My father kept an old family Bible in his wardrobe. This wasn’t kept for religious observance but because it contained information about our forbears and a family tree. He would, on occasions, open the Bible, show me the family tree and tell stories about our ancestors.

I heard how they were “free” settlers, definitely not convicts. They came to Australia from Northern England as indentured servants and worked for a period of time as shepherds in Braidwood before settling in Goulburn. They were some of the first residents of the town. There was employment at the Old Brewery before deciding to branch out. According to dad’s telling of the story. They, in their colonial arrogance, ignored the advice of the local Aboriginal people not to build on the Mulwaree Ponds as the area flooded. They built their own brewery and were flooded out, going bankrupt at the same time. They used their initiative and established wells on the site, selling water to the local community. A hardy bunch, survivors.

There was the story of my great, great grandfather who was murdered by bushrangers at Collector, stories of my grandmother moving house to “skip” paying the rent when she couldn’t afford it during the Great Depression; dad “wagging” school; playing snooker and boxing as a young man. The only stories he told about his time in the army were humorous tales – nothing about the horror he saw.

Then it was my turn to store tales. The times mum and dad let a neighbour stay in our house when her partner returned from the hotel drunk and abusive, times when my parents had friends come around for card nights and one of then doing tricks with cigarette smoke. Learning my paternal grandmother ran a gambling den (cards) every Thursday night and was occasionally raided by the police. How my father put his war experience aside and was welcoming to Mrs Huggett (who was Japanese) and grew a good friendship with our neighbours who were the first Vietnamese family to move to town. How my father fought with COuncil to have the road near the water wells renamed Blackshaw Road. Going swimming in the local river at the Rock and the Weir. Then I could drive a car. I became mobile. Driving out of town to go swimming with friends, parties at the Old Mill out of town, playing in a band. Moving out of home, living with my grandmother before shared houses around town.

It’s been two decades since I left Goulburn but these stories of my ancestors and my youth live on within me. They connect me to Goulburn. In some ways it is still home, where I come from. My past is there. Who I have become is mixed up with these stories. They continue to connect me with my family and friends. I still keep in touch with friends from my youth, maybe not as much as I’d like but still in contact.

Our stories connect us to place and to others. They are part of who we are and tell us all about the places where the stories come from. They are one of the important assets we include when talking about Assets Based Community Development. Without including them we are missing a rich descriptor of a place and how it came to be. We are missing the growing and changing culture of a place. We are missing something important that connects us to each other and to place.

This blog originally appeared at www.herdingtogether.com

Introduction

Local Councils can be confusing. They can cover a broad range of work in the community from roads, waste, water, parks, halls, facilities, amenities, parking, development assessments, strategic planning, community services and/or development, disaster response. The list is endless and varies from council to council. They are really cover as many, if not more, functions of state or federal government but are smaller and more compact. Each section/group of a council, although working under the one roof, will appear quite separate or “siloed” from one another. There will be a mile of red tape to work through. Added to this are the complexities of local politicians (councillors) working in close proximity, but separate, from the staff of Council. No other level of government has a situation like this which creates an additional problem of ensuring the political wing of the organisation does not unnecessarily interfere with the administrative functions of the organisation or place undue pressure on staff. This creates even more red tape. No wonder things seem to take so long to get done.

At times I’ve described the complexity and “siloed” approach of local government like the “Flying High” (Airplane) experience. This refers to a comedy film where a plane needs to be guided back to the airport by a passenger. The air traffic controller is heavily stressed and medicated “I took a bad day to give up pills”. When he is approached by someone suggesting to put the lights on the runway his response was “That would only make it too easy for them”. It can seem a little like this.

It is complex enough for those working in a council let alone those who approach council for assistance. I’ve often told new workers that it will take at least a year for them to be able to easily navigate the organisation.

I have 16 years’ experience in local government in NSW and Queensland. Following are some tips to help you find your experience of approaching your local council a little easier. I trust this is helpful.

Do your research

By this I mean be prepared before approaching your council. Be prepared to discuss your issues, suggestions or requests. Be informed but above all try and make sure you are approaching your council with something that is in their jurisdiction. Federal, State and Local government have different responsibilities. For example, In Australia schools, are not the responsibility of local government. They are a state government responsibility. Direct your enquiry to the more appropriate level of government.

