Volume 9, Issue 2, Year 09
Practicing OD focuses on practice. Short, easy-to-read articles give you great ideas you can use tomorrow! Share your own best practices by submitting an article for possible publication. Full access to this bi-monthly e-zine is one of the many benefits of membership in the OD Network.
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Statesmanlike Leadership – Part Two
Rick Curcio
In this issue, Rick Curcio builds on his previous article (Part I, Volume 9, Issue 1, April 09) and definition of statesmanlike leadership by offering three approaches to put it into practice: take a long term view of organizational success, build bridges by eliminating narrow partisanship, and create a legacy. He also outlines specific skills and characteristics that are helpful in implementing these approaches. Leaders who “shift” to statesmanlike leadership ultimately help their organizations make the better decisions and engage the right people in the process.
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Mentoring a New Consultant: One Mentee’s Perspective
Emily Lewis
In this article, Emily Lewis looks at leadership in the OD field, specifically how to mentor a new consultant. Drawing on her own positive experiences as a mentee and new graduate from an OD program, she provides a basic formula for developing future generations of OD consultants: Watch + Co-do + Be Watched = Readiness. This formula, along with her colleagues’ trust, patience, feedback, and willingness to share both leadership opportunities and earnings, resulted in a number of valuable lessons discussed in this article.
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Making Change Dynamic: Surfacing the Value Creating Opportunities
Naomi Stanford
Proactive and innovative organizations scan their external operating environment and look for value creating opportunities. Naomi Stanford explains two exercises that can help organizations do this successfully. “Technology Trends” demonstrates the importance of staying updated with new technology trends and how we often readily adapt to rapid change. “STEEPLE” (Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal, and Extras) provides a step-by-step process for identifying value creating opportunities. These activities help organizations see change as dynamic and a source of new ideas.
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