What is Experiential Leadership Learning?

Have you ever attended a leadership class advertised as a way to develop your self-awareness and leadership capacity, only to glance over a never-ending set of PowerPoint slides the instructor kept talking about? Then you know the feeling when time spent is a way to check a training box, to accomplish a required corporate chore, rather than a genuine opportunity for growth.

Instead of inspiring discussions and real-world applications, you're left wondering how this information will ever translate into practical skills for you...

Coursework/training is one of many options for developing leaders, along with Challenging Assignments, Developmental relationships, and One-on-One Coaching.

To ensure you reach your goal, if you want to teach your team with coursework/training, drop the slide show and use Experiential Leadership Learning. This is a way to teach experientially—without the rope course—using what happens in a group as the material for learning.

What? What do you mean?

A Different Way to Develop Leadership Capacity

The idea behind experiential leadership learning is simple: people learn about leadership by experiencing it in real-time rather than hearing someone talk about it.

Teaching leadership experientially means recognizing, naming, and reflecting upon the leadership concepts you are dealing with as a group experiences them—as they materialize in front of your eyes.

We call this immersive, experiential pedagogy Case‐in‐Point because class moments become living “cases in point” or “teachable moments” of the content being taught.

The Case-in-Point (CIP) methodology involves people learning through real-time reflective practice. This approach was pioneered by Ronald Heifetz and colleagues at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, primarily for teaching adaptive leadership. CIP encourages students to engage with teachable moments, allowing them to observe and practice real-time concepts and fostering experiential learning and critical reflection.

For example, imagine three typical group situations:

1. A presenter who generates confusion as she refuses to structure the meeting according to the traditional method;

2. Two groups of people have a heated discussion that erupts over a strong difference of opinions;

3. A single person decides not to participate in class discussions and quietly disengages.

All these seemingly simple class situations can be studied and reflected upon—with an instructor who acts as a learning facilitator — as manifestations of essential leadership concepts and some common leadership challenges.

For example:

1. The "Unpredictable Presenter" can teach about authority: like a boss that doesn’t tell you what to do – the situation forces you to confront “in the moment” your own belief about authority and to manage your own need for direction differently;
2. The "two groups having a heated discussion" can teach about factions and conflict, like a discussion at work over a budget cut – the situation puts you in a position to possibly misunderstand the good purpose of your opponents, making them an easy target for scapegoating or attacks;
3. The "silent peer" can teach about engagement and credibility. Like an audience not sold on your ideas, the situation forces you to confront “in real time” what you are up against when you advocate for a course of action or a problematic decision amid skepticism or indifference.

All the situations described above provide robust material for reflection, conversation, facilitated discussions, and insight in real-time. All you need to do is focus your attention to see clearly:

1. How the SOCIAL SYSTEM has an impact on your capacity to lead;
2. How your REACTIONS have an impact on your capacity to lead.

Seeing How the Social System Impacts Your Capacity to Lead

“Knowing how the environment is pulling your strings and playing you is critical to making responsive rather than reactive moves.” - Ron Heifetz

What do we learn about our organizations as social systems in these circumstances?

When we see the class as a social system where leadership can show up—or not—we understand the situation differently and can experiment with new ways of acting to serve our purpose. Properly explored and reflected upon, those situations can be analyzed to understand our organization's implicit cultural norms and for new diagnostic options and possibly different, fresh ways to act. For example:

1. The “Unpredictable Presenter.” Adequately facilitated, this scenario can illustrate in real life the organization's cultural norms about dependence on authority, the implicit cultural rules for guidance and direction to achieve our goals, the value of independence and self-reliance in the organization, and the level of resilience of the group in ambiguous situations.
2. The “Two Groups in a Heated Discussion.” Adequately facilitated, this scenario can illustrate and test in vivo the acceptable level of cooperation, problem-solving, and tolerance for genuine inquiry and knowledge-sharing in the organization against the value of individual competency, experience, rank, and "being right."
3. The “Silent Peer” With good facilitation, we can learn how to build credibility for action in the organization, the value the organization places in connecting with others to enlist their support, and the local rules about engagement when faced with indifference.

Seeing How Your Reactions Impact Your Capacity to Lead

"Your behavior reflects your actual purposes." - Ron Heifetz

What do we learn about ourselves in these circumstances?

