Overview of Bridging Leadership

Leadership for Change, Module Two, Mauritius, March 2012

(Barry Smith, L4C Facilitator)

Bridging Leadership

Bridging Leadership is a leadership style or approach to tackle

complex and systemic social inequities:

 That are beyond the capacity of one sector alone to

resolve.
 That need collaborative action of all sectors – government,
private sector and civil society.
 Around which resolve to redress social inequities must be
nurtured and shared by the multiple stakeholders.
 Around which bridging leaders can convene diverse
stakeholders to own the issue and its resolution.
Bridging leadership
A paradigm shift in thinking about leadership:

FROM Leaders as TO Leaders as

Commander and controller Facilitator and convener

Sole owner of the problem and solution Prime mover, but a co-owner of the problem and solution

Having all the answers Creator of the conditions where answers emerge

A single intelligence Focuser of collective attention and the distiller of collective intelligence

Head of one organization Ligament between organizations and institutions across a system

Holder of power Distributor of power, letting go to enable new things to emerge

Expert Non-expert, mobilizing the expertise of others

 Bridging leader action framework
Ownership
• The Bridging Leader makes a
personal response to the issue
• Understands its systemic analysis
and recognizes the interests of
its many stakeholders
Source: Asian Institute of Management
Co-Ownership
• The Bridging Leader convenes
stakeholders to co-own the issue
• Through a process of dialogue and
engagement, the stakeholders arrive at
a shared vision and shared response.
• The vision becomes the societal
outcome aspired for by everyone.
Co-Creation
• A social innovation/intervention is
adopted and carried out through new
institutional arrangements/partnerships.
• Over time, the arrangements are
institutionalized into formal structures
and processes together with a policy
environment supportive to stakeholders’
participation and responsive institutions.
• The Bridging Leader sustains her/his
work by cultivating sources of renewal.
What do bridging leaders need to BE?

Recognition of one’s character and values and how

Self-Aware of strength and inspiration can be drawn from these
Character in facing the challenges and uncertainty that come
and Values with complexity

Clarity of what should be done and how it can be

Strong Sense done in order to be purposive and strategic in
of Purpose addressing complex inequities

Willingness to work with others, in a way that taps

Capacity to their greatest potential, toward collaboratively
Transform finding and implementing solutions to the
inequities

E Garilao
What do bridging leaders need to KNOW?

A new perspective, a specialized language, and a

Systems set of tools that can be used to understand reality
Thinking as a whole – the relationships among the parts of a
system – rather than the parts themselves

Setting up and facilitating dialogic processes that

Multi- bring together diverse stakeholders into
Stakeholder constructive engagement, dialogue and collective
Processes decision making
‘Emergent processes’ i.e. tools and capacities to
discuss how one can sense the future as it
Creativity emerges or sense it from the pieces of the future
held by other stakeholders

E Garilao
What do bridging leaders need to DO?
Articulation of the leader’s set of values and
Strengthen
capital as well as the leader’s understanding of the
will to lead
inequities being faced as input for verbalizing and
through self-
concretizing the personal response that the leader
awareness
commits to
Convene a
multi- Engaging diverse stakeholders and building trust
stakeholder among them toward reaching a shared vision on
group that is how to address the current reality of inequities
built on trust
Leading the collaborative implementation of
Change innovative programs that will result to societal
institutional equity and that are based on new institutional
arrangements arrangements that make institutions responsive
and empower citizens
E Garilao
A bridging leader:
 Has a formal/ informal mandate & accountability to address a social
cause
 Has necessary authority/ leadership to take independent decisions and
partner with other stakeholders
 Has clearly articulated/ displayed passion to address the social cause
 Can influence the system and implement the desired interventions-
upwards, side-wards and downwards, with or without formal authority
 Displays ‘participatory consciousness’ as against ‘top-down’, ‘expert’ or
‘interventionist approach’- i.e. believes in the fact that complex social
issues cannot be addressed by just one best solution but by collaboration,
participation and ownership of community & other stakeholders

Key questions asked of the bridging leader:

What is my relationship capital? What is the social return on
my relationship capital? What assets and competencies do I
bring to the process?