Radical Transformational Leadership Through the Arts
Artists and the arts have the power to open our hearts to our humanity, dissolving prejudice, revealing inequities, and changing how treat each other and the planet.
Workshops
Arts and Social Change Workshop
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Arts and Social Change is a learning-in-action workshop for artists, organized by RTLArts and led by Dr. Monica Sharma based on her work Radical Transformational Leadership (RTL) with Therese Adams. Through the workshop, artists source their inner potential and see themselves as changemakers to address what is not working in families, communities, nations, and the planet. The goal of the workshop is to harness the power of the arts to influence culture for the greater good, using Radical Transformational Leadership (RTL). Everyone can step into courage to create change. Drawing on more than 30 years of work at the United Nations and elsewhere, Dr. Monica Sharma presents a radical new approach to transformational leadership, using the Conscious Full Spectrum Response, one that creates cultures and systems of change where everyone can engage. The workshop covers tools and templates for artists to step into their leadership to inspire people to care for the wellbeing of all. The arts can be a powerful domain to stop "othering", stereotyping, and stigmatizing people based on race, class, gender, caste, tribe, nationality, and religion and start portraying individuals as who they really are--unique and worthy beyond privilege, bias, and prejudice. And artists see themselves as changemakers that draw people into their greatness and address what is not working in families, communities, nations, and the planet. This workshop is in partnership with Jim Brown.
“Artist are like all human beings with the potential to discover and manifest our inner power and wisdom along with our gifts and talents. When artists journey through their won leadership and stewardship development based on universal values they stand, they see new invisible patterns and they generate spectacular images symbols, icons, and metaphors for an equitable and thriving humanity and planet.” – Dr. Monica Sharma
“Artist are like all human beings with the potential to discover and manifest our inner power and wisdom along with our gifts and talents. When artists journey through their won leadership and stewardship development based on universal values they stand, they see new invisible patterns and they generate spectacular images symbols, icons, and metaphors for an equitable and thriving humanity and planet.” – Dr. Monica Sharma
Vision and Mission
Vision: The arts influence culture for the greater good and are integrated into everyday life. Artists manifest universal values along with their gifts and talents to create art based in equity, dignity and compassion that inspires action towards universal equity and well being for humanity and a thriving planet.
Artists inspire courage in audiences who are invited to tap into their values, change cultural norms and unworkable systems leading to universal equity and well being for humanity and the thriving planet.
Mission: Artists generate new icons symbols and narratives that amplify life- enhancing culture and change harmful and diminishing social norms based in dignity, equity, and compassion. New narratives and stories are created using RTL in dance, theatre, film, fine arts, music, comics, and literature to inspire people to care for the wellbeing of all beyond privilege, bias, and prejudice and address the systems and norms that are not working. Use the power of art to portray individuals as who they really are--unique and worthy to create wellbeing for all and to stop "othering", stereotyping, and stigmatizing people based on race, class, gender, caste, tribe, nationality, and religion
What is RTL?
RTL is a unique approach and methodology created by Dr. Monica Sharma and described in her book Radical Transformational Leadership. RTL is based on the unique Conscious Full Spectrum Response model about how to source our inner capacities and wisdom to manifest change that embodies universal values of dignity, compassion, and fairness, and simultaneously transform unworkable systems and cultural norms to solve problems.
Drawing on more than 30 years of work at the United Nations and elsewhere, she presents a radical new approach to transformational leadership, one that creates systems of change where everyone can engage. Everyone has the potential to be a leader–a person who creates a new future–through actions in society, at home, and work. RTL is a pathway for unleashing our human potential to generate new futures through strategic actions for equitable and enduring results through all sectors—cultural entities, businesses, nonprofits, governments, media, etc. Dr. Monica Sharma has worked worldwide designing and delivering learning-in-action programs that equip participants with the practices necessary to generate results for systemic and equitable individual, organizational, and community and policy change.
Monica Sharma © 2020
About the Workshop
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What will you gain from the workshop?
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Apply cutting edge personal leadership development to unleash the powerful systems change leader in all of us while supporting others to do the same
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Learn how to design projects in the arts to simultaneously solve problems, shift systems & norms and activate shared values
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Learn value based communication practices for creating new narratives about important issues you are working to address
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Transform how we do everyday activities to create equity, dignity, and compassion
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Who should participate?
Artist of any discipline and arts administrators who want to create systemic change based in equity, dignity, and compassion for all. Participants thrive when they are willing to start with a beginner's mind, are committed to equity and social justice and value systems thinking.
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Project-Based Learning-In-Action
Participants will bring ta creative project to the workshop ideally something they are already working on. In addition to the 2 intensive sessions, participants will be paired with two other participants for a monthly call between sessions to further learning and accountability to practice of what is learned. The expectation is that participants will continue after the program to use the knowledge, capacities and project design skills in the community for positive change
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Workshop: Session 1 and Session 2 :
Two intensive 3-day workshops accompanied by group calls between sessions. Attendance at both sessions is required.
