CALS 505

August 10, 2022

This blog post is for assignment 1C in the CALS505 course

I have been reflecting on the relationship between anger and leadership this week. Usually, when I think of anger in leadership contexts, I think of anger used as a tool in political arenas; a candidate riling up their supporters by showcasing real or feigned anger, for example. This week however I was reflecting on my own anger and how it relates to my leadership.   

On Tuesday, the news story broke that a young woman in Alberta won third prize in a government-sponsored essay contest called “Her Vision Inspires”. The contest – hosted by the legislative assembly – asked young women to describe their vision for Alberta (Bellefontaine, 2022). An essay contest is not usually noteworthy. However, what made the headlines is the bronze medal essay asserted “that women are not equal to men and that their ability to bear children takes priority over trying to break into male-dominated careers” (Bellefontaine, 2022, para. 3). Furthermore, the essay also stated that Canadian women should receive financial incentives to have children to “prevent the import of foreigners to replace ourselves” (Silver, 2022, as cited in Bellefontaine, 2022, para. 5).

After hearing this 24 hours ago, I am still reeling. And I am so angry.

I am not naïve enough to believe that this type of sexism and xenophobia doesn’t exist in Alberta. The author (who has only been identified as S. Silver) is within her right to hold these abhorrent views. What makes me angry is the associate minister for the status of women (MLA Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk) not only gave these views a platform, but rewardedand legitimized these views by awarding the author a cash prize.  

When these types of sexist and racist views are upheld by people in positions of leadership, it does two things. First, I lose hope that we are on the right track to solving our most pressing challenges. Second, strangely, it makes me uncomfortable to strive to be a leader myself. If being a leader means upholding sexist and racist views, then I don’t want to be considered a leader. Of course, not all elected officials – or leaders in any capacity – uphold these views. Many leaders are compassionate people who are building a world that is better for all. But the news story this week reminded me how many poor leaders currently hold power and are making decisions about our collective future. It made me wonder, when there are such poor examples of leadership in my province, do I really want to step forward and become a leader myself?

Yet Jennifer Shepherd’s words from our class discussion remind me that I get to define what leadership is. MLA Armstrong-Homeniuk is an elected official, but in my mind, she is not a leader. Jennifer invited us to reflect on how we show up as leaders, and what types of relationships we build with each other and non-human elements like water (Shepherd, 2022). Today I am showing up as an angry leader, but a leader that is justifiably angry at racism. I want to figure out how I can channel this type of anger into something productive for climate justice.

References

Bellefontaine, M. (2022, August 9). Alberta cabinet minister disavows racist, sexist essay that won prize. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-cabinet-minister-disavows-racist-sexist-essay-that-won-prize-1.6546032

Shepherd, J. (2022, July 28). What is your relationship with water? [Guest lecture for CALS 505 Leading Change in Organizations and Communities]. Unit 6 session, online.

July 27, 2022

This blog post is for assignment 1B in the CALS505 course

Consultation on Canada’s National Adaptation Strategy closed two weeks ago. As a cohort of students in the Climate Action Leadership program at Royal Roads University, eleven of us collaborated on a joint letter to share our priorities for action. There was no formal organizing mechanism behind us, just video calling software, a Google document, a deadline, and our ideas.

I’ve been reflecting on this project a lot over the past few weeks. What I found striking was the process felt joyful. I left our calls feeling energized and restored, and confident in our work. I have written dozens of advocacy letters in my life. I’ve collaborated with people plenty of times. I have had hundreds of video calls. So, what made this experience stand out?

Discovering the description of social capital helped me understand my joy. Social capital is the “trust, mutual understanding, and shared values and behaviours that bind the members of human networks and communities and make cooperative action possible” (Cohen & Prusack, 2001, p. 4). We weren’t just eleven people trying to co-write a piece. I was partnering with ten other people who are values-driven and who walk the talk. We’ve built understanding of one another over difficult assignments, through class discussions, and across multiple time zones. Our submission to the national adaptation strategy provided us a reason to deepen these relationships while we reflected and applied what we have learned throughout the program. So, it wasn’t just the software, a deadline, and our ideas that pulled the letter together. It was really the social capital we have been building over the past thirteen months as a cohort that made the project come together so smoothly.

