   
Successfully establishing and
maintaining the leadership connections identified in Chapter Two require
answering several questions.
·
Who
connects with whom?
·
What
is the content of the connection?
·
Where
does the connection occur?
·
When
do the people connect?
·
Why
do they invest the time and energy required to connect?
·
How
is the connection initiated and sustained?
Consider these questions with
the goal of enabling members of the Leadership Team to establish and maintain
the array of connections needed to assure the agency's leadership perspective
is in place and clearly focused.
When considering the questions,
it helps to keep in mind these points made by Neukrug (2008) when discussing
community change, "A number of strategies for changing the community have
been suggested over the years. However, today it is clear that whatever
intervention one makes, it should be taken with an attitude of respect and
collaboration with community members." (p. 176-177) Neukrug goes
on to suggest six steps for implementing community change: accurately define
your problem, collaborate with community members, respect community members,
collaboratively develop strategies for change, implement change strategies, and
assess effectiveness. Neukrug’s six-step strategy applies to successful
leadership connections as much as to community change in general. As the
questions translate into
action, the wisdom of Gunderson (1997) also deserves inclusion in the journey.
"Only a fool would say, 'Follow me, I have the answer,' or perhaps only a
fool would follow.” (p. 55) Rather, we move toward one another in humility,
challenged by the opportunity for making progress and needing each other in
order to see progress achieved. You
cannot respect something you do not understand. You cannot understand someone
to whom you have not listened. You cannot listen to someone with whom you have
not spent time."
| 