What we are missing for SDG6: Water leaders at all levels in our workplaces

Big bold visionary ideas are nothing until they are taken up and taken forward by practitioners with strong leadership skills. The challenge of achieving SDG6 requires a collective human effort at unprecedented speed and scale, in which leadership skills are fundamental to our success. Already in 2007, One Thousand Water Leaders was the call to action of the 4th Delft Symposium on Water Sector Capacity Development. This message from the participants drew on the pioneering work by Guy Alaerts and collaborating partners at the then UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, now IHE Delft. The framework they developed was the first to recognize three levels for capacity development: in individuals, in institutions, and in the enabling environment (Alaerts, 2009; Luijendijk & Lincklaen Arriëns, 2008). Prompted by the call for water leaders, the 5th Delft Symposium discussed a fresh harvest of papers on water leadership development. Researchers and water sector capacity development practitioners at the International WaterCentre (IWC) in Brisbane introduced the concept of the T-shaped water professional alongside a framework for building capacity for innovation through collaboration, learning, and leadership (McIntosh & Taylor, 2013). Importantly, they also shared lessons from a new program they had created for building water leadership capacity to drive change (Taylor & McIntosh, 2012). This initiative became the award-winning and highly acclaimed Water Leadership Program, which has now run for over a decade and caters mainly to water professionals in Australia and New Zealand. Participants at the 5th Delft Symposium also learned about a study of water policy entrepreneurs and change strategies with lessons from 16 cases of water transitions around the world (Meijerink & Huitema, 2010). Moreover, an overview of knowledge and experiences on water leadership was presented that explored water leadership from several perspectives and analyzed nine project cases with an expanded framework of water leadership in five dimensions, including individuals, organizations, partnerships, communities, and the enabling environment (Lincklaen Arriëns & Wehn de Montalvo, 2013). Building on this knowledge and experience, the 5th Delft Symposium saw the adoption of a set of global quality standards for water leadership development programs, recognizing the results of a collaborative project between UNESCO-IHE (2013) and the Asian Development Bank and the pioneering work at IWC. What has been done since? Where are we now in 2024, a decade after introducing water leadership development as an integral part of capacity development in the water sector? And, in particular, where are we after two major global water conferences, the UN Water Conference in New York in 2023 and the 10th World Water Forum in Bali in 2024? In this regard, we were excited to hear about the multitude of visionary new water initiatives announced at these two global conferences to transform the water sector into a more integrated, inclusive, and climate-resilient space. And we noted that both events championed a focus on more collaborative actions. What has alarmed us, however, is the lack of a systematic focus on capacity development, particularly in relation to leadership. In Bali, for example, of the more than 200 sessions at the 10th World Water Forum, only two flagged capacity development in the title. Of course, we heard in some of the sessions about the human capital needed to drive, implement, and sustain