Summary of Week 8

In this last week of the course, we considered how and why collaborative leadership might address the long-term through multiple collaborative arrangements that together constitute a continually changing ‘collaborative fabric’ of inter-related partnerships, agreements, and working groups. Although focusing on the long-term is enormously challenging, leadership plays a key part in taking us beyond immediate concerns and complexities to make a difference in our local communities, and to complex social issues.

We hope you have enjoyed travelling with us through our exploration of the challenges of collaborative leadership in the context of voluntary organisations. Our aim was not to offer easy answers, but rather to help you reflect on how you practise leadership, and to offer some ideas and examples that might stimulate your thinking and change your practice. We hope you are encouraged as well as challenged by the reading and activities in the course. Don’t forget to join the discussion on our collaborative forum, where we will respond to your ideas and questions, but, more importantly, where you can meet and exchange ideas with your fellow learners.