This realization helped me understand the meaning of relationship building that is so central to decolonization work. Gram-Hanssen et al. (2022) call for “decolonial efforts from non-Indigenous people for society to successfully adapt to climate change in a way that centers equitable relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people” (p. 674). I understand this to mean that relationship building not only prepares us to work together effectively on climate action (as was the case with our cohort), but the relationships themselves are climate adaptations. My understanding of social capital has shifted from seeing it as outcome of working together to a necessary foundation to adaptation.

This idea was reinforced by the explanation of resilience by Ungar (2019), who concluded “the social, political, and natural environments in which we live are far more important to our health, fitness, finances and time management than our individual thoughts, feelings, or behaviours” (para. 29). The way I see it, Ungar (2019) is describing resilience as social capital beyond the organizational scale, but rather at the community scale. Perhaps by building social capital within and between groups, climate resilience can be found for as many people as possible.  

References

Cohen, D., & Prusak, L. (2001). In Good Company. Harvard Business School Press. Boston, MA.  

Gram-Hanssen, I., Schafenacker, N., & Bentz, J. (2022). Decolonizing transformations through ‘right relations’. Sustainability Science 17, 673-685. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-00960-9

Unger, M. (2019, May 25). Put down the self-help books. Resilience is not a DIY endeavour. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-put-down-the-self-help-books-resilience-is-not-a-diy-endeavour/ 

July 5, 2022

This blog post is for assignment 1A (excerpt 1) in the CALS505 course

“Ready for an adventure?”

That phrase has become my tagline when picking up my nephews for babysitting. I figure going on an adventure is one of the most exciting things for a child, even if it’s just to a local park. I remember how much I liked going on adventures as a child, and I want to continue cultivating that love for the outdoors with them.

My tagline came to mind as I’ve been reflecting on my values. In Dare to Lead, Brené Brown provides a list of over a hundred values and invites her readers to choose two values they hold most important (2018, p. 188). The two values I ultimately chose were adventure and integrity.

It was cathartic to summarize central aspects of my personality and worldview into two simple words. Yet even though these values feel ‘right’ to me, I began to wonder how they relate to my role as a climate leader. I even began to wonder whether these values were ‘worthy’ for the tough work of climate adaptation. On the one hand, integrity feels easy to justify: I respect integrity in my own leaders (such as politicians) and do my best to work with integrity. In a recent blog, I shared that the leaders I see making the most change in their communities are ones that are trustworthy, reliable, steadfast, and sincere. To me, all these attributes demonstrate integrity-based leadership.

On the other hand, adventure feels a little harder to justify. Do we really have time for adventures when there is so much work to do? In my downtime I enjoy exploring by canoe, by bike, or on foot. These adventures support my mental and physical health and provide a respite from the demands of climate work. Yet, I realized I value not only physical adventures, but working on projects in adventurous ways. I respect leaders that are willing to trust the process – and trust the people they work with – even if they don’t know exactly how the process will end.

With all that said, what are the potential drawbacks of these values? Or rather, what are some things I should be mindful of when embracing these values?

When it comes to integrity, it’s important to remember that standards are not universal. What may be an act of integrity from my perspective may not be an act of integrity to someone else. For instance, Poitras Pratt and Gladue (2022) call for the scope of academic integrity to be redefined and renewed to include Indigenous perspectives such as wholism and interconnectedness. I need to remember that my understanding of integrity is wrapped up in my colonial worldview and personal history.  

Similarly, I need to recognize that my zeal for adventure comes from a place of privilege. I have a safe place to sleep, a steady supply of food, a platform for my voice, and the ability to vote. If I do experience a climate disaster, I will most likely have the means and resources to adapt. I seek out adventures because my daily experiences don’t force me to be adventurous. Although “ready for an adventure?” is something that I ask out of joy, I need to remember that for many, daily life is a scary adventure already.

References

Brown, B. (2018). Dare to lead: Brave work. Tough conversations. Whole hearts. Random House.

Poitras Pratt, Y., & Gladue, K. (2022). Re-defining academic integrity: embracing indigenous truths. Academic Integrity in Canada, 1, 103-123. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83255-1_5