the grand plans. Most of that, however, dealt with building technical capacity and financial skills, not leadership development, the fundamental “secret sauce” needed to drive, sustain, and change the way that water sector organizations operate singly and together. While the term water leaders was frequently mentioned in deliberations in Bali, it seemed to be limited to the need for executive leaders in water utilities, political leaders, and youth as future leaders. Other than a special event organized by IWC, there was, remarkably to us, nothing organized specifically on water leadership development. This, for us, raises important questions about the success we can expect from the range of newly announced water programs and how they are expected to bring the achievement of SDG6 targets within reach. New initiatives will work or fail directly as a consequence of the depth of leadership capacity in water sector organizations across the world. We know this from decades of research into organizational success and failure and into the factors that influence the outcomes of innovation and change processes. It is not that water professionals have not thought about the skills they and their workforces need. What concerns us is that organizations in the water sector are not investing sufficiently in building capacity to deliver on SDG6 initiatives and programs systematically at all levels, especially in leadership. That is why we question if the past decade has been lost in terms of developing the capacity of water leaders who can drive the changes needed to achieve SDG6, including the visionary plans announced at the global events in 2023 and 2024. We need water sector professionals to have the skills and tools to create and sustain high-performing teams—the engines of project and program work; to build the networks and partnerships within and across organizations so vital for affecting change in the water sector; to be able to use those networks to create a common direction, the alignment of resources to that direction, and a commitment to success; and to be able to navigate through the volatility, uncertainty, and complexity created by the impacts of climate change. Without these skills for working with and leading others, sophisticated and well-designed plans for delivering on SDG6 will not be realized, and certainly not in the timeframe we need them to be. Visionary plans for accelerating progress towards the achievement of SDG6 rely on collaboration. So, leadership development, which first of all emphasizes the development of oneself (self-leadership) and then the development of feedback-seeking, listening-oriented, and often enabling approaches to working with others, is even more critical right now, with leadership skills needed at scale and rapidly to get us back on track in terms of SDG6 implementation. Leadership skills are fundamental to directing, motivating, and ensuring the success of collective human effort. We know this from a wide range of organizational and sectoral contexts (Kouzes & Posner, 2012; Northouse, 2021). They are not the exclusive purview of formal, executive leaders at the top of organizations and teams. Everyone working in a team within an organization, trying to progress something different through projects or programs of work, will need these skills. We argue that all of us water professionals need to be thinking about this challenge to ensure that today's grand plans for transformation in water can actually be realized. We need, in particular, to understand why the lack of leadership is, right now, a critical