Leadership Growth Project

LEADERSHIP GROWTH PROJECT USING APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES

Introduction
Your Name
Your School
District
Please share the personal accomplishment of which you are the most proud in the last three years and why thinking about this accomplishment makes you feel extremely proud.
Please share the accomplishments at school in the last three years of which you are most proud and explain why.

LEADERSHIP GROWTH PROJECT USING APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES

A Seven-Step Process
Introduction

The Leadership Growth Project Using Appreciative Inquiry Principles and Practices is broken up into seven steps. The project form is designed to give structure to your work and provide a framework that you can use now and in the future. This format is offered for your work but also so that you can teach other leaders a process, which you have used personally for professional success. Knowing that you will have to teach, coach and model this process for many less experienced leaders is a reality because some of the major accomplishments of your organization will be accomplished by others. Working very hard to gain the most understanding of the project process will allow you to gain the advantage of knowing what it takes to create opportunities for success within your organization. It is not programs but how you work with others that counts. The process is rooted in inquiry and the principles and practices of Appreciative Inquiry.

DISCOVERY-DREAM-DESIGN-DESTINY

Iterative cycle of review and moving forward
We are hoping to infuse the things that give life to our organization as we work on our many different topics. The seven-step process that you will use is rooted in Appreciative Inquiry principles and practices. The questions we ask and topics we select often determine our direction and may strengthen our potential for success. Taking time to examine the strengths of your organization and the people within it will assist in building a foundation for success. You will look at the past with others as you work to construct a positive and desired future.
Step 1: Develop Work Groups

Step 1: Reminders
-Review the AI questions and process.

-Select your work group. These are people who can guide and assist you to move this project forward. Generally a group has up to 8 members.

-Practice your process. Remember, "AI is based on the premise that the art of inquiry moves in the direction of evoking positive images that lead to positive actions." P. 106 Appreciative Inquiry Handbook – 2^nd Edition

Step 1: Action
List your key stakeholders that you have selected as a work group.

Form collapse ender
Step 2: Topic Exploration and Refinement

Step 2: Reminders
-Remember that your starting point may come from different sources and in different ways. Your original general topic may be identified by school or department need, Principal or District directive, or be open to exploration.

-The "Why and What" Activity can assist with refining the original general topic.

-Use the summarizing and refinement section of the "Why and What" Activity (document linked below).

-The Refined AI Topic is one of the keys to setting a positive and heartfelt tone as you work toward a preferred future.

-The purpose of your work must be clear, heart felt and honest.

-You can only accomplish those things that you truly believe in.

Why and What Activity

Step 2: Action
Original General Topic:
Double-click to edit this text...
List the positive criteria and strengths you discovered through your interviews and activities around your topic:
List the most positive quote(s) about your topic:
Provide other data as is appropriate that will support your topic: (Data can be uploaded below)
Additional Data

Upload a File

Cancelof
Your Refined AI Topic:

Dream
Your Refined AI Topic is a gateway to envisioning your future. You must be able to see the final story of your Refined AI Topic and assist others to co-create that vision. The Dream phase allows people to revisit things learned during Discovery and then together map high impact opportunities.
Step 3: Build Background to Develop your Refined AI Topic

Step 3: Reminders
-Instill a belief that we can achieve and accomplish great things.

-Return to your work group using the strengths identified during discovery to extend the conversation.

-Consider an energizing activity.

-Review your "Envisioning Interview Questions" (Document Linked below).

-Determine your meeting protocol.

-Conduct the interview activity with the members of your targeted work group.

-In groups list your best ideas from your Envisioning Interview on chart paper and use a dot system to identify the best or most popular suggestions.

-Each group summarized the top identified points to be considered in the Design phase.

Envisionsing Interview Questions

Step 3: Actions
List the summary of the top identified points to be considered in the Design phase
List the best and most interesting things that your groups suggested it would take to win the award in the area of your Refined AI Topic.

Design
It is time to consider our Refined AI Topic by considering all information, strengths, history, dreams and successes, taken from our Discovery and Dream phases. This critical step gives life to our excellent ideas as we bridge the gap from "what was" to “what can be”. We have the opportunity to add a powerful vision that reminds us and allows others to see our amazing future.
Step 4: Develop Your Final Topics (inspirational, inspiring or provocative) Propositions

Step 4: Reminders
-Now brainstorm around your final topic as you move toward taking your work in Discover and Dream to a current state.

-Consider using Delphi Dialogue Technique (DDT) for brainstorming. Find explanation and example in documents provided.

