Leadership Conference 2012 - Joyce Schroeder, "Leading Change: Faithful Listening, Creative Results"

2012 ESR Leadership Conference
"Leading Change: Faithful Listening, Creative Results"
August 10-12, 2012

First Plenary Session

Joyce Schroeder: “Rethinking Quaker Leadership” (outline of the presentation)

Too much of the conversation about Quaker leadership is aspirational and theoretical. This session will draw upon real data culled from an online survey and interviews to give us a deeper understanding of the current state of Quaker leadership. While many offer servant leadership as the best leadership style for Quakers, this session will put forth the notion that this is just one of the many leadership styles required to deal with the challenges and opportunities we face in our meetings. Moving from the theoretical to the practical, it will propose a set of leadership behaviors that are grounded in organizational development thought and supported by actions taken by Jesus and other spiritual leaders. Further, it will outline a framework that can help Friends enhance their ability to become inwardly-focused, outwardly-effective leaders in their Quaker communities.

Joyce Schroeder is an organizational change consultant with a Masters Degree in Organizational Development and Leadership. She has extensive experience working with groups, designing and implementing customized culture change and leadership interventions. She has been a member of Purchase Friends Meeting for the past 16 years where she tapped into her knowledge of leadership to help her clerk her monthly meeting. She believes there are lessons to be learned from the study of organizations that should be part of the conversation about Quaker leadership.