1. The "Unpredictable Presenter" challenges us to recognize our responses to unpredictable leadership, develop strategies for pursuing objectives independently, and learn to navigate uncertainty and ambiguity effectively.
2. "Two Groups in Heated Discussion" challenges us to identify and challenge our biases, practice active listening and perspective-taking, and develop skills to facilitate constructive dialogue among conflicting parties.
3. The "Silent Peer" challenges us to experiment with different approaches to motivate and involve others, develop strategies for overcoming apathy or resistance, and enhance our ability to communicate ideas persuasively.

Can you see this approach's transformative power instead of showing your audience slides about these ideas?

As an executive coach and leadership expert, I've witnessed countless individuals undergo profound personal and professional growth through hands-on leadership experiences like the one described above. The beauty of the Case-in-Point methodology lies in its ability to turn everyday moments into powerful learning opportunities, allowing leaders to develop their skills in real-time, authentic situations.

Three Key Ideas to Understand Your Reactions: Sense-Making, Tuning, and Default

When you embrace this experiential approach to developing the people around you, three key ideas can help you and your team better understand your reactions.

• One is SENSE MAKING, which is your and others' ability to make sense of situations. You start seeing how you and others understand what happens around you. You can start paying attention to what is beyond a first impression or initial superficial view. You learn a lot about yourself when you witness your process for doing so, and you share it with others.

An example of SENSEMAKING in action? During a team meeting, a project manager notices conflicting opinions about a new initiative. Instead of immediately intervening, she observes how team members interact, listening carefully to understand the underlying concerns and perspectives. This sense-making process allows her to grasp the situation's complexity beyond surface-level disagreements.

• Another one is TUNING: the set of values, perspectives, and world-views that resonate with you and that you might be naturally more sensitive to (Confirmation Bias is the extreme of this tendency: hearing and valuing ONLY what resonates, what confirms your ideas). This idea helps you understand your responses better, whether they express a need from you or the correct response to a situation you might be in.

What is an example of Tuning in action? A sales representative consistently focuses on technical product features when pitching to clients, overlooking their emotional needs. His manager recognizes this as a form of tuning, where the rep's engineering background influences his communication style. By becoming aware of this tendency, the rep can adjust his approach to better resonate with diverse client perspectives.

• Those ideas combined define your DEFAULT, your habitual response to stimuli that keep you in your comfort zone. Understanding our default responses in groups, relationships, and life provides a critical set of information (an essential baseline) to grow and thrive in a changed world.

Here is an example of a Default response: A department head habitually says "yes" to every request, leading to overcommitment and burnout. This default response stems from a desire to please others and avoid conflict. Recognizing this pattern allows the leader to pause and consider each request more carefully, learning to say "no" when necessary to maintain productivity and well-being.

Learning Experientially Sense-Making, Tuning, and Default

Are you ready to run your own Case-in-Point Session to allow your team to explore their own Sense-making, Tuning, and Default? Here below is a 20-minute agenda for you to try.

Experiential Learning creates a space to notice your and your team's Sense-Making, Tuning, and Default. These ideas offer significant value for personal growth and leadership development. Why? Because they:

• Enhance Self-Awareness. These concepts provide a framework for deeper self-understanding. By recognizing how we interpret situations (sense-making), what we naturally gravitate towards (tuning), and our habitual reactions (default responses), we gain crucial insights into our thought processes and behaviors.
• Improve Decision-Making. Understanding these concepts enables leaders to make more informed decisions. By being aware of their biases and default responses, leaders can pause and consider alternative perspectives, leading to more balanced and effective choices.
• Foster Adaptability. In today's rapidly changing business environment, adaptability is key. These concepts help leaders recognize when their usual approaches may not serve them well, encouraging flexibility and openness to new strategies.
• Drive Continuous Improvement. Recognizing our sense-making processes, tuning tendencies, and default responses provides a foundation for ongoing personal and professional development. It allows leaders to identify areas for growth and actively work on expanding their capabilities.

By embracing these concepts, leaders can cultivate a more nuanced understanding of themselves and others, leading to more effective, empathetic, and adaptive leadership.

I’m eager to hear your thoughts.

Please share your comments below.

All the best,

Adriano Pianesi

I am a long-time adaptive leadership expert and executive coach with roots in Fortune 500 companies, Non-Profits, Government, and Higher Education.

I coach and consult because I love to help people and teams grow and change.

I teach and write about innovation, leadership, coaching, organizational change, and teams. Click here to learn more.