Find the right person to talk to

Most council staff will try and be helpful and will, if needs be, redirect you to the correct section or person to talk to. Remember, the organisation may be complex with a high number of functions. Different sections and staff will be responsible for different work. Make it easier and save yourself time by narrowing down who your request is for. Someone from community services won’t be able to help with your question about rent or with development concerns but will be able to direct you to the best person to talk to.

It’s about relationships and connections

Working with your council is no different from working with your own community, others in your workplace or street. It is about making connections and building relationships. It is about building social capital with council. Once you’ve found a person in the right area to help you build the connection – just as you would build any social connection. This takes time but is worth the work. Building connections with people who are willing to work with you, to assist you can make it easier for you and for them. Building these relationships may also mean that some unnecessary barriers are removed or that the staff member will “walk you through” some of the more difficult areas of red tape or policy restrictions.

If the matter you are discussing requires more expertise or a decision from a higher-ranking officer the staff member you’ve built a connection with will probably refer you to another officer who has greater discretionary powers and be in a position to make a decision on complex matters. This gives you an opportunity to connect and build a relationship with another person. Take that opportunity.

Don’t forget the elected representatives – Councillors. They are there to work with you. Get to know them. Keep them in the loop of what you are trying to achieve. They are great contacts and often open to new and different ideas.

Pick Your Battles

Be strategic in what you are wanting to achieve. I’ve seen so many reasonable requests go “belly up” due to discussions getting out of hand and held up on small matters. Use your negotiation skills to keep discussions on track. Try not to get unnecessarily aggressive in your conversations. This is the best way for barriers to be placed in your path and is even more important when dealing with issues that are subject to a number of different policy areas or the result of legislative conditions.

Email  

After you have had a discussion with a staff member follow it up with an email summarising the discussion and what was decided. This is important in two ways: it is a polite way of doing business and it creates a documentary trail. Council staff need to often formally record actions and an email is an easy way for both you and the staff member to retain a record of what was discussed.

Use other democratic processes

By this I mean letters to council, letters to the Mayor or councillors, attend council meetings where issues relating to your matter will be discussed, create petitions, write to the local media. These are all good tools and when used strategically can help get the result you are aiming for.

This blog originally appeared at www.herdingtogether.com

Introduction

 Local Government is the level of government closest to the community. From this it would be expected that one of the important functions of Local Government would be in creating and building community. But is this the case?

Some Quick History

In Australia there are three tiers of government: Federal, State and Local. Of the three local is the only one not included in the Australian Constitution. There have been two attempts to rectify this via referendum. Both of these attempts have been unsuccessful. The current situation is that local governments exist at the whim and discretion of state governments. This is controlled through various legislative tools, the most important being the local government acts controlled by state government.

Local government grew out of the need to control and plan infrastructure such as roads, water, footpaths, developments, waste management, planning. Its basis is in the physical infrastructure. Other roles were added as the need arose or as state and federal governments passed responsibility to local government. This resulted in local councils being involved in child care, aged care, housing projects and community development. As the non government service sector has developed and legislative requirements or other guidelines have become more complex many councils have withdrawn from some of these areas of service such as child care.

Legislatively requirements to provide for social responsibilities has changed in some jurisdictions. Ten years ago it was a requirement for Councils in Queensland to produce a Community Development Strategy. This is no longer a requirement. Although the Queensland Local Government Act is under review there is no intention to reinstate a planning requirement for such a strategy or an intention to refer to social justice principles. Similarly, NSW had a requirement for Councils to produce Social/Community Plans. This requirement was removed some years ago and replaced with an Integrated Planning and Reporting requirement. This includes a Community Strategic Plan. The NSW Local Government Act makes reference to social justice principles.

Most councils however, retain Community Development/Service units. These staff work with service providers and community members. The degree of involvement or grassroots work is determined by how traditional or progressive each council is.

The Argument for Increased Community Building Actions from Councils

Just as councils plan and build the physical infrastructure that results in our towns, villages, suburbs and cities it is equally important for communities to be also planned and built. It is fine having parks, gardens and concrete infrastructure but it is also important to have strong, vibrant, safe and diverse communities to use these places. This community building should always be asset/strengths based from the grassroots up. It needs to be a participative process with members of the community having a strong voice.

