Option #2: Eco-Leadership in an NGO ( Example paper attached) Discourse as a method to study leadership has proven to be a viable tool. Western (2013) [required reading] suggested that Eco-leadership

Running head: MOD 5 - OPTION 2: ECO-LEADERSHIP IN AN NGO 0

Mod 5 - Option 2: Eco-Leadership In An NGO

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Colorado State University – Global Campus

ORG561

Mod 5 - Option 2: Eco-Leadership In An Ngo

Executive Summary

Eco-leadership could well be the new leadership style for the unfolding global economy. The leadership history of ABC is intertwined with the core beliefs of pediatric healthcare as our primary responsibility. This report is presented by the office of the Executive Director (ED) of ABC as a way to explore leadership qualities and the desire to explore Eco-Leadership for the future of ABC. The Eco-Leadership discourse is not put into place as an exchange for other leadership methods, but acts as a way to bring the best parts of all other methods together. “Eco-leadership acts as a meta-discourse within organizations, influencing how the four discourses work together. Eco-leaders identify the appropriate leadership approaches within each department, and within the whole organization. Eco-leadership acts as one of the four discourses, and as a guide for how the others are utilized” (Western, 2013).

Western (2013), [graphic] Eco-Leadership

Introduction

“Leadership is in its essence a discursive practice; it is as much about managing meaning as it is about managing organizations” (Anderson & Mungal, 2015). It has been said that Eco-Leadership is the most all-encompassing and forward thinking leadership method for the future (Western, 2013). The office of the Executive Director (ED) for ABC has investigated consultancy opportunities and will also explore the discourse of Eco-Leadership using the context of ABC and other pediatric health based NGO organizations. ABC history, current leadership methods, mission statement, and employee engagement will all be brought to the discussion with the Leadership training consultant. From our discussions thus far, it has been decided that a basic understanding of all four leadership discourses will begin the educational process with a culmination at Eco-Leadership.

ABC History

ABC is an NGO element of a larger network focused on pediatric health care, including various for-profit and non-profit organizations. ABC believes that the long-term success of the organization is deeply connected to the distributed leadership and best serves to keep the network together and serving the client base appropriately. An educational series based on Western’s four discourses of leadership will bring all of ABCs leaders to the same base level of understanding. The series will culminate with Eco-Leadership and discussions on how to move forward as a group.

Eco-Leadership

According to Western: “The Eco-leadership organizational form is a network of distributed leaders. Organizations are rethought as ‘ecosystems within ecosystems’ meaning that: they are webs of connections, networks that operate like ecosystems. The organizational ecosystem is interconnected and interdependent within larger ecosystems” (Western, 2013). This is aligned with how ABC established its operations and network of partners.

Four Qualities of Eco-Leadership

Western (2012), [graphic] Integral Leadership Review

Eco-leadership is a network of leadership and an all-inclusive type of perspective on organizational leadership. These new types of leaders take a holistic view of their organization akin to a natural eco-system, which is a shift from those who view their organization as a machine with systems and departments. “A new organizational model is on the rise: a ‘network of teams’ in which companies build and empower teams to work on specific business projects and challenges. This new structure has important implications for leadership development” (Hoerée, 2017).

1. Connectivity and Interdependence

Organizational connectivity can be a foundation, but this Eco-Leadership quality also acknowledges interdependence within the rest of the organization and others that are connected with them. Leadership and hierarchical authority are still in place, but there are still understandings of social expectations and community responsibilities for the organization. Eco-Leaders are much like transformational leaders, working with peers and higher leadership to define the change that is needed, and provide motivation and vision to succeed in making that change. Transformational leaders improve on motivational and performance goals of their team by connecting and aligning individual goals with project and organizational goals. These leaders are more than role models or managers; they are outgoing and able to connect people to their vision for the organization.

World Pediatric Project is a pediatric health NGO that strives to improve their support of pediatric health through connectivity with other health support-type of organizations and interdependence. “Bringing pediatric specialist care to places where access to advanced medical care for children otherwise doesn’t exist is the core of World Pediatric Project’s humanitarian outreach to its 12 partner countries in the Caribbean and Central America” (World Pediatric Project, 2020).

2. Systemic Ethics

Systemic ethics go past organizational mission and value statements, and beyond leader morals as well. This is done by increasing the bounds of what an individual, a leader, or an organization’s rights and responsibilities are to the global community and to the environment. “Systemic ethics means to take into account the impact of your organization on others and on the natural world, to account for the externalities, the toxic waste, the use of carbon fuel, the social justice to workers in the developing world who work for your supply chain. Eco-leadership situates ethics as part of an overall systemic approach, asking questions about the primary purpose of an organization, what it values, how it serves society and its impact on the natural world, before jumping to immediate assumptions about profit, output and growth” (Western, 2013.

