Successional Leadership

Permaculture, Organisation, Leadership, Succession

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Written by Michael Wardle

What is successional leadership? It is a concept that where might be able to use when designing our social systems especially with regards to our networks and organisations. Perhaps even a metric of success of these same organisations.

This year, 2018 has been a thought-provoking year with numerous different groups and community gardens. While not being actively involved in them myself this year (for the first time in many years) it gave me the opportunity to observe the different interactions. With the AGM’s falling in September this year, there seemed to be a great ‘bloodletting’ with many committees being voted out with some hostility or just people not willing to step up into vacant positions and some of these organisations closing down.

This got me thinking that while we talk about designing our landscapes using succession as our guide, how often do people think of incorporating the same idea into out associations and organisations?

While I am far from being an expert in the subject, it just seems that even though we talk about cooperation rather than competition, the competitive aspect appears to be so ingrained that we as a species still act on it, yet we have the best of intentions. Every new committee feels the need to do better than the last –More events, raise more money, and have more of an online presence – whatever the goal that is set at the start of their tenure. Moreover, we tend to judge the success of the same committees with the same brush – How many new members, how much money was raised, how many more events were facilitated during the last year etc.

Dave Jacke talks in his book about ‘Edible Forest Garden’ as one of the defining principles of “shifting the burden to that of the intervenor” where if you intervene in a system you bear the responsibility of maintaining that system or restoring its functional integrity.

What if we looked at our social systems in the same way and designed them with succession in mind. Where we are not only looking at advancing the cause, plan or structure of the organization, but creating it so that people are willing and eager to move into the various roles allowing for a smooth transition and celebrating not only that as a metric of success but also acknowledge the contributions of those that have come before, while building for the future leadership in those same roles.
 
We can make things as easy or as hard as we like and as Allan Savory talks about, most of the problems we have today come from someone, somewhere making a decision that turned out not to be the most positive for our futures.

Just some of the rambling thoughts that have been going through my head lately. I would love to hear your thoughts?

Michael Wardle

He began his permaculture journey 25 years ago when he first picked up a copy of Permaculture One and the Introduction to Permaculture.

​He has applied the ethics and principles of permaculture to his personal life and is now enjoying the wonderful opportunities of being able to apply them in his workplace and community. He enjoys learning about the many different facets of permaculture and design. Through his learning, he has also come to love teaching. He has completed 4 PDC's, Permaculture Teacher Training with Rosemary Morrow and Nick Ritar. Dynamic groups Dynamic learning with Robin Clayfield, he has also completed the Advanced Permaculture Principle workshop with David Holmgren and the Advanced Permaculture Design with Dan Palmer, Edible Forest Garden Design Intensive with Dave Jacke and the REXonline with Darren Doherty and many others.

He hopes to be as inspirational and effective as his teachers. He continues to run workshops, designs and consults through his own business - Savour Soil Permaculture and continues his learning journey to advance his knowledge and to increase the value he provides in his teaching, projects and consultations.