Issue Leadership: Establishing a Domain for a Food Systems Leadership Model

Abstract

A sustainable food system is a fundamental requirement for the ongoing functioning and growth of society. However, despite the critical importance of the food system from both economic and social perspectives, there are several political, environmental, and human capital issues which represent barriers to sustainable production. For example, in the United States, the need for more production capacity to feed a growing population is juxtaposed with a shrinking and aging food system workforce. The nexus of such fundamentally opposed issues represents a situation in which technical solutions may be insufficient. Using a three-round Delphi process with an expert panel, a total of 106 unique leadership competencies or behaviors were identified. The resulting behaviors and competencies were then thematically analyzed using the constant comparative method. The proposed food systems leadership model, named Issue Leadership, includes 39 subthemes and 7 primary themes. The primary themes include action; change; communication; critical thinking, strategic planning and visioning; interpersonal traits and characteristics; leadership skills; and leadership processes. This study establishes the unique context that agriculture and food systems represent and the necessity for leadership models that are competency- and practice-based.

Assessing Leadership Capacity in the Food System: The Issue Leadership Scale

“…Furthermore, one of the challenges associated with leadership theories has been the limited number of empirically developed measures which provide valid and reliable data; frequently, models are proposed based on anecdotal experience and lack rigorous design and validation [54]. Additionally, there are no known leadership models which are specifically focused on the food system and the unique leadership characteristics associated with the domain [26]. The Issue Leadership framework, composed of both the Importance and Skill latent variables, provides a praxis forward model to assess leadership capacity within the food system.…”

“…The food system is a complex, interrelated network [4] which operates at multiple scales [5]. Previous research has proposed a conceptual leadership model within the food system operating at the interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy levels [26]. The proposed Issue Leadership framework (please refer to supplementary materials for scale details) provides a novel lens through which to consider leadership within the food system and is directly supportive of identified leadership capacity needs within the food system (e.g., [21][22][23]).…”

“…A questionnaire was developed to collect data from food system leadership development program participants. Based on recommendations within the literature [27], the Issue Leadership scale was developed based on results from a previous study identifying the primary outcomes associated with food system leadership development programs (see [26]). The scale was designed by the researcher and then reviewed and approved for content and face validity and reliability using a panel of experts representing survey development, evaluation, leadership development programming, and organizational behavior [27,28].…”

“…There are a number of leadership measures available such as the Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire [16], which provides a measure of transformational leadership, or the Servant Leadership Survey [18]; however, there are few, if any, which provide a food system-specific assessment of leadership capacity. Identifying the behaviors of food system leaders first (see [26]) allowed the Issue Leadership scale to be developed free from the constraints of existing models. Therefore, the resulting scale has much more flexibility to conform to the needs of food system leaders, rather than leaders needing to conform to theory.…”

“…Previous research has also identified the gap between food system leaders and the general public regarding agricultural issues such as water [24]. Nevertheless, despite the unique context of the food system [25] and evidence indicating the need for leadership capacity development among food system leaders [26], there remains a gap in the literature at this intersection.…”