Are Water-Related Leadership Development Programs Designed to be Effective? An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Water resource professionals and others involved in managing water resources face increasingly complex challenges. Effective leadership development programs are needed to produce water leaders who can address these challenges. Leadership programs must be designed not simply to increase participants' environmental and leadership knowledge but to develop in participants the requisite abilities and skills. This exploratory study determines the extent to which water-related leadership programs go beyond knowledge only, event-type workshops to determine what proportion are grounded in leadership theory, and employ developmental experiences with assessment, challenge, and support components. Results indicate that most water professionals and others seeking to develop 21 st century leadership abilities and skills to manage water resources are not getting the developmental experiences they need. Water-related leadership development programs must be grounded in evidence-based theory; provide assessment, challenge, and support; and offer a variety of developmental experiences and the opportunity to learn from experience. There is an urgent need for new or revised leadership development programs for those interested in water resource management.

Understanding the Nature of Eco‐Leadership: A Mixed Methods Study of Leadership in Community Organizations

“…T he nature of leadership is changing: The challenges are becoming more complex, there is a greater reliance on interdependent work, and leadership is increasingly being viewed as a collective process (Avolio et al 2009). There is a growing need for high‐quality leadership development programs in support of those who work in water resource management, and it is important to ground those programs in evidence‐based theory (Burbach et al 2015). The complex, multi‐level nature of leadership makes it an important phenomenon for consideration, but the socially constructed process of leadership makes it a challenge to study (Stentz et al 2012).…”

Developing Water Leaders as Catalysts for Change: The Nebraska Water Leaders Academy

“…Emerging water management challenges demand knowledgeable and skilled leaders with abilities beyond technical expertise (Morton and Brown 2011; Lincklaen Arriëns and When de Montalvo 2013; Burbach et al 2015). They require leaders who can guide, manage, and facilitate the changes necessary to address them.…”

“…Water‐related leadership development programs are needed that prepare participants to be catalysts of change and to lead others through change (Burbach et al 2015; Pradhananga et al 2019). Traditional models of leadership development may be inadequate to develop catalysts of change (Rost 1993; Allen et al 2006).…”

“…It is not safe to assume that current water‐related leadership development programs are designed to produce the catalysts of change necessary to address emerging water management challenges. Burbach et al (2015), for instance, reviewed 30 water‐related leadership development programs and found only four that used curriculum grounded in evidence‐based theory and that used a variety of developmental experiences incorporating assessment, challenge, and support.…”