LEARNING TO LEAD IN FELLOWSHIP: APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT FOR CIVIL SOCIETY
This learning brief reflects on approaches to leadership development, and is authored by one of the facilitators involved in DGMT’s Innovation Fellowship for young leaders in civil society. It’s a glimpse into the evolution of the facilitation team’s thinking about the programme’s design, in their efforts to cultivate the leadership qualities needed to address the unique challenges and opportunities for those working in civil society. Through this brief, the facilitators hope to inspire people to think differently about leadership development and adapt innovative methods for building leadership in their own contexts.
Cultivate and connect imaginative leaders
INTRODUCTION:
WHAT IS THE DGMT INNOVATION FELLOWSHIP?
DGMT has set three goals to help South Africa escape the inequality trap, and has identified 10 powerful opportunities to realise each goal. This forms the guiding framework for everything the organisation does. The first goal is an innovative and inclusive society, which can build the scaffolding for human and knowledge capital to thrive and drive public innovation. One of the key drivers of public innovation is the capacitation of leadership. DGMT has long held the view that civil society should take its equal place alongside government and business in shaping the social and economic future of South Africa. This requires a pipeline of skilled, confident leaders with a strong sense of identity as public innovators.
Leadership for public innovation is not limited to the organisational realm, but also includes community leaders and mobilisers who drive collective action for change in their communities. DGMT believes that community ownership and participation are fundamental tenets in building a sense of pride and aspiration.
Enter the DGMT Innovation Fellowship: a project that develops young leaders across South Africa who are working in the civil society sector. Over the course of a year, and through a series of immersive workshops, coaching sessions and field assignments, a team of facilitators and coaches support two fellows from each participating organisation to become innovative change agents within their organisations and in the wider sector.
The fellowship has sought primarily to contribute to the leadership capabilities of young and emerging leaders, who do not (yet) occupy positions of organisational leadership, but have shown the potential for and an interest in taking on leadership roles. In some cases, the idea of themselves as leaders of and within organisations is still taking shape, and the opportunities for personal and professional development are limited.
The project encourages connections and collegial bonds between fellows and supports them as they graduate into the Fellowship Alumni network. By nurturing new leadership and connecting young leaders, the fellowship also fosters a culture of innovation that helps to drive solutions to the complex social problems that we face as a country. The ultimate goal of the project is improved social and economic outcomes for the most vulnerable in South African society, rooted in the values of care, inclusivity and social justice.
The Innovation Fellowship has successfully graduated 116 fellows from 68 organisations since its inception in 2018. Most fellows who start the 12-month programme complete it, with an average completion rate of 92%. Since May 2022 when we launched the alumni network, fellows have graduated into this extended community, where they continue to associate with one another and the fellowship. To date, nine events have been hosted with 115 participants, with an average of 15 participants per event. We are in the process of cultivating a governance and leadership structure for this network with the aim of it becoming alumni-led over time.
THE CONTINENTAL PICTURE:
OTHER LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES IN AFRICA
Leadership development programmes, including fellowships, have steadily increased in recent years, particularly in Africa. These programmes are designed to build leadership capacity among young professionals, often focusing on areas like sustainable development, social entrepreneurship, and governance. Statistics indicate a growing emphasis on youth leadership initiatives as part of global efforts to address pressing socioeconomic challenges, while providing opportunities for young leaders to engage in cross-cultural exchange and practical training.
We spoke to two African fellowships and found that many things resonated with the Innovation fellowship. The most significant were:
1 The emphasis on inner leadership, or leading with the self, as the vital first step in one’s leadership journey.
2 Having a challenge to overcome can be a gateway to discovering one’s own sense of leadership.
3 Working in a group with collegiality supports the process of learning to lead.
4 The process requires a responsive faculty willing to learn alongside the fellows.
THE INNOVATION FELLOWSHIP’S APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
In a time of climate crisis and global leadership, economic and political chaos, business as usual is no longer an option for civil society. Leaders need to be able to respond rapidly and creatively to unprecedented situations. Civil society is passionate and energetic in many ways, but the scale and speed of change can be overwhelming to older generations of leadership in all sectors. Leaders who can continuously innovate, adapt and respond to problems are the leaders of the future. These qualities, more than ever, are essential to effective leadership in our times.
Many civil society organisations lack the time, capacity, expertise and resources to develop, grow and mentor this next generation of leaders. The plethora of different leadership models does not help them and at the same time, too few models speak to the context and demands of leading and innovating in NGOs in South Africa today. They are not afforded the same opportunities as young leaders in business, government and academia, yet the need for leadership in civil society is no less urgent.
The fellowship team sees its curriculum as a living framework that should be shaped by the fields of innovation and leadership, by the evolving context of NGOs in the country, and by the needs and interests of each cohort – including their organisations and organisational leaders. The current curriculum has many strengths but there are some areas that need to be developed further.
