Summary:
Application of your learning
There is one piece of work based evidence required for this module with a word count of 500 words (If you go over this word count it will result in a fail).
Evidence of work-based application should be written in the first person. When addressing this assignment, you need to ensure that you demonstrate the following outcomes:
• Apply theories and methods of reflective practice
• Demonstrate practical skills in leadership practice at individual, team and organisational levels.
• Undertake a critical reflection to demonstrate selfawareness, selfreflection, and management of self
• Identify development needs in relation to leadership practice
• Demonstrate confidence and ability to challenge poor behaviours and performance________________________________________
In module you undertook a learning activity called Peer Consulting – task (Week 1: Understanding leadership repertoire, Activity 6 – Peer consulting – task)
For this piece of work based evidence, you need to demonstrate your learning about the process and impact of receiving peer consultation. This needs to include:
• What you learned about yourself as a leader; and
• Outline how you will sustain any behavioural changes you may choose to make as a leader
Writing for application and reflection
• The purpose of the evidence you provide is to demonstrate how you are putting your learning into practice at work. This ‘application’ might be reflective, practical or it might relate to enhancing or developing your personal qualities.
• Each piece of work based evidence will need to be separately uploaded onto Turnitin
Peer Consulting Exercise
Peer consulting – task
Peer consulting
________________________________________
Form a pair
Select a peer from any of the participants within your cohort on the programme. It does not necessarily have to be from within your ALS or tutor group. Together you will form a peer consultancy ‘pair’. As peer consultants, you will each give and receive mutual support and challenge to help make progress with a specific leadership issue at work. In other words, you will consult to each other.
If pairing is logistically difficult, you may consider working in a trio to provide each other with peer consultation.
The focus of the peer consultancy is to deepen your understanding of your own leadership behaviours and the impact you have as a leader.
Identify a leadership issue
Each of you needs to identify a leadership issue at work where you would benefit from some peer support. The way you provide peer consultancy to each other is for you to decide and negotiate. It will be important to consider issues such as logistics, communication and expectations as well as ways of working and what sort of approach each of you wishes to take in your role as peer consultant. You are advised to work together over a period of 3-4 weeks.
Be creative! It may or may not be practical to observe each other in practice. If this is possible, it might be in the form of, for instance, shadowing each other or observing each other in a particular work context (eg. a meeting or event). If you do this, be clear about what specific leadership behaviours or skills you wish to focus on.
Alternatively, you may decide to ask your peer participant to interview some of your team to gather feedback on a particular aspect of your leadership work. You might even invite your peer participant to facilitate a session where this feedback is shared back with you and your team. How you approach any of this is up to you.
The peer consultation does not have to be face to face, although it is likely to be more effective if at least some of the time is direct contact. Skype/FaceTime or phone are all options to consider if distance or logistics are an issue.
Define and develop the role
You do need to be clear about the role of the peer consultant and set clear boundaries and expectations. To glean the most learning, dedicate some time together as a pair/trio to de-brief not only on the leadership issue being explored, but also about the process of working together as peer consultants.
You will need to do some background reading to help you consider which skill sets you need to develop or practise to be an effective peer consultant. In addition, use the resources suggested and read around the subject to ensure that you are demonstrating relevant skills, learning and understanding to your work based assignment, which will be based on this activity.
Intake 16 Module 6 – Evaluating my leadership behaviours and impact
Peer consulting – resources
Peer consulting
This adapted extract from Schein (2005) is a helpful introduction to your role as a process consultant:
‘There are several models of helping – the expert model, the doctor-patient model and the process consultation (PC) model. The key to effective helping, both for the manager and the consultant, is the ability to be a process consultant and not to succumb to the temptations of being the expert or the doctor except where that is appropriate.
Process consultation puts the emphasis on helping others to help themselves, not on solving their problems for them or giving them expert advice. If the person being helped just accepts expert advice, he may solve his immediate problem but he may not learn anything about how to solve problems of this nature; skills that would enable him to solve a similar problem in future.’
Knowing how to be an effective process consultant is probably more relevant in today’s complex world than it might have been in times past. Even in medicine, specialists are finding themselves in complex relationships with their patients where they are helping their patients to make a beneficial decision rather than just ‘ordering’ a given procedure.
A more realistic model of management as well as consulting is to see the process as one of intervening facilitatively. The more managers think about their role, the more they will come to recognise how much they might increase their own effectiveness if they learned some of the philosophies, concepts and skills that process consultants use.’
(adapted from Schein 1987, p.8-9)
Tips
Some tips for your role as peer consultant
Your colleague must own and continue to own their own problem. Your goal must be to provide help without taking the problem onto your own shoulders.
Use active, interested listening – without this, the process of consulting will deteriorate rapidly.
See the uniqueness of what your colleague is talking about, develop empathy and try to understand the issue from your colleague’s perspective.
Look for patterns in how the problem manifests itself, how your colleague perceives it, what role he or she takes in it and what their own diagnostic insights are.
Feedback to your colleague is most likely to be beneficial if it is solicited, timely, concrete and balances honesty with empathy.
Core reading
Block, P. (2000) Chapter 2: ‘Techniques are not Enough’ in Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used (2nd edition), San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer (Available here)
De Haan, E. & Burger, Y. (2014) Chapter 1: ‘A Wide Scope for Conversations’ in Coaching with Colleagues 2nd Edition: An Action Guide for One-to-One Learning Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (Available here)
Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods. London: Further Education Unit. (Available here)
Kline, N (2010) More Time to Think, Pool-in-Wharfedale: Fisher King pp186 – 189 (Available here)
Further reading
Schein, E (1987) Process Consultation Vol II: Lessons for managers and consultants Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Wokingham (Available here)
