How and By Whom?
In the past 30 years, change has dramatically altered the Lasallian Project in the USA/Toronto region. The most radical change has been and continues to be the “Return to the Poor.” It moves at an ever-increasing pace.
Brother Alvaro, Superior of the De La Salle Christian Brothers, calls this movement the refoundation of the institute. It is a radical movement for the Brothers and their Partners to nurture their association together for the mission of service to the poor. It is starting over where De La Salle and his Brothers began.
People make changes in institutions when they see what is needed, understand the mission, and have power to make change. In Lasallian circles, lasting change is always the work of committed groups of people. Who are they and how did they become change agents? What are the steps or pre-conditions that lead them imperceptibly to a place they would hardly have recognized just a few years ago?
What is Our Theory of Change?
On this chart are events, experiences, conversions, transitions, connections, and inspirations that happen to us individually and with others after we join the Lasallian Family. Lower experiences tend to be soon after joining the family and higher ones after several years. Moving up the chart is life-long learning, holiness, and association for each of us.
Along the left side, groups move from communion to solidarity and to interdependence as the groups expand their circle of members and as they grow more collaborative, creative, and committed in their approach.
Along the right side, groups affect Lasallian institutions. In “cooperation,” institutions exchange information and encourage each other. In “coordination,” institutions help each other achieve their different objectives. A high school might distribute flyers in town regarding the new San Miguel School. In “collaboration,” institutions work together to create a new work or entity that complements both of their missions. A high school might recruit teachers and fundraise for a special after-school tutoring program for their students who live in a poor section of town and who graduated from the San Miguel School there.
Highlighted in the center of the chart are the five developmental steps of association that Lasallians move through as they migrate from new members to committed change agents.
LEADERSHIP FOR CHANGE
Christian Brothers Conference has made a very clear statement about the Lasallian Theory of Change. In its Lasallian Leadership Institute the Conference has identified change as the core meaning of leadership. For the Conference:
Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and their collaborators who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes.
This radical, creative view on leadership involves five essential elements:
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The relationship is based on influence.
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Leaders and their collaborators are the actors in this relationship.
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Leaders and their collaborators intend real changes.
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The changes that leaders and their collaborators intend reflect their mutual purposes.
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The process has little or no relationship to management.
If these elements are present, leadership can happen when large groups of Lasallians gather for a conference about mission, ministry, association, or services. It can happen when mission and ministry councils meet. It’s about what the Lasallian Partners do when they discuss and plan significant programs in service to the poor across this country. It’s about the work of the Regional Education Board in planning Lasallian formation programs.
These small and large circles of leaders and collaborators depend on a steady resilience and indomitable spirit of perseverance driven by a common purpose to serve.
As the pace of change quickens into the 21st Century, let us gather more and more to collaborate on significant change in our association together, and let us together deepen our leadership skills.