Hearts on Change

Hearts on Change: Transformational Leadership 

Leadership is the ability to bring each individual’s skills, knowledge, and resources to the table with respect to all stakeholders in order to create compassionate, strategic, and visionary results. This component of the Everett Program aims to support student resilience, team cohesion, and professional communication skills.  We help students: 1) embody and reflect a growth mindset; 2) be self-reflective and aware of power and privilege in communication and leadership dynamics; and 3) develop empathetic and collaborative leadership styles. 

Peer learning and discussion based sections prepare students for future roles in project management, team collaboration, and leadership. The leadership curriculum builds on behavioral and situational leadership theories, which suggests that effective leadership is not trait-based but based on specific learned skills (technical, human, and conceptual) which must be dynamically applied in specific situations in order to produce the greatest return of team cohesion and creativity. Additionally, this aspect of the program utilizes a variety of antiracist and emergent strategy literature to prepare students to compassionately and respectfully engage with communities they work with.

Overall, skills we aim to develop in this component of our program include: 

• Developing a growth mindset: Students learn the value of and practices that support adaptability in perceptions and beliefs. Rather than trying to prove what they already know and believe to be true, students are encouraged to experiment in the learning process. This helps students shift from seeing “asking for support” and “feedback” as signs of not having knowledge, to seeing them as valuable and essential parts of the personal and professional growth cycle.  
• Collaborative problem solving: Students explore the three stages of rising in conflict, the process of mediation and rumbling, and have resources to mediate future conflicts as well as manage their own emotions,
• Resiliency: Students can identify positive takeaways and lessons from “failures” or changed plans. This includes helping students understand the role that shame and empathy play in our work, and how we can best overcome our fear of failure. 
• Engaging in ethical social justice work:  This includes helping students move away from a ‘service orientation’ towards an orientation of authentic collaboration. We aim for students to understand the role that white savior complexes play in non profit spaces, and to practice using their positionality and privilege in ways that affirm those around them and progress larger social change efforts.

Transformational leadership involved shifting individual and collective cultures from an over glorification of intellectual criticism and burnout, to a space where resilience and self-care is considered a primary value of being a changemaker and creating lasting change.  We aim to shift from university structures that are siloed to approaches that are holistic, embracing peoples full selves, and creating brave spaces that support knowledge sharing between community actors, alumni, students, staff and faculty.  We work towards all actions and vision being rooted in dignity and respect for all, encouraging changemakers to actively practice living their values, and not acting from a space of fear or scarcity mindset.