Module title: Building Community Leadership Capacity
Unit title: What is a Leader?
Time needed to complete unit :30 Minutes
Why is this important to know?
As the nation becomes increasingly diverse and many immigrant groups come to our states, it is important to provide tools to these new communities so they can effectively participate in community development opportunities.
- There are some issues that facilitators should be aware of before attempting to “teach leadership”.
- Participants may not be familiar with the concept of volunteerism or have a negative view of it
- There may be distrust of organized gatherings due to experiences with leaders who have abused power in the home country
- Leadership may have a negative association based on how “country leaders” treated citizens
- Some immigrants may be leery of participation because of documentation issues
Objectives/Purpose
- To allow participants to identify culturally relevant leaders and characteristics those leaders possess
- Participants will identify their own leadership characteristics
- To compare and contrast leadership styles
How to use this information
- Sharing with colleagues who are working with immigrant populations or groups whose first language is not English
- Demonstrating to community members that they have leadership qualities
Supporting materials (handouts, Power Points, activities, etc.) Presentation:
- Allow the group time to get to know each other by having them share some basic information like; their name, where they are from and something that they would like the group to know about them. This activity can be done as a worksheet with participants interviewing each other and telling the group about who she/he interviewed.
- Ask the group to think about people that they respect and think highly, these people can be historical figures, political figures, living or dead, real or fictional. This can be done individually, in pairs, or as large group. Regardless of the structure, make sure that there is a visible list after the discussion.
- After the list of people has been generated, ask the group to identify the reasons that the people on the list are respected and well thought of, capture their responses.
- Ask the group to identify what makes a leader effective.
- Read the following definition of leadership:
- “Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes” (Rost, 1991, p.102).
- Point out the leadership qualities that their heroes posses.
- Ask them to identify what qualities they possess that are like the people they respect. Again, this can be done individually, in pairs, or in the larger group.
- Have some American leaders identified and point out where there are similar traits.
- Engage the group in discussion about how American culture may be different from their culture and how those differences might affect who is perceived as a leader.
Additional resources, web links
McKay, Emily & Figueroa-Melendez, Myriam. April 2000. Research on Barriers and Opportunities for Increasing Leadership in Immigrant and Refugee Communities: Public Report. Prepared for: The Hyams Foundation Inc.
Komives, Susan, Lucas, Nance, & McMahon, Timothy. 1998. Exploring Leadership for College Students who Want to Make a Difference. Josey-Boss, San Francisco, CA. http://www.enlacesamerica.org/leadership/leadcap%200603.htm this web site specifically addresses building leadership capacity in Latino communities.
http://www.gcir.org/resources/bibliography/leadership_and_capacity.htm#Leadership this site provides an annotated bibliography of resources on building leadership capacity in immigrant communities.
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~amcircle/ this site takes you to the University of Massachusetts Center for Immigrant and Refugee Community Leadership Empowerment
References
Punzo, Richard. 2000. Presenting Across Cultures. Training Management Corporation. Princeton Training Press. Princeton, NJ.
Rost, J.C. 1991. Leadership for the twenty-first century. New York:Praeger.
Strengthening Extension Advisory Leaders Curriculum (Link)
http://www.ces.purdue.edu/iec/