Integral Education: The CIIS Blog

Profile of Professor Urusa Fahim, Department of Transformative Inquiry

By ZACK ROGOW, senior editor at CIIS. His writings include a recent book of poems, "My Mother and the Ceiling Dancers," from Kattywompus Press. 

Urusa Fahim brings to her teaching in the Transformative Leadership and Transformative Studies at CIIS an amazing variety of interests and experiences. She grew up in Bangladesh and Pakistan, and has studied or speaks six languages: English, Urdu, Arabic, French, Hindi, and Bengali. She earned a master’s degree in applied psychology at Punjab University, one of the leading centers of learning in South Asia. After graduating, she worked as a clinical psychologist both in private practice and in government-run hospitals in Pakistan, before taking a training in women’s leadership that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) offered.

“That workshop literally changed my career overnight,” she recalls. “I could see the application of concepts I was familiar with in a clinical context, how they could be used to train leaders and entrepreneurs.” By coincidence, the program leader was leaving right after Fahim took the training. Fahim applied to become the new director, and was accepted. She spent the next couple of years teaching women in Pakistan how to become managers, entrepreneurs, and trainers.

She attributes her ability to exercise authority and train future leaders partly to her mother. “My mother had the equivalent of a sixth grade education, but she headed a department in an international hotel. She always told me I could be anything I wanted. It wasn’t till later that I realized that not all girls were being given that same message. Understanding that was a factor in my wanting to train women leaders.”

MA in Transformative Leadership at CIIS: A Passion for Change

By ZACK ROGOW, senior editor at CIIS. His writings include a recent book of poems, "My Mother and the Ceiling Dancers," from Kattywompus Press. 

California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) offers a two-year graduate program in Transformative Leadership, an online MA that Director Kathy Littles describes as “not a cookie-cutter program.” Littles explains what she means: “We ask the question: what does leadership mean? How am I embodying what a leader can and should be? We’re looking for students who are passionate about making a change.”

Because the program is online, students in the program live in different states, and in some cases, on different continents. They all converge on the San Francisco Bay Area twice every academic year for a retreat that takes place south of the city, just footsteps away from the Pacific Ocean. At the week-long intensives, the students meet face-to-face with many of the scholars they’ve been reading. They share meals and thoughts with these thinkers and their peers. “Students are stunned by the level of transformation that takes place at the intensives,” Littles recounts.

The online platform also allows students to balance graduate study with jobs and families. “This program appeals to a person who is comfortable with the online platform,” Littles remarks, “someone who likes the freedom to log on at 3 am to do their course work.” But that freedom requires motivation and focus on the part of the students.

Leadership, Hope, and Creativity

By Alfonso Montuori, Professor and Chair of the Transformative Inquiry Department 

A cursory look at leadership literature will show a field with a wide range of perspectives, from The Leadership Lessons of Jesus to Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun. Within academic literature there is an extensive body of research and a general agreement to disagree.

We in the Transformative Leadership program at CIIS think that, because the field of leadership is wide open, it provides us with a wonderful opportunity. In these uncertain and complex times, it’s no surprise that what constitutes leadership is up for grabs; the who, what, where, why and how of leadership are all being questioned and redefined, and it’s about time.

Many of the individuals who join the Transformative Leadership program haven’t always thought of themselves as leaders.  They didn’t necessarily grow up dreaming of becoming presidents, CEOs, or anything like that. Some believe passionately that they must make a contribution to a particular issue—such as the environment, education, social justice, or the private sector. Others are transitioning into a new life, leaving established careers behind. Now they are moved to explore something new, something that reflects the passion, commitment, and participation in the complex challenges facing all of us.

Along with the ability to lead and create positive change in the world, the Transformative Leadership program offers students an opportunity for self-creation. Students don’t simply read about leadership research and different leadership theories. They draw on their experience, their context, as well as the research, so that they themselves can answer the who, what, where, why and how of leadership. The program gives them the opportunity and the resources to create the leader they want to be. It also asks them go out into the world for their action capstone, to make a difference in a way that reflects their passion, values and goals—and to test their leadership mettle.

Our students are moved by their passion, their hope for a better world, and their desire to make a contribution. The election of President Barack Obama on a mandate of hope is therefore tremendously symbolic. In his inaugural address, President Obama pointed out that 60 years earlier, his black father would not have been allowed to eat in some restaurants in Washington. Obama’s win surprised many, not least civil rights advocates who could not have hoped 40 or even 20 years earlier that an African-American man would become president of the United States in their lifetime.

Now that we have broken down some of the assumptions about who can lead the country, we have to ask ourselves, what can we hope for the U.S. and for the world? It’s obviously not enough to talk about exit strategies, whether from the war in Iraq, or from the economic and environmental crises. This is why in his inaugural speech the president also argued for a new era of responsibility. The U.S., and indeed humanity as a whole, he said, should leave “childish things” behind. The clear message is that the world is in a tremendous period of transition; that this transition is not going to be an easy one, and that we should leave childish selfishness, greed, and ambition to dominate others behind.

But implicit in the mandate for change and hope and the president’s call for responsibility is the need for creativity. Creativity is needed now because all the indications are that an old world is dying but a new one is yet to be born. Can we transition into a new and better world? If, following the president’s biblical imagery, we leave childish things behind can we create a more mature, generous, wise world?

Creativity can bring us visions of better worlds. Creative individuals, groups, and communities can turn these visions into realities. New ways of working together towards common goals can draw on the creativity that is recognized all over the world as central to the American spirit. Creativity will also give us a new understanding of the American dream, and of what human beings can be and achieve.

In the Transformative Leadership program we acknowledge the audacity of hope. And we invite the leaders of the future to accept their responsibility for the world to come, and embrace the passion and commitment of creativity. 

Reflections on Leadership

By Urusa Fahim, Transformative Leadership Program Faculty Member

The U.S. election is over and the new (and improved!) president is in office. Among the many things President Barack Obama brought to the surface for everyday Americans, the concept of leadership is rather high on the list. Not only has he changed the look of leadership and what it means to be a leader, but he has also challenged the traditional and outdated ideas about leadership. His story has inspired many and provided an opportunity to rethink leadership and the attributes a leader needs or success in the 21st century.

What exactly is leadership? Who is a leader? Who can be a leader? What qualifications does a leader need? What does a leader do? And, of course, what does a leader look like? These are some of ­­the questions that are coming up in conversations with my students and result in rich discussions and learning.

There is no one single way to be a leader. Leaders come in many shapes and forms. Not all of us who strive for leadership positions can become presidents and prime ministers. Many of my personal role models are continuing to make a difference; Shirin Ebadi, Dr. Wangari Matthai and Dr. Mohammad Yunus are each Nobel laureates. However, one must not have received a noble prize to be accepted as a leader.

Case in point is Greg Mortenson, who started with a promise and did what he needed to do to keep his word. These examples are of individuals who started where they were in life and where they were geographically. They embodied leadership in their actions and practices. These leaders did not stand in line waiting for someone to tell them they were leaders. Instead, they took action and mobilized their community to join them in taking action.

There are others, anonymous leaders, who are taking action every day to make a positive difference in their communities and empowering people. They are anonymous because their work has not been acknowledged or given media coverage.

In the Transformative Leadership Program, we believe in developing leaders from inside out. We ask our students what kind of leader they want to be; we help them recognize their leadership strengths and areas where they need to develop in order to be effective. We encourage them to develop leadership capacities within themselves, so that they remain leaders whether they are leading a corporation, a non-profit, or starting their own business. We ask our students to begin taking action where they are in their life and work and—because we are an online program—where they are geographically as well.