Highlighted Activity: Perceptions of Power

Dr. Roach’s presentation for PublicDecisions in March of 2010 offered an overview of collective leadership.  One of the reasons collective leadership is so unique – and so successful – is that it does not rely on traditional paradigms of leadership that center power in one or two people, usually adults.  Instead, collective leadership asks all participants to share responsibility and together provide leadership to their community.   This activity, from our Collective Leadership Works toolkit, helps you understanding how power is distributed within your group.

Understanding the balance of power within a partnership is essential to understanding how the partnership functions and to participating in the partnership.  However, the perceived balance of power is often quite different from the desired balance of power or even the actual balance of power.  Once you are aware of your group’s feelings about the balance of power, you can work together to maintain or change that balance.