Building Capacity for What’s Next: A New Era for Community Leadership Programs
Leading the Shift
Across the nation, community leadership programs are evolving beyond community tours and class projects to become true hubs of leadership capacity-building.
In this new blog, Racquel Thiesen of the Kansas Leadership Center challenges us to think bigger about what leadership programs can and should do — helping communities make measurable progress on their toughest challenges.
We celebrate CLPs that are making bold moves in this direction — teaching real leadership skills, building facilitation capacity, and shaping communities that don’t wait for authority to act.
For decades, community leadership programs and organizations have intended to spark interest in volunteerism, supporting local organizations and contributing to local issues. Educating participants about the community via tours, guest speakers, networking events and class projects has been the norm.
That paradigm measured success by the number of class graduates and anecdotal stories of increased community engagement. The participant learning is mostly focused on civic facts and institutional awareness, and the program itself is viewed as the product rather than the outcomes attributed to it. The focus is exposure and networking, and the idea of leadership emphasizes position, title, or status.
That paradigm is shifting as expectations in the field of leadership development are growing more sophisticated. The way community leadership programs were designed four decades ago is no longer sufficient.
No matter our community’s personality or approach to solving problems, there is evidence that the skills and behaviors practiced most often are insufficient for energizing and mobilizing ourselves and others to make progress on the challenges we care most about. Issues like housing, childcare, food insecurities, access to health and elderly care, transportation, graduation rates, infant mortality rates and more aren’t easily solvable. However, we can make more progress when more people are exercising skillful leadership instead of waiting for those with authority and formal titles to “fix it”.
The current climate suggests that citizen dissatisfaction is high. The good news is that’s exactly when individuals, organizations and communities feel compelled to do something – to exercise leadership.
It’s time for a new, more-evolved community leadership paradigm.
Community leadership organizations need to be the epicenter of leadership development in small towns and big cities everywhere. They should teach leadership behaviors, build facilitation skills, and generate capacity (someone’s choice and courage to engage in acts of leadership). Community leadership programs and organizations should commit (or recommit if you’re on the leading edge of local leadership development) to making bold moves towards programming that aligns with this new paradigm.
Measurable progress on tough challenges ought to be the product that leadership programs and organizations orient themselves around. The programs offered are the means to build capacity and space to practice new leadership skills being taught in real-time. Community context is essential in this new paradigm, but no longer the primary focus. Participants must understand not just where they can volunteer and exercise leadership, but also why and how.
Community leadership programs and organizations are perfectly positioned to change how their community solves problems - as long as they’re committed to truly building their participants’ skills and growing the community’s capacity to face challenges head on.
Where does your program land in this shifting paradigm?
Many CLPs in our network are already embracing this shift — integrating adaptive leadership, dialogue across differences, and hands-on practice into their programming. We see you and celebrate your commitment to leading better.
Leadership Louisville Center
Leadership Austin
Leadership Cincinnati
Leadership Greater Washington
Cleveland Leadership Center
Leadership Indianapolis
Leadership Jacksonville
Leadership Tulsa
Leadership Tomorrow
Leadership Knoxville
Leadership Louisville Center Leadership Austin Leadership Cincinnati Leadership Greater Washington Cleveland Leadership Center Leadership Indianapolis Leadership Jacksonville Leadership Tulsa Leadership Tomorrow Leadership Knoxville
Racquel Thiesen
NCLC Steering committee & Partnership Developer for Kansas Leadership Center
As partnership developer at the Kansas Leadership Center, Racquel Thiesen supports current partners and cultivates new national partnerships with community leadership programs, community foundations, and municipalities. Her focus on guiding partners through their leadership journey ensures greater value for the communities and organizations served by KLC. Racquel draws on more than 25 years of experience in consulting with local leadership programs, community organizations, and local government, helping individuals and leadership developers utilize the KLC framework to tackle their toughest challenges.
Find a Community Leadership Program Near You
Leadership like this is emerging in communities across the country—where programs are no longer just about learning about the community, but learning how to lead within it.
If you’re ready to grow your leadership capacity, build stronger connections, and help your community make measurable progress on its toughest challenges, there’s a program near you that can help.
Explore the map and find a program in your city through the
👉 National Community Leadership Collaborative