Collaborative Leadership Summary

The book Collaborative Leadership by Chrislip and Larson was an interesting read with great insight regarding how to tackle critical issues and challenges many communities face today in a new and meaningful way. Using real, varied examples of complex community based predicaments that were navigated successfully utilizing a collaborative leadership approach, authors Chrislip and Larson were able to outline ways to take up complex community issues by unifying a diverse, often frustrated group of citizens in a way that enables them to overcome bureaucratic barriers and legacy process. At the core of the book, Chrislip and Larson indicate that “successful collaborative initiatives depend on a thorough understanding of the motivation and the context

While it seems simple, the authors later provide greater detail and unveil the complexity and challenges within collaborative leadership. The authors also discuss traditional leadership and why it is failing citizen and communities during the first section. The authors site increasing complexity within society along with fragmentation of traditional power within towns, cities, and counties within our country as the primary reasons for failing traditional leadership. Citizens are more diverse than ever, yet they are focused on individualism. Traditional leadership fails to prevent societal division from occurring when these diverse citizens come together with their individual needs. This division has resulted in frustrated citizens and leaders

The section begins with an overview of “six exemplary cases” of complex community issues addressed in various U.S. cities utilizing collaborative leadership (Chrislip, Larson 39). The authors then continue on to discuss what they have identified as the critical keys to successful collaborative leadership. Per Chrislip and Larson, for an initiative to achieve its goals utilizing collaborative leadership, there are things that must be organically present or purposely formulated into the collaborative process to ensure success. These things are “a good timing and a clear need, strong stakeholder groups, broad based involvement, credibility and openness of the process, commitment of high level leaders, visible leader involvement, support of established authorities, an ability to overcome mistrust and skepticism, and strong leadership of the actual process” (Chrislip, Larson 52-53). In addition, there must be a deep understanding regarding the need to collaborate. Group members from varied backgrounds need to understand why all experiences, opinions, efforts, and ideas are needed and the group at large must “buy-in” to the idea that the resolution itself requires the input and buy-in from the all members of the varied group. Section two then continues on to reveal why this type of collaborative leadership can be difficult and how each of the critical things needed