The Citizen Leader in Action Workbooks

The Citizen Leader in Action is a comprehensive set of tutorials — one for each of the roles of an engaging leader. Each tutorial workbook offers a unique framework and practical tools for application to the specific leadership role that you, your participants or your students are exploring. This allows you and them to focus on and work through one leadership role at a time, in any sequence or on an as needed basis to address an immediate concern.

Oftentimes, my clients will use the entire set of workbooks as the basis of a workshop or class, and conduct it over a couple of days. Some have made the tutorials part of a leadership development curriculum, and spaced them out individually over time for ongoing leadership learning and growth.

Use the Workbooks to Help Groups Make Progress on Current Initiatives

The interactive frameworks and tools in The Citizen Leader in Action workbooks deliver distinct and diverse benefits when used as templates for practical work sessions by either the members of an intact work group or by diverse individuals from across an organization or community.

For an intact work group, each tutorial can provide a unique structure to help the members of the group focus and make progress on a specific current issue or initiative. The content of each tutorial acts as the vehicle to prompt a rigorous and thorough exchange of ideas. As a result, the members of the group can and do get clearer with one another, uncover and understand differing points of view, align around common interests and intents, and commit to tangible next steps for advancing the initiative.

For diverse individuals from across an organization or community, the collegial yet challenging conversations that are prompted by the content of each tutorial provide a forum for breaking down barriers, identifying possible partners for collaboration, and building relationships between and among individuals for whom forming new alliances can be a meaningful current step toward future success.

Preparatory Assignment

Each role (each tutorial) begins with an assignment to be prepared in advance. The introductory remarks to each tutorial and the questions that I pose in the assignment prepare the participants for the role, and ask them to gather some data or information that they will draw on as they venture through the material. Several of the assignments encourage them to choose a tangible, current initiative or project to work on as they go through the tutorial – an initiative or project that is important to them, and one for which they would be willing to take on a leadership role.

Interactive Frameworks and Practical Tools for Repeatable Application

Each of the tutorials provides an interactive framework and practical tools for the participants or students to apply to both themselves and to the initiative or project that they choose in the preparatory assignment. The reason for this: given all of my experience, and with plenty of corroborating evidence to back me up, I am convinced that in order for this learing to have longevity (or "legs"), it must be accompanied by immediate and meaningful application.

The participants and students will find that the tools they learn for any one of roles in The Citizen Leader in Action will have use and applicability in the other roles they will explore in the other tutorials.

Peer Support

I encourage participants to form peer support groups to share insights and practice new behaviors in a safe environment, with the intent of enhancing the learning for all.

Practical Next Steps

In an additional effort to give each role “legs,” there are recommended next steps at the conclusion of each tutorial. These next steps are reminders to the participants for what they can do over and over again to extend their learning, deepen their growth, strengthen their bonds with others, and continue to make meaningful contributions in their world.

Flow of Concepts and Summary of Questions

At the conclusion of each of The Citizen Leader in Action workbooks, there is either a summary of the questions or a set of “talking points” that make up the substantive content of the interactive frameworks. These summaries of the tutorial’s concepts, questions and queries will allow the participants or students to quickly and regularly review the materials and, more importantly, apply…apply…apply!