| The
Experiment in
Alternative Leadership
Overview
 The
forms of leadership we are all most familiar
with can stifle creativity, motivation,
and initiative. Traditionally, any position
of power is a license to talk and not
listen, to tell and not ask, to demand
and not serve. Challenging these tendencies
is a responsibility of all of us who long
for a better world. Unfortunately, the
command-and-control style of leadership
plagues the field of international development
with the disempowerment that is its natural
result. Haiti, sometimes referred to as
the graveyard of development projects,
is no exception. The price we pay for
failing to empower people is suffering,
untapped human potential, and waste.
The
underlying assumption of The Experiment
is that the command-and-control approach
in the classroom, in for-profit and non-profit
institutions, in grassroots organizations,
and in government agencies can inhibit
the healthy evolution of individuals,
groups and society as a whole. The Experiment
is a quest to discover and create conditions
that allow the human spirit to flourish.
The milieu is Haiti, where 80% of its
8 million people live in abject poverty
and are unable to read and write. The
Experiment's core strategy is to provide
an alternative leadership approach within
the educational initiatives described
in this text. This involves nurturing
and experimenting with practices and organizational
structures grounded in the following:
- A
servant-leadership model, which
encourages and supports people in their
pursuit of self-discovery and in their
personal sense of call.
-
Communities of learners, where
people seek to grow and learn collectively,
as they care for those around them,
especially those who have been forgotten
and are marginalized in society.
- An
entrepreneurial spirit, where people
feel led to innovate and take risks
to achieve that which they believe in.
Background
Eight years ago, two organizations were
formed: Limyè Lavi, a Port-au-Prince-based
Haitian foundation, and Beyond Borders,
a Philadelphia-based nonprofit Central
to their founding principles was a commitment
to a non-hierarchical, liberating structure
at the staff level. It was determined
from the outset that responsibility would
be tied to interest and commitment rather
than job titles, and decision-making would
be based on consensus, not imposition.
The
collective experience of Limyè
Lavi and Beyond Borders has demonstrated
several things:
- People
who are freed from command-and-control
authority must assume greater responsibility
for their work and for their personal
development.
- These
people develop greater self-confidence
and a stronger sense of self-determination.
- They
are less likely to replicate command-and-control
types of behavior.
- Leaders
who witness the positive results from
these alternative practices are apt
to integrate them into their own behavior.
Strategy
The Experiment is about integrating the
principles of servant leadership, communities
of learners, and an entrepreneurial spirit
into the following initiatives in Haiti:
The
Reflection Circle Project,
begun in Haiti in 1997, is a strategy
for nurturing discussion-based education
in classrooms of all types. Through reading
and discussing carefully selected texts
in Haitian Creole, students develop skills
in reading comprehension, critical thinking,
dialogue, and group dynamics. Teachers
grow to trust their students' ability
both to learn without coercion and to
take responsibility for their own education.
The strategy for increasing the number
of institutions, groups and classrooms
that use Reflection Circle Project mirrors
the underlying philosophy of the method's
approach in the classroom. Just as the
students learn to mold their own futures,
Reflection Circle Project practitioners
take strategic responsibility for increasing
the number of teachers and students who
will have access to this empowering method.
Presently, more than a thousand adults
and children participate in weekly Reflection
Circle Project sessions in various regions
of Haiti.
The
Reflection Circle Project is based on
the methods and materials of the Touchstones
Discussion Project and is a joint
venture with Touchstones.
Open
Space Technology is a method
for enabling all kinds of people in any
type of organization to create inspired
meetings and events. The Open Space Technology
facilitation method assumes that people
who genuinely care about an issue and
who are willing to take responsibility
for it need to be provided the opportunity
to do so. Over the last 15 years, it has
become clear that opening space, as an
intentional leadership practice, can create
inspired organizations, where ordinary
people work together to consistently create
extraordinary results. Open Space Technology
is a key strategy for carrying out the
projects mentioned above. As part of The
Experiment, Open Space is being used
with other institutions and networks in
Haiti and abroad. This includes supporting
people who wish to learn to facilitate
Open Space meetings.
Rotalpha
is a literacy initiative of the Rotary
Clubs of Haiti. Since 1998, more than
200 people have been trained by Rotalpha
trainers in the Rotary International-endorsed
Concentrated Language Encounter (CLE)
method. With CLE, children and adults
learn to read and write in the context
of sharing and documenting stories and
experiences. What's more, the Haitian
Rotary's involvement in literacy fosters
exchanges among Haitians from a wide variety
of backgrounds and perspectives. Rotalpha
is committed to an organizational culture
characterized by volunteerism, broad-based
collaboration, and local initiative.
Discovering
Resources Initiative is a yearlong
seminar that brings community leaders
from all around Haiti together with representatives
of funding agencies to discuss the challenges
of funding and making good use of international
and local development resources. Together,
the 30 participants representing 25 different
organizations developed and are carrying
out a program that allows them to learn
about project planning, management, evaluation,
and grant writing. The project is being
funded and supported by participating
organizations, including Limyè
Lavi, Reflection Circle Project, Rotalpha,
and two national peasant associations:
Mouvman Peyizan Papay and Tèt Kole.
The
Transformational Travel Program
offers opportunities for people from rich
industrialized countries to come to Haiti
and get to know Haitians. Ten years of
experience shows that these rich exchanges
can have life-changing results. Dialogue
furthers understanding, which frequently
inspires concrete action.
 John
Engle is co-founder of Beyond Borders,
Limyè Lavi, Reflection Circle Project,
Rotalpha, and Discovering Resources Initiative.
He serves on the board of directors of
the Open
Space Institute. Having a self-employed
status, John's modest salary and expenses
are funded by his friends and family members.
If you would like to assist John in meeting
his financial needs, please send tax-deductible
contributions to Beyond Borders at P.O.
Box 2132 Norristown, PA 19404. (Beyond
Borders and Limyè Lavi serve as
fiscal agents for The Experiment in
Alternative Leadership.) Please write
" John Engle" or "The
Experiment" on the memo line
of your check. Contributions can also
be made by credit card. Should gifts received
exceed The Experiment's annual
budget, which is available upon request,
excess will be passed on to Beyond Borders
for other work being done in Haiti. Questions
for Beyond Borders can be sent by e-mail
to mail@beyondborders.net,
or call 610-277-5045.
If
you have suggestions, comments, or if
you wish to receive more information about
The Experiment, please contact John Engle
via e-mail at john@johnengle.net. |