Every Council already have a presence with libraries, arts facilities, and entertainment venues. They already have a stake in important community infrastructure likewise they need to have a stake in ensuring that community is created to use these facilities.

Community building would save money. As communities develop, become connected and gain a voice they will also demand a role in caring for their neighbourhood or suburb. This has the potential to save councils financially in the maintenance of parks and gardens; a community with a voice will also report damage or vandalism quickly to authorities so that it can be repaired quickly. This means the asset will not deteriorate further.

A strong community will no longer be a passive population expecting others to do what they can do for themselves. Since midway through the 20^th century communities have been trained that they have no power and that everything must be done for them. But a connected community working from their own asset base can do so much from creating a safe place to maintenance and repair or even creation of valuable assets.

All these actions have the potential to save councils and rate payers.

How can we make this happen?

Councils are bureaucracies. They operate from a top down process. Decisions are made from above and followed through by staff below. Actions and projects are usually planned in linear fashion with important benchmark points observed. However, community building operates quite differently from a bureaucracy. They operate from a bottom up, grassroots approach. This is rarely linear in nature but is more like a helix ie discuss, plan, act, and review. Almost circular but not as the review phase will mean changes. For councils this will mean that requests and actions will appear to come from left field.

To counter this communities need to be vocal and use processes already available for this voice to be heard and acted upon. This may mean letters to the council, representations to councillors, petitions, letters to media, attend any consultation the council makes available, make comments on social media, and attend council meetings when necessary. Often if one person speaks up it will be seen to be the voice of the minority but when more speak up and communities make joint representations their voice will begin to be heard.

Citizens not customers or clients

Councils are elected through a democratic process. But our democratic rights and responsibilities do not end every four years at the ballot box. They are ongoing. Like many areas of government councils have adopted the language of the corporate sector and we cease from being citizens but customers, clients or consumers. Neither of these terms are accurate or adequate. Councils are not like retail outlets. We don’t have a choice over using their services and don’t have a bargaining power with them. The language is important and needs to change. Being a citizen implies participation in the democratic process, not just a passive relationship of business and consumer. If communities used their combined voice and called for participative decision making processes, real engagement and demanded local government become involved in the lives of communities then perhaps some positive community building could occur.

This blog originally appeared at www.herdingtogether.com

Over lunch today I had one of the local commercial radio stations on in the background. At one point they were promoting a Volunteer Expo happening at the weekend. The radio announcer summed it up as “It’s really all about social connection”. And she was right.

My approach to Community Development or Community Building is based on some very simple principles. One of the primary principles is that building a coomunity or creating a great place to be is all about the social connections we make. It is really that simple.

The problem is that most of us seem to have forgotten how to make these connections. We leave early and communte to work. at work we socialise with those around us. After work we drive home. Once home on goes the television and we remain indoors only connecting with the immediate household. We might go to a social event during the week or weekend but many of us don’t even know our neighbours.

We’ve lost those places where we used to bump into others such as corner stores. Most of these are gone. The majority of us probably do our weekly shopping at a supermarket some kilometres away from home.

In many places, membership of community organisations is in decline with the exception of retirees who continue to volunteer. Most of us have fewer people over for dinner, BBQs and drinks than in previous generations.

If you go for a walk or arun most people don’t greet you. It can really surprise some when you do greet them.

I wonder if we’ve lost the art and ability to connect, except through social media.

But if we want to build a good place to live, a good community we need to connect with others and build relationships. The hard part is that in making ourselves open to others we make ourselves vulnerable to others. But without this vulnerability we don’t grow and the community doesn’t grow.

Good community is simple, it’s not sophisticated or rocket science but it is about making connection with others. I believe that deep down this is what we crave. let’s connect with others and build strong community.

As the local DJ said “It’s really all bout social connection”.

This blog originally appeared at www.herdingtogether.com

Recently, I was asked if Community Building, in particular, Asset Based Community Development, could reduce or prevent crime. My candid response was yes. The look on the questioner’s face reflected they were surprised by my response. His facial expression has set me to thinking about the question in some detail.

