Community Vision and Leadership in Practice: A Sustainable Approach

Cover
Half Title
Series
Title
Copyright
Contents
Foreword
Preface
1 Why Is a Shared Vision Important?
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Working Together for a Common Future
1.3 References
1.4 Discussion Questions
2 The Concept of Community
2.1 Introduction
2.2 True Community Is Founded on a Sense of Place, History, Respect, and Trust
2.3 Local Communities under Stress
2.4 Community Depends on How We Treat One Another
2.4.1 First Americans
2.4.2 “Company” Towns
2.4.3 Competition
2.5 References
2.6 Discussion Questions
3 Questions We Need to Ask
3.1 Who Are We as a Culture?
3.1.1 Experiencing Cultural Disruption
3.1.2 Categories of Value
3.1.3 Identifying the Values You Wish to Pass On to the Future
3.1.4 Ferreting Out Community Values
3.2 What Legacy Do We Want to Leave Our Children?
3.3 Including Children in Envisioning the World They’ll Inherit
3.3.1 Encourage Children to Draw Their Visions of Community
3.4 References
3.5 Discussion Questions
4 Understanding a Vision, Goals, and Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Worldview
4.2.1 Perception
4.2.2 Imagination
4.3 Defining Vision, Goals, and Objectives
4.3.1 Vision
4.3.2 Goals
4.3.3 Objectives
4.4 Barriers to Communication
4.4.1 Piece Thinkers versus Systems Thinkers
4.4.2 Abstractions versus Concrete Experiences
4.5 Reframing a Negative as a Positive
4.6 A Vision Is Tied to Negotiability Constraints
4.7 Testing the Effectiveness of Decisions through Monitoring
4.7.1 The Questions We Ask
4.7.2 Monitoring in Five Steps
4.7.2.1 Step 1: Crafting a Vision Statement, Goals, and Objectives
4.7.2.2 Step 2: Preliminary Inventory
4.7.2.3 Step 3: Assessing Implementation
4.7.2.4 Step 4: Monitoring Effectiveness
4.7.2.5 Step 5: Monitoring to Validate the Outcome
4.7.3 Putting Time in Perspective
4.7.4 The Danger of Interrupting Information Feedback
4.8 References
4.9 Discussion Questions
5 The Essence of Leadership
5.1 Introduction
5.2 True Leadership
5.3 Personal Values
5.4 The Required Characteristics of True Leadership
5.4.1 Authenticity
5.4.2 An Honorable Person
5.4.3 Balancing One’s Outlook
5.4.4 Detachment and Equanimity
5.4.5 A Good Follower
5.4.6 Willingness to Delegate Authority
5.4.7 Encourage Leadership in Others
5.5 References
5.6 Discussion Questions
6 Coping with the Responsibilities and Pressures of Leadership
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Circumstances Faced by Leaders
6.2.1 Anxiety
6.2.2 Criticism in the Form of Projection
6.2.3 Being and Disclosing Yourself
6.2.4 Understanding and Respecting the Role of Silence
6.2.5 The Need to Be Heard
6.2.6 Establishing Boundaries
6.2.7 Learning Your Limits
6.2.8 Self-Deception
6.3 Leadership within Organizations
6.4 References
6.5 Discussion Questions
7 Negotiating Constraints to Community Visions
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Identifying and Understanding Constraints
7.3 The Community of Tomorrow: Where Do We Want to Go from Here?
7.3.1 Mistaking the Map for the Territory
7.3.2 Being Realistic: Taking Scope, Scale, and Time into Account in Planning
7.4 Attributing (or Misattributing) Causes and Correlations
7.5 References
7.6 Discussion Questions
8 If You Want to Go Far, Go Together by Making Inclusive and Intelligent Decisions
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Inclusive Brainstorming for Group Success
8.3 Partners and Their Roles in Community Planning
8.4 Informing Projects with Relevant, Local Science
8.4.1 Citizen Involvement in Science for Planning
8.4.2 Maintaining Flexibility in Thinking and Planning
8.5 A Proposed Set of Decision-Making Guidelines
8.5.1 Guideline 1: Everything Is a Relationship
8.5.1.1 Intra-personal
8.5.1.2 Inter-personal
8.5.1.3 Between People and the Environment
8.5.1.4 Between People in the Present and Those of the Future
8.5.2 Guideline 2: All Relationships Are Inclusive and Productive of an Outcome
8.5.3 Guideline 3: The Only True Investment Is Energy from Sunlight
8.5.4 Guideline 4: All Relationships Involve a Transfer of Energy
8.5.5 Guideline 5: All Systems Are Based on Composition, Structure, and Function
8.5.6 Guideline 6: All Relationships Have One or More Trade-offs
8.5.7 Guideline 7: All Systems Have Cumulative Effects, Lag Periods, and Thresholds
8.5.8 Guideline 8: Change Is an Irreversible Process of Eternal Becoming
8.5.9 Guideline 9: Systemic Change Is Based on Self-Organized Criticality
8.5.10 Guideline 10: Dynamic Disequilibrium Rules All Systems
8.5.11 Guideline 11: Success or Failure Lies in the Interpretation of an Event
8.5.12 Guideline 12: People Must Be Equally Informed If They Are to Function as a Truly Democratic Society
8.5.13 Guideline 13: We Must Consciously Limit Our “Wants”
8.5.14 Guideline 14: Simplicity Is the Key to Contentment, Adaptability, and Survival
8.5.15 Guideline 15: Nature, Environmental/Cultural Wisdom, and Human Well-Being Are Paramount
8.5.16 Guideline 16: Every Legal Citizen Deserves the Right to Vote
8.5.17 Guideline 17: This Present Moment Is All We Have
8.6 Connecting the Guidelines on Leadership and Decision-Making
8.7 References
8.8 Discussion Questions
9 Time, Change, and Resilience: The Theory and Practice of Community Sustainability
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Case Studies of Community Sustainability
9.3 Common Themes and Elements in Global Community Planning for Sustainability
9.4 References
9.5 Discussion Questions
Conclusion
Glossary
Appendix: Selected Further Resources for the Reader
Index