bottleneck for transformative changes in the water sector. Meanwhile, the world beyond the water sector has seen significant changes over the past decade, and so has the science and art of leadership development. Take, for example, the more widely felt need for practicing inclusive leadership, and for prioritizing the well-being and resilience of staff every day and in difficult times such as we experienced during and after the Covid pandemic. Inclusive leadership has now become a must for many remote and hybrid teams (see, e.g., Bourke, 2021). The personal challenges faced by many staff in workplaces around the world are illustrated in the 2024 Global Learning & Skills Trends Report compiled by Udemy Business (2024), which quotes Gallup saying that “more than half of global employees are struggling with burnout, daily negative emotions, and a sense that their organization cares little about their wellbeing.” Furthermore, the widespread problems with a lack of cross-generational (Crossgen) leadership in many workplaces point to the need for new ways to bring Gen Z, Gen Y, Gen X, and Boomers together for innovation and higher performance. This requires new ways for generational biases to be uncovered and addressed, together with the introduction of new skills and behaviors for leaders in each generation. With these widespread challenges, achieving SDG6 becomes an even taller order than it already is today. Big bold visionary ideas are nothing until they are taken up and taken forward by practitioners with strong leadership skills. We argue, therefore, that it is high time to empower water organizations globally with skilled water leaders at all levels so that they will be able to achieve their visionary plans and help us achieve SDG6. Building on more than a decade of experience and using a set of practical, evidence-based frameworks and tools, IWC has been working to develop a pathway for self-motivated water professionals and practitioners globally to move through three levels of progressively more challenging and powerful leadership development experiences. Experience has shown that water professionals applying these frameworks and tools will obtain immediate benefits in their project and program work for themselves and their teams. With their commitment to grow as water leaders, they can continually strengthen their leadership capacity and magnify their impact as water leaders. We see the need to bring water leadership development to speed and scale through innovative approaches and evidence-based methods like a focus on showing up frequently with leadership behaviors, the combination of coaching and mentoring, and for participants to work (together) on a project challenge. Please take the time to reflect and then connect. Together, we can build the necessary leadership capabilities across the water sector that can bring us back on track to achieve SDG6. Advancing international water leadership development is truly a collaborative challenge and opportunity. We acknowledge the pioneering work of our colleagues Andre Taylor, Regina Souter, the late Mark Pascoe, Peter Wegener, Kerryn Devenny, Vanh Mixap, Bronwyn Powell, Belinda Chapman, Jan Luijendijk, Guy Alaerts, Uta Wehn de Montalvo, Carel Keuls, and Andres Cabrera Flamini, as well as the valuable inputs by Celine Marchenay, Zaki Shubber, Terry Liguori, Rashmi Shrestha, Sabah Iqbal, and Fany Wedahuditama as innovation leaders in the Grow3Leaders community of practice. 可持续发展目标6缺少什么:工作场所中的各级水领导者 “大胆的远见想法在被具有强大领导能力的实践者采纳和推进之前什么也不是。” 全球水能力建设错失的十年? 实现可持续发展目标6一事面临的挑战需要人类以前所未有的速度和规模共同努力, 其中领导力技能是我们成功的关键。 