Leadership Learning Group
A group dedicated to providing a space to learn and share knowledge about leadership, building groups or teams, and general organizational design and culture.
This is a work in progress. The content of this page is not final and will be regularly updated as the group develops.
This website is aimed at employees at Steno Aarhus or Aarhus University who are interested in leadership or are in leadership positions.
There are many resources for learning about more fundamental research skills and knowledge, such as the Epi Stats group or the regular Steno Thursdays or individual research group meetings. But for skills and knowledge that are needed further in your career, like leadership, there are fewer resources. Especially when it comes to peer learning and knowledge sharing. This is the motivation for starting this group.
Purpose
The purpose of this group is to provide a space for learning and sharing knowledge about leadership and group/team/organisational design and culture. It will be primarily used to informally discuss and share things we’ve learned/read about or resources we’ve found useful when it comes to leadership. Importantly, this will be a space to critically reflect on current practices and how we can improve things, based on science and evidence.
This is mainly a space to share and discuss things we’ve read or learned, that we could potentially apply in our own groups/teams/organizations. This is not necessarily a space about our own individual experiences and how we feel we’re doing as leaders 1. This is about knowledge, skills, critical reflection, and ways to improve.
1 Though we could organise “peer feedback” or “peer coaching” sessions at some point in the future, if there is interest.
The main audience for this group is anyone who is currently in a leadership position or who is interested in becoming a leader in the future. It’s also, of course, open to anyone who is just generally interested in these topics!
Things to learn
This section is meant to be a list of topics or things we could potentially read or discuss during the group sessions. As we build this group, we’ll add more to this section. For now, it’s things I’ve read or found interesting that I think others might find interesting too, or that I feel would be interesting to discuss.
Books
While several of these are aimed at making software, they all contain valuable insights into leadership, building healthy team dynamics, and improving/designing organizational culture. Both software development and research are creative knowledge work, so many of the same principles apply to both domains.
- Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow is an excellent book (and website) that discusses effective ways of building teams and getting work done. While the focus is on software teams, the principles are generic enough to apply to any knowledge work.
- Accelerate: Building and scaling high performing technology organizations is a book that provides evidence-based insights into how to build effective knowledge work organizations. It is based on years of research and provides practical guidance for leaders.
- The Manager’s Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change is a book that provides practical advice for tech/knowledge work leaders at all levels, from managing teams to leading organizations.
- Kanban from the Inside: Understand the Kanban Method, Integrate It into Your Work, and Transform Your Team is a book that provides a comprehensive overview of the Kanban method, which is a popular approach to managing work in knowledge work environments.
Calendar
The upcoming sessions are listed in the calendar link. Copy this link to subscribe to the calendar in your preferred calendar app. https://ics.teamup.com/feed/kswt65x9zk9rzobn1v/14409003.ics
Via the Region Web Outlook
- Go to Calendar.
- Click “Add calendar” button.
- Select “From internet” menu item.
- Copy and paste the URL into the fields given.
Via the Desktop Outlook app
See the Microsoft Support Docs on subscribing to calendars.
Contact
- Luke Johnston sets up, organises, and runs this group.