{"id":2570,"date":"2014-03-18T11:59:14","date_gmt":"2014-03-18T11:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/?p=2570"},"modified":"2014-03-18T11:59:14","modified_gmt":"2014-03-18T11:59:14","slug":"the-challenges-of-engaging-community-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2014\/03\/18\/the-challenges-of-engaging-community-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"The Challenges of ‘Engaging Community Leaders’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Leaders<\/a>I attended Leaders for Leeds this morning – a breakfast meeting that connects a group of people who are trying to work on achieving ‘best city’ outcomes, aka make Leeds a better place to live. \u00a0I jotted down a few notes, some taken from our conversations and some capturing thoughts that I didn’t have time to express, and these form the basis of what I have written here.<\/p>\n

The theme of the session was ‘Engaging Community Leaders’ exploring the premise that Leaders for Leeds needs to get more and different people and perspectives into its network. \u00a0We were invited to explore what might need to happen for more community leaders to show up. \u00a0This raised a number of interesting issues in our conversation and the thoughts it prompted in me:<\/p>\n

What do we mean by community? \u00a0Geography? Interest group? Ethnic group? Faith based group? Age group? \u00a0Community is a weasel word. \u00a0We can utter it with gravity and credibility while conferring on it no specific meaning. \u00a0It is a broad signaller of intent, with no specific commitment or rationale attached. \u00a0I reckon what we actually mean by ‘community’ is often ‘target population’. \u00a0Except Leaders for Leeds has no ‘targets’. \u00a0We are not clear on whose voice we want in the room and why. \u00a0We don’t know whose voices are missing. \u00a0If ‘they’ were present what would they say and do? \u00a0How would that help? \u00a0Who would that help?<\/p>\n

‘Community Leader’ is an equally difficult term. \u00a0Often it is little more than a media label applied to someone who expresses an opinion about a community issue. \u00a0They may lead a project, or an organisation, but do they lead a community? \u00a0Leadership is usually contested. \u00a0They might lead some but not others in ‘the community’! \u00a0We also discussed how bestowing the title of community leader can be damaging to the individual concerned and their relationships in the community. \u00a0Few are prepared to put themselves forward as community leaders. \u00a0The label does not fit. \u00a0They don’t recognise it. \u00a0Call yourself a community leader, or be called it by someone else, and you risk getting a backlash.<\/p>\n

We also talked about ‘community leaders’ who are appointed or recruited, either from the community or into the community, to do a specific job for a particular sponsor in ‘the community’ and how seldom they seem to become effective catalysts for lasting change.<\/p>\n

So why the interest in ‘community leaders’? \u00a0Is it because it is a convenient idea? \u00a0If we can find them they provide a short cut to ‘engage with community’? \u00a0Are we looking for individuals who have respect and influence in communities that we don’t? \u00a0Are we looking to extend our power and reach through them?<\/p>\n

Or is it because we believe in the ‘law of requisite variety<\/a>‘ that says the more diverse our membership the greater the diversity of the issues that we can respond to effectively? \u00a0That we recognise deeply that unless we get more diverse membership our capacity to act as change agents is limited.<\/p>\n

We also heard how for one participant how attendance at Leaders for Leeds was largely symbolic. They got little from it themselves, but their attendance served as a reminder that black and minority ethnic people are here.<\/p>\n

Conversation then turned away from leadership and towards the \u00a0issue of power. \u00a0Are we seeking to give those that ‘organise’ in our communities more power to work on what matters to them? \u00a0Can we do that? How? \u00a0Or are we seeking power for ourselves to influence and create change in those communities by finding individuals to act as bridgeheads for us and our projects?<\/p>\n

We then talked about Leaders for Leeds providing access to those in power and also about providing a broader perspective of the city as public, private and third sector gather together. \u00a0The issue of access to those in power was interesting to me. Do we believe that if we can relate to them and influence them we can secure different outcomes? \u00a0Is that the game plan? \u00a0That what we need to do is persuade those in power? \u00a0Do we believe that power is essentially wielded from the top down? \u00a0Or could we conceive of Leaders for Leeds as a mechanism that serves the voices and needs of ordinary citizens – giving them power to shape their own futures and recognising how we might often need to get out of the way? \u00a0A city of 750 000 voices rather than ONE?<\/p>\n

For me the key challenges facing Leaders for Leeds are:<\/p>\n