In this webinar, Lynn Fick-Cooper, Managing Director of Societal Advancement at the Center for Creative Leadership, will share the 5 critical leadership strategies CCL has learned from their vast experience developing the leadership capacity of nonprofit leaders and collaborative groups. During this webinar, Lynn will also take us through a deeper exploration of the first of those 5 strategies, Moving Beyond the Heroic Model of Leadership, by explaining and helping us all apply CCL’s Direction-Alignment-Commitment (DAC) leadership framework.

1. Leadership Webinar Series
July 23, 2019

2. LLC anticipates the future and is a dynamic catalyst capable
of creating a link from today’s issues in leadership
development to tomorrow’s solutions.
(Donna Stark, The Annie E. Casey Foundation)
Network Research Application
Leadership Learning Community

3. Leadership As A Process
The value of collective leadership networks is in their capacity
to solve problems quickly in an environment of uncertainty and complexity
(Watts, 2004)

4. Today’s Guests
Lynn Fick-Cooper
Managing Director, Societal Advancement
Center for Creative Leadership
fickl@ccl.org

5. ©2019 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
Confronting Wicked
Problems
Five Strategies for Reimagined
Leadership in the Social Sector

6. ©2019 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
About the Center for Creative Leadership
Experience
45+ years in
leadership
education
Serving over
30,000 leaders
annually
Expertise
Working with
80% of the
Fortune 100
Companies
Nearly two dozen
full-time
researchers and
11 full-time
evaluators
Global Reach
Offices on six
continents
Clients from
more than 135+
countries
600+ Coaches
500+ Faculty
Prestige
Top ranked in
the world by
Financial Times
for Executive
Education

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Objectives
You will discover:
• Five strategies for reimagined leadership in the social sector
• A mindset shift to a collective approach to leadership
• Practical tips for engaging in more inclusive, shared leadership

8. ©2019 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.©2019 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
5 Strategies for
Reimagined
Leadership

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Moving beyond the “heroic”
model of leadership
#1

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Leveraging Collaborative,
Intentional Networks
#2

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Navigating a Kaleidoscopic Context#3

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Learning While Doing#4

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Building a Mutually Supportive
Culture of Resilience
#5

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Five Strategies
1. Moving beyond a heroic model of leadership
2. Leveraging collaborative, intentional networks
3. Navigating a kaleidoscopic context
4. Learning while doing
5. Building mutually supportive culture of resilience

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Moving beyond the “heroic”
model of leadership
#1

16. ©2019 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
You currently work with that:
• Is addressing a ‘wicked’ challenge in the community—one
without a technical or precedent solution
• Involves people that work both in and outside your organization
• Is not yet achieving the results or level of impact you seek
Imagine a group…
©2018 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.

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Whether or not you
are a formal leader,
you are most
probably engaged in
the
process of
leadership.

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*”Group” refers to any type of collective, e.g., a team, an organization, a work group, or a community.
Leadership is a social process that enables
individuals to work together as a cohesive group*
to produce collective results.
The leadership process is effective when it
generates three crucial outcomes:
Direction
Alignment
Commitment

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The Outcomes of Leadership
Direction:
Agreement in
the group on overall
goals

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The Outcomes of Leadership
Direction:
Agreement in
the group on overall
goals Alignment:
Coordinated work
within the group

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The Outcomes of Leadership
Direction:
Agreement in
the group on overall
goals
Commitment:
Mutual responsibility
for the group
Alignment:
Coordinated work
within the group

22. ©2019 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
The Outcomes of Leadership
Direction:
Agreement in
the group on overall
goals
Commitment:
Mutual responsibility
for the group
Alignment:
Coordinated work
within the group

23. ©2019 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Let’s Assess Your Group…
Direction
Happening Not Happening
• There is a vision, a desired
future, or a set of goals that
everyone supports.
• Members of the group easily
articulate why their work is
important.
• People agree on what
collective success looks like.
• There is a lack of
agreement on priorities.
• People feel as if they are
being pulled in different
directions.
• There’s inertia.
• People seem to be running
in circles.