In many people’s minds crime prevention or reduction is a matter for the government. It is often seen to be the realm of the police. And if not the police then security agencies or perhaps even CCTV. But what role does community, strong connected community play in preventing crime? What is the role of police or security services or CCTV actually do? Do they prevent crime, deter crime, move it elsewhere or are they only part of the picture? If they are then what are the other components that help to prevent or reduce crime?

Crime prevention is more complex than a policing or security role. It involves all of us and is made up of many components.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is one component. This relies on environmental design interventions to reduce the likelihood of crime and can include fencing, lighting, CCTV, footpaths, shrubbery etc. These are the physical elements that make it less likely that a crime will occur or make it more difficult for those contemplating a criminal action.

Community Crime Prevention is another component. By that I mean those formalised groups and mechanisms to recruit community members to report crime or reduce crime by their actions. This includes groups such as Neighbourhood Watch or programs that encourage community members to report crime. Although not strictly a community building tool these groups do build connection between residents and may form a component in reducing crime.

One theory of crime prevention is that of Collective Efficacy. This theory concerns the behaviours and other informal mechanisms of community members to create a safe place. These are informal mechanisms such as monitoring children in playgrounds, reporting crime, intervening in disputes etc. These behaviours and mechanisms create a safe place by controlling behaviours of others so that crime and anti-social behaviour is minimised. They are places where neighbours informally agree on what is acceptable behaviour and they actively work to see these behaviours maintained. Those areas with high levels of collective efficacy involve a high degree of trust between community members.

But what about other informal connections that create a sense of cohesion, belonging and ownership in a location? Are they also important? Those areas where social cohesion is high are those areas where people look after each other, babysit neighbour’s children, get together for BBQs and celebrations i.e. they know each other and are concerned for each other. These places have strong social capital. They are places where people feel safe and secure. Social cohesion and collective efficacy work together to create safe neighbourhoods.

Community Building actions such as Asset Based Community Development focus on building relationships between people and focus on the strengths of community members, their passions, experience and ability as well as the physical and other assets of the location. It is a work strongly based on growing and fostering social capital. As such it works to develop social cohesion, build collective efficacy and create a safe place.

This blog originally appeared at www.herdingtogether.com

Spend any time around community organisations, community services, educational facilities, health facilities and government agencies you will stumble across the term Social Justice Principles. But what exactly are they and how do they work with Community Development?

A google search for Social Justice Principles shows 350,000,000 entries around the term social justice principles. Additionally, there is a wealth of academic discussion around the terms but let’s try and put it into simple chunks of information to make the term user friendly.

At its most rudimentary level Social Justice is bound up in justice and rights, particularly human rights. It is about seeing where inequality lies, where discrimination is present, where there is disadvantage and seeking to change the situation so that these things are removed and people treated in a fair and just manner. This type of intervention is about social change. Making change to create a fairer society where inequality and injustice is eliminated. To put it on the most basic level Social Justice Principles are about fairness.

Central to community development practice are social justice principles. They represent core values in the work of creating social change through Community building and development. The focus of community development practice is to achieve social justice by working alongside communities or supporting the local community as the community takes the lead in making change.

So, exactly what are these principles?

Social Justice is concerned with ensuring all people are entitled to, and receive, fair and impartial treatment. These principles could include a number of items but most can be summarised as follows:

• Equity: There should be fairness in the distribution of resources, particularly for those in need.
• Equality:  All people should be treated equally with dignity, respect and free from any form of discrimination;
• Access: The right of people to have reasonable and safe access to facilities, open space, programs, services, resources and information. This includes the right of independent and dignified access;
• Participation:  All people should have the maximum opportunity to genuinely participate actively in civic and community life;
• Inclusion: working in partnership with the community, all levels of government, key agencies and the private sector to build an inclusive, cohesive and strong community
• Diversity: recognise and value the contribution of the community’s diverse population and respect the right of people to an inclusive community. Opportunities should be provided for positive participation to accommodate linguistic, cultural and religious diversity.

Without having social justice as a base there can be no real and lasting community building or community development.

This blog originally appeared at www.herdingtogether.com

Introduction

Over the last two or three years I’ve spent time considering leadership and management models/styles that are compatible with leading teams of Community Development workers.

From these considerations I think I’ve reached a place where it all makes some sense.

