Greetings Tom!
Really appreciated your comments!
They come at an interesting time for me. I just completed facilitating a
graduate level seminar for teachers and administrators entitled The
Language of Leadership. The premise was that if we are to be effective
leaders in our various systems we must be able to use the language
effectively. We used Marlene Caroselli's book The Language of Leadership
in which she discusses the languages of power, politics, pursuasion,
psychology, entrepreneurship, journalism, and activism. We combined the
reading with viewing of 20 video tape segements illustrating each of the
above. Additionally we engaged in a variety of "practice excercises"
related to each of the above.
This was the first time I did a seminar on this topic, but I think it was
enjoyable and a success. We certainly came away with a different
perception about the importance of appropriate use of the language!! I am
sure we will be offering this seminar again based on the feedback
received. I forwarded you thoughts to our seminar listserve for others
thoughts and reactions.
Again, many thanks for your posting!!!
Sincerely,
Bob Vander Wilt, Professor
Dept. Educational Leadership
Minnesota State University - Mankato
On Thu, 10 Dec 1998 07:49:33 -0500 "Thomas Petzinger Jr."
<tom@petzinger.com> wrote:
> I have a hunch I'd like to test, namely that the art of the written word
> is slowly being restored in organization life. Partly, I think, this
> reflects the increasing need to capture nuance and feeling in ways that
> fill-in-the-blank forms, Powerpoint presentations, and voice-mail messages
> don't permit. Technology may also be driving this trend, as e-mail makes
> it so easy to write or "publish" a letter--and so necessary to respond in
> turn. From where I sit, it seems people are doing a lot more writing and
> perhaps a little less talking.
>
> That said, much of the writing is appalling. Many people of a certain age
> remain stuck in the old, hyper-passive, "pursuant-to-your-letter" style.
> Others of a different (dare I say younger?) age are more expansive in
> their writing--if you can get past the spelling atrocities born of whole
> language teaching (a trade-off I accept, grudgingly).
>
> Thus, I am wondering whether people are now beginning to make a conscious
> effort to improve the technical or artistic quality of their writing as an
> occupational or competitive necessity. I would also love to know if any
> organizations (other than the obvious education institutions) are
> conducting formal or informal efforts to improve the quality of the
> written word within their walls.
>
> All thoughts welcome, in private or via the list. Apropos of this subject,
> I must say that the high quality of the writing on this list (none more
> than At de Lange's) is one of the pleasures that keeps me reading.
>
> Thomas Petzinger Jr.
Robert Vanderwilt
robert.vanderwilt@Mankato.MSUS.EDU
--Robert Vanderwilt <robert.vanderwilt@Mankato.MSUS.EDU>
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