Collaborative Leadership in Social Innovation: A Leadership Framework for Tackling Wicked Public Challenges

Abstract

In today’s world, we regularly hear about and experience intractable, systemic social problems that seem to defy solutions. How do we engage in systems change to address them? What processes can help us deal more effectively with them? It is not enough to say we need to change their systems. We need to know how to change them and lead others in the work. This dissertation explores how leadership teams and organizations can tackle wicked public challenges by working collaboratively with stakeholders through a process of trying to understand the challenge and designing strategies to influence systems change. I offer a Leadership Framework for these efforts that puts the collaborative leader in the role of expert intermediary responsible for seven Core Functions within the Leadership Framework. As expert intermediary, the collaborative leader facilitates vision-informed and values-driven decision-making and draws on a range of leadership and problemsolving approaches with four priorities: (1) to provide a systems view and understanding of the challenge, (2) to facilitate collaborative engagement and learning from a wide range of stakeholders, (3) to consider in the design and implementation of strategies and solutions the interconnections between economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection in human flourishing, and (4) to recognize that values run through it all. I refer to the Leadership Framework and its process as Collaborative Leadership in Social Innovation. I lay out the Leadership Framework as a concept map showing the Core Functions arranged along a path with Key Actions for each Core Function and other foundational components to the path. Learning is the glue that holds the Leadership Framework together and a key output. The Leadership Framework is designed to improve decision-making about wicked public challenges by ensuring sufficient time is dedicated to the Core Functions that precede the design and implementation of strategies and solutions. Following the Leadership Framework reduces the chances that solutions will lead to unintended results, miss opportunities, or focus on solving smaller problems in siloes that get at symptoms but rarely the heart of a challenge.