Lessons Learned from ALF

By Charles C. Weathers Sr.

The Weathers Group

ALF Waccamaw Region, Class IV

While organizing my home office, I ran across my ALF Binder – Waccamaw Region, Class IV, 2015-2016.  What a year that was.  New friends, new adventures, and new perspectives.  One of the best decisions I made.

I like to think that year had a significant impact on my life, both personally and professionally.  I like to believe that I have infused the ALF principles and lessons into my daily conversations, decisions, and actions.  After combing through my manual, two things became evident; 1) It has had impact and I have infused some elements, 2) If I become more purposeful, there are unlimited opportunities for my ALF experience to have an even deeper impact on myself and my community.

Here are few ALF lessons that are helping me navigate the current circumstances and serve my community:

1. The Constructivist Listening Dyad – People are in need of someone listening to them, someone who listens with the benefit of the speaker being the priority.  People are not used to others fully listening to them.  I’m often engaged with people who don’t need my answers or analysis – they need my attention.
2. Systems Thinking – As organizations, communities, and our country struggle to figure out what’s going on and how do we respond, I am doing my best to use a systems thinking perspective when working with teams.  I’ve found that most groups, with the best of intentions, address challenges by dealing with the parts of the challenge in silo’d compartments. When people begin to see the interconnectedness of the parts and their resulting structures, they move from treating symptoms to getting to deeper root causes and solutions.
3. Privilege – Privilege does not disappear in a crisis, it is actually heightened.  As we parse out who goes to work, who stays home, what’s allowed, and what’s not allowed, privilege manifests in these decisions.  I am more aware of my privilege and encouraging my colleagues to consider the impact that their privilege has on their perspective and decisions.

I am thankful for the friendships and knowledge I gained through my ALF experience.  I’m even more grateful to be part of a network of leaders that “get it” and want to do something about it. To all my Senior Fellows, let’s continue to take what we learned and do what we can, where-ever we are, for the greater good.