Leadership Development
Change from the Inside Out
- Publisher
SteinerBooks - Published
26th February 2016 - ISBN 9781621481485
- Pages 352 pp.
- Size 6" x 9"
“Leaders are needed to articulate a vision and help an organization galvanize the resources to create a preferred future, one that both inspires and motivates. Leaders bring the right people together to generate new resources, human and financial. New opportunities can then open up” (from the book).
A leader is like an orchestra conductor, setting the tempo but knowing that real music will arise only when each member is playing the appropriate instrument and the right part. This book is for leaders and administrators in Waldorf schools, Camphill communities, farms, clinics, and other not-for-profit initiatives. The themes are broad—personal, interpersonal, and organizational—and intended to stimulate discussion and awareness in a way that promotes self-reflection that leads to both inner and professional growth.
In the end, we are servant–leaders, doing what needs to be done for the sake of real human beings in our care. We need the tools and insights vital to accomplishing our highest ideals. Leadership is not just a job but also a calling.
C O N T E N T S
Acknowledgments
PART ONE: HOW TO BECOME THE LEADER YOUR ORGANIZATION NEEDS
1. Introduction
2. Breathing
3. Management and Leadership
4. Facilitation
5. Decision-making: A Litmus Test for Leaders
6. Agreements
7. Role Clarity
8. Strategic vs. Tactical Leadership
9. Taking a Break
10. Authority, Influence and Power Dynamics in Waldorf Schools
11. Peter Drucker
12. The Double: The Shadow Side of Groups
13. Organizational Trauma
14. Reframing
15. Humor
16. A Number Exercise
17. Our Karmic Companions
18. Role-Plays and Adult Learning
19. Human Resource Management
20. Time
21. Your Deficit Can Become Your Abundance
22. Email and Time Management
23. Leaders as Speakers
24. Betrayal and Forgiveness
25. Working with a Board
26. Seek and You Will Find
27. Administrators as Knights Templar of the Twenty-first Century
PART TWO: VOICES FROM THE FIELD
1. The Artistic Meeting: Creating Space for Spirit by Holly Koteen-Soule
2. Eurythmy in the Workplace Based on Conversations with Barbara Richardson
3. Pausing by Claire M. Stanley, PhD
4. The Birth of the First Waldorf School by Milan Daler
5. Implementing Threefold Structure in a High School Community by Rea Gill
6. Public Waldorf by Rainbow Rosenbloom
7. Dialogue and Restorative Circles by John Cunningham
8. Sleep by Lynn Jericho
9. The Role of Teacher–Artists in the Sevenfold Waldorf School by Reg Down
10. The Wisdom of Geese by Angeles Arrien
11. Wellsprings of the Art of Education by Christof Wiechert
12. Advice for Administrators by Siegfried E. Finser
13. Poems and Verses for Leaders
Epilogue: Social Architecture as a Foundation for Collaborative Leadership
Appendices
Torin M. Finser
Torin M. Finser received his PhD in educational leadership from Union Graduate School, his MA in education from Adelphi University, and his BA from Bowdoin College. He taught at the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School, where he also served as faculty chairman. He has done extensive consulting with schools in organizational dynamics and leadership development and has been a keynote speaker at conferences around the world.
Dr. Finser is the author of numerous books, beginning with School as a Journey (1995), which has been translated into Mandarin, Farsi, Thai, Arabic, Korean, and Spanish. Torin has served as General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in America and Chair of the Education Department at Antioch University New England, and is currently Director of Waldorf Programs.
A founder of the Center for Anthroposophy, he has recently pioneered their new Building Bridges Program for practicing teachers in independent and charter schools and Explorations for Waldorf parents. Educational History PhD, Union Graduate School, 1994 Educational Leadership with emphasis on Teacher Stress/Renewal MA, Adelphi University, 1978 Education BA, Bowdoin College, 1977 Double major in history and German Literature. Graduated in three years, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. Waldorf, 1960–1974 Student at three Waldorf Schools: Rudolf Steiner School in NYC Green Meadow Waldorf School, NY, Freie Waldorf Schule in Krefeld, Germany.
Torin is married to Karine, has six children, and is also now a very happy grandfather!