At a recent Bay Area Learning Circle facilitated by Claire Reinelt, LLC’s Evaluation and Research Director, we convened a group of local LLC members to discuss some of the challenges and successes they have seen in their areas of work, in relationship to collective and networked leadership. As I listened closely to the participants, I was struck by the various struggles they face, particularly around defining and articulating ‘successes’, and evaluating the impact of their efforts – not only to respond to funders’ demands but also to internal demands.

There were two main observations that were of particular interest to me during this conversation:

1. The role of network development

Note: First published on the Leadership Learning Community Blog

Social media is changing the way people interact with each other. As Clay Shirky suggests, social media and networks enable people to share, converse, collaborate, and in some cases, engage in collaborative action.  And while collaborative action is not widely popular yet, it is where the future is headed (Clay Shirky 2008).