Leading Change Through Collaborative Partnerships: A Profile of Leadership and Capacity Among Local Public Health Leaders

Abstract

Collaborative partnerships have grown in prominence as vehicles for systems change and organizational development among a network of organizations, particularly in the complex field of public health. Likewise, supporting the functioning and effectiveness of collaborative partnerships has become a key interest among organizational development scholars and community psychologists alike. In the question of capacity-building, no aspect of collaborative capacity has received greater attention than that of leadership. Research on collaborative partnerships has highlighted the importance of shared leadership while at the same time acknowledging that specific individuals do and often must emerge and assume more prominent roles in the partnership in order for the work of the partnership to move forward. However, we have limited knowledge of these key individuals and the roles that they play in non-hierarchical, voluntary partnerships. The present study is a comparative case study of prominent leaders in three regional public health partnerships. The aim of this investigation is to explore the questions: (1) What does it mean to be a leader in a context where no one is “in charge?” (2) What roles do those individuals identified as leaders play?, and (3) What are the specific capacities that enable the enactment of these roles? We find that those viewed as leaders by their partnerships shared a similar profile both in the range and types of roles they play and the capacities that enable them to carry out these roles. Further, we find that while individual attributes such as passion, knowledge, and leadership skills are important, some of the most prominent capacities are rooted in the organizational and institutional contexts within which the leader is nested.

KEYWORDS:

• collaboration
• collaborative capacity
• leadership
• networks
• public health partnerships

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge and sincerely thank all of the North Carolina Public Health Incubator Collaborative members and staff who generously shared their time and insights for this study. We would also like to thank the North Carolina Institute for Public Health for its role in helping to make this research possible. This research was made possible in part by the generous support of the NCSU College of Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty Research Grant and NCSU School of Public and International Affairs Faculty Support Grant.

Notes

The presence of prominent leaders was assessed in three ways. During interviews, informants were asked directly what leadership looked like in their partnership and whether clear leaders had emerged. Second, informants were asked more general questions about how the partnership organizes its work. Third, prominent leaders identified by the first author were discussed and confirmed by the second author based on her experience and knowledge of the partnerships.

For examples see http://nciph.sph.unc.edu/incubator/.