https://www.colleenmfox.com/home daily 1.0 2019-11-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7935c39b0be9644ef44d52/1574483824756-RWLK16WTDUA4ODGVAIMP/Logo.png Home “We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.” President Jimmy Carter In a world where the pace of change continues to accelerate, how can we ground ourselves in values and remain flexible in strategy? This site reflects my graduate study in organizational leadership contemplating this duality, as well as my own experience as a business professional. Learn more about our changing with integrity workshop - designed for any team wrestling with the inevitable reality of change. https://www.colleenmfox.com/about-me daily 0.75 2019-11-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7935c39b0be9644ef44d52/1574472386768-AIGKPROIMX9RBDRK1CUM/Colleen+.jpg About Me - Welcome My name is Colleen Fox, and my passion is bringing out the best in people, teams, organizations and communities. I am a mother, wife, philanthropy professional, student and volunteer devoted to our Spokane community. My leadership work focuses on change, and how in today’s rapidly evolving world leaders can help prepare teams embrace change as an opportunity for transformation. https://www.colleenmfox.com/general-1 daily 0.75 2019-11-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7935c39b0be9644ef44d52/1574711413504-X4OAUJ5O6M8TD82F4ESB/shutterstock_343048862.jpg Leadership Philosophy - Leaders prioritize relationships. There is both an ethical and pragmatic argument for prioritizing relationships. As a leader, my ethical priorities are grounded in kindness and justice, focusing on care for the individual. From a values perspective, I believe that prioritizing relationships is the right thing to do. However, I believe there is also a business case to be made for focusing on relationships. In their internationally acclaimed guidebook on leadership, James Kouzes and Barry Posner point to empathy as a cornerstone of smart leadership. As they write, “The real competitive advantage of the human worker will be their capacity to create relationship, which means empathy will count more than experience.” (Kouzees, Posner pg 204) On a much more metaphysical level, Margaret Wheatley envisions relationships as the connecting points of a quantum world. Envisioning organizations as a quantum systems she concludes, “…to weave here and there with ease and grace, we need to change what we do…We need to become savvy about how to foster relationships, how to nurture growth and development. All of us need to become better at listening, conversing, respecting one another’s uniqueness, because these are essential for strong relationships. The era of the rugged individual has been replaced by the era of the team player…More and more relationships are in store for us, out there in the vast web of life.” (Wheatley, pg. 39) We know from experience that companies with high levels of trust, engagement and collaboration out-perform companies without those qualities, and those qualities are impossible without prioritizing relationships. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7935c39b0be9644ef44d52/1574474264015-RGN97OJ0AJ4S1HJGB36G/future_406343455+copy.jpg Leadership Philosophy Leaders help create a vision for a better future. Peter Senge writes, “A shared vision is not an idea. It is not even an important idea such as freedom. It is, rather, a force in people’s hearts, a force of impressive power. It may be inspired by an idea, but once it goes further – if it is compelling enough to acquire the support of more than one person – then it is no longer an abstraction. It is palpable. People begin to see it as if it exists. Few, if any, forces in human affairs are as powerful as shared vision.” (Senge, pg. 192) Leadership is not about outlining a set of tasks that need to be accomplished and setting timelines. It’s not about delegating and managing to hit metrics. Leadership is about empowering people to see their role in a larger, inspiring shared vision. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7935c39b0be9644ef44d52/1574474647323-LYGOY8CXKQ2YZQBD6E8U/heart_298731920+copy.jpg Leadership Philosophy What binds these behaviors together? Leaders lead from a place of love, a place of care, a place of authentic concern. Intention matters. When Kouzes and Posner interviewed US Army Major John H. Standford, a decorated veteran, public servant and education reformer, they asked him about the most important quality in developing leaders. He said this, “…I have the secret to success in life. The secret to success is staying in love. Staying in love gives you the fire to ignite other people, to see inside other people, to have a greater desire to get things done than other people. A person who is not in love doesn’t really feel the kind of excitement that helps them to get ahead and to lead others and to achieve. I don’t know any other fire, any other thing in life that is more exhilarating and is more positive a feeling than love is.” (Kouzes/Posner, 2017 p. 312) People are inherently relational, and were are tuned into whether people are trustworthy and caring. Leaders lead from a place of love. https://www.colleenmfox.com/resume daily 0.75 2019-11-23 https://www.colleenmfox.com/academic-coursework daily 0.75 2019-11-23 https://www.colleenmfox.com/workshop daily 0.75 2019-11-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7935c39b0be9644ef44d52/1574481544489-IW4LM0EN939P8BBMRYLU/history_263368988+copy+2.jpg Workshop https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7935c39b0be9644ef44d52/1574481206237-PYI32KIEZ4KILJTGGNUO/present+moment_377314510+copy.jpg Workshop https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7935c39b0be9644ef44d52/1574481615788-TXJ7SCEH05VDUT9CXH8U/future_406343455+copy.jpg Workshop https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7935c39b0be9644ef44d52/1574482468354-J49X264RCA8C82199TLH/arrow_1065129737+copy+2.jpg Workshop https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7935c39b0be9644ef44d52/1574482534470-I6365F9SHU7MOC5QVKRF/image-asset.jpeg Workshop https://www.colleenmfox.com/leadership-library daily 0.75 2019-11-23 https://www.colleenmfox.com/what-we-do daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://www.colleenmfox.com/projects daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d3b3ed8084b6f00015405ba/1565292381043-ER9AOU1LISY7FVVCNVEQ/20140302_trade+151_0677.jpg Projects https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d3b3ed8084b6f00015405ba/1565292406252-8560GSO2A1FLMFQVTG60/Aro+Ha_0073.jpg Projects https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d3b3ed8084b6f00015405ba/1565292525597-WCO0DS8F9PHF2V1U45HY/20140228_Trade+151_0067+%281%29.jpg Projects https://www.colleenmfox.com/partners daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://www.colleenmfox.com/contact daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://www.colleenmfox.com/take-action daily 0.75 2025-05-12