Leadership in Communities and Networks: 4 Practical Models

Photo by Natalie Pedigo on Unsplash

Over the past few years I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on how to empower leaders to take co-ownership in a community or network.

Leaders are incredibly important to ensure activities are designed based on constituents’ needs and interests, to disseminate and spread the core values and principles, and to engage an important diversity of perspectives and ideas.

As a network grows, they can also reduce the burden on coordinating teams, helping to decentralize processes of weaving, connecting, and engagement.

Here are a few tips I’ve learned which help ensure high-quality, effective network leadership:

• Prioritize relationships. Leaders, like all network members, love connecting. Leaving time to check-in and share stories, so people get to know each other personally, builds trust and co-ownership, which ultimately enables effective participatory decision-making.
• Offer diverse options for leadership. There are many kinds of leaders in a network — it’s not just for decision-making. And people have differing skills, time, and capacities to engage. Offering multiple avenues to lead can bring in more people and empower a broader base of leaders.
• Clarify commitment and control. Make sure it’s clear how decisions are made — what power leaders have, and when you take over. Are leaders advisors (and you make the decisions), or do they have formal decision-making control (e.g. using consensus-based decision-making)? Also, outline a clear time commitment (e.g. 3 hours per month for 12 months), and rotate leaders regularly.
• Choose leaders based on intrinsic motivation and shared values. Whether you invite people to self-select or choose specific individuals, prioritize values over skills. Check if leaders align with a way of working and are intrinsically motivated to commit. This can help reduce egos and power imbalances, and create a space for equal participation.
• But, actively fill gaps in diversity. Often, you’ll find your leadership group has a gap in knowledge or representation of a certain member group. To ensure diversity, you may need to proactively reach out to people and invite them in. Some people may need additional support to engage.
• Foster new leadership skills. Remember that for most people, network leadership is new and different. And all of us can always learn how to do it better. Embed peer learning into the leadership experiences help them strengthen their “collaboration muscles”, enabling them to be more effective in their work (and, amplifying your own network’s impact).
• And offer something in return. Why might leaders be motivated to engage beyond commitment to the network’s vision? Perhaps they want to engage with new people. Perhaps they want to learn. Figure that out — and design the leadership experiences so the leaders “get” something in return for what they “give”.

And here are 4 network leadership models I’ve found work well.

Each matches a different network stage or need, and can be adapted to different leaders’ capacities to engage:

1. Online feedback group: this is the most informal option. Convene a group of people in a small online forum (e.g. WhatsApp or Slack), and on a regular basis give them tiny prompts and ask for feedback. Like, “can you tell us what you would add to this set of activities we’re considering?” This is good when people don’t have time or capacity to commit, or when the network’s team isn’t organized enough to facilitate a full-fledged steering group.
2. Advisory team: this is a type of group for leaders that don’t have time to engage deeply, but for whom you really value their input. The idea is to convene them periodically (e.g. once every 3 months, for 30–45 minutes), for rapid brainstorming around a key issue you’re facing. Give them a mini prompt in advance so they can come prepared. These people may value the experience as a space to learn from each other as well, and get great ideas for their own work, without it being a huge sucker on their time.
3. Steering committee: this is the usual model for network leadership, where they engage in key decisions around the network’s development. How I’ve done it: convene leaders regularly (e.g. every 6 weeks) to address a specific set of questions, ideally identified by the community. At each meeting the group explores these, and perhaps others that have emerged, by dialoguing and coming to consensus around how to move forward. It can be helpful to share prompts in advance, and even to have leaders meet 1:1 for in small meetings prior to discuss the prompt. This way they come prepared, while also deepening relationships with each other. Alternatively, you can break leaders into smaller “design groups” to meet in between and to design solutions around specific sub-domains of the network (e.g. activities or impact). This especially works well if the Steering Committee is large.
4. Network nodes / ambassadors: this model is for leaders of peer groups, working groups, or chapters, and can work in parallel with those above. I have found the best way to support such leaders is by convening them to meet between themselves and support each other in troubleshooting challenges. This can help them deepen connections and not feel so isolated, while enabling them to be more effective in their work.

Two final thoughts:

First, a little money can go a long way. Small sums, like stipends, can formalize commitment and boost accountability. It can also level the playing field, enabling some people who may not otherwise be able to engage to join the leadership “experience”.

And also, good facilitation is key. Fun, engaging leadership meetings make all the difference. In addition to great icebreakers, specific techniques that enable participatory decisions can be exciting and intriguing. I often use 1–2–4-all, What, So What, Now What, and 15% Solutions.