Authority, Power and Justice: Leadership for Change

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1 A Three-day Group Relations Workshop in the Tavistock Tradition sponsored by: Group Relations International Social Justice Group Relations Applied Spirituality Authority, Power and Justice: Leadership for Change Boston College Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts March 27-29, 2015

2 CONTEXT Recent events in Ferguson, Staten Island, Paris and Pakistan have uncovered deep divisions in communities and challenged our ability to work across differences for collaborative solutions both locally and globally. To be an effective leader in these times requires an understanding of the dynamic and unsettling connection between taking up authority and power to effectuate positive change, and the experience another may have that you, your group, and your actions are unjust. The obstacles can be demoralizing and frustrating, but the rewards of working through conflict to usher in the kind of change that revitalizes and increases our dignity bring profound meaning and richness to our lives. WORKSHOP Authority, Power and Justice: Leadership for Change is a workshop in the Group Relations and Tavistock traditions that provides an opportunity to study how effective you and others are in taking up authority and leadership in a changing environment. Participants learn about rational and irrational group processes that assist and hinder group work and the impact that collective actions and inactions have on systemic dynamics and the experience of justice. The workshop is designed to be a temporary organization, or temporary system, which begins when staff and participants join to create it and ends with the last workshop event. This temporary organization/system serves as a microcosm of larger organizations, systems and societies in the world. METHODOLOGY The workshop system is similar to other learning institutions, but with a significant difference. In the workshop system, learning is experiential and based on reflection-in-action. There are no PowerPoints or presentations given by experts to direct and organize one s learning. Instead, learning occurs when participants focus on their experiences in the moment, and using their experience as evidence, dialogue with others to negotiate meaning in real time. All participants (staff and members) have the opportunity to study conscious and unconscious processes as they are experienced and expressed here and now within the temporary learning system of the workshop, and in the context of the larger social systems of the world which surround the workshop. PRIMARY TASK The primary task of this organization is to study the development and exercise of authority, leadership, power and justice, in the context of the evolving and changing culture of the workshop system, through the interpersonal and inter-group relations that develop within the workshop as an organization.

3 What can I learn from this workshop? What is the difference between authority, power and leadership? When do I take up my authority, exercise my leadership, and use my power? How do the dynamics of authority, power and justice play out in groups with differing sizes, structures and tasks? How are leadership roles authorized, and how does this authorization affect the group s work? How do I manage the tension between being an autonomous individual and being responsible to a group? What is the impact of individual characteristics such as race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation and age on roles, authority and boundaries? How do I manage myself in a constantly changing environment? When am I a proponent for change and when do I resist it? What can I learn from my experiences of competition, collaboration, conflict, coalitionbuilding, and delegation? How can I apply what I learn to situations back home? Small Study Group Training Track A small study group training track will be offered at this workshop for those interested in training related to small study group consulting. Participation in at least one group relations conference is a minimum requirement. Those interested in applying for the training component should contact Dr. Jeanine Baillie for more information.

4 Workshop Events The workshop is organized as a series of events that provide opportunities to learn through the examination of experience in a variety of social contexts. The events will begin and end promptly at the times designated. Opening Plenary: This session introduces the workshop and provides an opportunity for members and staff to express their thoughts and feelings on crossing the boundary from the outside environment to the workshop. The session marks the beginning of the life of the temporary organization when the culture of the organization begins to take shape. Small Study Group (System): The purpose of the small study group is to provide an opportunity to learn about dynamics in small groups such as teams and committees. The small study group consists of no more than 12 members with one or two staff consultants. The task of the small study group is to study its own conscious and unconscious dynamics and processes as they arise in the moment. Large Study Group (System): The purpose of the large study group is to provide an opportunity to study the systemic forces and dynamics that arise in large groups, such as groups in society where it is difficult or impossible to know or see every member face-to-face. The entire membership assembles with the task of studying the conscious and unconscious dynamics and processes that arise within the large study group. A team of consultants will work with the large study group. Institutional Event: The Institutional Event (IE) takes place during several sessions beginning on Saturday. The purpose of this event is to provide an opportunity to study institutional forces that arise as different groups form and interact with each other. During the IE, members form their own groups and determine their own tasks. The primary task is to explore the relationship between groups within the workshop system and in relation to the theme of power and justice. Community Reflection: All workshop participants, members and staff, participate in this event. The task of this event is to explore the state of the workshop system in silence and in creative expression. The purpose of this event is to access conscious and unconscious dynamics through a different means and form of expression. Morning Reflections, Dreams and Associations: All workshop participants, members and staff, participate in this event. The task of this event is to explore the ways that individuals dreams and associations during the workshop illuminate aspects of the system s dynamics. The purpose of this event is to access the unconscious dynamics of the system through dreams and associations. Role Analysis Group and Review and Application Group: The task of these groups is to provide members the opportunity to reflect on their experiences in workshop events, and to begin to apply the learning to life outside the workshop. Closing Plenary: This event is an opportunity for members and staff to reflect together, at the end of the workshop, on the experience of the workshop-as-a-whole, and in its different parts, in the context of ending and crossing the boundary from the workshop back to everyday life.

