Reclaim your profession…
Reclaim your POWER!
The Oklahoma Education Association
Connecting Self-Interest
to Levels of Power
The pressures on families
SOCIAL
PRESSURES
INSTITUTIONS
FAMILY:
What do you
teach as
important?
What did you
learn is most
important?
The Levels of Power
The Levels of Power
The Levels of Power
The Levels of Power
The Levels of Power
The Levels of Power
The Levels of Power
The Levels of Power
POWER
RECOGNIZES
POWER!
Minimum requirements
for power…
•Must have at least 2
participants
•Must have a PLAN!
However…
Power without Love is
Brutality….
And Love without Power is
Sentimentality.
FOLLOW THE $$...
THE STORY OF SANDI KRESS
The Godfather of High-stakes Testing
Self-interest: Latin for “interesse”—
the interests among, between
The continuum of self-interest:
Selfish……….…Self-Interest………….….Selfless
All self,
no others
Balance
No self,
all others
The continuum of consent:
The
continuum
of consent:
• Threat
of sanction
• Deception
• Appeal to authority
• Tradition/apathy
• Informed consent
If we don’t know our own selfinterests, we will be
MANIPULATED!
Relational Power and the
Power of One on One
Conversations
RELATIONSHIPS: Private vs. Public
PRIVATE
Who?
Family
Friends
PUBLIC
PRIVATE
Looks for?
PUBLIC
Coworkers
Neighbors
Doctor
Services
Recognition
Power
Comfort
Security
Closed
Boundaries:
How are
relationships
conducted?
Open
Above-board
“Mask” person, but
not fake
Love
Intimacy
Why?
Trust
Attraction
Kinship
Based upon?
More choice
calculation
Informal
How is
business
conducted?
Formal
Agenda
Blood
Permanency
What holds them
together?
Self-interest
Harmony
Atmosphere?
Tension—forces
clarification
Loyalty
Ruled by?
Accountability
Liked, loved
Response?
Respect
Two types of power…
Unilateral:
•Top down
•Rugged individual
•Others exist to carry
out their will
•Delegating
•Power is a zero-sum
game…there’s only so
much power to go
around
Relational:
• Power with
• Others seen as
potential leaders
• Belief in mentoring
• Exponential
power…power grows
through others
Relational Best Practices
The One to One
Relational Meeting:
• Always face to face
• Intentional
• 30 minutes
• Purpose? To explore the
possibility of a
relationship…to determine
if you want a second
meeting with this person!
One to One Relational Meetings
ARE NOT
ARE
About task
About relationship
Talk
Listening
Selling
Offer of power
Polite
Agitational
Interview
Personal underpinnings
for public action
Stereotypes
Curiosity
THE IRON RULE…
NEVER
AGITATION
EVER
VS.
DO ANYTHING
FOR ANYONE
IRRITATION
THAT HE OR SHE
CAN DO
FOR HIM OR
HERSELF!
How do you spot an organizer?
Qualities to look for…
•Anger
To the Greeks, “meekness” meant
appropriate anger at the appropriate
time. They positioned meekness between
two other emotions on a continuum:
Rage--------meekness--------apathy
Other qualities to look for…
•Humor
•Imagination
•Curiosity
•The “Integrated Schizoid”
•Acceptance of terminality
•Ego
What does organizing look like?
General Organizing
Actions
•Develop leaders
•Move an agenda
•Deepen member
involvement
•Raise $$
Association Actions
•Develop association
leaders
•Move an agenda
•Membership
engagement
•Improving teaching and
learning conditions
•Building membership
Time management
1) Be clear about the mission…what is most
important? What are we trying to make happen?
2) Be strategic!
• What can I do now that positions me for the future?
This draws on imagination, creativity
• Avoid one size fits all thinking…local context matters
• Refusal to accept a changing world
• Seeing life as one-dimensional…all things are good or
everything is bad
3) Reflection
The cycle of reflection:
Hypothesize
Reflection
Take Action
“We run around
as a ball of
undigested
happenings.”
Saul Alinsky
There’s power in reflection!
What gets in the way?
•Time
What helps?
•Fear
•Reading—specific and
targeted
•Lack of humor
•Writing
•Arrogance
•Tension
•Lack of ego
•Training
•Technology
•Mentoring
•Fatigue
•Quiet time
•Sleep
Make a budget…
Are we filling our calendars with tasks, operations, or
opportunities? Most of us work 90% operations, 10%
opportunities! Strive for 50/50!
So now we know…
•There’s no shame in self
interest
•There’s unselfishness in selfinterest
•We are currently at the
BOTTOM of the levels of power
•Power depends upon
relationships
•Power depends upon consent
•Reflection is vital
Thank you for your
time and attention!