From Talking to Doing: The “How To” Series

For the past two years LLC has been talking about the need for a fundamental change in the way we think about and practice leadership and leadership development. We have highlighted examples of innovative approaches in our newsletters, blog posts, and webinars that we believe demonstrate the potential to increase the reach and impact of leadership development work when we move our focus from supporting individual leaders to supporting leadership as a process that engages many people in aligning their leadership action.  As the next frontier of supporting this change in practice, with the generous support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, we have produced a new how -to series that goes one step further, translating what has worked for others into practical advice for leadership development practitioners. 

The new series, “Leadership and Collective Impact: How to Strengthen the Impact of Your Leadership Development Work” will be available September 15^th on the LLC website www.leadershiplearning.org and on the Leadership for a New Era site www.leadershipforanewera.org. The publication will compile 3 discrete guides: How to Use Action Learning to Achieve Results; How to Recruit to Maximize the Value of Your Cohorts; How to Cultivate and Activate Your Network. The how-to guides, which can be read separately or as an interconnected series, offer recommendations that walk you through these key components of designing your leadership work:

·      aligning your purpose, curriculum and action learning to achieve your desired results

·      making strategic recruitment decisions by maximizing your cohort composition

·      designing your program to cultivate participant relationships and create the infrastructure needed to support a vibrant action network of graduates

Download the report!

Each guide includes recommendations, examples of new models, and resources for more information.  An important premise that runs through each guide is that programs that go after big results are more likely to achieve them.  When we say “big results” we are talking about the purpose of programs moving beyond the goal of producing stronger leaders to putting a stake in the ground around the social change you hope to support, e.g. improved economic security for low income families in your community, a reduction in carbon emissions, or an increase in the number of children with health insurance.  When you start with the change you want, it should influence who you target for recruitment, how to think about your graduate network, and how to best support participants in achieving those goals.  We hope you will find these guides helpful.  As a community of learning and practice we are eager to hear about your experiences with the recommendations in the guide and your own advice to colleagues in the field.