The Kind of Leader our Community Needs

We want to see big community problems get solved. This is a bold vision for our organization, but more so a vision for our broader community. A call to our social sector. Who will come together to move the needle on the complex problems we’re facing in Central Texas? The leaders in this community. That’s you. Me. Our colleagues and neighbors. Our elected officials. Our business leaders. Our philanthropists and impact investors. It’s all of us.

“The problems we have now in communities and societies are going to be resolved only when we are brought together by a common sense that each of us is a visionary... Instead of looking for a great leader, we are in an era where each of us needs to find the great leader in ourselves.” Werner Erhard

Leaders of social change have the opportunity to leave a lasting impact on this community we call home.However, a special kind of leadership is required for comprehensive, collaborative problem-solving. We need leaders who:

Think Big Picture

In The Dawn of System Leadership, published in Stanford Social Innovation Review in 2015, we learned that, “the deep changes necessary to accelerate progress against society's most intractable problems require a unique type of leader—the system leader, a person who catalyzes collective leadership.”So much of what we hear about leadership focuses on how to lead an organization to success, but it is time to turn our attention to community success. The most provocative belief that system leaders hold is simply this: “Continuing to do what we are currently doing but doing it harder or smarter is not likely to produce very different outcomes. Real change starts with recognizing that we are part of the systems we seek to change.” There is a humility in admitting that in order to change less-than-perfect systems, we must start with ourselves.We recognize that individual leadership skills and organizational leadership are foundations, and we wholeheartedly believe that Central Texas is equipped with many leaders who are prepared and hungry for the opportunity to work collaboratively to improve our community as system leaders.

Think Outside the Box

The kind of community problems we’re addressing here are big, embedded and just plain hard. The quick, simple approaches often don’t work. The kind of leadership needed to solve these problems sometimes takes new, creative approaches. It takes a leader who is open to new ways of thinking. To lead social change in our community, we need people who know that individually they don’t have all the answers, but that together we can find the answers.We all need to transform our thinking. We need to consider innovative approaches (be they time-tested or even a little risky). We need leaders to be bold and inspiring, and guide us to go beyond our comfort level.

Bring Hope

Community leaders who leave a lasting impression are “dealers in hope,” meaning that they dare to imagine the possibility of dramatic social change. They truly believe in this community and our collective ability to meet the diverse needs of our citizens.More than that, they’re willing to model this hope and serve as catalysts for community problem-solving and collaborative action, not passive bystanders or armchair quarterbacks.Our community needs you. And we all need each other. Let’s have the audacity to be the change we want to see in our community.Throughout 2016 Mission Capital will be infusing system leadership into learning opportunities, particularly our Next Level Leadership Academy and Executive Leadership Academy. Plans are also in the works to offer a full-day session on system leadership with national thought leader Heather McLeod Grant this fall.