Creating and Sustaining Fieldwork Partnerships

Table of ContentsIntroduction.......................................................................................................1

Learning Outcomes..........................................................................................1

Module Topics..................................................................................................2

A Community Engagement Model....................................................................2

Practical Activity...............................................................................................6The Influence of Power..............................................................................................7

Networking.................................................................................................................9

Emotional Intelligence..............................................................................................10

Additional Resources.....................................................................................14

References.....................................................................................................14

Creating and Sustaining Fieldwork Partnerships

Creating and Sustaining Fieldwork PartnershipsIntroductionHello and welcome to Creating and Sustaining Fieldwork Partnerships

In this module you will explore relationships, their development and sustainability, within the context of delivering a fieldwork program as part of your leadership capabilities in fieldwork education.

Figure 1: Broker role from the Integrated Competing Values Framework

Learning OutcomesOn successful completion of this module participants will:

Identify and manage key fieldwork partnership relationships. Evaluate your own personal strategies for managing key fieldwork relationships. Develop a networking approach and strategy for your role as a Fieldwork Coordinator. Evaluate a range of influence building strategies which facilitate strong industry partnerships.

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Module TopicsThis module looks at the Broker role, adding to the other leadership roles that are explored in the Academic Leadership for Fieldwork Coordinators Program. Specifically, it explores creating and sustaining partnerships in the context of managing a fieldwork program and engaging the fieldwork community.

The topics to be covered are: Community engagement Managing upwards Using power and influence Networking Emotional intelligence.

Introduction to the Broker Role When using the Broker role as a fieldwork coordinator you will establish and maintain necessary networks within and outside of the university. A range of skills are required for successful brokering, many of which are covered in this module.

When using your Broker role you will be:

Influencing others, for example, WIL stakeholders to secure appropriate resources such as placements or academic staff to improve quality of teaching for Work Integrated Learning (WIL).

Understanding the critical type of support needed – critical people, ‘stakeholders’ to escalate engagement with your WIL community.

Building stable personal relationships. ‘Brokering’ the support of others. Developing and maintaining professional networks, for example, building relationships with

professional associations and agencies for WIL placements. Building and maintaining a professional image. Using persuasive skills.  Gaining the support of others. Promoting a positive image. Gaining support and getting the resources you need. Being politically astute.

When you overuse or inappropriately use your Broker role you will be:

Politically expedient. Power hungry.

A Community Engagement ModelIntroductionThe first question a fieldwork coordinator needs to ask is who is their WIL community? Portsmouth and Trede (2008) provide a synopsis of some key questions and considerations that need to be explored when working with a community, which are described below in the context of fieldwork coordination. A fieldwork community is a group of people who have something in common and in this case it would be WIL.

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As a fieldwork coordinator it is important to understand who are the stakeholders in your community. By having a well defined community, that are loyal and supportive of your program, it is easier to tailor communication messages, strategies and brokering techniques (the focus of this module) that are sensitive to, and reflect the concerns and interests of, your WIL community. Part of your community will also include those within your own workplace, such as your Head of School, Deans and academic colleagues. So in defining your community you need to think of both the internal and external stakeholders.

Having a well planned community engagement model in place will also help you to strategically broker the kind of knowledge, values and initiatives you want to drive in your fieldwork program, and is integral for high quality communication (Piotrow et al., 1997). You also need to ensure there is adequate two way flow of information to ensure you are hearing what your community is saying. Freire (1970) actually states that an effective model involves listening to hear what the community already knows, dialoguing, to see what needs to change, and negotiating through this process and then acting to make these changes, which may start the cycle again. It has long been argued that education and communication interventions will fail if they are designed by professionals without taking into account the assumptions, expectations and perspectives of the community they are directed towards (Freire, 1970). Given the multitude of changes facing universities, and in particular WIL initiatives, fieldwork coordinators must understand how to engage the community.

Fieldwork coordinators can be caught between what their Head of School and/or University tells them to do, or against a community that wants to do something totally different. For successful win-win outcomes, fieldwork coordinators may need to give up some control to the community itself for a successful outcome. The challenge for the fieldwork coordinator is to deal effectively with often conflicting values and priorities and work with the community (both internal and external) for a successful fieldwork program to succeed.

