The Leaderful Fieldbook

The following is a plank from the final draft of the strategic plan of Northeastern State University in Oklahoma that focuses exclusively on shared leadership practices. It represents the ethos of how the university views its governance over the next five years. I thought readers of this blog should see it because of its unapologetic endorsement of what I would term a leaderful culture. How would you like to work in this environment! Here it is:


Strategic Goal 3: Build and reinforce an environment that values full inclusion, collaboration and shared leadership in the life of the university and in all
external relationships.

Our commitment to inclusion, collaboration and shared leadership is designed to harness the power of diverse skills, backgrounds, experiences and capabilities of our many stakeholders. Our commitment to these values drives the way we act, how we treat each other and how we make decisions in every aspect of university life.
A culture that embraces inclusion encourages all to feel that he or she is a valued member of our larger community, and that each individual’s contributions to the university is recognized, welcomed, and respected. Collaboration encourages and rewards cooperation across functions/ colleges/departments, among faculty, staff, students, and alumni, among leaders and associates at all levels of the organization, across our three campuses, and between internal and external constituents. Shared leadership provides meaningful opportunities for input from all stakeholders, builds mutual trust and ensures transparency in decision-making.
An institution that embraces inclusion, collaboration and shared leadership:
Ensures equal access to all services and opportunities;
Proactively seeks input from diverse groups ensuring that these voices are not only heard, but actively sought;
Prioritizes robust, comprehensive and honest two-way communication at all levels;
Develops specific mechanisms and structures that encourage collaboration across the university in a broad spectrum of activities and programs, specifically capitalizing on the strength-in-diversity of our three campuses;
Creates and lives by a principle-based decision-making model that is fully transparent, includes the right stakeholders, focuses on the most important issues, values diversity, builds trust, accepts failure, and encourages leaders at all levels of the university;
Engages our alumni and external stakeholders by providing the opportunity to influence and impact the success of future generations;
Provides early information on major issues and initiatives to promote understanding and to give stakeholders an opportunity to be heard;
specifically includes those most affected, those most interested and those most capable of contributing to success in the decision-making process;
Provides professional development programs to prepare the next generation of leaders, thus guaranteeing the sustainability of Northeastern State and its partner communities.