A Relational Approach to Leadership for Multi-Actor Governance

Abstract

Multi-actor governance, in which a broad mix of actors collaborates to deal with complex societal problems, requires a leadership approach that can take into account the dynamic interdependencies between the involved actors. A relational approach to leadership, focusing on processes and practices, is more adequate for that purpose than approaches focusing on individuals and positions. Complexity leadership theory offers such a relational approach to leadership within organizations. In this article, we use complexity leadership theory to capture the emergent leadership processes between organizations. We focus on the characteristics of the informal relations between representatives of different organizations that enable dealing with the often-conflicting goals and values in multi-actor governance. The case of a landfill mining initiative for sustainable materials governance is used as an illustration to clarify the main concepts and arguments.

Exploring the Emergence of Innovative Multi-Actor Collaborations toward a Progressive Urban Regime in Madrid (2015–2019)

“…A parallel debate on governance innovation is on-going in the field of public administration among others [56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64]. It considers emerging public governance paradigms and emanates from a broader discussion on how new "participatory imaginaries of democracy" can challenge current democratic recession [3].…”

Education and Training in Emergent Leadership

“…Emergence is the phenomenon where out of a network of interacting internal and external elements over time arises a coherent new pattern, that is different from its parts, irreducible to the separate parts unpredictable, unexpected and unplanned (Van Kemenade, 2019). Several researchers stress the importance of this interaction (like Yezdany et al 2015, Uhl-Bien et al, 2007and Craps et al, 2019.…”

“…The reaction through creative discourse and dialogue (Van Kemenade, 2019); dialogical leadership capabilities (Craps et al,2019) Facilitating and encouraging constructive dialogue (Bäcklander, 2018) Enabling by selforganisation Self-organization of the system parts (e.g. the possibility to organize and reorganize according to swiftly changing environmental conditions) (Poutanen et al,2016) Reaction from CAS: Self-organization (Van Kemenade, 2019) Enabling by creating shared values Values act as organisers or "attractors" of disorder (Dolan et al 2000) Reaction from CAS: shared values (Van Kemenade, 2019) The reaction by visionary leadership (Van Kemenade, 2019) Having a philosophy to share (Imholte, 2019)…”

The Role of Multi-Actor Engagement for Women’s Empowerment and Entrepreneurship in Kerala, India

“…Multi-actor approaches, which include women's voices (Rowlands 1995(Rowlands , 2016 and which involve the interests of multiple actors and their relationships with each other (Avelino and Wittmayer 2016;Gaventa 2006), allow to effectively address highly complex societal issues (Vangen et al 2015). Approaches that support engagement of multiple stakeholder benefit from diverse types of leadership practices that provide "fresh" perspectives that support innovative solutions (Craps et al 2019). Schön and Argyris (1996) propounded the view that learning within the organization is the outcome of very laborious interactive events in which actors openly engage in high quality communication, which results in pragmatic, innovative solutions.…”

“…Schön and Argyris (1996) propounded the view that learning within the organization is the outcome of very laborious interactive events in which actors openly engage in high quality communication, which results in pragmatic, innovative solutions. In a similar manner, in a multi-actor engagement approach, diverse stakeholders constructively exchange their different viewpoints, in order to generate mutually acceptable solutions and positions (Craps et al 2019). Via this process, they undergo an extended learning course which enables them to identify the real-world issues and devise mechanisms to bring in changes.…”