Introducing Transformative Community Leadership
As we've discussed before, leadership as a concept can be made to mean almost anything.
Culturally, we apply the word leadership to actions that benefit a few individuals as readily as we apply it to those we see as working for the broader good. Business leader, faith leader, political leader, thought leader, industry leader - all called leaders regardless of what they're leading toward.
For that reason, it's important to us at LBL that anyone who wants to talk about leadership be clear just what they are leading toward and what behaviors are acceptable in its pursuit. Without those things spelled out, the tools for leadership can be just as easily used for emotional manipulation and power consolidation as they can be used to create peace through justice.
That's why Looking Bear Leadership is interested in a specific vision of the world - grounded in the pursuit of social and environmental justice - that we hope to accomplish through the action, reflection, and knowledge creation that make up Transformative Community Leadership.
But just what is Transformational Community Leadership (TCL)?
TCL is a community-based approach to complex challenges and collective opportunities characterized by equity-creation and capacity-building, and animated by values of Mutuality, Inclusivity, Vulnerability, Empowerment, and Sustainability.
Equity is created by applying TCL values to the practices of:
• Story-telling and -hearing
• Knowledge-recognizing
• Resource-sharing
• Network-building
• Decision-making
Capacity is built by developing practices of reflection and action regarding:
• Structures of injustice and inequity
• Skills for facilitating equitable and creative community mobilization
• Conflict transformation and restorative exercises
• Disciplines for personal and collective health and wholeness
• Interpersonal, emotional, technical, and adaptive intelligences
• Frameworks including “Cycle of Praxis”, “Accompaniment”, “Solidarity & Agency”
This outline owes its content to a variety of sources of inspiration and insights from a diverse group of thinkers, activists, religious acolytes, academics, and more.
Clearly, there is a lot more to a philosophy and practice like Transformative Community Leadership than can be put into a blog post. But, for those interested in deepening their understanding we offer a number of opportunities.
One opportunity is our Webinar series introducing Transformative Community Leadership that starts with the free offering (June 6th), "All The Wrong Lessons: Why Our Leadership So Often Fails To Transform And How To Work On What Matters". This is the first in a series of three episodes introducing TCL that can be found here.
A second opportunity is coming in mid-July. "Way-Finders: Summer 2018" is a 6-week online learning cohort (July 16th - August 23rd) that explores the practices that make up Transformative Community Leadership. These small groups are meant for people in nonprofits, academia, civil service, or individuals who are simply community-oriented.
Don't worry, if you can't make these opportunities, we have many more coming in the next few months.
But, if you want to talk about these elements, how they do or do not make sense to you, or anything else related to our organization or our mission, please feel free to contact us. We exist for these conversations and welcome opportunities for dialogue.
We look forward to sharing more of our story with you, and, more importantly, to hearing about your story and the lessons you've drawn.
What values are core to you? What are two or three things you want to characterize our lives together? What ways of being are you committing to in order to make those things happen?
Join our email list today and keep up to date on capacity-building programs from LBL!