What is Community Engagement?The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE), in Victoria Australia, provides a rich set of resources which can be very applicable to thinking about community engagement in fieldwork. The DSE see engagement including: consultation, extension, communication, education, public participation, and participative democracy or working in partnership. In the case of fieldwork education, these 'engagement' principles can be used as a framework to describe the broad range of interactions between the university and WIL agencies. It can include a variety of approaches, such as one-way communication or information delivery, consultation, involvement and collaboration in decision-making, and empowered action in informal groups or formal partnerships.

'Community engagement' is a planned process with the specific purpose of working with identified groups of people, in this case your fieldwork community or stakeholders. The linking of the term 'community' to 'engagement' serves to broaden the scope, thus shifting the focus to a collective concept.

There are some principles of engagement which Petts and Leach (2000) note are key to underpinning successful engagement with your fieldwork community. These include:

Having clear objectives as to what you wish to achieve in collaboration with your community or WIL agencies. In other words, what each party provides to the other.

Being clear on agendas, procedures and quality processes.

Ensuring appropriate representativeness and inclusivity so that the community is fully represented.

Opportunities for deliberation, learning and responsiveness, as well as valuing what all stakeholders can offer.

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Transparency and trust through open communication and authentic relationships.

So what steps can you, a fieldwork coordinator, undertake to broker a more effective community engagement model? Below are two different community engagement models which you can use to think about the various ways you engage with your community. Consider these all Broker role tactics and strategies.

Table 1 is from Brown and Isaacs (1994) and they have developed a Six ‘C’s model, which provides a set of basic principles to guide any engagement planning process, including fieldwork coordination. Each of the Six ‘C’s have been extended in the form of a question which asks you to consider your leadership role as a fieldwork coordinator in the community engagement process.

Table 1: The Six ‘C’s of Successful Community Engagement

The Six ‘C’s of Successful Community Engagement

Capability The members are capable of dialogue. Question: Who are your key stakeholders in your fieldwork program who have this capability? Who can provide excellent input in to your WIL curriculum and future plans?

Commitment Mutual benefit beyond self interest. Question: Who are your key stakeholders in your fieldwork program? Who provides substantial commitment and will be an advocate and long term productive partner?

Contribution Members volunteer and there is an environment that encourages members to ‘have a go’ or take responsibility/risks. Question: How can you reward and acknowledge the contribution of members who undertake responsibilities, and work in support of your fieldwork program?

Continuity Members share or rotate roles and, and as members move on, there is a transition process that sustains and maintains the community corporate memory. Question: In an ongoing fieldwork program how do you ensure continuity while recognising those who volunteer and support the program will eventually need to move on? How do you consider succession planning and knowledge capture?

Collaboration Reliable interdependence. A clear vision with members operating in an environment of sharing and trust. Question: What are the goals and long term innovations and plans for the fieldwork program? How are these created, communicated and shared across the WIL community?

Conscience Embody or invoke guiding principles/ethics of service, trust and respect that are expressed in the actions of the community. Question: How do you model and acknowledge service, ethical practice, trust, respect and contribution to create a WIL community that is valued by its stakeholders?

Table 2 is adapted from the Public Participation Spectrum from the IAP2 - International Association for Public Participation. It provides different ways you might engage your community as a fieldwork coordinator, depending on the outcomes and objectives you want to achieve. It expands upon the Six

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‘C’s model further by looking at the goals underlying the engagement model. A fieldwork coordinator must be clear on what they are going to promise to their public, or in the case of a fieldwork program, their stakeholders.

Table 2: Public Participation Spectrum

Inform Consult Involve Collaborate Empower

Public Participation Goal

To provide stakeholders with balanced an d objective information to help them understand problems, solutions and alternatives to fieldwork program

To obtain stakeholder feedback on analysis, alternatives and /or decisions

To work directly with stakeholders throughout the process to ensure stakeholder concerns and aspirations are understood and considered

To partner with stakeholders in all aspects of the decision making process, including development of alternatives, innovations and identification of preferred solution(s).

