Developing leadership communities

Leadership communities are groups of practitioners who support and encourage one another to expand their individual and joint leadership capacity. The rationale is that:

Developing leadership throughout an organisation is about fostering new ways of thinking, relating and acting in the context of focusing on actual and emerging issues for the organisation;

Leadership is best developed by managers (and others) practising it together, over an extended period, in a context in which they are supported and encouraged to stretch themselves.

In any group of managers, there is likely to be a diversity of experience, and perspectives, which if better tapped, can be a powerful source of learning for individuals and the group (this is so even where top management regard middle and front-line managers as largely homogenous groups, perhaps too technically-focused); and

When managers, through their participation in the community, undertake joint leadership-related work, they not only contribute to the organisation but they discover new ways of working. The result is improved individual and collective self-confidence in their leadership abilities – and more positive perceptions among top executives.

The potential payoffs of a community-based approach are huge, including:
Greater utilisation of talent and development of potential;
Increased individual and organisational capacity to deal with difficult and emerging issues;
Ripple effects, with leadership-mode behaviour fostered beyond the community;
Innovative work and new solutions for the organisation as a result of community projects; and
Improvement in the organisation’s ability to ‘live’ the values it espouses (since leadership includes focusing on the emotional realities of the organisation).
Organisations can foster a leadership community approach by:
Offering at least introductory training about contemporary concepts of leadership and communities of practice;
Encouraging managers to think about the meaning of community for them;
Assisting them to contribute on higher-level organisational issues;
Encouraging community self-organisation, for example, by the group nominating a convenor; and
Making available resources (time, funding, expertise) to support community initiated projects and activities, within agreed parameters.