The Nature of The Nature of Collective LeadershipCollective Leadership

The Nature of The Nature of Collective LeadershipCollective Leadership

July 17, 2007July 17, 2007

D.C. Leadership Learning Circle

Questions Emerging from Creating Space 8

• What is collective leadership?• Why collective leadership?• How is collective leadership cultivated?• What does successful collective

leadership look like?• What are the implications for our work?

What is Collective Leadership ?

• Is it the same as Collaborative or Distributive Leadership?

• According to KLCC:– Leadership that is relational– Leadership emerges out of specific

situations– Leadership that is transformational

How is Collective Leadership Different?

• It’s the result of a process that brings together a diverse community of people to create change.

• It begins with a shared dream that forms the heart of a group of skilled and passionate individuals.

• It emerges from relationships people have and/or build with one another.

How is Collective Leadership Different?

• It engages communities in activities that can effect sustained and systemic change by entwining leaders, partnerships and networks of individuals and organizations around the focal institutions that need development or change.

How Collective Leadership Worked in

KLCCAn organic and participatory process was created

by:

• Clearly defined and frequently articulated roles and responsibilities;

• Transparent distribution of resources;• A set of defined expectations that held each

member accountable to one another and to the overall project goals; and

• Open avenues of communication across all levels of the organization.

Cultivating Collective Leadership

Stage 1 – Build Trust

Stage 2 – Co-construct Vision and Strategic Plan

Stage 3 – Act Together

Stage 4 – Deepen, Sustain and Make the Work a Way of Life

Implications for Our Work

• What tensions are there in utilizing strategies that cultivate individual leadership development versus those that foster collective leadership?

• Others?

Moving Forward

• How might we embed collective leadership principles in our work?

• What successes and failures have people encountered as they have gone about advancing collective leadership principles?