Examining a global NGO’s collective capacity to lead, featuring Patrick Sweet, Cindy McCauley, & Robert Burnside. 1) Identify groups whose shared work is central to the organization’s success. 2) Invite group members to complete the DAC survey about leadership outcomes in their group. 3) Compile and analyze responses from 920 individuals, and create focus groups for DAC best practices. http://cop.ccl.org/connected/connect/webinar-archive/

1. © 2017 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
CONNECTED Community Webinar Series
Featuring the Big Idea of Relational Leadership
16 February 2018
Examining a Global NGO’s
Collective Capacity to Lead
Patrick Sweet
Cindy McCauley
Robert Burnside
Center for Creative Leadership

2. © 2017 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
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Q: What is relational leadership?
A: The idea of relational leadership is a powerful way to understand leadership as the
capacities and actions of social systems.
Leadership is an emergent property of relations (Denis, Langley & Sergi, 2012).
Leadership is a relational process of shared sense making and meaning making
(Bill Drath,The Deep Blue Sea, 2001).
Our purpose is to share and create knowledge, and to shape the Center for
Creative Leadership’s research agenda in this area.
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CCL has a body of research and practice which
builds on a relational view of leadership.
• Network Leadership
• Boundary Spanning
• Vertical Development / Transformation
• Leadership Culture
• Leadership Strategies
• The DAC Framework
• Dialogue
• Leadership for Societal Impact
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THE CONNECTED WEBINAR SERIES 2017-2018
1. DriveTime: Transforming Your Leadership
Culture.
2. The DAC Framework and Relational Leadership.
3. Barry Oshry: The Structures We Fall Into Shape
Our Consciousness
4. Leadership Beyond Boundaries and SOGI.
5. Boundary Spanning Leadership: Top Ten
Lessons of Experience.
6. CCL Points of View on Leadership Development
Through the Lens of Relational Leadership
7. Vertical Leadership Development in a Complex
World
8. Relational practices for DAC: Project Review
and Input
cop.ccl.org/connected/
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6. ©2018 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
Contact Richard Izard at richard@gla.global

7. Drath, W. H., McCauley, C.D., Palus, C. J., Van Velsor, E., O’Connor, P. M. G.,
& McGuire, J. B. (2008). Direction, alignment, commitment: Toward a more
integrative ontology of leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 19, 635–653.
McCauley, C. D., Palus, C. J., W, D., Hughes, R. L., McGuire, J., O’Connor, P.
M. G., & Van Velsor, E. (2008). Interdependent leadership in organizations:
Evidence from six case studies. CCL Research Report No. 190. Greensboro
NC, USA: Center for Creative Leadership.
McCauley, C.D., & Fick-Cooper, L. (2015). Direction, alignment, and
commitment: Achieving better results through leadership. Greensboro, NC:
Center for Creative Leadership.
The DAC Framework

8. Examining a Global NGO’s
Collective Capacity to Lead
A Connected Community Webinar
Patrick Sweet, Cindy McCauley, Robert Burnside

9. ©2018 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
Our NGO
100+ countries. 1m+
beneficiaries. 10,000
employees/600 in Geneva
Request for assessment
• Common leadership
definition and simplified,
globally relevant
competency model
• Address continuity and
change
• State of the art for
contextualizing leadership
development strategy

10. ©2018 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
Our NGO
Reframing
Address leading tensions and
collective capability.
• Common definition /
Globally – Culturally
Sensitive
• Change and Continuity
• New AND Tested Theory
• Assessment starts an
intervention. (Action
Research)
Proposal
NGO Narrative Review
Leading as outcomes
Start dialogue in survey and
focus groups
Fold results & theory into LD
strategy

11. ©2018 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
DAC Survey Assessment
Identify groups whose shared work is
central to the organization’s success.
• Country office management teams
• Functional groups
• Senior management teams
Invite group members to complete the
DAC survey about leadership outcomes in
their group.
• Anonymous, confidential (at individual
and group level)
• Three languages
• Not an assessment of the leader
Compile and analyze results
• Responses from 920 individuals
representing 116 groups (74%
response rate)

12. ©2018 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
Almost 80% of the groups do not reach the DAC levels
of high-performing teams; however, the vast majority
of these groups are within reach of those levels.
1
17
32
42
23
12
19
37
43
14
13
17
28
44
21
4
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
1.0 - 1.9 2.0 - 2.4 2.5 - 2.9 3.0 - 3.4 3.5 - 3.9 4.0 - 4.9 4.5 - 5.0
Number of Groups at Each DAC Level
Direction Alignment Commitment

13. ©2018 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
Half of the largest gaps between high and low
performing groups are related to Alignment.
2.5
2.8
2.8
2.9
3.0
2.6
4.0
4.0
4.2
4.2
4.3
4.1
1 2 3 4 5
Members of the group effectively adapt their behavior to
the actions of other members.
The group effectively coordinates the activities of all
members when working to complete a task.
People are clear about how their tasks fit into the work
of the group.
People with different areas of expertise work well
together.
Although individuals take on different tasks in the group,
our combined work fits together.
Our work is aligned across the group.
Alignment
Average ratings in 20 highest performing groups Average ratings in 20 lowest performing groups

14. ©2018 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
DAC Best Practices
It’s one thing to understand the quantitative
measures of the presence of DAC; it’s
another to understand how one builds them
in the context of the particular organization.
Identify seven leadership teams with high
amounts of DAC.
• Different regions of the world
• Country offices and functional groups
Hold a facilitated 90 minute live online focus
group with each team, using webcams, and
asking how they create DAC, looking at both
beliefs and practices.
Summarize beliefs and practices that can be
shared with the wider organization.
Example Statements
Direction
“I don’t impose what we will do, I
involve them in evaluating and deciding
what we will do.”
Alignment
“It’s mutual conversation, continuing
interaction among everyone on the
team.”
Commitment
“Staying in touch with the impact of our
work in the field – visiting the actual
sites.”

15. NGO Leadership Practices
Global
Scope
Local/National
Focus
Adaptive
Beliefs &
Practices
Technical
Beliefs &
Practices

16. NGO Implicit Leadership
Narrative
NGO Leadership Practices
Global
Scope
Local/National
Focus
Adaptive
Beliefs &
Practices
Technical
Beliefs &
Practices

17. NGO Implicit Leadership
Narrative
NGO Best Practices Teams ‘Pull, DAC into a more complementary
balance of Adaptive & Localized Beliefs and Practices
NGO Best Practice
Teams
NGO Leadership Practices
Global
Scope
Local/National
Focus
Adaptive
Beliefs &
Practices
Technical
Beliefs &
Practices

18. ©2018 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
Resulting Strategy Design
Start with SET.
• Iterate
• Feeding
forward
• Learning
from
previous
tiers
Agree on
common
leadership
definition
•Draft definition
and narrative
delivered
Promote DAC
definition &
practices at IOM
Senior Level
intervention
(SMT, CoM &
functioanal
peers)
•Sessions on
mindset, practice
set and tools for
building collective
capacity to lead
Monitor &
adjust
Next-tier team
intervention
•Learning
application for the
tier above:
same/modified
‘contents’ as 1st
intervention.
Monitor &
Adjust
Next-tier team
intervention
•Learning
application for the
tier above:
same/modified
‘contents’.

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Questions
Reflections