Background

I have had a lengthy career in the public sector. I’ve worked in Commonwealth Government, State Government and, for the last 16 years in local government. It is from the perspective and experience of practising Community Development in the loal government context that I have reached my current understanding of leading and managing a Community Development team.

Pondering

After many years of leading teams I have reached the conclusion that my leadership practice must reflect my practice as a Community Development worker. That is, my practice as a leader or manager must be based on a grassroots community development approach reflecting an Assets Based Community Development theory of practice.

To be true to this practice leadersheip must be one based on relating to each member of my team and assessing what their individual strengths are how to maximise those strengths. My role is to grant them the space to develop those strengths and assets and to allow them to practice their work in the way they consider the most appropriate. This, of course takes time but seems to build long lasting commitment from members of the team as they are the masters of their own destiny and practice. Essentially, this is a relationship based approach.

I also need to mentor my team in good community development practice. This, again takes time. My aim is to bring out the best in them and to give them good training in what the practice of grassroots community development entails. Mentoring  is essential to leading the team.

Community Development is often a practice pursued by the solo worker or by small groups of workers. I need to give my team space  to develop their own way of operating. It is a personality driven pracitce. I may not work the same as the other team members but it is up to them to have integrity in their work.

I need to trust each person in the team. Trust that they will work in the interests of the community, they will work alongside community, they will partner and not direct the work. Community Development is always a Trust  job.

My aim is to give them a Vision or a Mission. The vision I have is to build community based on the assets and strnegths of that community. Find those people who are the connectors and work with them to build connection and community. Without a vision of place making and working with community to build community they will never succeed.

I need to listen to the team. probably the most challenging role but one I need to continually focus on.

Of course this approach brings certain challenges. It is a participative and cooperative approach to ledership. It is anything but micro managing, it is often seen as a passive approach of democratice approach, whereas I would see it as a partnership in building a community of community development workers to create better and stronger community. It is highly informed by a developmental psychology approach of valuing each person for where they are at in self awareness and self care but, given space can be a radically succesful way to create dynamic teams.

It is also informed by contemporary approaches to working with people. To quote Richard Branson "It is all about finding and hiring people smarter than you. Getting them to join your business. And giving them good work. Then getting out of their way. And trusting them. You have to get out of their way so you can focus on the bigger vision. That’s important. And here’s the amin thing…you must make them see their work as a mission."

I also hire people with passion. People come to community development often with life experience and a fire in the belly. To stifle this is the biggest crime. Stephen Covey once wrote: "If you can hire people whose passion intersects with the job, they won’t require any supervision at all. They will manage themselves better than anyone could manage them. Their fire comes from within, not from without. Their motivation is internal, not external."

Finally, to quote Theodore Roosevelt: "The best executive is the one who has enough sense to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it."

I’d appreciate other’s thoughts on leadership from a community building perspective.

This blog originally appeared at www.herdingtogether.com

In 2018 the International Association of Community Development (IACD) released International Standards for Community Development Practice. The release of the standards was the result of investigating the nature of Community Development work and examining what was common internationally between organisations, agencies and individuals across the globe. IACD hoped the standards would assist practitioners and support them in the work they are doing.

At the heart of the standards sits the IACD definition of Community Development: “Community Development is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes participative democracy, sustainable development, rights, economic opportunity, equality and social justice, through the organisation, education and empowerment of people within their communities, whether these be of locality, identity or interest, in urban and rural settings”. The definition has an emphasis on the values driving community development work and on the practice of community development.

The standards are contained in eight theme areas:

