New Water Policy and Practice Volume 1, Number 2 - Spring 2015 | Page 7

New Water Policy and Practice

executive and political roles (see Carson et al. 2007; Conger 1993). Gordon and Berry
(2006, p. 90) emphasised this important point, stating that “… complex problems and
rapidly changing solutions require more leadership from everyone ... Leadership skills
that were appropriate to the few are now necessities for the many.”

Researchers exploring barriers to change and keys to successful change in the
water sector have identified many factors (Brown and Farrelly 2009; Lloyd et al. 2002;
Mukheibir et al. 2014). The most frequently cited factors relate to leadership (e.g.,
the lack of a shared vision, coordination of efforts and political will). In this paper,
we define “leadership” as a process of influence that accomplishes three outcomes:
direction - a shared understanding of common goals and strategy; alignment the joint
coordination of resources and activities; and commitment - a commitment to collective
success (Drath et al. 2008; Ernst and Chrobot-Mason 2011). Using this definition,
leadership is seen as a group-based process, typically involving several people and
organisations. Water leadership case studies commonly highlight a number of people
contributing to the leadership process (‘leaders’), who play different roles, share a
vision for change, and work in a coordinated, cooperative manner (e.g., Brown and
Clarke 2007).

As more research is published on the nature of leaders driving change in the
water sector, it has become clear that there are a number of distinct leadership roles
that are common and significant. In addition, there is growing evidence that some
of these roles share similar features regardless of where they are played around the
world. For example, as part of an impressive research project involving 16 case studies
from developing and developed countries, Meijerink and Huitema (2010) identified
a set of leadership strategies that champion-type leaders commonly employed when
they successfully influenced water policy. In short, our knowledge is growing as to
what it takes to be a successful leader in the water sector.
1.2. Efforts to build leadership capacity

Broad acceptance of the need to drive substantial change in the water sector
and the importance of leadership in this process has led to calls for increased efforts
to build leadership capacity. For example, at the fourth Delft Symposium on Water
Sector Capacity Development, there was a call for 1,000 water leaders to be developed
in Africa and Asia (Lincklaen Arriëns and Wehn de Montalvo 2013).

Subsequently, tailored leadership development programmes and short courses
for water leaders are now emerging. For example, in Asia the International Water
Centre (IWC) in Australia has been running a nine-month Water Leadership Program
for emerging water leaders every year since 2011, and has now worked intensively
with 91 water leaders from seven countries. This Centre also delivers tailored water
leadership short courses and ‘master classes’ for approximately 70 water practitioners
every year from a wide range of developed and developing countries. The Peter Cullen
Trust’s Science to Policy Leadership Program also operates in Australia, and focuses
on helping water scientists to influence policy and politicians. A new International
Water Leadership Programme (IWLP) is also being built by the UNESCO Institute for
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