Leadership Development

“There is no question about the use of superlatives for Suzanne. Due to her intelligence, thoughtfulness and excellent interpersonal skills, she is ideal for the most complex and challenging work in front of us. Suzanne invests her energy, expertise and time to the fullest extent. In particular, she is highly skilled at engaging divergent stakeholders to create a sense of collective wisdom. Not many have the repertoire of skills that she does—ranging from the strategic to the tactical and including operations, training and support on a one-to-one basis. Suzanne is authentic and develops genuine relationships; everyone feels great and has fun around her.” Amanuel Melles Director, Capacity Building Unit, United Way Toronto

Suzanne Gibson inspires leaders to find positive and sustainable solutions to complex social issues in our world. With a focus on high calibre leadership and social innovation, her work galvanizes individuals, groups and communities to unite to around a shared vision and achieve a creative, collective response.

What is Leadership Development?

Leadership development refers to strategies, approaches and programs designed to develop and enhance the leadership skills and capabilities of individuals. In the context of the nonprofit sector, the ultimate goal is to enrich the lives of community members; in short, to make neighbourhoods, communities, and the world a better place. And so, leadership development is often aimed not only at individuals, but also at organizations and the broader community.

Leadership Solutions: Building Leadership in Toronto’s Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector, commissioned by the United Way Toronto, 2008 and researched and written by Suzanne Gibson and Associates.

Suzanne’s Vision of Leadership

Suzanne’s vision of leadership is wisdom aligned with a community. The leader asks the community what it needs and guides them to an innovative solution. The style is highly participative, inclusive, collaborative, open to change and alert to a culturally-changing world perspective. This model supports the premise of a collective or roving leadership that may emerge from many places in an organization or community and it advocates continuous learning and personal development on the part of the leader(s).

Strategies for Leadership Development

	Planning and strategy development
	Coaching and mentoring as well as one-to-one support and guidance
	Team building
	Training and facilitation

Individual Leadership Development

	Builds individual leadership effectiveness
	Enhances and discerns personal leadership style and competencies
	Provides a safe environment for leaders to articulate hard questions and discern objectives and strategies to address them
	Empowers the leader to realize his or her own answers

Organizational Leadership Development

	Builds leadership capacity within the team or organization
	Engages a collaborative process to help the group articulate its dream
	Mobilizes the group to discover and implement its own best solutions
	Focuses on creating a culture of experimentation and learning

Board and Community Leadership Development

	Expands organizational and community capacity
	Enables a Board or community leadership group to achieve great governance
	Inspires and refines a shared vision aligned with key guiding values
	Bridges from vision to strategic planning and operational excellence