To give final decision making to the stakeholders

Promise to Stakeholders

We will keep you informed

We will keep you informed, listen and acknowledge concerns and provide feedback on how stakeholder input influenced decision

We will work with you to ensure stakeholder concerns and directives are reflected in alternatives and provide feedback as to how these concerns and directives influenced the decision

We will look to stakeholders for direct advice and innovation in formulating solutions and incorporating advice into recommendations to the maximal extent possible

We will implement what you decide

Example Tools

Fact Sheets

Websites

Open Houses

Public Comment

Focus Groups

Surveys

Public Meetings

Workshops

Deliberate Polling

Committees

Consensus Building

Participatory decision making

Ballots

Delegating decision

Community decision group

There are a range of activities that fieldwork coordinators can use to work with their various stakeholders and communities to build engagement. Some of them are listed in Table 2 as example tools. The DSE website provides a summary of other tools which may be useful, for example, brainstorming, mind-mapping, consensus conferences and open houses. They can be used to create a toolkit to help you build your community engagement strategy.

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Practical ActivityActivity 1: In what ways do you engage with your community in planned and purposeful ways?

Break out into groups of 4. Each group will be given one engagement strategy from Table 2 to unpack further and to look for examples they have used as a fieldwork coordinator.

Also discuss tools used and the benefits/risks associated with this engagement strategy. Use the table above to guide your thinking.

We will revisit these in the larger group and share examples and explore where we focus our Brokering activities in terms of community engagement.

Example: Introduction of new Professional Association Evaluation of Competency Tool.

Strategy: Inform: Informing WIL Agencies of new competency evaluation guidelines. Fact sheet, website and open house. Benefit: easy to administer, one way communication, gets information out quickly to all stakeholders. Risks: may have questions, may not apply tool correctly. How do you deal with issues and concerns?

1. Inform

2. Consult

3. Involve

4. Collaborate

5. Empower

Managing UpwardsAccording to research by Kotter and Gabarro (1990) and reported in the Harvard Business Review (January 2005), fieldwork coordinators and leaders who believe they need to manage the relationship with their superiors (Head of School and/or Dean, for example), and who take a somewhat strategic approach in doing so, enjoy greater job satisfaction, effectiveness and career success than those who think it's solely the manager’s responsibility to manage and direct them.

This section aims to provide fieldwork coordinators with an opportunity to think about their relationship with their supervisor and how they can manage that relationship for the benefit of all: you, your superior, and your fieldwork program. Your supervisor in this context is considered to be your line manager and may be your Head of School, Dean of Teaching of Learning or the Pro Vice Chancellor of your Faculty. In other words, the person to whom you report to directly. The benefits of improving your relationship with your supervisor are many-fold. You can reduce physical and mental stress, increase opportunities for recognition and promotion, and assist you to implement innovative ideas for your fieldwork program. Your self confidence and motivation will improve as well as your job satisfaction. It can also help you to anticipate and avoid problems with your supervisor. Your supervisor is part of the internal stakeholder group in your community and you have to engage appropriately with him/her.

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Sometimes it feels easier to blame your supervisor or the system for problems instead of finding solutions. In fact, by apportioning blame, we very often absolve ourselves of any responsibility for finding a solution. Hence, managing upwards puts some responsibility back on to you to ensure that you can work towards solutions and increase your effectiveness as a fieldwork coordinator with your supervisor. One way of managing upwards and improving your relationship with your supervisor is to answer the questions on worksheet 1 for this module (see below) and see what results emanate. Once you get a greater picture of your relationship with your boss, you can enact specific strategies to improve and empower this working relationship.

Self-directed ActivitySelf-directed activity 1:

Conduct an audit of your working relationship with your supervisor. Explore each of the questions on worksheet 1 for this module, ‘Your Working Relationship with Your Supervisor’, and explore what possible action you can take to improve your relationship.

The Influence of PowerPower is an important part of managing upwards. Power relationships are constantly changing across stakeholders in a fieldwork programs. Power is also a part of empowerment so it isn't always a negative construct. In the academic and fieldwork settings power relationships can often be nebulous. While there are clear power relationships denoted by organisational structures (eg. Head of School and Staff, Agency Leader and Staff), there are also informal power relationships influenced by academic qualifications and institutional status. In some schools a successful teacher or a researcher with a prolific peer reviewed publication record may have more power and status than their Head of School! Heads of agencies and fieldwork supervisors that take a lot of students from an academic program can also have a lot of formal and informal power in a WIL fieldwork program.