Organizational profit as a trickle-down impact on the community is simply no longer a viable approach. “The business community’s growing appreciation of the extent to which an organization’s fate and fortunes are intertwined with that of its environment has underscored, for many, the importance of serving a broad stakeholder community” (Painter-Morland, 2008).

Most research on leadership ethics is based on behaviors or characteristics of those who are in hierarchical positions with levels of authority. Systemic ethics is much like servant leadership in that there are multiple characteristics of servant leadership that can be found in eco-leadership. More in action than just theory, eco-leadership is more about purpose, value to all not just the organization, what the impact of growth is on our environment and how to do so sustainably. Conservation International is an NGO that strives to promote economies that are founded with conservation methods in mind. “We do this by creating new conservation funding models and production models for commodities, balancing demand with protection of essential natural resources. We imagine a healthy, prosperous world in which societies are forever committed to caring for and valuing nature for the long-term benefit of people and all life on Earth” (Conservation International, 2020).

3. Leadership Spirit

Leadership spirit is a reference to the leaders who possess characteristics based on ethics and the human spirit; as Western explains is reflective of a diversity of sources. “In terms of leadership, employees are increasingly expecting their leaders to embrace a more holistic approach, to embrace subjectivity and spirituality, and to show a leadership approach that values the human spirit and well-being, as well as profit” (Western, 2013).

Spiritual leadership model states that leaders who are spiritually connected are concerned with positive team engagement and have a true engagement in followers having a meaningful work-life. This dedication to personal investment by leadership inspires growth, development, and loyalty from the workforce. “Spiritual leadership comprises the values, attitudes, and behaviors necessary to intrinsically motivate one’s self and satisfy fundamental needs for spiritual well-being through calling and membership, which positively influences employee well-being, sustainability and corporate social responsibility, and financial performance – the Triple Bottom Line” (International Institute for Spiritual Leadership, 2015).

4. Organizational Belonging

Organizations have become more global, but unfortunately this can create levels of separation. Accountability and even loyalty can become misplaced to local and recognizable individuals or arms of the organization, forgetting higher levels of social and community accountability, or appropriate personal loyalties. “When we lose our connection to place, to the natural environment, we lose our way, and finally we lose ourselves. We have not only become dislocated from the natural ecosystem, but also from others and from community through modernity’s process of individuation and alienation” (Western, 2013). Authoritarian leadership theory seems to be at work in this situation, where the leader situates themselves at the center of the team and creates a small community with themselves as the core decision-maker.

To break out of this silo and isolationism, participative leaders and community thinking must be reinforced. Remembering social and community responsibilities and how the organization used to be a whole and one with the communities they supported.

Conclusion

As ethical and conscientious leaders and participants in the NGO and pediatric health community, ABC must ensure that our personal and organizational values are authentic through-and-through by demonstrating systemic ethics in all our networking and dealings. It is up to leaders at ABC to foster an ethically positive, conscientious, and environmentally sustainable future for our workforce, for our organizational network, and for the children and families whom we strive to serve. Educational efforts must be made to ensure leaders are maintaining an authentic dedication to our core beliefs, among them a sense of organizational and social responsibility.

Organizational responsibility should be recognized as a system-wide process, “through which individuals’ moral values and concerns are articulated. The process should be participative, involving leaders and employees. Through such a participative process, matters of social responsibility may be identified in the expectations and moral claims of an organization’s workforce and stakeholders” (Maclagan, 2002).

References

Conservation International, (2020), About Conservation International: A Global Conservation Legacy, Retrieved from https://www.conservation.org/about

Hoerée, C., (2017), Eco Leadership, A Leadership Approach for the Ecosystems of Tomorrow, Retrieved from https://medium.com/chris_hoeree/eco-leadership-a-leadership-approach-for-the-ecosystems-of-tomorrow-bcd9c41a941

International Institute for Spiritual Leadership, (2015), Spiritual Leadership Model, Retrieved from https://iispiritualleadership.com/spiritual-leadership-theory/

Maclagan, P., (2002), Corporate Social Responsibility as a Participative Process. Business Ethics: A European Review, 8(1), 43–49. doi: 10.1111/1467-8608.00124

Painter-Morland, M., (2008), Systemic Leadership and the Emergence of Ethical Responsiveness. Journal of Business Ethics, 82(2), 509–524. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9900-3

Western, S., (2012), Analytic-Network Coaching©: Coaching for Distributed “Eco” Leadership and Organizational Change. Integral Leadership Review, 12(1), 1–14.

Western, S., (2013), Leadership: A Critical Text. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications

World Pediatric Project, (2020), World Pediatric Project's International Teams Program Impact, Retrieved from https://www.worldpediatricproject.org/mission/teams