CommunityLeadership

National College for School Leadership

April 21, 2005by Paul Born

                   

                                                       

• Tamarack is a charitable organization dedicated to helping citizens build caring, prosperous and healthy communities. Through its Learning Centre, Tamarack works with its partners to build on their experience and develop practical tools, resources and learning techniques that can strengthen local efforts to address community issues. For more information on Tamarack, see the organization’s website at www.tamarackcommunity.ca.

Our time together

Opening and WelcomingAbout Community LeadershipThe Scenario – 3 Stories C – V.I. – P

– Collaboration– Vision– Innovation– Place

Community Leadership Learning from action – Learning for action

Stories from the field … on becoming a leader

A journey to understand … fighting a fire with a fire truck that has no brakes.

• Building an organization• Building a community• Building a movement

Acting like an Organization – Thinking like a Movement

The Challenge

If I were…

A positional leader (e.g. school principal, leader of a

community centre) facing these issues….

• Children coming/going to school hungry• Bullying after school – informal gangs• Creating a livable community

……what would you do?

CollaborateRole: Bring people together to …

Key Tasks:• better understand the issue & find common ground• agree on what you… know you do not know …and

agree to learn together.• invite only those who can “help” address the issue

to work together.

Community Leadership Competencies: Convening and Facilitating

What is a Collaboration?

A mutually beneficial and well defined relationship entered intoby people and organizations to achieve common goals.

The relationship includes a commitment to: a definition of mutual

relationships and goals; a jointly developed structure for sharedresponsibility; mutual authority and accountability for success;and sharing of resources and rewards.

The Amherst Wilder Foundation

Cooperation Coordination Collaboration ?

Why Collaborate?The Current State

• Fractured Problems (e.g. Crime, Poverty, Homelessness, etc.)

• Fractured Resources• Fractured Responses• Fractured Solutions

VisionRole: Help the collaboration to focus…

Key Tasks:Start with talking about values

– What do we care about and why– What would we like to “see” and why?

• Agree on a working vision– From current state to future state– 3 years from now we will…

When vision and values merge we have Purpose

Community Leadership Competencies:• self knowledge & consensus building

InnovateRole: Helping the collaboration to act… differently

A.L.L.-C… Action – Leadership – Learning and Change

Key Tasks:

• Brainstorm simple and complex solutions• Choose which ones you want to address, when & how• Develop an action learning plan…

Community Leadership Competencies:Strategic planning & organization building

Complex

Complicated

COMPLICATED

Simple

Near Far

Far

Learning to work in the complex by Brenda Zimmerman - York University. As explained by Frances Westley - McGill University

Having a lot of people – who don’t always agree – dealing with dynamic, often fuzzy, inter-related root causes.

AGREEMENT

CLARITY

The Stacey Matrix

Some solutions:• Understand the system• Get close to the issues• Collaborate (engage the system)• Innovate

Building Under-standing

Building Community will

Creating Conditions for Success

Action

Leadership

Learning and change

A.L.L.

Renewal and or wind down

•Learning about the work to be done.•Generating an idea and energy.

•Engaging people in the idea.

-talking-values -vision•Agree that together we can do more

•Formalize partners•Community plan•Leadership structure•Raising funds

•Doing the work, outcomes•Building ownership and commitment•Cultural shifts

•Permanent changes in the way a community acts•Capacity growing•Continue or wind down

Purpose Grows

Engagement Grows

Building a movement for change

People – plan – partner – projects – perform

Vision & value definition, growing commitment

Credibility, capacity and capital building

Acting like an organization – Thinking like a Movement

Stages

The Work

Building unders

tanding

Building Community willCre

ate Conditi

ons for

Success

Action – L

eaders

hip

Learn

ing and Change

Ren

ewal

or

win

d do

wn

Purpose Building - Engagement - Momentum

Acting like an organization – Thinking like a Movement

Place…Role: Providing a “space” where the

collaboration can meet

Key Tasks:– Open your school or community centre as a community

space– Organize meetings and events– Celebrate your neighbourhood– Broaden the community’s understanding about learning– Involve your staff – team them up with volunteers

Place…where we hope the change will occurCommunity Leadership

Competencies:

A welcoming and generous spirit

The Challenge

If I were…A positional Leader (school principal, leader of a community

centre) facing these issues….

• Children coming/going to school hungry• Bullying after school – informal gangs• Creating a livable community

……this is what I what do

Collaborate – Vision – Innovate – Place

Stay in Touch!

• Fill out the form

• Leave your business card

• Come to the website

www.tamarackcommunity.ca

Tamarack Products & Services

Open Services– Website– Four e-newsletters

• Engage!• Communities Collaborating• Eunoia• Community Life

– On-line seminars– Tele-learning

Custom Services– Strategic consulting– Seminars and Presentations– Research and “tool” development– Developing Communities of Learning