Organizational Leadership Learning and Agility

Meet the Principals

Principal Consultant, Carter McNamara, about
Action Learning Source

Principal Consultant, Chuck Appleby, on the power of Action Learning in organizations.

There are also certain core traits and skills that are needed in all forms of leadership. Action Learning cultivates all of them.

For example, coaching is absolutely critical to the success of leadership and supervision. The Action Learning process is very useful for quickly spreading low-cost, core coaching skills. The process also is done in groups, or teams, much more closely resembling how work is done in organizations.

Leadership is about courage and taking actions. It is about being authentic. In Action Learning, members are responsible to take the initiative to address important priorities in their life and work. They must share and listen to feedback with others – and to learn at the same time. To really learn, the learner has to participate wholeheartedly in the Action Learning process.

Also, effective leaders must know how to learn from experience. This learning requires asking the right questions -- of themselves and of others. These questions cultivate skills in inquiry and reflection – these skills are critical to effective leadership development. Action Learning is ideal for cultivating strong skills in inquiry and reflection.

Leaders must be agile – they must continually adapt to the increasingly rapid rate of change in today’s organizations. That will not happen merely from memorizing a procedure (what Action Learning refers to as “programmed knowledge”) and then hoping that procedure will always apply, well into the future. The skills of continuous learning in Action Learning help leaders to continually understand and lead in today's rapidly changing world.

We customize Action Learning to produce these kinds of agile leaders.

"The Action Learning approach Authenticity Consulting has created has become a foundational component of almost any leadership program I am a part of. Carter is a strong and seasoned facilitator and program consultant as well as a genuine pleasure to work with."
— Michelle Gislason, Senior Consultant, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services