早在2007年, 第四届代尔夫特水部门能力发展研讨会就发出了一项名为“一千名水领导者”的行动呼吁。与会者的这一信息借鉴了Guy Alaerts及其合作伙伴在当时的联合国教科文组织-IHE水教育研究所 (现IHE代尔夫特)的开创性工作。他们提出的框架是首个“认识到能力发展的三个层次”的框架, 这三个层次分别为:个人、机构和有利环境 (Alaerts, 2009; Luijendijk & Lincklaen Arriens, 2008)。 在水领导者的呼吁下, 第五届代尔夫特研讨会讨论了一批有关水领导力发展的新论文。布里斯班国际水中心 (IWC)的研究人员和水部门能力发展从业人员介绍了T型水专业人员的概念, 以及一项通过协作、学习和领导力建设创新能力的框架 (McIntosh & Taylor, 2013)。重要的是, 他们还分享了其为建设水领导能力以推动变革而创建的新计划的经验教训 (Taylor & McIntosh, 2012)。这项举措成为屡获殊荣、备受赞誉的水领导力计划, 该计划现已运行十多年, 主要面向澳大利亚和新西兰的水专业人士。 第五届代尔夫特研讨会的参与者还了解了一项关于水政策企业家和变革战略的研究, 该研究吸取了来自世界各地16个水转型案例的经验教训 (Meijerink & Huitema, 2010)。此外, 还概述了关于水领导力的知识和经验, 从多个角度探究了水领导力, 并使用一项包含五个维度 (个人、组织、伙伴关系、社区和有利环境)的水领导力的扩展框架来分析九个项目案例 (Lincklaen Arriëns & Wehn de Montalvo, 2013)。 基于这些知识和经验, 第五届代尔夫特研讨会通过了一套用于水领导力发展计划的全球质量标准, 认可了联合国教科文组织-IHE与亚洲开发银行的合作项目成果以及IWC的开创性研究。 此后展开了哪些工作?在“将水领导力发展作为水部门能力建设不可或缺的一部分”一事开始后的第十年, 我们现在处于什么位置?特别地, 在两次重要的全球水会议, 即2023年在纽约举行的联合国水会议和2024年在巴厘岛举行的第十届世界水论坛之后, 我们处于什么位置? 在这方面, 我们很高兴听到这两个全球会议上宣布了众多富有远见的新水务举措, 旨在将水部门转变为一个更加一体化、包容性和气候适应性更强的领域。我们注意到, 这两次会议都倡导增进合作的行动。 然而, 令我们感到担忧的是, 缺乏对能力建设的系统性关注, 特别是在领导力方面。例如, 在巴厘岛举行的第十届世界水论坛的200多场会议中, 只有两场会议的标题提到了能力建设。当然, 我们在一些会议上听到了“推动、实施和维持大计划”一事所需的人力资本。然而, 其中大部分都涉及建设技术能力和财务技能, 而不是领导力建设, 而领导力建设是推动、维持和改变水部门组织单独和共同运作方式所需的基本“秘诀”。 虽然水领导者一词在巴厘岛会议中被频繁提及, 但它似乎仅限于对“水务公司高管、政治领袖、以及青年作为未来领袖”的需求。除了IWC组织的一次特别活动外, 令我们惊讶的是, 没有专门针对水领导力发展的活动。 对我们来说, 这提出了一些重要的问题, 后者有关于我们期待一系列新宣布的水计划所能取得的成功, 以及这些计划如何能实现可持续发展目标6的目标。新计划的成功或失败直接取决于世界各地水部门组织领导能力的深度。我们根据几十年的研究得出这一结论, 我们的研究聚焦于组织成功与失败, 以及创新和变革过程结果的影响因素。 这并不是说水专业人士没有考虑过他们及其员工所需的技能。我们担心的是, 水部门的组织没有充分投资于能力建设, 以便各个层面 (特别是领导层)以系统性的方式实施可持续发展目标6倡议和计划。这就是为什么我们质疑“过去十年在培养能够推动实现可持续发展目标6(包括在2023年和2024年全球活动中宣布的愿景计划)所需变革的水务领导者的能力方面”是否已经迷失了方向。 我们需要水行业专业人士具备以下技能和工具来:创建和维持高绩效团队 (项目和计划工作的引擎)；在组织内部和跨组织间建立网络和伙伴关系, 这对于影响水行业的变革至关重要；能够利用这些网络制定共同方向, 将资源与该方向相结合并致力于成功；能够应对气候变化影响造成的动荡、不确定性和复杂性。如果没有这些与他人合作以及领导他人的技能, 那些用于实现可持续发展目标6的复杂且精心设计的计划将无法实现, 而且肯定无法在我们需要的时间内实现。 加快实现可持续发展目标6的愿景计划依赖于合作。因此, 领导力发展在当下更为重要, 因为它首先强调自我发展 (自我领导力), 然后强调寻求反馈、倾听导向和与他人合作的积极方法。领导力发展需要大规模的领导技能, 并迅速让我们在可持续发展目标6的实施方面重回正轨。 领导力技能对于指导、激励和确保人类集体努力的成功至关重要。我们从广泛的组织和部门情境中了解到这一点 (Kouzes & Posner, 2012; Northouse, 2021)。它们并不是组织和团队高层正式执行领导者的专属职权范围。在组织团队中工作的每个人, 那些试图通过项目或工作计划取得不同进展的人, 都需要这些技能。 我们论证, 所有水专业人士都需要思考这一挑战, 以确保当今水转型的宏伟计划能够真正实现。我们尤其需要了解为什么领导力的缺乏是目前水行业转型变革的关键瓶颈。 我们对水领导力发展的了解 与此同时, 水行业以外的世界在过去十年中发生了重大变化, 领导力发展的科学和技术也发生了变化。例如, 人们越来越普遍地感受到需要实践包容性领导力, 并优先考虑员工的福祉和适应力, 无论是在日常还是在困难时期, 例如我们在新冠疫情期间和之后所经历的困难时期。包容性领导力现在已成为许多远程和混合团队的必备素质 (see, for example, Bourke, 2021)。 Udemy Business编制的《2024年全球学习与技能趋势报告》(2024)阐述了世界各地职场中许多员工所面临的个人挑战, 该报告引用Gallup的话说:“全球超过一半的员工正在与倦怠、日常负面情绪、以及组织不太关心他们福祉的感觉作斗争。” 此外, 许多工作场所普遍缺乏跨代际 (Crossgen)领导力, 这表明需要采用新方法将Z世代、Y世代、X世代和婴儿潮一代团结起来, 共同实现创新和更高的绩效。这需要采用新方法来发现和解决代际偏见, 同时为每一代领导者引入新技能和新行为。 面对这些普遍存在的挑战, 实现可持续发展目标6的任务比现在更加艰巨。大胆的愿景想法只有在被拥有强大领导能力的实践者采纳和推进后才算数。因此, 我们认为, 现在是时候为全球水组织在各个层面配备熟练的水领导者了, 这样它们才能实现其愿景计划, 帮助我们实现可持续发展目标6。 基于十多年的经验, 并使用一套实用的、基于证据的框架和工具, IWC一直致力为全球有上进心的水专业人士和从业人员开辟一条道路, 使他们能够经历三个层次的、越来越具有挑战性和更强大的领导力发展经历。 经验表明, 应用这些框架和工具的水专业人士将在他们的项目和计划工作中为自己和团队获得立竿见影的收益。凭借他们成长为水领导者的承诺, 他们能不断加强领导能力并扩大其作为水领导者的影响力。 我们认为有必要通过创新方法和基于证据的方法来加快和扩大水领导力发展, 例如专注于经常展示领导力行为、将指导和辅导相结合、以及让参与者 (共同)应对项目挑战。 再次呼吁行动 请花时间思考, 然后建立联系。我们能共同打造水行业所需的领导能力, 让我们重回实现可持续发展目标6的轨道。 致谢 推进国际水领导力发展确实是一项合作挑战, 也是一次机遇。我们感谢同事Andre Taylor、Regina Souter、已故的Mark Pascoe、Peter Wegener、Kerryn Devenny、Vanh Mixap、Bronwyn Powell、Belinda Chapman、Jan Luijendijk、Guy Alaerts、Uta Wehn de Montalvo、Carel Keuls和Andres Cabrera Flamini的开创性工作, 以及作为Grow3Leaders实践社区创新领导者的Celine Marchenay、Zaki Shubber、Terry Liguori和Fany Wedahuditama 的宝贵意见。 Lincklaen Alaerts, and capacity development as for and change. 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