On this episode of the On the Balcony podcast, Michael is joined by Julia Fabris McBride today to discuss the eighth chapter of Ron Heifetz’s book, Leadership Without Easy Answers.  Today the pair reckon with the idea of leadership as it functions without authority.  McBride is an actor, author, and President and CEO of the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC). In her work with KLC, McBride strives daily to foster civic leadership and create stronger and healthier Kansan communities.  In doing so, she must engage with different factions, their values, and opinions.  It can be hard fulfilling an authority role, especially when those you lead have differing versions of success.  

But as McBride says, progress happens when we embrace diverse opinions, understand one another, and come to decisions for the common good.  It’s also challenging when holding an authority role that confines you to an organization’s code of conduct and job description.  Many people, though, go beyond those informal expectations and duties and do what they aren’t authorized to do.  Take some of history’s greatest changemakers for example:  Gandhi, Susan B. Anthony, and Martin Luther King acted without authority, asking the provocative questions, and influencing society to think differently.  They did, but only because these trail blazers had the courage to make waves in domains where they weren’t always welcome. Thanks to their ability to practice leadership without authority, we all benefit greatly from the  progress they inspired.

The Finer Details of This Episode: 

• The difference between self and role 
• Working across factions 
• The “risk” in practicing leadership without authority
• Working across factions in rural communities in Kansa 
• The value of diverse perspectives 
• Having the courage to fail
• Leadership case examples around abortion and LGBTQ rights

Quotes: 

“What I loved about this framework, from the very beginning, was the idea that there's a distinction between role and self.”

‘The Kansas Leadership Center's mission is to foster civic leadership for healthier, stronger, more prosperous Kansas communities. And our vision is a civic culture in Kansas and beyond that is healthy and prosperous.”

“In fact, many people daily go beyond both their job description and the informal expectations they carry within their organization, and do what they are not authorized to do.”

“He's just talked about how leadership without authority has been the domain of women for a long time. And he's starting to get into examples of people like Rachel Carson and Gandhi and Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King, who exercised leadership beyond the scope of their authority.”

“Even if you're the board chair of a nonprofit, you're having to deal with governance issues and nominating the next slate of officers. But if you're, you know, if you really don't have any authority, you can ask the dumb question or the provocative question.”

“Progress [happens] when we understand each other…Progress is a civic culture that's more able to make decisions for the common good.”

“I encourage people to speak their mind, to ask hard questions, to stretch beyond their comfort zones. We need people who have the courage to say this is what I care about.”

Links:

On the Balcony on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast

Leadership Without Easy Answers on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Without-Answers

Julia Fabris McBride with KLC: https://kansasleadershipcenter.org/team 

The Kansas Leadership Center: https://kansasleadershipcenter.org/

Julia Fabris McBride on Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/juliafabmcbride

About Face Theatre https://aboutfacetheatre.com/

Mentioned in this episode:

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