Keys to Sustaining Collective Efforts

When leaders come together to address civic priorities in our communities, how they work together matters just as much as what they work on together.

Understandably, most attention is focused on the what – what is the problem, what is the solution, what is our strategy, what are our tactics and what are our metrics. All those “whats” matter, a lot. But so does how leaders – as individuals and the entities they lead – learn, decide and act together.

My thoughts on what it takes to sustain collective efforts continue to evolve as I learn from others. Recently, I shared these five keys with a group of leaders considering whether they should try to work collectively on economic issues facing their region:

Powerful Shared Purpose: Diverse individuals and entities stay together through thick and thin when united by a powerful shared purpose.

Characteristics of a powerful shared purpose include:

·         Ambitious enough to inspire

·         Value proposition for them individually and collectively is clear and sufficient to attract them to and keep them at the table

·         Specific and measurable.

Trust: Collaboration moves at the speed of trust. Building trust is continuous work that each participant is responsible for performing at the highest level. Trust is built one-to-one. Then it spreads within the group and beyond.

Shared Power: Authority is scarce in collective work. Yet, everyone at the table has some power. Power is shared to advance the shared purpose. If power is hoarded or aggregated, the collective work will die. Collaboration is power shared.

Shared Responsibility: Each leader explicitly acknowledges their own roles in contributing to the intolerable status quo. Each one is responsible for making changes that advance the shared purpose. Each one identifies what they will do for others or with others to advance the shared purpose.

Facilitation: Diverse groups need support to move forward together. Leaders at the table grant their facilitator the “generous authority” to use a gentle, but firm hand to help them move forward together. The facilitator acts in ways to continuously earn that generous authority.

Collective work doesn’t happen by magic, but when leaders embrace these keys and commit to the long-term work ahead, magic is possible.