Making Social Identity Part of Community Leadership Development

KELLY HANNUM CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP

TIM LEISMAN RESEARCH CONSULTANT

STEPHANIE WALKERIMPACT GREENSBORO PROGRAM, CCL

Social Identity and Community Leadership

Development

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Our Discussion

How can social identity be raised and addressed in community leadership development programs?

How can ideas about social identity expand our thinking about community and about leadership?

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Social Identity

…the parts of a person’s identity that come from belonging to or being

associated with particular groups including, but not limited to, age,

ethnicity, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, and

socioeconomic status.

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Functions of Social Identity

We use social identity to: • Categorize people into groups,• Identify with groups ourselves,• Compare groups with each

other, usually preferring our own groups to others.

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Social Identity Basic Tenets

We have multiple identities It’s human nature to want to “fit

in” as well as to be uniqueSome identities are visible,

others are less apparentWe continually gain, lose, or

change certain aspects of our identity, while others are fixed

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Social Identity Basic Tenets

Identities can be associated with positive or negative stereotypes

Social identities create a multifaceted lens through which we view the world and how we are viewed

Which identities are most salient will depend on context

Why it Matters

• Knowing which lenses you are seeing through

• Increasing ability to access a broader perspective

• Better navigate complex situations and relationships

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The Need

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The world is increasingly:

V = VolatileU = UncertainC = ComplexA = Ambiguous

Leadership

Effective leadership results in Direction, Alignment, and Commitment among people with shared goals or challenges.

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Leadership Development

Everyone can develop leadership skills.Complex challenges are better served with

diverse leaders working together. Developing leadership goes beyond

developing individual leaders.

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Where interventions can occur

Societal

Community/Regional

Organizational/ Institutional

Group

Individual

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Project Overview and Goals

Develop and test a module based on social identity concepts that fosters self-awareness, other-awareness, and context-awareness to generate leadership processes that result in

shared direction, alignment, and commitment in communities.

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Our Starting Point

Our own expertise and experiencesLiterature reviewInterviews

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Design Considerations

Level of Challenge Single versus multiple identity Start from commonalties or difference How directly to address privilege/power Trust in the groupIndividual work versus system workFixing what’s “wrong” versus building what’s

“right”

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Self-awareness

Identifying multiple identities and intersectionality

Identifying areas of integration as well as incongruence

Understanding leader identityIdentifying ways we respond to external

labeling

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Other-awareness

Articulating aspects of identity: Given versus ChosenVisible versus InvisiblePublic versus PrivatePride versus shame Accepted/integrated versus disputed/incongruent

Naming and challenging implicit leadership assumptionsUnderstanding respect and the connection to identity salience

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Context-awareness

Identifying the underlying faultlines in communities and in work

Understanding identity threat as well as positive and negative stereotyping.

Awareness of triggers of social identity tension and conflict

Mapping social identity networks

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Self-Awareness

Multiple Identities Map

Chosen

Given

Core

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Mapping Identities in Community

How do social identities show up in organizational and community groups? Which identities are “at the table?”

How do our identities impact how we see the work?

How do the identities of those doing community work reflect the identities of those intended to benefit from or may be harmed by that work?

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Context: Greensboro, NC

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IMPACT Greensboro

IMPACT Greensboro is a place-based leadership program which invests in community participants for the purpose of building social capital.

The goal of IMPACT Greensboro is to create a vibrant network of community “Change Agents” who are equipped to identify and tackle community issues.

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Underlying Process of IMPACT Greensboro

Participant selectionLeadership development training Facilitation Network of Change Agents

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Questions

How can social identity be raised and addressed in community leadership development programs?

How can ideas about social identity expand our thinking about community and about leadership?

(c) 2013 Center for Creative Leadership