Transformational Communication: Building Relationships for Authentic Cross Cultural Alliances

• Understand institutional and internalized oppressions and their effects.
• Improve communication skills.
• Build workable relationships across differences.

Transformational Leadership & Challenging Leadership Oppression

• Learn what leadership oppression is and how it limits leadership development.
• Commit to “no Gossip, no Attacks” policies that help develop leaders.
• Learn how to support leaders to take risks and make mistakes that strengthen their development.

Team Building & Collaboration

• Recognize the power of trusting others.
• Understand default behaviors that undermine team work. 
• Improve team awareness and functioning without losing unique individual contributions.

Women & Physical Power & Being Well

• Understand how sexism limits women’s lives and negatively impacts health and well-being.
• Defy these limits through physical challenges.
• Learn how internalized sexism interferes with goal achievement and women’s leadership. 

Descriptions

Transformational Communication: Building Relationships for Authentic Cross Cultural Alliances

The ability to communicate effectively and build relationships across differences takes introspection and information, trust and connection.  This seminar is the cornerstone training upon which other advanced LJS programs build.  Participants learn key communication skills to better understand others’ life experiences and perspectives, as well as their own.  The seminar explores how early experiences shape current behaviors and attitudes. Participants also gain theoretical and experiential understanding of institutional oppression—hurts and misinformation perpetuated by societal institutions through biased policies, beliefs, and actions.  In addition, participants learn about the dynamic of internalized oppression—hurts and misinformation internalized as a result of institutional oppression—that limits effectiveness and understanding.  The seminar helps participants achieve flexible, appropriate behavior in place of rigid, patterned behavior developed in response to early experiences.

Transformational Leadership:  Developing Leaders as Change Agents

We are all born leaders—the inherent desire to make things go well for the group.  Based on this premise, this seminar helps participants reconnect to their innate leadership abilities.  The seminar explores the phenomenon of “leadership oppression”—the predictable attacks, criticism, and isolation of leaders—that limits the development of new leaders and burns out current leaders.  Participants have opportunities to develop the support needed to take risks in shaping and sharing their visionary leadership, as well as to understand the key leadership role they play by supporting and developing other leaders.

Transformational Gender Partnerships: Creating Gender Equity

Men and women are natural allies in ending gender inequality.  Participants of this dynamic seminar examine how gender roles and conditioning are supported by policies and structures that reinforce gender inequity.  These proscribed roles separate boys and girls at a very early age and continue to limit the kinds of community we can build across gender classifications.  By understanding how sexism continues to limit our lives, we gain insight into the personal and institutional change that is necessary to create equity. This dynamic workshop uses gender panels and reflection, listening pairs, “Stand Silently to Identify” exercises and role plays to help participants explore the root causes of sexism; share candidly in a non-threatening, non-judgmental environment about “gender” messages they have learned; learn skills to get rid of the messages we have learned and internalized about men and women; and hear from one another some specific actions we can each take as allies to create genuine gender partnerships.

Transformational Women:  Women Leading Social Change From Within