A fieldwork coordinator needs to understand the power dimension in the academic and fieldwork setting to be successful, and to use this understanding to build relationships, gain influence, and to build their community engagement strategy. Bennis and Nanus (1995) found that among 90 individuals nominated by peers as most influential leaders, these leaders all had one characteristic—they made others feel powerful! Power, therefore, is not always a dirty word and the use of power to influence is not necessarily bad. It is always the context and the way in which it is applied that determines whether it is positive or negative.

Power can also be seen as a sign of personal efficacy such that you can mobilise resources to get work done. However, it is often powerlessness that causes conflict and problems in the workplace. Hence, fieldwork coordinators who can effectively manage upward, either through their supervisor or fieldwork program stakeholders can have their initiatives pushed through more effectively. They also create a more empowered stakeholder network because all stakeholders see the fieldwork coordinator as being able to influence those in charge.

Effective fieldwork coordinators, therefore, can get items on and off agendas, can access decision makers quickly and maintain regular contact, and can thus get information early about shifts in direction. This ability to influence stakeholders and events can be described in two ways (Brounstein, 2000), as noted in Table 3, below. Clearly the fieldwork coordinator can exert their influence in both ways, one through the use of their position and title, the other through the development of powerful relationships. However, it is the use of personal influence that builds commitment and is more likely to engage a community of stakeholders in the fieldwork program.

Table 3: Positional and Personal Influence

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Positional Influence (use title and authority) Personal Influence (earn respect through traits of honesty, integrity)

Exercise authorityMaintain chain of commandSeek controlEnd up getting compliance

Exercise personal qualitiesBuild relationshipsSeek colleague's ownership and involvementEnd up getting commitment

You can also build your influence by providing benefits to your supervisor and fieldwork stakeholders that are not requested or expected. Your power will also increase as you become more understanding of your supervisor and stakeholder’s needs and as you lighten their load and responsibilities.

You can benefit your stakeholders by paying attention to the following details. What ongoing problems does your supervisor and stakeholders generally face—how can you help to solve them?

What does your supervisor and stakeholder’s jobs entail - what are their biggest challenges?

What are your supervisor’s strengths and weaknesses and preferred styles of operating? How can you apply this knowledge to key stakeholders and your community?

Where do your own talents and expertise lie—how do they complement those of your supervisor and stakeholders?

How can you protect your supervisor and key stakeholders from unimportant or unwanted matters?

Listen carefully for multiple perspectives.

Other means of building your influence (Carlopio et al., 2001) include expanding your area of expertise, for example, becoming highly skilled in areas related to curriculum innovation and review, elearning, moderation and competency assessment. Building knowledge can enhance your power and influence through applying a scholarly approach to your fieldwork program operations. However, becoming an expert can also 'pigeon hole' you as a specialist and limit advancement or movement across the organisation if you don’t wish to remain in a fieldwork coordinator position long term.

Impression management is another important aspect of building influence. For example, how do you conduct yourself based on clues in the environment? This is what Daniel Goleman (1995) discusses in his book on Emotional Intelligence. This concept is discussed further in a later section in this module. Having high interpersonal and intrapersonal insight helps you to manage expectations of those around you and makes you more influential.

Your personal attraction also is an important component of your influence. It is not about being a supermodel. Instead, it is about agreeable behaviour and a neat and tidy appearance. This builds influence. Loyalty, honesty and unconditional positive regard and acceptance also build your personal attraction. Being able to sympathise and empathise when necessary and to engage in social exchanges necessary to sustain relationships are also critical for building your personal attraction and influence. If you are able to manage impressions about yourself and have high personal attraction, your arguments are more likely to be accepted by your fieldwork stakeholders and you will be seen as more trustworthy. Again, the importance of having good emotional intelligence is critical.

Personal effort will also increase your influence especially if you work hard on those projects that support your fieldwork stakeholders. This in turn increases your knowledge and you are more likely to be consulted when key decisions are being made. At managerial levels, high effort is also seen as a sign of dedication and commitment. It is interpreted very positively by your stakeholders if your efforts lead to the organisation and stakeholders reaching their fieldwork goals.

Finally, networking is also critical to build influence. You will always need others to complete your job. Research by Pfeffer and Konrad (1991) demonstrated that those with extensive social networks in work earned higher salaries and were more successful than those with narrow contacts. Your influence is accrued by being central to horizontal and vertical networks because your network will help you find solutions to your fieldwork problems. Hence, the more central you are to communication

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and information flow, the more power you will accrue and the more you will be able to influence and access support to find effective and efficient solutions.

