acosta leadership

LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES:

DR. NEREUS ACOSTA

CONNECTING THE I’S

SEPTEMBER 2007

LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES

INTEGRITY

INQUIRY/IDEAS

• WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW?• WHAT DO WE DO?

• WHAT IDEAS DRIVE OUR GOALS?• WHAT KNOWLDEGE BASE DO WE HAVE

OR NEED TO DEVELOP?• HOW DO WE BUILD CAPACITY?

INSPIRATION

• WHY DO WE DO WHAT WE DO?• WHAT DO WE BELIEVE IN?• WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE?• WHAT IS OUR VISION? • WHERE DO WE DRAW ENERGY, INNER

DRIVE TO DO THE THINGS WE DO?

INNOVATION/INITIATIVES

• HOW DO WE GO ABOUT DOING THE THINGS THAT NEED TO BE ACCOMPLISHED?

• WHAT NEW WAYS, APPROACHES, STRATEGIES, TECHNOLOGIES DO WE TAKE OR USE?

• HOW CREATIVE, PRO-ACTIVE CAN WE BE?

• WHAT PARTNERSHIPS, CONVERGENCES CAN WE FORGE?

INTERESTS

• WHAT ARE THE STAKES? ISSUES? • WHO ARE THE STAKEHOLDERS?/WHO

ARE INVOLVED? WHAT ARE THEIR RIGHTS?

• HOW DO WE ACHIEVE CONSENSUS? • HOW DO COMPETING INTERESTS REACH

CONVERGENCE?

IMPLEMENTATION

• HOW DO PUT OUR PLANS INTO ACTION?• WHAT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITIES THAT

NEED TO BE EMBRACED?• WHAT ARE OUR MECHANISMS FOR

ENFORCEMENT? FOLLOW-THROUGH?• WHO ARE ACCOUNTABLE?• HOW DO WE MEASURE IMPACT?• WHAT DO WE DO WHEN “THE RUBBER

HITS THE ROAD?”

INSTITUTION-BUILDING

• HOW DO WE SUSTAIN OUR WORK, PROGRAMS, PROJECTS?

• HOW DO WE STRENGTHEN SYSTEMS AND MAKE THEM SUSTAINABLE OVER THE LONG TERM?

• HOW DO WE STRENGTHEN GOVERNANCE?• HOW DO WE CONSTRAIN ABUSE OF

POWER, BUILD TRANSPARENCY/ ACCOUNTABILITY?

• HOW DO WE BUILD TRUST WITHIN THE SYSTEM?

INTEGRITY

• INTEGRA – WHOLE, SOLID• SOCIAL TRUST, SOCIAL CAPITAL –

LEADERS AND CONSTITUENCIES SHARE A COMMON VISION, TRUST ONE ANOTHER, DRAW INSPIRATION FROM WORKING TOGETHER

LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES

INTEGRITY

ENABLING FACTORS

DISABLING FACTORS

FREEDOM, DEMOCRATIC CONSENSUS-BUILDING,RESOURCES

CORRUPTION GREED ENVYPOVERTYANTI-DEMOCRACY

LEADERSHIP AND TENSION/RESISTANCE

• LEADERSHIP as the management of tensions, building muscle when pain is greatest.

• Leadership is formed and tested not in times of convenience or comfort but in times of controversy and conflict. (Martin Luther King)

• taking the ‘difficult right’ over the ‘easy wrong’

QUALITIES/ATTRIBUTES OF LEADERSHIP

• Insistent -- persistence/perseverance, self-sacrificing

• Introspective – self-critique, would not run away from fear, self-doubt

• Innovative – stepping out of comfort zones, conventional ways of thinking, seek impact

• Integrative – interfacing/holistic, ‘the forest for the trees’, looking for new connections, linkages, global-local -‘glocal’ approaches

• Intuitive – faith, simplicity, humanism, inner strength, deep inspiration, life of example

Be the change you want to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi

PARADOXICAL COMMANDMENTS

• People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered. LOVE THEM ANYWAY.

• If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. DO GOOD ANYWAY.

• If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. SUCCEED ANYWAY.

• The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. DO GOOD ANYWAY.

PARADOXICAL COMMANDMENTS

• Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable. BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY.

• The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. THINK BIG ANYWAY.

• People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. FIGHT FOR THE FEW UNDERDOGS ANYWAY.

PARADOXICAL COMMANDMENTS

• What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. BUILD ANYWAY.

• People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. HELP PEOPLE ANYWAY.

• Give the world the best that you have and you will get kicked in the teeth. GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST ANYWAY.

Leadership can be exhausting, thankless, frustrating, difficult.

BE LEADERS ANYWAY.