All --
I would totally agree with George on this note.
I believe that these role-playing scenarios allow learners the opportunity to try out the "new tools of leadership" which they have just learned, generally only at a cognitive level. They need to have a safe environment to test these tools without putting a career in jeopardy.
Further these sessions should be videoed and become a part of the feedback. This will allow the learner to see themselves in action and and with a strong coach or mentor actually transfer their leadership knowledge from their head to their heart -- so that they can actually own this knowledge and use it when the return to the real world of their jobs.
-rr
From: "George Graen" <Lmxlotus@AOL.COM>
To: MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
Sent: Thursday, April 5, 2012 3:20:43 PM
Subject: LMX Chapter
Colleagues,
The use of simulators for training in leadership skills is only scratching the surface, but it is a beginning. MBA programs also should consider going into more depth by role playing incidents where leadership should emerge, e.g., teams given the opportunities and individual risk of correcting a bureaucratic rule that is outdated and dysfunctional for necessary functioning; the decision to create the soul of a new machine, and blowing the whistle on white-collar theft. Such role-playing should be critiqued by peers and instructors. These are career threatening situations that present opportunities for serious discussion of both the "light" and "dark" side of providing for your loved ones in bureaucracies.
Clearly, all three kinds of networking skills are involved in these situations: Social, bureaucratic, and interpersonal strategic alliance. Such role-playing cannot create ecologically real emotional climates, but it can help people to see the cognitive and emotional skills they need to refine for their futures.
George Graen
jag