Community Leadership Development

The development of leadership capacities addresses a vital and continuing need in communities and organizations as they attempt to adapt to a wide range of social, economic, environmental, and political changes. Leadership development activities that focus on building new skills and fostering new ideas directly shape local and organizational capacity. At the organizational level, leadership is a valued resource as organizations are faced with challenges of limited resources, funding, and other capacities. Community leadership operates within a different domain; an environment with different dynamics, structures, and goals. Community leadership is distinctive in that leaders often do not have formal training or authority to dictate and facilitate change. Instead, community leaders must rely on informal networks of diverse citizens, each with a unique local capacity, as the basis for change. This book brings together classic and contemporary articles drawn from Community Development. Divided into two sections, the book begins with a range of seminal leadership theory and conceptualization pieces. These have been instrumental in shaping leadership development in a wide range of settings. Following the theory section, a variety of research and application chapters are presented. These chapters operationalize theory through applied research and programming, and provide replicable frameworks for future research and programs. This book is a compilation of articles published in the journal Community Development.

Tools for people seeking to improve their communities This significant guide puts the tools of democracy into everyone’s hands. Based on the best of Blandin Foundation’s 20-year experience in developing community leaders, it gives community members—like yourself—the tools to bring people together to make changes. Here are some of the useful resources you’ll find: Identifying Community Assets Community Problem Analysis Accessing Community Data Appreciative Inquiry Translating Vision to Action Interpersonal Communication for Leaders Managing Interpersonal Conflict as a Leader Building Social Capital Across Cultures Network Mapping: Locating Your Social Capital Stakeholders Analysis Building Coalitions Building Effective Community Teams Recruiting and Sustaining Volunteers Getting the Most from Your Meetings

Rev. ed. of: Successful community leadership: a skills guide for volunteers and professionals. c1997.

"This course was designed to sharpen social analysis and develop skills in leaders of low-income and marginalized communities in Nova Scotia. Taught by two experienced community workers and funded by two major Canadian foundations, it graduated 50 students over four years. Many joined the program’s advisory committee and helped the course evolve further. Grassroots Leaders Building Skills includes the complete course, with agendas for 25 three-hour sessions, detailed directions for facilitators and spiral-bound handouts for photocopying. Many sessions can stand alone as workshops on topics such as diversity, ideology, community development and building strategies for social change. Plans are included for adapting the sessions to middle class participants, post-secondary classroom settings, or as a series of intensive workshops. Introductory essays explore the theories behind the program and its pedagogy, the logistical organization and the experience of graduates. This powerful course is a valuable resource to anyone teaching social analysis and community organization skills."--pub. desc. "

The development of leadership capacities addresses a vital and continuing need in communities and organizations as they attempt to adapt to a wide range of social, economic, environmental, and political changes. Leadership development activities that focus on building new skills and fostering new ideas directly shape local and organizational capacity. At the organizational level, leadership is a valued resource as organizations are faced with challenges of limited resources, funding, and other capacities. Community leadership operates within a different domain; an environment with different dynamics, structures, and goals. Community leadership is distinctive in that leaders often do not have formal training or authority to dictate and facilitate change. Instead, community leaders must rely on informal networks of diverse citizens, each with a unique local capacity, as the basis for change. This book brings together classic and contemporary articles drawn from Community Development. Divided into two sections, the book begins with a range of seminal leadership theory and conceptualization pieces. These have been instrumental in shaping leadership development in a wide range of settings. Following the theory section, a variety of research and application chapters are presented. These chapters operationalize theory through applied research and programming, and provide replicable frameworks for future research and programs. This book is a compilation of articles published in the journal Community Development.

First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

As leadership educators shift from teacher- to learner-centered environments, from hierarchical to shared responsibility for learning, and from absolute to constructed ways of knowing, a desire for new inclusive and creative pedagogies is also emerging. This text includes over 40 easy-to-follow modules related to women and leadership development crafted by experienced leadership educators and practitioners. Each module includes learning objectives, detailed instructions, and ideas for adapting the module to diverse learning spaces and audiences. Here are but a few of the critical questions that are addressed in the modules:• How do we make explicit the complexities of power in leadership and in the stories we tell ourselves about feminism and gender in leadership?• How can we interrogate and deconstruct dominant narratives and invite intersectionality? Whose voices are missing or silenced in content and process?• What practices build leadership efficacy and habits of critical self-reflection?• What are the effects of stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination in leadership?• How are learning and leadership both individual and collective processes?• How do we develop critical consciousness and maintain hope in the face of the long arc of structural change?This text is a detailed resource for anyone interested in women and leadership education, whether through a full-length course, a weekend workshop, or a one-time topical session. It also serves as a companion to the book We are the Leaders We’ve Been Waiting For: Women and Leadership Development in College (Owen, 2020).