1. Putting values into practice: Understand the values, processes and outcomes of community development, and apply these to practice in all the other key areas. (This theme surrounds understanding what community development is, what is at its core values are, what its outcomes can be and supporting others involved in the practice of community development)
2. Engaging with communities: Understand and engage with communities, building and maintaining relationships with individuals and groups. (To me, this is central to all good practice knowing in detail the community a practitioner is working in and create strong relationships.)
3. Participatory planning: Develop and support collaborative working and community participation. (Often an area that can be left out by large organisations, particularly government authorities. This is about capacity building for people to work together to direct their own future)
4. Organising for change: Enable communities to take collective action, increase their influence and if appropriate their ability to access, manage and control resources and services. (This follows on closely to participatory planning and involves supporting people through the process of change and growing empowerment)
5. Learning for change: Support people and organisations to learn together and to raise understanding, confidence and the skills needed for social change. (Another step in empowerment is an increase in skills to change, the skills to put the participatory planning into practice)
6. Promoting diversity and inclusion: Design and deliver practices, policies, structures and programmes that recognise and respect diversity and promote inclusion.(Recognising diversity and being inclusive. Even though this is one that shouldn’t need to be stated we are not yet at the place where recognition of diversity and inclusive work practices are central for every worker and organisation)
7. Building leadership and infrastructure: Facilitate and support organisational development and infrastructure for community development, promoting and providing empowering leadership. (Developing community leadership that is democratic and promotes participatory processes is central to creating lasting community change)
8. Developing and improving policy and practice: Develop, evaluate and inform practice and policy for community development, using participatory evaluation to inform and improve strategic and operational practice. (One of my favourite topics – evaluation but use participatory approaches and encourage communities to monitor and evaluate their progress. Above all maintain critical reflection and evaluation of your own work.)

This is a very brief summary. Most of the above is directly from the International Standards with my comments about each theme in brackets.

The themes provide a great support and guidance for the work I do in Community Development and assist me in keeping my practice true. One of the really good things about them is they can be used in a many contexts. Their use in planning both projects and strategies is immediately apparent on reading them. They can be used in worker development, development of policy and in promoting the profession of Community Development.

Full details about the standards can be found at the IACD website (www.IACDglobal.org).

This blog originally appeared at www.herdingtogether.com

I haven’t always been a runner. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t so long ago that going for a run was the last thing on my mind. Now I regularly run 5kms two or three times a week.

When I first started it was daunting. I could only run a short distance before I was out of breath and had to stop. To help me I downloaded a phone app so I could gradually work up to 5kms. It took time and was hard work, both physically and mentally. My muscles hurt, my mind told me I couldn’t do it and I felt out of place. But over time my muscles have adjusted and my body works as one unit. My mind can still be an obstacle but not in the way it used to be. I now feel totally comfortable around other runners.
Before I go for a run I prepare myself. I decide when I’m going out, choose what I’m going to wear and plan my route. It changes on a regular basis. Sometimes I plan something different as the next challenge or just to get myself out of a rut.

There are so many parallels to Community Building.

Although, we are social beings it takes a bit of focus to be a community builder. Like starting a running regime it can be daunting. Where do you start? What do you want to do? You might be able to see the problems or what you want to achieve but getting there is the hard thing. But like running it is about taking it in small segments. Distribute a flyer, call a meeting, talk about what you want to achieve with others, read about what others have done. It is a creative process and sometimes you just need to build those creative muscles up. At first you might feel like you are stumbling or that you have bitten off more than you can chew but overtime you will find that you make connections with others who want to see the same things happen. Just do the small things first. Plant a garden on the nature strip/verge, start a facebook page, have a few neighbours over for a BBQ.

Like running the creative ideas, small activities, meeting others, working together all starts to fall into place. The “collective body” starts working together. And like planning a run you start to plan what you want to do what you want to achieve, plan some challenging activities and before you know it you are starting to build a community.

This blog originally appeared at www.herdingtogether.com

Introduction

For over a decade I worked in leadership positions in Local Government. This was a challenging, rewarding and often frustrating experience. Over that time I learnt a great deal about leadership, I made mistakes and tried to learn from them. What follows is a brief summary of some of the things I managed to learn through that time of leadership. I hope you find this of some use.

The Challenge of Leadership

Many people come to leadership by rising through the ranks and then being successful in gaining a leadership role. This is a very challenging situation. To go from being a colleague to a boss is a major transition and comes with difficulties. There are rivalries, team members can find it hard to follow direction from someone that they were on a level footing with up until recently. It can be a time of stumbling and uncertainty. At times you will hear this being jokingly referred to as “promoted above his capabilities.” And it can certainly feel like this. But keep battling away and you will move through this stage to a position of greater confidence in your abilities.

On the flip side, very few people seem to come to leadership as trained leaders. When they do they may find a difficulty in leading a team of specialists who may voice a concern the leader doesn’t really understand their roles. This is a challenge in itself. As a leader you need to ahve enough knowledge of the work a person does without really having the qualification to undertake their roles.

