Community and Leadership Development

Center for Community and Leadership Development (LUCCLD)

Purpose

• Assist communities in the development of processes that allow them to create their desired future.
• Assist communities in developing practical skills and programs for effectively involving and empowering local citizens to become more effective leaders.
• Use leading-edge thinking with practical application to enhance the capacity of people to work effectively with a broad range of community issues. Each issue requires some form of decision-making process and implementation in the community area beyond the individual, the family or the business. It is important and imperative that each stakeholder unit work and communicate effectively in addressing these issues. It is the desire of the LUCCLD to assist communities and organizations in effectively addressing these issues.
• Provide conceptual-based skills for successfully bringing people together (often with diverse views and opinions) around common community-based and leadership issues. The LUCCLD assists communities in collectively addressing their issues and provides purposeful direction to their community-based and leadership priorities.
• Remain consistent with the mission of Lincoln University, a land-grant institution, in assisting individuals and organizations committed to the development of communities and leadership development, placing special emphasis on the underserved and underrepresented within Missouri.
• Assist communities and organizations in developing leadership.
• Work with and assist communities with the development and implementation of methods, approaches and practices for successfully engaging groups and organizations in community-based development that allows them to create and implement purposeful desired community change, form effective relationships and sustain community vitality.
• Assist communities, organizations and community leaders in establishing, maintaining and improving programs designed to promote intellectual and social growth, responsibility, productivity and sustainability. The LUCCLD aims to assist communities in their ability to carry out selected community development processes and to assist communities in understanding the community of place, the nature of public issues, the dynamics and interdependencies of the various segments of the community and the importance of leadership in the formulation and implementation of such processes.

What We Believe

• Community is a fundamental building block of society.
• Leadership development enhances leaders.
• People have the capacity to collectively chart their future by creating, developing and building their community.
• The most effective community development requires building relationships among people.
• How we do things is as important, and sometimes more important, than what we do.
• Our involvement does make a difference.

Community Development Perspective

• We view communities and community-based issues from a complex, holistic perspective. As such, communities are comprised of dynamic, diverse and interdependent interactions between and among individuals, groups, organizations and institutions, both internal and external to the community. Understanding this context is fundamental to LUCCLD.
• We work with community development and civic organizations, groups and public bodies that are engaged with public issues. The intended outcome of our involvement with these organizations is that decisions will be made and that actions will be taken that have long-term impact on the social, economic and environmental well-being of the community. To achieve this outcome, the LUCCLD seeks to increase the capacity of the community and its leaders to deal with its public issues using a wide variety of programming and research efforts.
• We assist communities in understanding the community of place, the nature of public issues, the dynamics and interdependencies of the various segments of the community, and the importance of leadership in the formulation and implementation of such processes.
• We assist communities in their ability to carry out selected community development processes to achieve measurable impacts.

Collaborations and Community Building

The Center for Community and Leadership Development assists communities and organizations by providing workshops, training sessions and classes on the following topics:

• How to Improve Diversity on Your Team: Explains how to improve workplace diversity.
• How to Develop a Marketing Plan: Explains how an understanding of marketing and the completion of a marketing plan can help achieve organizational goals
• Managing Change and Transition: Discusses techniques for managing transitions in three major categories: "endings", the "neutral zones" and "beginnings."
• Requesting and Preparing for a Meeting with a Community Leader: Provides tips on how to request a meeting, prepare for it and succeed in conducting a mutually beneficial meeting for both the leader and yourself
• Understanding Nonprofit Organizations: Explains some aspects of nonprofit organizations that help to develop better partnerships.
• Developing and Maintaining a Network: Explains how networking works
• Understanding Community Power Structures: Explains how a basic understanding of social power and power actors can enhance organizational initiatives
• Defining Communities: An Issues-based Approach: Provides brief ideas on useful ways to think of "communities" during planning and also introduces one method for defining "communities of interest."
• Strengthening Public Involvement: Shows how to strengthen public involvement
• Working with Community Leaders: Provides the basic skills needed to identify and develop working relationships with community leaders.
• Social Profile: Provides information on developing a social profile of a community and using that information to increase participation rates.

Negotiation Skills

• Alternate Dispute Resolution: Provides guidance on methods for resolving conflicts
• Listening Skills: Explains how to listen better in order to enhance your organization's actions.
• Conflict Management: Provides methods and tips to more effectively manage and resolve conflicts.
• Dealing with Difficult People: Provides tips on how to deal effectively with difficult people so that tension is diffused and smooth interaction is attained.
• Stress Management: Gives pointers for dealing with stress
• Social and Professional Skills to Be More Effective with Small Farmers: Provides guidance on the skills needed to work successfully.
• Gaining Trust: Provides the skills necessary to gain and hold community trust so that you may increase the adoption rate of your organizational goals.

Planning

• The Adoption and Diffusion of Conservation Technologies: Introduces the reader to the basic concepts of how people adopt new ideas and methods and gives suggestions on how to use those ideas in day-to-day operations.
• Prioritizing Issues or Concerns: Using the Paired Comparison Technique: Explains one technique for prioritizing issues in a group setting.
• Designing Surveys for Organizational Activities: Provides tips on gathering information from partnerships through the use of surveys.
• Human Aspects of Environmental Planning: Integrates natural and human factors in the planning process.
• Conducting "Rapid Resource Appraisals" of Watersheds: Provides an explanation of a useful technique to "jump start" conservation planning.
• Barriers and Strategies for Small-scale Entrepreneurs: Provides guidance on overcoming barriers one may encounter when working with Small-scale producers.

Communications

• Focus Groups: Explains the use of focus groups to obtain community perspectives.
• Running Effective Meetings: Explains how to run meetings so that you achieve your goals and get everyone to participate.
• Running Public Meetings: Gives the crucial steps you need to follow when running a meeting that is open to the public.
• Working with People of Different Cultures: Explains how to improve cross-cultural communications.

General Information:

Principles of Leadership Development

• Looking at Leadership
• Who Is a Leader?
• Types of Leaders
• Characteristics of Leaders
• What Does a Leader Do?
• What a Leader Should Know

Too Much to Do ... Too Little Time

• Getting Started
• Creating Balance
• Making Decisions
• Dealing with Interruptions
• Organizing
• Managing Procrastination
• Setting Priorities

Making Meetings Manageable

• Making Meetings Manageable
• Participating in Meetings
• Follow Up after the Meeting

Responsibilities of Organization Officers

• Leaders: Born or Developed?
• Know Your Organization
• Meeting "Musts"
• Making Decisions
• Seven Steps to Success
• Order of Business
• Organizations Are for People

Community Comprehensive Planning Fundamentals

• Introduction
• Lobbying Tips
• Examples of Advocacy
• Communicating with Policymakers
• Ten Tips to Build Political Support
• Relating with Elected Officials
• Generic Reasons Nobody Gets Around to Lobbying

Building Dynamic Groups

• Group Activities
• How to Build Coalitions
• Purposeful Partnerships in the Community
• Leadership: Bringing a Community Together

Governance

• Stakeholders
• What Is Governance?
• What Is Good Governance?
• Why Examine Governance? The Benefits of Good Governance
• Board of Governance, Legal Dimensions
• Building Blocks of a Governance Framework
• Bylaws
• Governance Gremlins
• Tips to Help Strengthen Your Governance Boards
• Stakeholders and Accountability
• Dealing with Crisis
• Basic Role of the Board
• Board Orientation
• Conflicts of Interest
• Good Communication
• Governance Effectiveness (Quick Check)
• Professional Conduct in Working with Children and Youth
• Interview Techniques in Implementing Surveys
• Essentials of Leadership and Teamwork