Leading by Convening: The Power of Authentic Engagementiel.org/sites/default/files/LbC for NAFSCE Conference.pdf · 9 Leading by Convening: A Theory of Action There are both informational

Leading by Convening:The Power of Authentic Engagement

• Can state agencies create sustainable changes without authentic engagement of diverse stakeholders, including the families who are their intended beneficiaries & the family organizations who support them?

• Can stakeholders create sustainable changes without the participation of the people in authority?

• The most valuable allies, or the most powerful opponents, of systems improvement.

• Stakeholders at the table changes the dynamic from us vs. them to us vs. the problem.

• Creating stakeholders as allies requires trust, time, reciprocity, and engagement … from the beginning!

Stakeholders

Challenges

• Policy alone cannot change practice.

• Differing motivations of key players (state policymakers, implementers, family organizations, & families).

• Leaders believe they are already engaging stakeholders. Stakeholders are often dissatisfied with the opportunities for engagement (including the extent of and/or depth).

• It’s difficult to address system deficits while also mobilizing widespread support.

• Capacity building usually focuses solely on technical skills.

• There will never be enough direct technical assistance to change practices system-wide.

Grounding Assumptions for Stakeholder Engagement

IDEA Partnership@NASDSE 2016

Choose the image

that resonates with

What is your relationship with/as stakeholders?

Stakeholder Management

Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholder Management

Stakeholder Engagement

Control Involvement

– Share information

– Request feedback

– Invite select group

Open Involvement

– Involve multiple stakeholders

– Share leadership

– Build consensus

– Work together

Leading by Convening:A Theory of Action

There are both informational and attitudinal barriers to important practice changes.

• Decision makers often lead change through technical strategies such as information, training, and authority.

• Stakeholders impact the extent of change by exercising adaptive strategies (such as using their influence with other stakeholders, positively or negatively).

Practice change requires both technical information and human approaches.

Technical challengeRequires information, knowledge, or tools

Adaptive (Relationship) challengeRequires understanding and a willingness to make behavior changes

Source: Heifetz and Linsky, Leadership on the Line, 2002

Learning that technical solutions are necessary but often not sufficient

Knowing when a persistent problem needs an adaptive (relationship) solution

Building adaptive (relationship) skills as a part of strategy

Leading by Convening means we…

• Bring people & organizations together to support improving child and family outcomes.

• Convene the stakeholders to discover why this is important and how it will improve practice.

• Meet people ‘where they are’ on the issue.

• Translate complex challenges into ways that stakeholders can contribute.

• Help people ‘lead in place’ regardless of role, position, or title.

• Create new knowledge together.

• Solve complex issues that need the various perspectives to find solutions.

• Build a personal commitment to working in this way because we believe inclusive work is better and more sustainable work.

Leading by Convening means we…

Deepening Levels of Engagement

Shallow engagement

Structured participation

Authentic engagement

Convening is…

Morethan a meeting

More than facilitation

The beginning of a relationship

focused on practice change

Leadership within Leading by Convening

• Everyone can be a leader.

• Bring groups with authority and groups with influence together.

• Develop relationships to transform the work and improve outcomes.

The Partnership Way

OperationalAdaptive

Leading by Convening

Networking Collaborating Transforming

Depth of Interaction

Informing

Elements of Interaction

Ensuring Relevant

Participation

Doing the Work

Together

Coalescing around

Issues

Habits of Interaction

Technical

Leading by Convening

Leading by Convening Framework

Behavior changes on the part of both leaders and

stakeholders

Contributing factors in making a behavior change

How effectively we integrate new habits into

personal practice

Coalescing Around Issues

Ensuring Relevant Participation

Doing the Work Together

Adaptive Technical Operational

Networking Collaborating TransformingInforming

Informing Networking Collaborating

Transforming

232323

Developing habits of interaction:

– Coalescing around issues

– Ensuring relevant participation

– Doing work together

Engagement at the heart of the solution

Habit of Practice:Coalescing around issues

Different Perspectives

Why do people come together around an issue?

CommonalityCommonality of NEED

Commonality of Purpose

Commonality of Action

Starting to Coalesce Around the Issues

• Complex

• Interconnected

• Appear different

• Boundary crossing

Let’s Look at the Tools for Coalescing

• Four Simple Questions

• How People Are

• Meet the Stakeholders

• Seeds of Trust

Coalescing around issues requires deep levels of engagement

Seeds of Trust• Strategies to effectively invite & engage

– Create an invitation that goes beyond the basics of time, place and topic. Tell people why you want to do things differently. Ask them to join you.

