Saturday, January 21, 2006
Leadership represents an important component of economic development, but the concept is fuzzy. Most communities content themselves with leadership programs that include very little leadership training. They often include only an exposure to what is going on in a community.
Some leadership programs take another step and initiate specific ideas, but very few leadership programs work to maintain and grow leadership networks with their alumni.
These traditional approaches to leadership are starting to change slowly. In Indiana, a new rural Leadership Learning Lab launched last week. The project, based in Southern Indiana, is focused on teaching the concepts of Appreciative Inquiry.
And in Kansas, a new initiative has developed around the concept of Servant Leadership. Read more.
posted by Ed Morrison |
links
Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber:
Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
Developing new models of leadership training
