Transformational Leadership http://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/trstrv/v13y2006i3p607-623.html

Thanks to Doctor of Ministry student Neil Salvaterra, I have been introduced to an article by Alexander Scheiffer of the Center of Excellence for Leadership and Learning in Munich, someone obviously connected to the Senge school of learning organizations. This article (see link) brings together systems theory, cybernetics, constructivist and communication theory to suggest what he calls "co-creative leadership." His argument is: if an organization is a system, held together by its own self-organizing logic and communication, all parts or members of the organization are needed to carry the organization forward. Suitable actions to adapt to the current situation in its environment can be found through collaborative, dialogical interaction. Difference in perspective among members are accepted and taken into account in development of a common position from which collective action can follow. A top-down, unilateral, linear, controlling leadership prevents application of all of the resources of an organization to a suitable action. Co-creative leadership is defined by Schieffer as "the continuous formation of creative and communicative contexts that facilitate a cooperative process for developing solutions for the organization as a whole" (p. 11). This article has given me new encouragement for and an expanded vocabulary for talking about and living out transformational leadership.