Locating and building collective leadership and impact

What is it about?

Collective leadership is important for amplifying the collaborative efforts to produce more collective impact. But, how do we define collective leadership, and how does it develop? This article is a conceptual and empirical contribution: through an in-depth, long-term case study of an extraordinary example of urban environmental stewardship, I trace the development of collective leadership out of more individualized efforts.

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Why is it important?

The case study is an in-depth examination of an exceptional, positive example of urban environmental leadership. It shows that as leadership became less individualistic and more collective, overall collective impact grew: the impact became greater than the sum of all of the individual efforts. The article identifies provides some definitional clarity about what collective leadership is - and how it is distinguished from individual or plural leadership - by showing how to "locate" it (methodologically and conceptually) in a collaborative effort. This case identifies two key practices - the first being inclusive approaches to working with stakeholders to identify needs and opportunities as well as actions, and the second being creating a public imaginary of the shared goal - that promoted the growth of collective leadership.