National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery

The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery is pleased to sponsor a conference call for our members and all consumer/survivor/ex-patients (C/S/X)

“Visionary C/S/X Leadership: Leaders who are Committed
to Building Consensus, Community and Collaborations”

David Oak's Leadership Presentation - Top 10: How Can the Mental Health System have an Egyptian Moment [Also available as a downloadable (PDF, 26KB, 1 page)]

Call-In Information: Wednesday Feb 16, 2011 from 2 pm - 3 pm EST

Call-in number: 1-877-444-7543, Code: 8839036387#

Background for Call

The speakers have been asked to focus on an aspect of leadership that that they believe is essential for current and developing leaders. The National Coalition recognizes that C/S/X organizations and movements face some special challenges, but there are issues that are universal in developing as a leader.

Here are three distilled views of leadership taken from the Washington Post’s website, from well-known public figures:

Dartmouth College president Jim Yong Kim- "I think what I've learned is by far the most important thing in leadership is to have a brutally honest understanding of who you are."

Gen. Montgomery Meigs US Army (Ret.) – “Great leaders drive themselves to learn how to improve their skills at leading, their most important decisions are determined by their values and character, and they are often the result of good mentoring.”

Kent J. Thiry - “While management is a business skill, leadership is a human skill. Becoming a better leader means being in an environment that leads to epiphanies of self-awareness.”

Among questions that we have asked our panel to consider (and which may help you in formulating questions of your own):

How do we continue to develop leaders at the local, state and national levels?
What leadership models might we consider, and what decision criteria might we use in determining which model(s) are most useful?
How can we as a community continue to overcome our differences and focus on shared values, principles and our vision of respect, dignity and inclusion for all?
From your perspective, what are the most important skills and qualities that successful leaders share?
What have you found to be the most challenging aspects of being a leader?
What specials needs and opportunities (for leaders) do you see in the near term and longer term?
What is the most important thing that you feel that you have learned as a leader?
How do you deal with the tension between the roles of leader and manager?

Speakers

David Oaks, Director, Executive Director of MindFreedom International (MFI), an independent nonprofit coalition for human rights and alternatives in mental health. David is a well known, long-time C/S/X leader and advocate who operates MFI using grassroots funding, receiving no government or corporate funding.

Keris Jän Myrick, President and CEO, Project Return Peer Support Network, one of the premier consumer-run organizations in Los Angeles. She also serves as a board member and officer of NAMI National. She brings practical and academic skills to her leadership, using her MBA and the lived experience of mental illness. Keris is also a doctoral candidate in psychology, with an emphasis on Industrial-Organizational psychology.

Pam Hyde, Administrator, SAMHSA – appointed by the president and confirmed to her current position by the US Senate in 2009, Pam is an attorney, and for more than 30 years has held senior management positions in the health and human services field. Just prior to her SAMHSA appointment, Pam served as Governor Bill Richardson’s cabinet secretary for New Mexico’s Department of Health and Human Services. Pam has extensive experience in consulting, having consulted to the President’s New Freedom Commission and the US Department of Justice, among many other entities.

Program Format:

2 pm EST Welcome and explanation of call format, followed by speaker introductions by moderator Jim McNulty
7 minutes per speaker, followed by
35 minutes open Q & A and discussion