NetworkingNetworking is critical for the fieldwork coordinator and is a skill that can be developed. The fieldwork coordinator needs strong networks both within the academic environment as well as in industry. For those fieldwork coordinators that do not invest in building these networks it will be much more difficult to implement ideas, get support for innovations and find extra placements and contacts to expand fieldwork initiatives. Fieldwork coordinators who can build strong networks both within the university and Industry settings will find it easier to manage and run their fieldwork programs and get support for new initiatives and program requirements.

Luthans (1988) cited in Robbins et al. (2004) illustrated this point in the diagram below with managers, reporting that those who were more successful spent more time networking in comparison to average managers and effective managers. While effective managers may get the job done, when change and innovation are needed, they may be left short in comparison to a fieldwork coordinator with strong networks.

Figure 2: Time spent by managers on different functions

Why does networking work? Well it is based on three laws or principles described by Henderson (2005) which are a law of abundance, reciprocity and giving without expectation. These laws specify that there are plenty of people willing to network and share opportunities and even resources, without an expectation for something in return. Through the act of selfless giving, benefits often return to those who give, and thus the network expands and supports one another. Consider a fieldwork coordinator who is facing a program expansion of 20 students, or has a cancellation of 5 student placements. The fieldwork coordinator with strong networks will more likely be able to find additional placements than the fieldwork coordinator with a poor network.

Networking is a skill and several rules have been suggested in the literature (Tarrant, 2007).

Be clear about what you want to achieve. Have short and long term goals. Be altruistic, what can you offer to others that helps them? Build credibility, trust and be authentic.

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Follow through quickly on promises or referrals to demonstrate respect for the sharing of resources.

Referrals and contacts come with your reputation so build a profile where people see you as the one to go to.

Focus on quality contacts, not quantity.

As a fieldwork coordinator, consider the networks that you currently have in place? What networks might be missing, or need to be developed, in order to help you achieve your program objectives. Consider the strategies and effort you will need to build in order to create and nurture these networks.

Self-directed ActivitySelf-directed activity 2:

Consider your networks in your role as fieldwork coordinator in both the academic setting and WIL setting through completing the module worksheet (2), ‘Your Networks.’

As mentioned earlier, networking is a skill and can be developed further. What is important is to consider what your outcomes are for networking, and to consider what you can offer others in exchange. During the networking process be authentic, build trust, and get to know the whole person. If an individual expresses an interest in building a contact or provides a referral, act quickly on anything promised during that interchange to build your credibility within that network. This is how you build your reputation. Similarly, focus on a few individuals per networking event, rather than trying to get to know everyone. A quality contact will expand your network much more than three superficial contacts.

Emotional IntelligenceGoleman (1995) describes Emotional Intelligence, or EI, as being able to understand and recognise your emotions and to be able to manage them. For example, managing emotions means being able to shake off anger, anxiety or gloom and mobilise an emotion which is more productive, particularly in an organisational context. Further, being able to recognise emotions in others and responding empathetically is another facet of Goleman's EI model. Lastly, having skills in handling relationships, as a result of the emotional cues you have received is critical. Skills such as assertiveness, active listening, coaching, and conflict management are important. In order to improve one’s leadership skills in the Broker role, the fieldwork coordinator needs to understand the concept of EI and build this leadership competency.

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Self-directed ActivitySelf-directed activity 3: What is your emotional IQ?

This emotional intelligence test consists of two parts; a self-report portion and an ability portion. The test assesses your capacity to recognise your own emotions and those of others; understand how best to motivate yourself; become close to others; and manage your own feelings and those of others. Emotional intelligence contributes a great deal to your potential in life. Poor emotional intelligence can hold a brilliant individual back from achieving his or her goals, while a good level of emotional intelligence can help someone who might otherwise struggle achieve success in life.

Visit, Queendom – The land of tests, to measure your Emotional Intelligence.

Note: Whilst this inventory notes it has been scientifically validated – this online test is not an industry standard such as the Bar-On Eqi or the MSCEIT. These tests must be administered by a registered assessor. There is also a surcharge if you wish to purchase the full detailed Queendom.com test.

