Those of us who have had leadership training may wonder “How does that coach learn to do this?”
To get some answers, we talked with Rob Kramer, Senior Leadership Consultant here at the Institute for the Arts and Humanities. He brings a breadth of experience in coaching business and academic leaders, teams, and executives through his firm Kramer Leadership. Here at the IAH, where he has worked for 6 years, Kramer facilitates the Academic Leadership Program and the Chairs Leadership Program.
His learning developed “through the back door,” according to Kramer. He interned with a leadership development coach. Also, “I found my pleasure reading was leadership books,” he says when asked about taking his arts degree and pursuing a career in coaching and development. His latest read is Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows.
One of the things he’s learning from this book is “where power and influence lies. In addition to formal authority. You’ll see people who have a lot of followers at a very low level or mid-level because (the followers) believe in what that person says… This is why I think leadership happens at every level.”
As a coach, Kramer is attuned to leadership trends. The biggest one: Mindfulness.
“It’s a choice of where to put one’s attention, whether it’s going to be on the present moment or pulled in the past or the future,” says Kramer. “What I’ve experienced is when people choose to focus on the present moment the better decision makers they are, the better they at self-care, the better they are at their relationships and interactions… the better they are at showing up in their day.”
More on our conversation below.