– Keep reaching out in different ways.– Your tone and your ability to show authentic

appreciation for the participation of others build trust. – This does not mean any one person or group can

always have their way; it does mean that each person and/or group is consistently treated with respect for their role and their views

– Respect the important role of resistors.30

313131

Habit of Practice:Ensuring relevant participation

• Range of participants– Power differential– Supporters & critics– Players at different levels of scale

• Frequency– Episodic or ongoing– Predictable, sufficient to build relationships– Often enough so stakeholders can assume roles

• Role– Fixed or shared leadership roles– Everyone participates as a learner

Tools for Relevant Participation

• What’s in It for Me?

• Engaging Everybody

• Learn the Language: Make the Connection

• Web of Connections

What’s in it for me?

Creating professional and personal value; moving from participants to partners

343434

What’s in It for Me?

Creating Professional and Personal Value

One error that we made as we began to work across groups was mistaking participation for involvement. When you are convinced of an opportunity or a course of action, it’s easy to become very focused on convincing people of your viewpoint. In our early work we found ourselves reviewing the participant lists and feeling good that so many had come to hear our message. Soon we learned that a participant list is just that, nothing more. To engage people, we had to support and encourage interactions, exchange views, and form opinions about the personal and professional value of continuing to engage.

Habit of Practice:Doing the work together

• What work has to be done?

• Who can do it?

• Why will they want to do it?

• How do we change it from us vs. them to us vs. the problem?

Tools for Doing Work Together

• Problems Come Bundled

• Building Engagement

• Defining Our Core

• One-Way, Two Way Learning

Problems come bundled

383838

Informing Networking Collaborating

Transforming

Depths of interaction

• Informing– Sharing or disseminating

information with others who care about the issue; top-down, one-way communication

• Networking– Asking a select group what

they think about this issue & listening to what they say; limited two-way communication

• Collaborating– Engaging a more

representative group of stakeholders who care about the issue in trying to working together around the issue to make change

• Transforming– Leading by convening,

facilitating deep cross-stakeholder engagement & leadership, sharing leadership, building consensus

Understanding depths of interaction

• Group change– Toward a culture of collaboration

• Individual change– Toward a different identity as a collaborator

• Examples from four areas of work– Active Engagement

– Building Support through Data

– Coalescing Around Evidence-Based Practices

– Engaging Stakeholders in Evaluation

The Importance of Reflection

How do we understand our depth of engagement and move toward deeper

levels of engagement?

Tools for studying engagement

• Informal reflection tools to review the history of your partnerships and the work you have done together

• More formal rubrics to measure growth in depth of engagement over time

Documenting Your Work Together

Measuring Depth of Engagement Over Time: Rubrics

Check for Understanding

• In what ways might increasing – and increasing depth of – stakeholder engagement lead to improved outcomes?– More accurate identification of root causes of the

problem

– Development of a plan that is more likely to address the root causes

– Increased likelihood of implementation with fidelity on the ground

– Continued implementation even after leadership changes

Leading by Convening:

Engagement Mapped to Systems Improvement

Focus Area

Infrastructure

Theory of Action

Implement

Evidence-Based

Practices (EBP)

Evaluation Plan

Mutual agreement on data interpretation; data sets to track progress; shared commitment to action designed to create measurable change

Engage stakeholders to determine areas for improvement and focus for improvement

Leverage both state agency infrastructure and the deep and durable networks already in place in professional organizations and family groups

Leading by Convening; Technical and Adaptive Approaches to Change; CoP for Strategic Advantage

Leverage the power of trust and stakeholder connection to advance the ‘capacity with capability’* to implement evidence based practice

Agree on standards for success; share, celebrate and scale-up accomplishments; joint responsibility

Leading by Convening: Platform for Capability and Capacity Building

• Deep and durable networks are in place among stakeholders.

• These networks easily personalize messages for understanding … not just adoption.

• These networks can mobilize stakeholders to attend and act.

• When shared interests make allies of decision makers and stakeholders, existing networks become powerful channels for knowledge dissemination, authentic engagement, and the development of new knowledge.

Your Future On-Line Learning:Leading by Convening Modules

• Module 1 – Why authentic stakeholder engagement? What is Leading by Convening: The Partnership Way?

• Module 2 – Coalescing Around the Issue(s)

• Module 3 – Ensuring Authentic Participation of Relevant Stakeholders

• Module 4 – Doing the Work Together

• Module 5 – Measuring Engagement

ncsi.wested.org

Additional resources and information are available

on the website:

The National Center for Systemic Improvement

Leading by Convening: The Power of Authentic Engagementiel.org/sites/default/files/LbC for NAFSCE Conference.pdf · 9 Leading by Convening: A Theory of Action There are both informational

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