Introduction: Empowerment and Leadership

by Anne Radford

In this issue, we have brought together examples of how new leaders are leading, where the models of leadership are changing, and observations from consultants on how they are supporting leadership and empowerment in government departments, schools and businesses in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Foreward:
 Leadership - The Truth and The Way

by Julian Rizzello

I think that a lot of the current debate about the problems of leadership in organisations is characterised by a rather unproductive mismatch between two competing approaches to the issue.
The human resource management (HRM) approach to leadership development tends to concentrate effort upon individuals who have been assigned, or who aspire to, positions of authority. A recurrent concern is the extent to which leadership is an inherent quality of the individual, or whether it can be learned, with the second possibility currently in greater favour.

David Harris, the Director of the City of Dubuque’s Housing and Community Development Department, is a strong and committed leader who has been able to accomplish remarkable changes by forming collaborative partnerships that embrace Appreciative Inquiry (AI). This story presents a strong case for how an AI process has been sustained over time in local government through committed leadership and exceptional partnerships.

The “For Progress” Organization:
Reformulating Names, Metaphors and Models of Leadership
by Marge Schiller with Kaye Chatterton, Kent Bicknell and Natalie She

Leadership is always the same, never the same and sometimes the same. Context culture
and circumstance alter what leadership looks like to others and what it feels like to be a
leader. This article reflects the thinking of four leaders who have worked with schools and
other not-for-profit organizations.

Empowerment and Leadership in a UK Government Department
by Margaret Philips

The article describes a consultant’s journey on an assignment for a large bureaucratic
organisation to facilitate workshops in which the staff would accept, own and commit
themselves to a vision document drawn up by senior staff. Margaret Philips also shows the
value of small steps enabling the client to experience the energy and enthusiasm brought
about by the AI process.

Teachers and School Administrators Becoming More Appreciative in their Outlook
by Adrienne Castellon

This article highlights guidelines for teams to become more appreciative. It also gives two examples where elementary teachers and school administrators are empowered with a ‘can do’ attitude once they can envision their own success.

Leaders Growing Leaders: Using AI Every Day To Deliver
America’s Dream
by Miriam Bamberger and Heather Bradley

“Civil servants deliver America’s dream.”
Ron Brade, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
What is it like to work in a flourishing organization where people feel appreciated and inspired to deliver America’s dream on a daily basis? Just ask the folks at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Goddard) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who are members of the Creative Learning Groups (CLG) where they have incorporated the principles of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a way of being at work every day.

Joining Forces for New Directions, Navy Northwest
by Larry Bartholomew, Joy Peterson and Ron Robinson

“We were three organizations stitched together into one, operating in eight physical locations, with diminishing budgets and even more changes in the offing.” This was the challenge facing the Human Resources Office (HRO) of the Commander,
Navy Region Northwest (CNRNW) according to Larry Bartholomew, Deputy Director of the HRO, providing human resources (HR) services to over 50 Navy organizations and more than 15,000 civilian employees in the Pacific Northwest. The article describes the activities, resulting changes and outcomes, and insights that emerged.

Discovering the benefits of flexible working with social
workers in the UK
by Geof Cox

Faced with a national shortage of qualified social workers, many local councils in the UK offer golden hellos and enhanced terms to encourage staff to work for them. Dundee Council has chosen a different approach. Rather than joining the bidding war it has opted for flexible working, and it has also chosen to engage its staff in developing the system – giving them the power to design the flexible working system that works for them and delivers their needs.

Enabling the Easy Business Transformation in
Castrol Marine
by David Gilmour and Benita Sutton-Cegarra

Castrol Marine needed to turn round the business and move away from several years of disappointing financial returns. This article highlights the steps taken to change the culture and develop the new vision of a business easy to do business with for both staff and customers. Several processes were used in conjunction with Appreciative Inquiry which gradually built up energy, joy and spirit at all levels, delivering the transformation in the form of better customer contracts.