Date of Submission

5-15-2021

Document Type

DiP

Degree

Doctor of Education

Department

Education

Keywords

virtually constructed leadership, adaptive leadership, connective leadership, authentic leadership, appreciative inquiry, organizational volunteerism

Abstract

Through the eyes of a leader within a virtual non-profit organization (referred to as the Centre), this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores the lack of formal accountability amongst an international team of volunteers. The lack of formal accountability has the potential to hinder all interactions of the team, decreasing efficiency of the organization and ultimately decreasing its impact on beneficiaries. The relationship between the volunteer leaders and the Centre is described as organizational volunteerism, where organizations are voluntarily contributing their human resources to benefit the international community. This improvement plan examines a combination of complementary leadership approaches that form a conceptual model of virtually constructed leadership. The main leadership approaches are adaptive leadership to enhance accountability, authentic leadership to explore virtual identity, and connective leadership to encourage collaboration. Through an exploration of the organizational context and possible solutions, this OIP ultimately proposes a solution of home-grown accountability where home organizations take a larger role in participating in the work of the Centre through a more formal relationship. The solution allows leaders in the Centre to leverage the structure of the home organization to create a sense of formal accountability in the volunteer team. The change implementation plan for this solution is built around appreciative inquiry, a constructivist approach to change that focuses on the potential of the organization, and engaging the passion and commitment of volunteers. Appreciative inquiry as a change model is used to develop collaboration and accountability within the volunteer team, ultimately improving the effectiveness of the Centre in its goals for today and the future.

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