More About Collaborative Leadership Learning Modules: A Comprehensive Series

The learning modules provide skill-building instruction to shape current and future public health leaders. They represent work by hundreds of leadership experts, curriculum design specialists, and individuals at key local, state, and federal organizations.

These materials are adaptable for learners with different amounts of experience and time and can be mixed and matched for a learning plan that meets the needs of your group. Organized around six key principles of collaborative leadership and tested with a variety of groups, this is an effective resource for bringing together diverse people to tackle challenging community problems. A background in facilitation and plenty of preparation are strongly recommended for those who present these modules.

Collaborative leaders should possess a number of critical skills and capacities. Many of the skills are not necessarily unique to a collaborative form of leadership and have already been described in the literature and developed into training curricula. The Turning Point Leadership Development National Excellence Collaborative, however, has identified six key elements important for leading a collaborative process.

• Assessing the Environment for Collaboration: Understanding the context for change before you act
• Creating Clarity: Visioning and Mobilizing: Defining shared values and engaging people in positive action
• Building Trust: Creating safe places for developing shared purpose and action
• Sharing Power and Influence: Developing the synergy of people, organizations, and communities to accomplish more
• Developing People: Committing to the development of people as your key asset through mentoring and coaching
• Self Reflection: Personal Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI): Understanding your own leadership, engaging others.

Each learning module addresses one of the key elements. The elements are not mutually exclusive but support each other to provide a picture of the essential skills of a collaborative leader. (Other essential practices, such as communication skills and conflict management have been addressed extensively in the literature elsewhere, so are not included in this program.)

Fundamental Concepts. Underlying any discussion of the six practices of collaborative leadership are core concepts that are fundamental to understanding them. These fundamental concepts include topics such as: What is collaboration? When is collaboration appropriate? and How is collaborative leadership different from other leadership approaches? Facilitators can select from a menu of fifteen activities to help learners new to the field understand these essential concepts before proceeding with the six learning modules. (See Fundamental Concepts for more information.)

The Facilitator’s Guide for each learning module begins with an outline of the purpose and activities for that module, a checklist of equipment and materials needed, and suggestions on how to prepare for facilitating that module. This is followed by a detailed outline of module activities. It is written in a “recipe” format for ease of use. Facilitators are encouraged to adapt the material to the needs of their audience.

Each module includes a Participant’s Guide. It includes background information and materials, interactive worksheets used in selected learning activities, a Personal Learning Plan to be completed by the learner at the end of the workshop, and a list of recommended readings and resources.

PowerPoint slide sets provide visual reinforcement for key concepts in each module. They can be used as-is with an LCD projector or converted into overhead transparencies for use with an overhead projector. Participants will also appreciate handout copies of the slide sets.

Module Activities. Each module begins with an introduction to the concept of collaborative leadership, a brief review of the six collaborative leadership practices identified by Turning Point, and an introduction to the module that reviews the purpose and learning objectives. Next, learners complete a self assessment to reveal strengths and gaps in leadership capacities related to the collaborative leadership practice that is the focus of the module. A short conceptual overview of the collaborative leadership practice follows.

The bulk of time is spent on three or four interactive activities designed to allow learners to experience the key concepts for themselves. This is accomplished through the use of role plays, simulations, games, small group discussions, and case studies.

Each module ends with a list of readings and resources for collaborative leadership in general and for that collaborative leadership practice, specifically. The final activity is the development of a personal learning plan, which incorporates information from the self assessment tool and insights from the workshop.

Customization

The six modules can be combined in multiple ways, allowing maximum flexibility in implementation. To address varying audience needs and skill levels, facilitator’s notes describe implementation options for selected activities. Information on how to write a case study or role play is provided so that facilitators can tailor these types of experiential activities to their audience. The fundamental concept activities are organized by specific learning objectives so facilitators can choose those appropriate for their audience. Fundamental concept activities can be included as precursors to any of the six learning modules.

Adaptable for learners with different amounts of experience and time, you can mix and match the modules for a learning plan that meets the needs of your group. Some organizations use all the modules and present them over four to six full-day sessions (or a semester). Others customize the material by focusing on a few aspects of collaborative leadership, or by spending less time on each module.

A background in facilitation and plenty of preparation are strongly recommended for those who use these modules with a group.

Who created the curriculum

The Collaborative Leadership curriculum was developed under the auspices of the Turning Point Leadership Development National Excellence Collaborative, one of five national collaboratives working to strengthen and transform public health as part of the Turning Point Initiative. Seven states and three national partners participated in this project: Colorado, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).

• Six partner agencies also assisted in the development of these learning modules by selecting one of the six collaborative leadership practices on which to focus.
• The National Association of Local Boards of Health assisted in the development of “Assessing the Environment.”
• Vision for Children at Risk (St. Louis) worked on the “Creating Clarity” module.
• The Interfaith Health Program at Emory University assisted in developing the “Sharing Power and Influence” module.
• The Institute for Economic Development at Clemson University assisted in developing the “Building Trust” module.
• Public Health Futures Illinois assisted in developing the “Self Reflection” module.
• The Northeast Regional Public Health Leadership Institute helped create the “Developing People” module.

Key contributors

• Jeff Wilson, Virginia Healthy Communities
• Louise Miller, LM Learning Designs
• Sarah Griffin, Center for Health Services & Policy Research, School of Public Health, University of South Carolina
• Carl Larson, University of Denver
• Gruffie Clough and Darvin Ayre, Community Initiatives
• Saletta Boni, Columbia University
• Betty Bekemeier, Turning Point National Program Office

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided financial support for this endeavor.

Download the Comprehensive Series

Return to Leadership Collaborative page.