Page 307 - 4- Leading_from_Within

development organization to foster learning. In fact, the organization that
is likely to be successful in the future might be called the “learning
organization.” The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only
sustainable competitive advantage, according to Arie De Geus, head of

planning for Royal Dutch/Shell. The organizations that will truly excel in
the future will be those that discover how to tap people’s commitment and
capacity to learn at all levels in an organization. 336 Therefore, one of the
core competencies of effective leaders is the ability to develop other leaders
that are engaged in the organization. 337 This process was covered in
Chapter 11.

When an organization shares a genuine vision, people excel and learn.
This is not because they are told to, but because they want to. In learning
organizations, leaders are responsible for building organizations where people
continually expand their capabilities to understand complexity, clarify vision, . . .
that is, they are responsible for learning. 338 The organization leader, or

executive director, should take on the responsibility for designing the
learning process, maintaining that process over time, and leading people
through that process.

The Economic Developer as Community Leader

Local leaders, recognizing a lack of critical expertise and experience in

economic development matters, turn to those individuals who have the
necessary background and skills to assist in improving the local economic
situation. Typically, they hire a “paid expert” or “outside” professional as
executive director of the economic development organization.

Try as one might, the economic developer usually remains somewhat the

outsider in the community. This is often demonstrated when the
professional executive loses his or her job, and is no longer perceived as a
credible leader. Many professionals are too mobile to spend the necessary

336 Senge, Peter M. The Fifth Discipline:: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (New York:
Doubleday, 1990), p. 4
337 Tichy, N.M. The Leadership Engine: How Winning Companies Build Leaders at Every Level. New
York: HarperBusiness, 1997.
338 Senge, Peter M. The Fifth Discipline:: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (New York:
Doubleday, 1990), p. 340.

David Kolzow 307