OUTreach/ Teach To Lead

Brisbane, 12 February 2017 — How to become an influential water leader 'where you are' in 9 months? Australian professionals go to the award-winning Water Leadership Program of the International WaterCentre in Brisbane, created by my fellow leadership teacher André Taylor.

André is a well known researcher and teacher on leadership for water and sustainability in Australia. In 2015, we published a paper introducing six leadership roles that do not require a position of authority, together with the competencies and behaviors to make these roles work.

We also collaborated in creating the International Water Leadership Program through a partnership among UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Nyenrode Business University, and the International WaterCentre.

André inspires me by how he combines the champion leader role with the thought leader role. When he champions new projects for leadership development, he simultaneously conducts research on their development, implementation and outcomes, and publishes the results in peer-reviewed journals. 

Combining the champion leader and thought leader roles requires a high degree of self awareness and situational awareness, which are important leadership competencies that André demonstrates in his practice.

I am looking forward to work shoulder to shoulder with André this week in delivering the Water Leadership Program for managers in Australia's water industry, and I can't wait to learn more lessons from our collaboration.