Collective leadership development in the civic arena

Purpose As a collective paradigm of leadership emerges in the literature, many community leadership programs still align with leader-centric perspectives. The Kansas Leadership Center’s Leadership Transformation Grant is an exemplar of developing collective leadership in the civic arena. The purpose of this article is twofold: (1) to present the findings of a community-engaged, qualitative research study on the impact of collective leadership development on the practice of civic leadership and (2) to discuss relevant implications learned from reflections on the methodology for the practice of community-engaged research. Design/methodology/approach This study is a form of engaged research (Van de Ven, 2007) and is consistent with the principles of community-based research (Strand, Marullo, Cutforth, Stoecker, & Donohue, 2003). I took an exploratory approach to this study because the knowledge intersection of collective leadership, civic leadership and leadership development is still emerging and understudied. I explored the individual, group and systems levels as three components of a complex adaptive system (Uhl-Bien, Marion, & McKelvey, 2007). To better understand the dynamic relationship between individual, group and system in this grant team, I employed a three-phase study including methods of deliberative civic engagement, open-ended survey and interview. Findings Findings illustrate the effectiveness of the grant program on developing a shared language and leadership framework and clarifying leadership goals for participants. Implications include the importance of collective leadership development opportunities that center adaptive challenges and convene participants across levels of leadership and sectors. Additionally, the findings highlight the need to consider authority, identity and culture as central components of the practice of leadership. Reflections on the community-engaged methodology demonstrate the value of learning about leadership practices from the community practitioners to inform community leadership development interventions. Implications include approaching research as iterative and pushing back on academic norms that provide tension in engaged work. Originality/value Little research crosses all three boundaries of collective leadership, leadership development and civic leadership literature. This intersection focuses on understanding how collective leadership can contribute to enhancing the practice of civic leadership. The current study is situated within this knowledge gap and explores (1) the experiences of members of a civic group who have (2) participated in leadership development that (3) aligns with a collective leadership paradigm and are (4) trying to make progress on an adaptive challenge.