While Daniel Goleman popularised the concept of EI, others were working on this concept beforehand. For example, Mayer and Salovey (1997) describe emotional intelligence in terms of how people perceive and express their emotions, how these emotions are assimilated into thought processes and then understood and analysed. From here, how individuals then attribute this emotional analysis to their relationships is another part of the model, with monitoring and regulation important facets of emotional control.

Bar-On (2000) also was investigating emotional intelligence and defined it as a person's mix of non-cognitive capabilities, competencies and skills in dealing with emotions. Things such as intrapersonal skill (self awareness and assertiveness), interpersonal skill (relationship management, social responsibility and empathy), adaptability (reality testing and problem solving) and stress management are all components of Bar-On's emotional intelligence abilities model.

All of these researchers note the importance of emotional intelligence. Its link to leadership and the fieldwork coordinator role is obvious. Imagine a fieldwork coordinator not being able to manage their frustration when one of their larger teaching facilities cancels placements or does not offer the same number of placements in the following academic year. Poor emotional control can destroy the relationship and ruin any chances of negotiation in terms of increased placement numbers. Positive emotions generate positive emotions in others, a term called resonance. The more fieldwork coordinators are aware of their emotions, and their abilities to manage and use them, the more effective will be your networking and influencing skills.

The Six Leadership Styles and Emotional IntelligenceWith respect to Daniel Goleman's model of emotional intelligence, he has been able to extend this to leadership. In his research on leadership, he has identified six leadership styles that flow on from emotional intelligence. These are described more fully in his article Goleman (2000) "Leadership that Gets Results". Goleman has demonstrated that having a repertoire of at least 4 of the 6 leadership styles will have a positive impact on organisational productivity. In the case of the fieldwork coordinator, this means a more productive, dynamic and successful WIL experience for students through the use of emotionally intelligent leadership capabilities by the fieldwork coordinator.

The most important styles which influence organisational productivity in a positive manner are:

Authoritative (Visionary) - setting clear goals, having a vision, sharing this with stakeholders. This is synonymous with the Deliverer role in the ICVF.

Coaching- investing in stakeholders, supporting them to perform their work well. This is synonymous with the Developer role in the ICVF.

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Affiliative - team building, conflict management, building friendly bonds with stakeholders. This is synonymous with the Developer role in the ICVF.

Democratic - involving stakeholders in decision making, seeking input, and consensus. This cuts across the Deliverer, Developer and Broker roles in the ICVF.

The two other styles need to be used sparingly as they can have negative impacts on organisational productivity if used too often. These two styles are:

Pacesetting - demanding high standards, high levels of output, increased productivity at all times. This is synonymous with the Deliverer role in the ICVF, particularly if used excessively.

Coercive - using power and authority to push stakeholders into compliance and performance. This cuts across the Broker and Deliverer roles, particularly if used excessively and aggressively.

For example, consider a fieldwork coordinator who is facing placement shortages in an accounting program. A program expansion, combined with a shortage of qualified accountants in the city is exacerbating the problem. A decision to move to dyadic placements where two accounting students work in collaboration, under the supervision of a single accountant is proposed as a strategy to increase exposure to this practice area for its students. A fieldwork coordinator with strong visionary skills would be able to sell their reasons, rationale, outcomes, and benefits to stakeholders and convince them that moving in this direction is a good strategy. They would listen carefully to the concerns of the stakeholders and take on board their suggestions, strategies and possible alternatives, which is a demonstration of the democratic leadership style. They may push the coercive and pacesetting dimensions of their leadership to get commitment from a few agencies to run a pilot program of this model, yet use their affiliation skills to support, congratulate and comment on them throughout the pilot, finally showcasing them to their fieldwork community. Lastly, they would use their coaching skills to organise support and training for the students and supervisors to work within this alternative model of WIL.

Self-directed ActivitySelf-directed activity 4:

For each of the leadership dimensions listed on the associated worksheet (3) (‘Leadership Styles and Emotional Intelligence’), consider your own leadership approaches within the fieldwork coordinator role. Which styles do you use frequently, moderately, rarely? What are the impacts of these leadership styles you employ? How are they important in building a community engagement strategy? Provide your summary in the space provided on the worksheet.