24. ©2019 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Alignment
Happening Not Happening
• Everyone is clear about each
other’s roles and
responsibilities.
• The work of an individual or
group fits well with the work
of other people.
• There’s a sense of
organization, coordination,
and synchronization.
• Things are in disarray:
deadlines are missed,
rework is required, effort is
duplicated.
• People feel isolated from
one another.
• Groups compete with one
another.

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Commitment
Happening Not Happening
• People give the extra effort
needed for the group to
succeed.
• There’s a sense of trust and
mutual responsibility for the
work.
• People express much
passion and motivation for
the work.
• Only the easy things get
done.
• Everyone is just asking
“what’s in it for me?”
• People are not “walking the
talk.”

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Let’s Assess Your Group…
Which outcome needs most
attention to improve group’s
performance.

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While the responsibility for groups generating
Direction, Alignment, and Commitment
may fall on a leader or small set of leaders,
leadership is a process rather than a person.
Central to that process are
the interactions and exchanges
among all members of the group.
Distinguishing Leaders from Leadership

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© 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.© 2015 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.

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Leadership Culture
Leadership is a collective activity
Leadership emerges out of individual
expertise and heroic action
people in authority
are responsible for leadership

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Three Kinds of Leadership Culture
How do we achieve
agreement on direction?
How do we coordinate our work
so that all fits together?
How do we maintain
commitment to the collective?

31. ©2019 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
Back to your group
Direction Alignment Commitment
• Direction is not clear.
• There is disagreement about direction.
• There is resistance to creating a shared
direction.
• Coordination processes are weak.
• Structuring of work is poor.
• Accountabilities/Responsibilities are
unclear.
• There is low motivation for
coordination.
• Individuals don’t feel responsible for
the group.
• Members don’t see themselves as part
of this group.
• Members don’t want to be part of this
group.
• Members don’t feel included or valued
by others in the group.
• Individuals are self-interested at
expense of the group.
Let’s further diagnose the issues.
Identify the weak spots below. Populate the Chat
Feature with your biggest issue.

32. ©2019 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
Strategies to Improve DAC
Involve Group Members:
1. Ask yourself first if you have all the necessary group
members (diverse, most connected to problem,
equally committed to finding solution)
2. Engage them in assessing group from their
perspective; and then engage them in an interactive
discussion about how D-A-C can be improved within
the group.

33. ©2019 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
Strategies to Improve DAC
Take a Systems Perspective:
1. Individual group members’ characteristics
2. Group composition and structure
3. Interactions among group members
4. Relationships in the group
5. Group processes
6. Group culture
7. Equity, diversity, and inclusion within the group
8. Relationship with external environment

34. ©2019 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Takeaways
Moving
beyond a
heroic model
of leadership
Leveraging
collaborative,
intentional
networks
Navigating a
kaleidoscopic
context
Learning while
doing
Building
mutually
supportive
culture of
resilience

35. ©2019 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
Takeaways
Moving
beyond a
heroic model
of leadership
Leveraging
collaborative,
intentional
networks
Navigating a
kaleidoscopic
context
Learning
while doing
Building
mutually
supportive
culture of
resilience
• Leadership happens socially, in groups, not
within one individual.
• Leadership is a process that generates a set of
outcomes.
• We define these outcomes as direction,
alignment, and commitment.
• If a group is not achieving its goals, likely one or
more areas of DAC are weak.
• DAC can be improved by:
• Involving all/more group members.
• Seeking out expertise.
• Taking a systems perspective.
• Engaging in a continuous learning process.

36. ©2019 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.
RESOURCES

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Questions?
Lynn Fick-Cooper
Managing Director, Societal Advancement
Center for Creative Leadership
fickl@ccl.org

38. ©2019 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
Confronting Wicked
Problems
Five Strategies for Reimagined
Leadership in the Social Sector

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