Citizen Leaders &
Performance-based Management
Lois Wright Morton, Ph.D. Department of Sociology Iowa State University
February 26, 2009
EPA 2000 Water Quality Report calls for
“wider public involvement” to help with
“complex problems like NPS pollution, where control
options are difficult or expensive”
A new wave of
initiatives that
involve stakeholders
and citizens is
emerging
How can citizen-farmer involvement help solve
the problem of water degradation, particularly agricultural
non-point source pollution?
How can we
move landowners
beyond the
status quo to more
active engagement
and willingness to act
to protect local waters?
Leadership [people]
connecting, encouraging, keeping the vision
Management [things]
making the “to do” list; doing;
evaluating outcomes; adapting
Frog City
Leadership is influence
What are the traits you admire most in a leader?
Leadership is the ability to
influence others and obtain followers
Influence
Even an introverted individual will influence 10,000 other
people in his lifetime…each of us influence and are
influenced…leading in some areas and being led in other.
So the issue is not whether you will influence someone
but what kind of an influence you will be?
J.C. Maxwell 1993 Developing the leader within you
Community of Practice
Personal Connections
Beta
P value
How many
friends/neighbors that farm
do you talk with at least
weekly?
0.303
0.001
How many
friends/neighbors that don’t
-0.200
farm do you talk with at least
weekly?
Social
Connections
Influence
Thinking and
Decisions
0.032
Civic Connections
Social organization index
-0.197
0.022
Media index
0.049
0.573
University information
index
-0.062
0.534
Technical support index
[NRCS, SWCD, DC]
-0.154
0.095
Expert Connections
Kinds of leadership
1. Position: comes with a title
2. Permission: trust relationships permit one to lead
Getting together for a reason
3. Production: people come together to
accomplish a purpose; results oriented
4. People development: empowers others
5. Personhood: lifetime of proven leadership
J.C. Maxwell
If you try to move to the production level without
building trust relationships and caring about people,
the people in your watershed will feel used rather
than partners in addressing water concerns
Linking leadership to performance management
What leadership traits do you think are needed to produce
better water quality in your watershed? If you are missing
some of them, which ones can you learn?
Is there someone you’d like to share leadership with?
How can you inspire & motivate others
toward a common purpose?
What skills do we need to build a cohesive & spirited
watershed team?
How can we put joy & celebration into our efforts?
Commitments of Leadership
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Challenge the process
Inspire a shared vision
Enable others to act
Model the way
Encourage the heart
Kouzes & Posner 1995