Cultivating Leadership

We want to Cultivate Leadership because we want the world to be a better place, and we can help leaders to be more effective in collectively working for this goal. The seven billion (going on nine or ten billion) people on the planet face a suite of issues about their impacts on the planet-and on each other-that are more complex and longer-term in their effects than the issues faced by our parents and the generations before them. The leadership agenda is larger and the stakes are higher. To this end we work through Cultivating Leadership, we work on doing good ourselves, and, more particularly, we work with the leaders of do-good organizations. Many of our clients are public service organizations where the clear focus is on improving the service they provide to the public. We also work with private sector clients who recognise the business need to be socially responsible corporate citizens, and we work to improve the effectiveness of a range of non-government organizations (NGOs). If you are a do-gooding organization looking to make the world a better place, contact us and see how we can help. Each of us at Cultivating Leadership has a passion for making the world a better place. For example, Keith Johnston thinks globally about power and injustice with a long association of the aid and development agency Oxfam where he has started affiliates, been on the Board, and chaired the Global Board. Keith has been writing about the challenges involved in leading global non-government alliances and the specific demands of stepping up from a national to a global governance role. For more on this click here. He is also exploring the possibilities of modifying the Cultivating Leadership approach to leadership development to enable it to be used on a wider scale across Indian NGOs. Jennifer Garvey Berger thinks about making the world a better place on a smaller scale. In her work in educational research and with educational not-for profits, and educational leaders, Jennifer supports those who work with young people to think in new ways about the place and purpose of education in a changing world. Carolyn Coughlin grew up in a family of do gooders who have, in small and large ways, made the world a better place by saving precious open space mostly in the Western United States. Carolyn does her own do gooding work with not-for-profit community organizations and government agencies, using complexity ideas so stakeholder with varying perspectives can come together to try new ways of working with (seemingly) intractable problems like poverty and issues of power and privilege. Jim Wicks has had a gradual awakening throughout life of the extent to which some people have access to opportunities and others don't, and he likes to do things about that. He has often combined his interest in sport as a vehicle for raising funds for various causes and recently supported the establishment of a small charity to enable access to recreational opportunities for children who might not otherwise have them. He is keen to continue to develop his contributions to local organisations and more widely. Patrice Laslett has worked to make the world a better place by including voluntary work in her varied portfolio for the past 30 years. As a life member of Breastfeeding Australia she spent 10 years supporting the counsellors with training and consulting and contributed to governance from local to national Board level. Patrice has served on three not for profit Boards and she is currently working as a consultant with Aftercare and YMCA NSW. Together Jennifer, Keith, Carolyn, and Jim founded the New Zealand registered Charity the Growth Edge Network, an international community for people working to make the world a better place through understanding and promoting Adult Development in their work. Together with Patrice Laslett and three others they form the Growth Edge Network Board. During a time of significant change it is important for a CEO to have people around who can be relied on for their advice and support - Jim is one of those people. His superior change management and people skills enable him to identify and navigate through the issues to reach the planned outcome.