Many people think of “leaders” as those who are elected officials, serve in official capacities within government institutions or are heads of large companies and directors of trade or business groups.
The Harwood Institute has developed five leadership layers that extend throughout a community. Each kind of leader plays a distinct and vital community role.
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Official Leaders |
People who hold elected positions, work for government agencies or are heads of large institutions. Examples include the mayor, state legislators, city council members, non-elected government officials, school board members, chief executives of major businesses, presidents of community foundations. |
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Civic Leaders |
People who hold recognized civic positions within the community. Examples include leaders of religious institutions, heads of civic organizations, the chamber of commerce head, neighborhood association leaders. The Harwood Institute has found that civic leaders usually are the people reporters go to when trying to expand their sources. |
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Connectors |
People who move in between organizations and civic conversations. They tend to be people who interact with multiple organizations, institutions and people–carrying and spreading ideas, messages and social norms from place to place. Connectors often have no official capacity. |
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Catalysts |
Leaders people look to in their everyday lives for community expertise, historical perspective and wisdom. They often are responsible for encouraging others to get involved in civic life. Catalysts are the respected neighbors, co-workers and lay church leaders in people’s lives. |
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Experts |
People who act as leaders in the community because of their specialized knowledge–such as a planner, college or university professor, doctor or lawyer, criminologist. While such experts are crucial to reporting, The Harwood Institute finds in its work with journalists that experts can be the quick and easy interview. They don’t usually help journalists explore how people in the community feel or think about an issue. |
>> Quick Note <<
To streamline this workbook, the “official” and “civic” leader categories identified have been combined into a single category; “connectors” and “catalysts” into another. Still, always keep in mind the subtle but important differences between the four types of leaders when tapping into civic life.
“One of the things we learned in civic mapping was to test our sense of issues against the perspective of people within various civic layers. We knew from civic leaders in Eastlake, a new development, that traffic was a big issue. They cited two major roadway improvements under consideration or debate. Residents agreed that traffic was a big issue, but their definition of “traffic” was very different from that of civic leaders. Their most pressing traffic issues involved traffic in neighborhoods and around schools.”
– Karen Lin Clark
South County Editor, The San Diego Union-Tribune