Session 1 : Being and Designing Change
Date:
December 11-13, 2020
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Location:
Santa Cruz County, California
Due to Covid-19 might be offered online.
Who are we as leaders as artists, and how can we create change through our work? What are our shared values? What is it that inspires us and keeps us committed to our work in the face of setbacks and negative news? Who do we need to be to create the change we want to see? How do we listen deeply for shared values and opportunities to leverage change? How do we become systems leaders empowered with the tools and templates we need to create change? How do we begin to look at our work through the three components of sustainable change (solving problems, shifting systems, and activating potential)? What type of feelings and emotional responses do we evoke from our audiences? How do we distinguish between pleasure and happiness? How do we distinguish what an emotional response to art does and doesn't do? How do we explicitly manifest values or systems and cultural norms shift in our work? How do we distinguish opinions agree/disagree from multiple perspectives based on values? How do we move from symbols that are just the gimmick of the month/day to symbols that are CFSR and are enduring? How do we, as artists, make sure that we are not off (distant) the world, but you are in (part of) the world?
Session 2 : Leading Change
Date:
April 30 - May 2, 2021
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Location:
Santa Cruz County, California
How do we, as artists, use the dynamic power of the arts to move people from apathy to action to create equity, compassion, and dignity and show invisible unworkable systems that stop people from thriving? How do we build upon our new learning and practice? How will we re-design our projects to align and be attuned to what we deeply care about for people and the planet? To simultaneously solve problems, shift systems, and activate our own and our community's potential for change? How do we see and address the larger systems inherent in the problems we are trying to solve? How do we plan differently to create the impact we want to see? What are the different stages of leadership development, and how do they inform our collaborative efforts? How do we talk about the change we want to create and enroll others in creating this change? How do we connect events, programs, and other activities to measurable outcomes and impact? How do we empower others to lead the change they wish to see? How do we hold multiple perspectives and transcend divisiveness while adhering to universal values?
Two intensive 3-day workshops accompanied by group calls between sessions.
Attendance at both sessions is required.
Monica Sharma © 2020
About the Presenters
Dr. Monica Sharma
Dr. Monica Sharma, trained as a physician and epidemiologist, worked for the United Nations for more than 30 Years. Currently, she engages worldwide as an international expert and practitioner on leadership development for sustainable and equitable change. She is the author of the book Radical Transformational Leadership which one won the Nautilus Gold Book Award 2017 for Business & Leadership. She works with the United Nations, universities, management institutions, governments, businesses, media, and civil society organizations. She was the former Director of Leadership and Capacity Development at the United Nations and directed global programs related to the Sustainable Development Goals. She has published and presented over 250 articles in journals and international forums. Monica Sharma created and uses a unique response model based on extensive application—a conscious full-spectrum model—which is for simultaneously solving problems, shifting systems, and creating new patterns sourced from individual inner capacity and transformational leadership. This model has generated sustainable results worldwide. Read more
Therese Adams
Since 2014, Therese Adams is a pioneer and a unifying architect. She practices and applies the tools and templates of Radical Transformational Leadership. In the Leadership for Community Transformation program, with Dr. Monica Sharma. Therese has supported the training of hundreds of leaders in Northern California as a practitioner coach. With Dr. Monica Sharma, she developed the RTL Arts initiative to transform the arts using the Radical Transformational Leadership frameworks and methodology. She works as a theatre director, choreographer, and arts educator. Directing and producing many of the plays of Samuel Beckett, she organized a week-long festival of his work at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She directed Beckett's PLAY at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. For over 25 years, she has been the Director of Moving and Storage Performance Company performing in New York, California, and Japan.
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About Our Partners
Jim Brown Executive Director
Arts Council Santa Cruz County
Since 2003 Jim has followed his dedication to building communities that support authentic self-expression. A recovering software engineer for the semiconductor industry, he served as the Executive Director of both the Diversity Center and the 418 Project before joining the Arts Council as Grants Program Manager in 2012. He left in 2015 for a position as Program Officer and Grants Manager at Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, but returned to the Arts Council in 2017, as Deputy and Tannery Director, to work more closely with community and the arts. As Tannery Director, Jim worked with his team to strengthen the Tannery community, create exceptional programming, and increase awareness of everything happening on this campus. On a personal note, Jim has three children (Serenity, Andrew, and Nate) that he adopted through the foster system. They came to him in 2011 and are now 12, 14, and 15 years old! In addition to parenting, Jim loves to dance, hike, and read fantasy/science fiction novels.
Ask Jim to write about why he is inspired by RTLARTS
