4.0 Grow collaborative local leadership
CLD is about growing the leadership of everyone. Leadership is collective work, using everyone’s different strengths for the benefit of the whole community, affecting how we think, engage, act, learn and adapt.
LEADERSHIP AS LEARNING
It’s easy to assume leaders are hero(ine)s who ‘know it all and do it all’. But CLD needs a very different kind of leadership, where everyone’s knowledge, ideas and actions can play a part in shaping decisions about vision, values, actions and culture of ‘how things are done around here’. CLD leaders can help create a non-defensive climate where a diversity of people can have fun experimenting with their ideas, give and receive feedback and decide on next steps through sharing observations, reflections and learning together. Leadership as Learning is a resource to support you to navigate through some of the tensions, learning and adaptation needed to effectively work with complex community change.
GOVERNANCE AS LEADERSHIP
Often, in the early stages of a CLD initiative, groups think they need to set up an independent legal structure, usually in order to apply for funding. But this is not always the best way forward! Focusing too early on governance structures can hinder the energy of a community initiative. Instead it might be possible to utilise local resources and partner with an existing organisation. Your approach to governance will grow and adapt, depending on what kind of initiative you are taking, it’s scale and your core reason for existing. This resource offers some of our favourite emerging ideas about governance in relation to community-led development (CLD) contexts.
Use these articles, resources and frameworks to help activate community-led development practices and consider these key questions when collaborating and growing local leadership.
How do we release potential and avoid being too dependent on a few strong individuals?
Create the conditions for everyone to lead.
Wayfinding leadership from a Māori perspective.
Wayfinding leadership from a Pasifika perspective.
Collaborative Leadership resources from the Tamarack Institute.
How do we navigate our way through complex, messy, ever-changing times?
Share what you are observing collectively using different frameworks to stretch thinking.
Explore different dimensions of change.
Shift consciousness from ego-system to eco-system.
Engage in the art and practices of hosting meaningful conversations.
How do we do governance well and in different CLD contexts?
Design, review or adapt your own governance approach.
Some models that might inspire your thinking:
How can we be good employers of CLD practitioners and peers?
Negotiated, clear, realistic job expectations.
Good employer practices and approaches.
Further useful resources for community organisations.
Talk to your local DIA Community Advisor to discuss local funding options.
What CLD capabilities do we need and where can we find learning opportunities?
Celebrate the diverse skills and capabilities your group already has.
Grow team capabilities with IC support.
This material has been collected from a wide variety of sources and contributors. Please honour the mana of those who produced and shared these resources by always acknowledging the whakapapa of where any resource you share has come from.