How a nonprofit foundation challenged global networks to reimagine leadership with Leader As Convener
“Leader as Convener is a way of thinking that starts with people — their perspectives, their aspirations, and their capacity to co-create the sustainable development of their communities. It has transformed how I understand and engage with my colleagues.”
OVERVIEW
For the last 90 years, a global nonprofit foundation has invested in thousands of individuals and their leadership journeys. These individuals are invited to be part of a community leadership network where they learn how to connect, grow and lead transformational change toward a more equitable society.
As part of this journey, graduates of their leadership programs are invited to a Global Fellow Network where learning continues. Most recently, the foundation wanted to help transform these leaders from “deciders” to “connectors” by helping them learn how to bring people together in “non-traditional” ways to build solutions to their most pressing challenges.
OBJECTIVES
SOLUTION
Designed Learning founder Peter Block joined the foundation’s Global Fellow Network in a live virtual event to share how building relationships serves the common good and empowers people to exercise accountability and make meaningful choices. Based on his ideas in Community: The Structure of Belonging, Peter introduced key conversations to help community leaders engage more fully with the people they serve.
Following the event with Peter, Designed Learning led multiple workshops with participants in the U.S., South Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. The three-part virtual Leader As Convener workshop focused on six key conversations leaders should have: invitation, possibility, gifts, ownership, commitments and dissent. With facilitators, Global Fellows engaged in open-ended discussions about these topics, worked through exercises relevant to the challenges they face in their work, and received helpful feedback and coaching.
IMPACT
The workshop helped members of the powerful network reimagine their roles as leaders beyond traditional expectations, visions and roles. It equipped them with tools to facilitate productive, inclusive and more collaborative spaces to better lead in the communities they serve. It also provided protocols for gathering groups of any size in a way that maximized co-creation and accountability.
The immersive nature of the workshop allowed fellows, many attending a network event for the first time in many years, to connect with each other while exploring new ways to drive meaningful transformation in their work. They walked away energized to take the leader as convener approach home to their own communities.
As noted by one participant, “Having the opportunity to participate in the Leader as Convener training meant being able to highlight the importance of listening, speaking the truth with love and caring for the people involved in our activities. It was a space to open up emotionally and understand the value of small groups for co-creating and building in our community.”
