What
is Executive Community?
The
Concept of Executive Community
Executive Community is a new, developmentally-driven
concept of leadership behavior in organizations
developed by Dr. David Gerard.
It is based on the observation that leaders
function best when they:
- Make
decisions with input from others to take
full advantage of their organization's intellectual
capital;
- Develop
internal harmony in order to permit rapid
execution across the organization's divisions
and departments;
- Understand
their role as part of a management team;
- Know
when to use competitive approaches and when
to be collaborative; and
- See
themselves as partners and allies with other
executives instead of as rivals and antagonists.
By
“executive community” we mean a
conscious process in which senior executives
develop
shared organizational values and practices
with their peers and other managers in their
organization, with the intent of establishing
a workplace for all based on collaboration,
integrity, knowledge-sharing, creative conflict
and synergy.
Executive
Community represents a fresh approach to leadership
by recognizing the realities of organizational
dynamics, business strategy and communications,
customer and employee satisfaction and management
development within a unified and comprehensive
model. It acknowledges that the business environment
in which executives operate is fluid, global,
extremely competitive and time-sensitive.
It recognizes, as well, that the executives
of the present and the future are no longer
typically older white men in gray suits, even
though, oddly enough, most models of executive
coaching still seem to reflect that stereotype.
It is time for a new type of executive development
program, based on the needs of managers in
the 21st century.
Executive
communities in organizations apply the theories
and practices of the “learning organization”
through developmental approaches to executive
assessment, professional coaching, mentoring,
peer coaching and teaching, team building
processes, cross-divisional alliances and
strategic partnering and collaboration. Each
of these activities take on new meaning when
viewed from the standpoint of Executive Community,
for the perspective is no longer the individualistic
"me-first" approach of the isolated
manager. Careerism is replaced by a greater
concern for the sustained health and vitality
of the organization and its community of customers
and employees, even the industry as a whole.
Self-development, within an executive community,
starts with an awareness of the whole system.
We
are often asked what makes the concept of
"executive community" different
from seemingly similar concepts such as executive
team-building or simply alignment between
senior leadership's individual goals and the
goals of the organization.
Our
answer is that the driving force behind the
achievement of executive community is the
commitment on the part of those who lead to
two developmental steps:
- A
deepening of their self-awareness, focused
especially on their impact on others within
the organization and the organization's
customers; and
-
An unrelenting honing of their collaborative
and network building skills, without giving
up their right to a "point of view".
We
must emphasize that executive community is
not a mindless "feel-good" attitude
toward the tasks of leadership, for it recognizes
that addressing issues of competitiveness
and power both inside and outside the organization
is required for simple survival. Creating
executive community involves an iterative
process requiring well-disciplined critical
business thinking skills, a type of continuous
improvement for an organization's leaders.
The
old model of brutal internal management wars
between competitive rivals inside organizations
is dying.
Replacing
it will be new ways of working together, where
developing strategic alliances among the formal
and informal leaders of organizations will
hold the keys to surviving and thriving.
If
you're looking for consulting support on your
organization's executive issues that is both
"down-to-earth" and "leading-edge,"
contact us or
give us a call at 800-513-8759.
We'll schedule a no-cost, no-pressure meeting
wtih David at a convenient time in your office.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Read
some of the success stories of Executive
Community |