5 Staff The staff design and manage the workshop. Their purpose is to support the learning of members to the best of their abilities. Working in both consulting and administrative capacities, staff are actively involved in the life of the workshop. Staff serve the primary task by offering working hypotheses and reflections based on their understanding of their own experiences and the activities of the workshop. Their interpretations focus on group level dynamics rather than on the individual, and also on unconscious as well as conscious dynamics. Attempting to articulate unconscious group level dynamics is an unusual activity and may seem strange to those who are not familiar with this approach. The staff will be as explicit as possible about their tasks and roles throughout the workshop. The ways in which they work are always open to examination. Director: Evangeline Sarda JD, Associate Clinical Professor of Law, Boston College Law School. Co-creator, Group Relations International (GRI). Member, Center for the Study of Groups and Social Systems (CSGSS). Associate, A. K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems (AKRI). Treasurer, The Research and Education Collaborative with Al-Quds University (RECA). Cohort 16, Boston College Leadership for Change Program. Director of Administration: Jeanine Baillie PsyD, Clinical Psychologist, Boston College University Counseling Services. Graduate, Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (MSPP). Certificate of Specialization in Latino Mental Health. Supervisor of postdoctoral fellows. Administrator: Justin Brogden JD, Boston College Law School. BA, Oberlin College.

6 Consulting Staff Candice Crawford PsyD, Consulting Psychologist and Adjunct Faculty, Organizational Leadership Psychology Program, Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. Teaching Associate, Harvard Medical School. Board Member, CSGSS. Member, Society of Consulting Psychology. Patrick Jean-Pierre PsyD, Senior Project Associate/Site Director, Metropolitan Center for Urban Education, NYU Steinhardt. Staff member/consultant, Wharton School of Executive Education, University of Pennsylvania. Youth and Families Mental Health provider, Supreme Consultants. Manhattan College, Adjunct Professor. Evangeline Sarda Ellen Short PhD, Counseling Psychologist and Associate Professor, School of Education, Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus. Member, New York Center for the Study of Groups, Organizations and Social Systems. Associate, AKRI. Author and editor. Robert Tittmann MD, Psychoanalyst, Psychotherapist and Psychopharmacologist, Cambridge, MA. Advanced Candidate, Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. Staff Psychiatrist, Boston College Counseling Services. Consultant in Forensic Psychiatry, Psychological Consulting Service, Salem, MA. Former Lecturer in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Affiliate Member, American Psychoanalytic Association. Board- Certified Member, American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry. Member, CSGSS. Tracy Wallach PhD, LICSW, Senior Lecturer, College of Management, University of Massachusetts, Boston. Organizational Development and Leadership Consultant, Brookline, MA. Past President and Member, CSGSS. Associate and former Board Member, AKRI. Phyll Zuberi MD, Medical Director, Freedom Care Program, Cedar Hills Hospital (for active duty soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan). Advanced Candidate, Oregon Psychoanalytic Institute. MA, Political Science. Course Instructor, Political Negotiation Using Insights from Psychoanalysis. Former Director, Psychiatric Consultation Liason Service, Providence St. Vincent Medical Centre. Present and Past Lecturer at UT Southwestern Medical Center-Dallas, University of Florida, OHSU, KU Medical Center, UMKC, and LSU.

7 Attendance This workshop is dynamic in nature, where intrapsychic, interpersonal and intergroup phenomena are available to be experienced and studied in the service of applying what is learned to everyday life. A diverse membership creates the possibility for rich learning. To that end, we welcome individuals who represent a cross section of the community who are interested in the study of leadership, authority, power and justice. The workshop is designed to be a single integrated educational experience. Individuals who know in advance that they are unable to attend all sessions are discouraged from applying. Anyone who must leave for any reason is requested to inform the administration. Special note: The workshop is an educational endeavor and does not provide psychotherapy or sensitivity training. Although the experiential learning available can be stimulating and enriching, it can be emotionally demanding as well. Thus, applicants who are ill or experiencing significant personal difficulties should forgo participating at this time. Workshop Time The workshop begins at noon on Friday, March 27 with registration and ends by or before 5PM on Sunday, March 29 with a reception. Workshop events will begin on Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 AM and end on Friday and Saturday by or before 9 PM. The specific start and end times of each day will be posted in February. Meals and Lodging Light refreshments will be available at each break. Meals are the responsibility of members. The workshop is nonresidential. Those who require assistance in securing overnight accommodations should contact Jeanine Baillie, Director of Administration, at authorityworkshop@gmail.com.

8 Workshop Fees The fee includes materials and light refreshments. $400 $250 $100 Basic Fee/General Public Public Interest Practitioner Fee/Boston College Staff Fee Student Fee Additional: $100 Small Study Group Consulting Training A limited number of partial scholarships and fee discounts are available based on need and on the overall enrollment of the workshop. Please contact Jeanine Baillie, Director of Administration (authorityworkshop@gmail.com) for more information. Total due: $ Please make check payable to Authority Workshop. Enrollment is limited. *********************************************** The drawings in this brochure are by artist and activist Rini Templeton. Her work can be found at riniart.org. The black and red square borders are adapted from publications from Just Associates at justassociates.org.

9 APPLICATION FORM Authority, Power and Justice: Leadership for Change Name: Title/Degree: Home mailing address: and phone numbers where I can be reached: Home Work Cell The information below is for determination of balance of individual demographics within groups only: Race/Ethnicity Sex Age Other ways that I self-identify: Name of close associates attending this Workshop, if any: Brief description of work role: Previous experience with Tavistock/ group relations conferences or other experiential learning: My personal and professional goals for this workshop: Other information I would like you to know: I have read the brochure and hereby apply for membership to this Workshop. I understand that through my application and signature, I authorize the sponsoring organizations to conduct the workshop in the manner described in the brochure. Signature: Date: Withdrawal Policy: Requests to withdraw must be submitted by March 21, 2015 to receive a full refund. REGISTRATION: Send application and fee (check payable to Authority Workshop) by March 20, 2015 to: Dr. Jeanine Baillie University Counseling Services Boston College Gasson Hall Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA, If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact Dr. Jeanine Baillie at authorityworkshop@gmail.com. auhorityworkshop@gmail.com.

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