Bridging Leadership

Bridging Leadership at Synergos: Experience and Learnings

A Background Paper for the Synergos Twentieth Anniversary Reflection By Ernesto D. Garilao Director, Mirant Center for Bridging Societal Divides Asian Institute of Management With assistance from Michael Juan Associate Director, Mirant Center for Bridging Societal Divides Asian Institute of Management April 2007

Introduction

In 1997, Peggy Dulany, in a seminal paper written for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Salzburg Seminar on “Non-Governmental Organizations: Leadership and Civil Society,” posited that “not enough focus had been placed in the leadership literature and research on a style of leadership that could bridge divides.” She argued that the new global environment is becoming more complex yet interdependent – full of conflicts and potential conflicts coming from inequities in structures and systems. This situation required a different leadership response that builds upon the “inherent quality of human behavior which can be conserving, reconciling, attuned to the connective forces in the universe that imply greater unity and continuity.” Dulany went on to argue that civil society organization (CSO) leaders have the capacity to support “new initiatives that build equity and opportunity and at the same time change the structure and policies that have created the inequities in the first place.” She felt that a key component of the achievements of many of Synergos’ partner organizations was the “bridging individual,” a person who could bridge the gap between and among contending organizations and interests. Qualities of these bridging individuals included: the ability to engage different kinds of people; openness to compromise; credibility with his/her constituency; and an aptitude for learning to understand the language used by different sectors of society, including government and business. Finally, she made a case for the importance of the bridging leader whose capacities to elicit trust from the...