Partner's for possibility
I had just attended a 2-day workshop on community building directed by Dr. Rama Naidu and facilitated by Gillian Logiotis, the content was mainly about the structure of belonging and I learnt a lot.
Dr Rama Naidu directs an organization called Citizen Leader Lab: Partners for Possibility. The target market for this organization is schools who are from underprivileged neighborhoods. What this organization does is it partners the principals from these schools with influential mentors who guide and mentors the principals to be conveners that strive with possibilities.
I learnt that being a convener is a great tool of leadership and it is effective because if thereâs a connection, content strives. The methodology to being a convener is:
To solve a problem, one must admit that there is a problem in the first place. One must get to the main cause of the problem so that he/she can be able to solve the problem fully.
Reframing the problem as a Possibility
After you have completed identifying the main cause of the problem, you must reframe the problem as a possibility. Ask yourself the âWhat if?â question.
Visualise the possibility as a reality.
Ask yourself of the possibility would become the reality what would happen? How many problems would be solved? If your problem would be solved, then think of ways to make your possibility a reality.
When taking the first step normalize starting with the lowest entry point. By lowest entry point I mean start with what you have/ can do with the resources you have.
Mind you, I work in school situated in a poverty-stricken neighborhood. A neighborhood where resources are a scarcity. A neighborhood where parents depend on the government SASSA Child Grant for their livelihood. So, resources are scarce.
Dr Rama Naidu taught us not to look at resources as resources but as gifts. For instance, a parent might be unemployed but possess a skill that may be instrumental to solving a problem that ILITHA Public Primary School has. For an example, we have an SGB Member at our school called Terrence Mjijwa. He is a plumber by trade but is currently unemployed. We had an SGB Meeting convened by our Principal Miss Noluthando Ethel Ngcobondwana. She convened the meeting following the structure of belonging methodology which is Possibility, Ownership, Commitment, Dissent, and Invitation.
What my Principal did was she followed the convener rules by first creating a connection between the SGB Members by dividing them into groups of three and letting them discuss the problem our school possesses and the possibilities of them solving the problems.
By doing that, she gave the SGB Members a sense of ownership of the school.
When Mr Mjijwa felt ownership of the school, he felt the need to protect and serve it. He knew he had a gift, it may not be monetary but he knew his gift would add value to the school so he committed to helping the school with plumbing and basic maintenance so that âHis kids would go to a school with a working flushing toilet and no broken windows.â
The fact that Mr Mjijwa volunteered definitely gave me assurance that Dr Rama Naiduâs methodology works, also that my principal is a great convener because she passed it to the SGB Members using his methodology and one of them felt committed enough to carry it.
Anyway, Mr Mjijwa started working on getting the measurements for the broken windows. He wasnât doing it alone though, about two weeks ago, Ms N.E Ngcobondwanaâs former caretaker/gateman and general worker abruptly quit his job with immediate effect so she had to hire a new one as soon as possible because not having a caretaker would cause problems like vandalism. Thereâs a trend of cable theft in our neighboring schools due to unemployment, thereâs also crime like robberies so the school could not afford to not have a gateman/caretaker.
The vacancy was posted, and a lot of people applied for the job as there is a scarcity of jobs and the school hired someone who was more qualified as the candidate had a security Grade c and a PSIRA certificate.
The new caretaker, Bantu Mpendu, is the guy working with Mr Mjijwa with all the project he committed to doing for our school.
My principal knew there would be members who would distract the meeting and she was ready for it because Dr Rama Naidu taught her to expect it and gave her some of his expertise in dealing with one.
For instance, In the SGB there is one member that is always distractive and negative during meetings convened by principal. She deduced itâs because she wanted a man to be the principal and not a woman.
The member is domineering and usually uses emotion to manipulate crowds (like in this meeting) to do her bidding for her.
While Ms Ngcobondwana was convening the meeting she interrupted her two times and principal entertained her, the minute she had the floor she would have unfounded complaints about her appearance and the way she is convening the meeting.
Fortunately, Dr. Rama Naidu equipped the principal with some guidelines in dealing with a member like her.
He said âThe main aim is not to put the dissent member out of the room because the wisdom is in the roomâ which basically means that she too might bring something important to light.
She remembered to use the guidelines taught by Dr Rama Naidu which are:
Even though she was in her case but she refused to take it personal because the possibility in the room was bigger than both of them.
She spoke to her with love and passion even though she was rude to her and killed her with her smile and kindness.
The third time she interrupted her, the other SGB Members basically reprimanded her as it was clear that she had a hidden agenda. Ms Ngcobondwana was the first one to defend her by saying âShe has a right to her opinion and advised her to reframe the way she uses her words to put it across.â
By defending her, she created rapport with the distractive SGB Member and she started acting accordingly.
Principal had a problem of low attendance in her parent â teacher meeting so she had to find a way to make the parents come to the meetings, so she decided to use some guidelines in making school invitations which are:
Reframe the problem into a possibility.
He taught her that for instance, if the school has a drug problem (God Forbid). Your headline should not be âYour children have a drug problemâ because that might make the parent not want to come because they know their child does have a drug problem and wonât come to the meeting because of being ashamed or also afraid of being judged due to the childâs behavior. Instead, he advised we make the headline a possibility like âLetâs create a better future for our kidsâ as this would entice the parent to attend willingly because every parent wants a better future for their child.
Be as Personal as Possible.
When sending out the invitations principal made sure she would write the SGB Memberâs name like âDear Terrance Mjijwaâ so that the member would feel like the letter is directed to him personally instead of âTo Whom It May Concernâ or âDear Sir/ Madamâ
When she wrote the invitation she created a hurdle like âStay and engage until the meeting is adjourned.â By doing that, she knew that the problem might make the parents uncomfortable and they might leave so creating the hurdle would prevent that from happening.
You are not forced to attend
In her conclusion in the invitation letter, principal wrote âYour presence would be highly appreciatedâ which shows compassion instead of âThe attendance register will be markedâ which will instill fear to the members and make them feel forced to come.
She purposefully did that because she was taught by Dr Rama Naidu that if one does the latter, the members would come, but only a few would engage because they are not the willingly.
âI would rather have 15 engaged members in the room than 50 unengaged members because the wisdom is in the room and it is your job as a convener to amplify it.â Said Dr Rama Naidu.
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