Action Learning Redux

I think they call it a "cliff-hanger." You know. What I did last week. By way of review, I wrote then my wish that you all could have been part of my 3-hour experience with a diverse group of professionals training to be "action learning coaches" who, under the tutelage of a master coach, attempted to re-define and solve my organizational "problem" while attaining from me a long-term commitment to action. What I failed to tell you was anything about the content of my coaching session. Let me resolve the tension.

It should surprise no one that my "problem" was how to sustain TLA in a perfect storm of financial crisis, leader churn, and community uproar. Following my 3-minute problem statement, a coach seeking a deeper cut at who we are and what we do asked me for my 30-second elevator speech. I finished with 8 seconds to spare. Here's what I told him:

"TLA is a unique leadership consultancy serving public school districts, created by a public-private joint venture agreement, and staffed by employees of the districts and supporting local education fund. Using member-district fees and in-kind contributions, its purpose is to build leadership capacity at every level, classroom to boardroom, central office to corner office. TLA's service region is comprised of the most affluent, best-educated workforce in North Carolina. It was created by the corporate leaders who have invested in the workforce and customer base in and around Research Triangle Park and the superintendents that serve the families of those employees and customers. Understanding the power of leadership, business shares skin in the game with education so that the entire region benefits from high-performing leaders and schools. To that end, TLA deploys over 1,200 hours of training, provides upon-request facilitation, designs coaching and mentoring programs for school administrators, and consults with district senior leaders to improve programs of leadership development and succession planning."

The next question was quite powerful: "How many of your stakeholders do you think could say what you just said?" I was asked. "I am not sure," I said. Could you have said what I just wrote?

When it came time for each coach to weigh in on what they perceived my "real problem" to be, their responses included: "building credibility of TLA among its stakeholders," "lack of a conduit for dollars," "lack of a written plan for professional development," "lack of predictable success," and "uncertainty of funding and influence." Although everybody initially had a different piece of the elephant, the consensus was close to the last observation: TLA has a funding problem linked to an appropriate influence strategy.

So what strategies for sustaining TLA did my coaches suggest? Their responses included: "change the infrastructure to get necessary dollars," "increase influence over the Executive Committee," " build partnerships with additional businesses," "tell the TLA story far and wide and be sure to ask for what you need," "translate what TLA success means for the business community," "ask TLA users to share stories about the power of its service," "galvanize teachers to address the need for TLA," and "investigate the legal structure of TLA to make it able to support itself." Good ideas all.

Since my coaching session, I have talked once with action-learning program sponsor, Chuck Appleby, who asked how things went for me during the session, what worked, what would have been even better. It was no problem for me to say. What I am still processing, however, is commitments to make, including what to ask of whom. I don't mind asking. I just want to be sure we all want the same thing.