Petra Kuenkel - The Art of Leading Collectively: Co-Creating a Sustainable, Socially Just Future

Praise for The Art of Leading Collectively

If we are serious about taking on the pressing challenges of our time, we need fresh ideas about the art of leadership, new approaches to practicing it, and courageous minds willing to make that journey. In The Art of Leading Collectively , Petra Kuenkel has given us an inspiring book, that is also a vital roadmap, for any and all who feel called to accelerate the great transition our world so urgently needs.

Alan AtKisson , author of Believing Cassandra and The Sustainability Transformation

Corporations, governments, and NGOs alike will benefit from the shift in collaboration across sectors that will be opened with collective leadership. I highly recommend The Art of Leading Collectively to anyone interested in the future of leadership and anyone committed to systems transformation for sustainability and humanity.

Kathrin Wieland , CEO, Save the Children Germany

Through rich examples of her own experience and that of others, Petra Kuenkel shows that co-creation is at the heart of our lives. Moreover, she gives invaluable material to help us co-create in more conscious, fulfilling, and effective ways. Her method is core to addressing critical challenges-come-opportunities that we face as individuals, in our work lives, and as increasingly interconnected citizens of planet Earth.

Steve Waddell , author of Global Action Networks ; principal, NetworkingAction

The Art of Leading Collectively is an amazing journey into taking diverse actors through collaborative change. Beautifully articulated with case studies in its implementation in individual to global change initiatives, this is an inspiring and invigorating readmost relevant to our complex, urgent, and interdependent world.

Pavan Bakshi , CEO, Prime Meridian Consulting, India

In our complex world, strategies for harnessing collective intelligence and mobilizing collective leadership will be critical to achieving transformative change. Kuenkel eloquently champions an approach to leadership that is surprisingly under-explored in the literature, offering a clear conceptual framework to underpin her argument.

Danny Burns , co-author of Navigating Complexity in International Development

The Collective Leadership Compass is a fascinating multi-dimensional framework that has the potential to open up new perspectives on systemic change from a complex systems perspective. This book should be read critically, but it should be read.

Dave Snowden , chief scientific officer, Cognitive Edge; creator, The Cynefin Framework

Unleashing the potential of multi-stakeholder collaboration is paramount for achieving the 2030 development agenda. The Art of Leading Collectively is a powerful guide for change agents, from those in business to those in international organizations who want to make change happen and address global challenges at scale. The beauty of this book lies in its appeal to thinkers and practitioners alike to embrace systems change, organizational development, and individual daring as key ingredients to collectively and decisively acting on creating a better world.

Arjan Schuthof , Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation

The Collective Leadership Compass, the tool elaborated on in The Art of Leading Collectively , enables people from very different backgrounds, perspectives, and beliefs to come together, meet as equals, and develop common ground and solutions that go beyond what each could have achieved individually. These solutions are truly carried by all members of the group and hence translated into action. Having had the privilege to experience the method firsthand, I know that its effects are profound and just what is needed to bring forth the kind and level of innovation we urgently need today.

Bettina von Stamm , author of The Innovation Wave and Managing Innovation, Design and Creativity ; founder, Innovation Leadership Forum

The complex challenges of our time call for systems-based, collaborative leadership. Petra Kuenkel shares her breadth of experience about developing this capacity, showing how leaders can use her approach to mobilize organizational, multinational, and multi-sectoral networks for sustainability. She reminds us that becoming a more effective collaborative leader is both an inner and outer journey, and that we can best realize our individual visions by accessing peoples collective humanity, power, and creativity.

David Peter Stroh , author of Systems Thinking for Social Change

Implementing the seventeen global sustainable development goals successfully will require us to take collaboration between institutions, stakeholders, and nations to the next level. The Art of Leading Collectively prepares us for this journey.

Cornelia Richter , management board member, Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

The level of complexity in development challenges requires new approaches and new forms of leadership. Persuasively and vividly laid out through both storytelling and deep analysis, Kuenkel provides the tools and understanding that are essential to the science and art of leading collectively.

Darian Stibbe , executive director, The Partnering Initiative

Copyright 2016 by Petra Kuenkel.

All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all illustrations copyright 2016 by Petra Kuenkel.

No part of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

Project Manager: Angela Boyle

Developmental Editor: Joni Praded

Copy Editor: Laura Jorstad

Proofreader: Helen Walden

Indexer: Peggy Holloway

Designer: Melissa Jacobson

Printed in the United States of America.

First printing January, 2016.

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Our Commitment to Green Publishing

Chelsea Green sees publishing as a tool for cultural change and ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book manufacturing practices with our editorial mission and to reduce the impact of our business enterprise in the environment. We print our books and catalogs on chlorine-free recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks whenever possible. This book may cost slightly more because it was printed on paper that contains recycled fiber, and we hope youll agree that its worth it. Chelsea Green is a member of the Green Press Initiative ( www.greenpressinitiative.org ), a nonprofit coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the worlds endangered forests and conserve natural resources. The Art of Leading Collectively was printed on paper supplied by Thomson-Shore that contains at least 100% postconsumer recycled fiber.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kuenkel, Petra, 1956 author.

Title: The art of leading collectively : how we can co-create a better future : a guide to collaborative impact for sustainability change agents from companies, the public sector, and civil society / by Petra Kuenkel.

Description: White River Junction, Vermont : Chelsea Green Publishing, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015034159| ISBN 9781603586269 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781603586276 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: CooperationSocial aspects. | LeadershipSocial aspects. | Organizational change. | Sustainability.

Classification: LCC HD2961 .K76 2016 | DDC 658.4/092dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015034159

Chelsea Green Publishing