Having an intimate knowledge of this leadership framework helps us to further identify our development needs as leaders and how to broker our skills in building stronger community engagement models. Use this additional leadership framework to supplement your awareness of your development needs and read more about the applications of Emotional Intelligence and Leadership in Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., and McKee, A. (2001). Primal Leadership.

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A case study – Broker Role

You are a 36 year old full time academic, Stephen Ratchapurra who completed his Ph.D. in clinical pharmacology 2 years ago. You hold a permanent Lecturer position in a School of Pharmacy. Your role involves part time fieldwork coordination (40%), teaching pharmacology to the undergraduate students (30%), and conducting drug trials in collaboration with Pfizer (a drug company) and supervision of Masters and Honours students (30%). You have been with the School for a year and were recruited because of your research background and industry connections.

Your Head of School (HOS), Stephen Gestburg, is very conservative, has a traditional view of pharmacy having been with the University for 21 years (7 of which has been in the HOS role). He will be stepping down at the end of his term in 3 more years. He is nearing retirement and most likely wants to leave behind a legacy of having run a solid and good school. He is a direct person, prefers face to face communication and wants loyalty from his staff. The school, one of two in the State, turns out adequate graduates capable of servicing the community in local pharmacies and hospitals. The second school opened 3 years ago in response to a demand for more pharmacists in the State/Country.

You have a very broad view of the role of the pharmacist in society and have been somewhat frustrated by the traditionalist view in this school (placing students in conventional pharmacies – hospital based and community based) but have not really been in a position to influence a change in focus. This is due in part to being relatively new on staff and concerns that the Head of School may not share your vision for the WIL program.

At present your job entails organising the placements for the students through the agency contact, sending out the evaluation instruments, collecting them and forwarding the results to the Board of Examiners. You also intervene in any student placement problems. The role is very transactional and administrative. You can see a greater role for partners in the WIL community at the University, in particular, for expanding placement numbers and models, providing input in to the academic curriculum, as well as building networks and contacts for more innovative and cutting edge placement experiences.

You want to engage the community more so in the WIL program and be seen as the preferred provider and program for pharmacy education in the State. From what you have observed in your role for the past year there is not much engagement with the WIL community. Students are placed in agencies and recruited for employment upon graduation. Beyond this, there is little reciprocal engagement between the WIL community and the academic program and University other than that related to the administration of placements.

Questions• Who might be the key stakeholders with a specific interest in building a stronger

partnership between the University and the WIL agencies?

• What level of engagement might be appropriate for these various stakeholders? How could this engagement be structured/implemented?

• What information might be needed to support this community engagement?• What protocols, systems and processes might need to be put in to place to support this

community engagement?• What are some possible ways in which this community engagement model could be

resourced?

In answering the above questions, consider how could some of the brokering strategies* discussed in this module be used to build and strengthen a community engagement model and to bring the Head of School on board with this initiative?

* Managing Upwards, Expertise, Personal Attraction, Effort, Position Power, Sources of Influence, Emotional Intelligence.*

Task: How might you ‘broker’ a successful community engagement model for this program?

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Practical Activity

Additional ResourcesCialdini, R. B. (2001). Harnessing the science of persuasion. Harvard Business Review, 79(9), 72–

79.

Grayson, C. C., & Baldwin, D. (2007). Tapping in: How leaders can become effective networkers. Leadership in Action, 27(5), 14–18.

Iarocci, J. J. (2006). Leading, experts, and expertise. The American Review of Public Administration, 36(4), 385–386.

Ibarra, H., & Hunter, M. (2007). How leaders create and use networks. Harvard Business Review, 85(1), 40–47.

Riggio, R. E., & Lee, J. (2007). Emotional and interpersonal competencies and leader development. Human Resource Management Review, 17(4), 418–426.

ReferencesBar-On, R. (2000). Emotional and social intelligence. The handbook of emotional intelligence. The

theory and practice of development, evaluation, education, and application-at home, school, and in the workplace. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Bennis, W. & Nannus. B. (1995). Leaders: The strategies for taking charge. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Brounstein, M. (2000). Coaching and mentoring for dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books.

Brown, J., & Isaacs, D. (1994). ‘Merging the best of two worlds the core processes of organisations as communities’. In P. Senge, A. Kleiner, C. Roberts, R. Ross & B. Smith (Eds.). The fifth discipline fieldbook: strategies and tools for building a learning organization. Doubleday/Currency Publications.

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