What is group work? While many practitioners may describe what they do as ‘group work’, they often have only a limited appreciation of what group work is and what it entails. In this piece we introduce groups and group work, define some key aspects, and suggest areas for exploration. In particular we focus on the process of working with groups.

This work grows from efforts to understand in practical ways the relationship among leadership, adaptation, systems, and change, but also has deep roots in scientific efforts to explain the evolution of human life, and before us, the evolution of all life going back to the beginning of the earth.

To stay alive, Jack Pritchard had to change his life. Triple bypass surgery and medication could help, the heart surgeon told him, but no technical fix could release Pritchard from his own responsibility for changing the habits of a lifetime. He had to stop smoking, improve his diet, get some exercise, and take time to relax, remembering to breathe more deeply each day. Pritchard’s doctor could provide sustaining technical expertise and take supportive action, but only Pritchard could adapt his ingrained habits to improve his long-term health. ...

This workshop guide has been developed over the course of many trainings by Liz Pallatto, Joy Cushman, Jake Waxman, Kate Hilton, Tiffany Steinwert, Devon Anderson and many others. We welcome your suggestions for improving this guide further for future trainings. We also welcome you to use it and adapt it for your own trainings, subject to the restrictions below.

This chapter introduces “sensemaking” as a key leadership capability for the complex and dynamic world we live in today. Sensemaking, a term introduced by Karl Weick, refers to how we structure the unknown so as to be able to act in it. Sensemaking involves coming up with a plausible understanding—a map—of a shifting world; testing this map with others through data collection, action, and conversation; and then refining, or abandoning, the map depending on how credible it is. Sensemaking enables leaders to have a better grasp of what is goi...

Leadership for a Better World provides an approachable introduction to the Social Change Model of Leadership Development (SCM), giving students a real-world context through which to explore the seven C's of leadership for social change as well as a approaches to socially responsible leadership. From individual, group, and community values through the mechanisms of societal change itself, this book provides fundamental coverage of this increasingly vital topic. Action items, reflection, and discussion questions throughout encourage students to t...