, and you can read all about this on the website, but for now, consider the five categories:
- Express care
- Challenge growth
- Provide support
- Share power
- Expand possibilities
So how has CAIS worked on developing close connections? Four highlights:
To graduate, participants need ten modules, which means they spend three summers together, learning and living in a boarding environment. There are deep connections among participants and faculty that extend beyond the classroom. (See this year’s grads below).
Next Step 2016
Our Next Step Program includes a strong faculty, ongoing cohort meetings, mentors, job shadowing, and personalized learning. But a key component of the first summer experience is the “campfire” where they share their Change Projects and give each other positive feedback and ask challenging questions. This year, the conversation lasted until 12:40am.
Our two evenings of speakers included a new component – both the Art of Leadership and the New Leaders speakers stood for a Q and A afterwards. This shifted the evening from a formal presentation to a very authentic connection with the audience. (Watch the speeches here).
Our CAIS team has been working together for a few years, and we know each others’ strengths and how to perform best as a team (and I cannot thank them enough!) I believe we can focus on serving participants to ensure their experience is meaningful and serving our faculty so they can focus on the aspiring leaders.
We know that CAIS schools are exceptional at cultivating relational learning with students; I believe our CAIS community is doing the same at the Leadership Institute.
p.s. Didn’t get to attend this summer? Watch our slideshow here.
CAIS Summer Leadership Institute Faculty and Graduates 2016
KeeNote 