-After completing brainstorming around your final topic agree on a direction.

-At this stage design and create a model, illustration, a panel discussion, skit or song to tell your story.

-The vision is a part of creative stage. It becomes so important because what you can see and believe you can accomplish, you can accomplish.

-The vision should be concrete and concise- feel it – taste it – touch it.

-Key words from the vision or a slogan can help keep the vision alive.

-Refine further if necessary with a work group your Final Topics from your interviews and group work; they will become the basis for your goals.

-Make sure to include your entire Leadership Team for review and approval if they are not already a part of the working group.

-Final Topics help us make the extraordinary our ordinary.

-Criteria for our final topics:

-Does it stretch or challenge the status quo?

-Are there examples available that illustrate the ideal as a real possibility?

-Do the Final Topics describe your ideal future?

-Do you want your Final Topics as a desired future?

-Are they stated in bold and positive terms?

-Are people hopeful that by working on the Final Topics they will fulfill their vision?

-Final Topics should be approximately 2 to 5.

Step 4: Actions
Final Topics
Vision

Destiny
We reach our Destiny through our growth, flexibility, hard work, and fulfilling our vision. Our amazing future is built on our shared history and past successes, which are the foundation of our dreams. To reach your destiny, dedication and excellent planning must be paired with an action orientation. Our aspirations and hope for a successful project revolve around being able to speak about the project as if it has already been completed successfully.
Step 5: Action Plan and Goals

Step 5: Reminders
-Review your vision, Refined AI Topic and Final Topics.

-You must plan on how you will communicate your vision so all will remember what you are going to accomplish.

-Routinely communicate the vision in many different ways.

-With a work group review your Final Topics and develop your goals for your action plan.

-Set up manageable action plans to guide day-to-day and month-to-month work on your goals.

-Your Action Plan is an important document, which should break up work into steps but should always lead to your envisioned future.

-Your action plan should include specific goals broken into steps, time parameters, resources, persons responsible and a way to determine if the step has been successfully completed.

-Action plans are working documents; as such, they can and should be changed to accommodate what is happening in the real world.

-The action plan should be a public document.

-Make sure that resources are provided or created to support your work.

-Develop your formative and summative assessments so you will know how you are progressing.

-Strive to project what successful reasonable intervals or milestones will look like.

-Develop clear pictures of what you will see at midyear and end of the year.

-Do not let this be an inhibiting exercise but a liberating one.

-Learning from our work and reflecting on what is becoming our new history is key to our continued growth.

-Celebrations are a very important part of the process and should never be skipped.

-Develop a culture where celebration and positive dialogue is the norm not the exception.

-Sustainability of all-important work must become a focus during the Destiny phase.

-A project that is successful for one year is good but sustainability comes when the project becomes the way we do business around here.

Step 5: Actions
Goals:
Action Plan: (Please attach your action plan here)

Upload a File

Cancelof

Form Collapse Ender
Step 6: Formative and Summative Assessment Results

Step 6: Actions
Formative and Summative Assessment:
1. How are you going to assess progress? Formative and summative assessment that you intend to use may be placed and discussed here or attached as an addendum.
2. What are the clear pictures that you hope to see at mid-year?
3. What are the clear pictures that you hope to see at the end of the year?
4. What is a quote that you want to hear about the success of the program at the end of the year?
Final Results:
1. Was your vision realized at the end of year 1?
2. Attach the final results from your assessments of your project here.

Upload a File

Cancelof
3. What was the quote from the year that you are most proud of?
4. What are your greatest “new” success stories on which you will build future success?
5. What have you done thus far to earn the award that you envisioned in Dream phase?

Form Collapse Ender
Step 7: Celebration and Sustainability

Step 7: Actions
Celebration: List how you have purposefully celebrated the success of your program.
Sustainabilty:
1. What are the most important things that you have personally learned about leadership from your work with this project?
2. Is this project sustainable? Please explain.

Form Collapse Ender
Should be Empty:

LEADERSHIP GROWTH PROJECT USING APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES

LEADERSHIP GROWTH PROJECT USING APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES

DISCOVERY-DREAM-DESIGN-DESTINY

Step 1: Develop Work Groups

Step 2: Topic Exploration and Refinement

Dream

Step 3: Build Background to Develop your Refined AI Topic

Design

Step 4: Develop Your Final Topics (inspirational, inspiring or provocative) Propositions

Destiny

Step 5: Action Plan and Goals

Step 6: Formative and Summative Assessment Results

Step 7: Celebration and Sustainability