Rowitz On Leadership

In my post for September 2009, I introduced my concept of ecological leadership.  “Ecological leaders are committed to the development of their personal talents, leadership skills and competencies throughout their professional careers while at the same time being committed to the appropriate applications of their skills in their communities’ changing {health} and health care priorities.” All leadership takes place within the context of a community or organization.  The community or organization is affected by culture, values, and of course the relationship between individuals.  A given leader seems to function effectively and efficiently in some environments and not in others. An organization reaches out through its Board of Directors to search for the kind of leader that will address its organization’s  challenges in the most effective manner.   The leader’s style, bag of leadership tricks, methods of leadership practices. ability to address problems relative to the organization’s values, and the ability to change the culture to make it more responsive to the needs of the organization will all be needed for ecological change at the system’s level.  The secret to effective leadership at the community level requires skills in relationship building and collaboration through trust.  The above discussion is evidence of the importance of the space and culture factors in ecological leadership.

Time is also important.  What has happened historically in an organization or community provides the foundation for understanding today’s challenges. Solutions to challenges take place today and may already be obsolete if new challenges have happened during the problem-solving or decision-making phase.  Events external to a given organization or community may impact possible methods and techniques that address various challenges.  A challenge in one section of an organization or community can affect other parts of the organization or community.  Einstein argued that the time factor is complex and does not occur in a simple linear approach.  Time needs to be considered in the ecological model that is being presented.  One leader’s approach to time may well differ from another leader’s approach.  Please think of these concepts and follow me as we take a journey(another ecological concept) to explore ecological leadership and its relationship to other theories and models of  leadership.