Provide a Vision

The leader has a distinct role in providing and communicating a vision of where they would like to see the team be in the future. Without such a vision the team will flounder. To misquote the Bible “without a vision the people are lost”. A true statement.

The trick is to have a vision and to bring the team along with you. My approach to this is to always work with the team to develop a shared vision and mission. This is a collaborative approach borrowing heavily from Appreciative Inquiry. It is much easier to move a team forward if the vision is developed and shared by all members of the team.

The alternative is a top down approach i.e. provide the vision yourself and work to convince each team member to come along with you. This is a much harder path to tread, but unfortunately it seems to be the path many organisations take.

Management is Not Leadership

In a leadership role you may be called a Manager, Supervisor, Coordinator or Team Leader. It is important to remember that Management and leadership are two different things. Management implies keeping tabs on things, keeping things under control, meeting targets and benchmarks, often without rocking the boat too much. Leadership is much different. it is about vision, direction, taking control of the situation, advocacy, building cohesion, being there for your team while still being able to maintain the corporate direction. management is passive and reactionary while leadership is a proactive action role.

Micro-Management is not Leadership

The enemy of leadership is Micro-Management. Taking tight and close control of the work and actions of individual team members is a poor strategy that only breeds contempt and is a good way to lose staff. Every staff member who leaves costs your organisation thousands in recruitment and training, let alone the loss of irreplaceable historical knowledge.

If you feel team member is not performing there are a number of other things you can do before resorting to the poor strategy of micro management. Training and mentoring are good options. And, at times, this might even mean you may have to adjust your own expectations and demands as they may be counter productive to developing a strong and close team who are kicking goals.

Support your Team

Supporting your team is essential. Your role as a leader is to lead them in a direction, towards a vision and support them through the process. While you are doing this you need to remember you are dealing with flesh and blood people who will require you to be there to support them, nurture them at times and even be there to catch them when they fall. This can mean a whole range of actions. As a leader you should attend their events, activities i.e. take an interest in what they are working on without taking the focus off them and their work. They are the professionals but they need to know you care about the work they are doing.

There will be times when they will need your support to help them through some of their personal matters. Often this is understanding they may need time away from work to deal with personal matters, non invasive support if they need external help or some consideration of their circumstances.

Lead by Stepping Back

Effective leadership often means stepping back. You will have a team of professional workers who know what they are doing. Your role is to provide the support for this to happen. Remove bureaucratic barriers where possible, give them space to do their work and provide training when needed. Regardless of how qualified someone is or how skilled we can all elarn something new. Ongoing training is essential.

Give your team space to do their jobs. Trust their professionalism and only intervene when it is necessary. They are the experts. You are the gatekeeper.

Not all leaders are the Same

Not all leaders are the same. Everyone will have their own style. Lead with your style. Trust yourself.

Likewise not all team members are the same. People are all different. They are at different stages of intellectual and psychological development. Work with each person, assess where they are at and provide the support they need to be great workers.

The two T’s – Trust and Transparency

The two most improtant words in leadership are trust and transparency. You have an important function in trusting your team to do their jobs. If you don’t trust them they won’t trust you. Trust is also a fragile beast. Once it has been broken it is so hard to rebuild. This requires a leader to be sensitive in dealings with team members and keep their matters confidential. Alongside of this is transparency. All your actions should be consistently transparent. It should be crystal clear what you are doing and where you are leading your team. My experience is that there is often very little that needs to be kept undercover. Aim for transparency. This is an ethical responsibility.

Professional ethics vs Organisational Direction

This is a tough one. There may be times when your professional ethics are at loggerheads with the direction of your organisation. This can particularly be the case if you are operating from a Community Development ethical base and working from the grassroots up. Many organisations operate from the top down. This may place you in an ethical conflict. If this happens you have the choice to remain and fight the system or leave. Sometimes leaving is the best option. Other times mainaining the rage is the way to go. It is your decision but always act ethically as a leader.

Conclusion

That just about covers all I wanted to say. There is so much that could be said. I’m interested in your comments on leadership. Let me know your view and help add to this discussion.

This blog was originally published at www.herdingtogether.com