Between January and June 2024, the fellowship convened a series of discussion groups with fellows and organisational leaders from the 2023 cohort, with alumni across previous cohorts, with faculty, and with colleagues from other similar leadership development programmes. We did this during a period of reflection between 12-month programmes in which we rethought our strategy, navigated a leadership transition, and strengthened our approach to monitoring, evaluation, reflection and learning (MERL). During this time, we did no recruitment or intensive programming, instead focusing on our own learning to strengthen our offering to the fellows and the fellowship outcomes.
NEW STRATEGY AND REVISED APPROACH
There are four main elements of the fellowship’s approach to leadership development:
LEARNING THROUGH APPLICATION AND FEEDBACK
As part of the application process for the fellowship, organisational leaders start a conversation with their nominated candidates about a challenge facing the organisation. Selected fellows take this challenge and pose it as an innovation question that they explore, puzzle over and grapple with for the duration of the fellowship. It is a kind of living case study, and fellows lead a process of investigating, problem framing, vision building and storytelling that culminates in a proposal to their organisations on how to address the challenge. They work in pairs through a series of field assignments to facilitate and include the people most affected by the challenge in the process of developing a response. This requires fellows to practice innovation and leadership in response to a unique, real-life problem.
USING THE PRACTICE OF INNOVATION AS A WAY TO BUILD LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES
Seeing innovation as a series of practices, each with a set of concepts, attitudes and skills, means fellows learn both the science and the art of leadership without directly focusing on any particular model of leadership development. Each fellow has the opportunity to embark on a unique journey of selfdiscovery, experiencing leadership in a way that is personal and transformative. Their own leadership style emerges and they discover for themselves what comes easily and what doesn’t, rather than the faculty revealing, demonstrating or teaching it to them. Instead, we provide a learning environment that enables leadership to emerge in response to the demands of innovation.
of facilitators and coaches observes and accompanies them, we learn alongside them and offer support on various levels. We offer some theory, provoking reflection, and practical assignments, provoking feeling. The facilitators are partners in this journey, witnessing the participants’ struggles (and joy) and responding with practical tools. Organisational leaders in this learning community are role models, guides, champions and detractors, providing live feedback from a real-world perspective to the innovative and visionary ideas of their fellows.
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FACILITATING LEARNING IN COMMUNITY
As fellows uncover new insights about themselves and begin to see themselves as leaders and innovators, they benefit from sharing this transformative journey with their fellow participants, fostering mutual growth and support. They see how others are similar and different from them, they experience solidarity and companionship, and they share differing perspectives and illuminating insights. As the faculty
REMAINING AGILE AND RESPONSIVE AS A FACULTY, AND AS THE DESIGNERS AND FACILITATORS OF THE PROGRAMME
Facilitators actively learn from each cohort, gathering feedback on what worked well and suggestions for improvement. This ongoing input allows us to continuously refine and adapt the 12-month program, including the curriculum, experiential exercises, and session design, ensuring it remains responsive and effective. We include moments of deep reflection in each facilitated process, gather the lessons that emerge and use them to revise or refine our planning. Thus, the fellows and their particular learning needs guide our curriculum, how we design our learning sessions and experiential exercises, and how we select the theory we share. So, as we listen, we learn about how the sector is changing and what it requires of young leaders instead of offering a curriculum that draws only on general leadership theory.
HOW FELLOWS EXPERIENCE OUR APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
The curriculum initially does not present leadership as a clear aspect of innovation. Instead, it gradually emerges during the coaching sessions following the first immersion, where coaches introduce it as one of several facets of selfdevelopment. Fellows were aware they had been selected to take part in the project because they had leadership potential; some had already participated in other leadership development programmes while others had just stepped into leadership roles, or were about to do so. It was evident that the fellows had demonstrated leadership acumen in the eyes
of their organisations. However, at the start of the fellowship, while all topics could be viewed and used as leadership tools, leadership as a practice of innovation was treated more as an add-on rather than being positioned as a central theme.
After the first immersion, fellows faced the challenge of creating a space within their organisations where they could lead – a space strong and safe enough to break down barriers imposed by internal hierarchies and their own positions within them. This required facilitating conversations among stakeholders with diverse interests and motivations, all within a community committed to driving change.
Facilitation, in turn, brought fellows back to themselves: how they show up, their awareness of their own power, and the impact they have on a group. It required reflection on how they embody power in their interactions. For many, this also meant thinking politically – often for the first time – considering the dynamics of influence, relationships, and strategy within their organisations and communities.
In the context of this fellowship, thinking politically takes on a specific meaning. It involves fellows positioning themselves as leaders of change within a political space, enabling them to develop ideas and influence the allocation of power and resources. This often begins with fellows viewing their organisation or the community they are working with as a political space, recognising the dynamics at play.
From there, fellows focus on managing and directing the attention of their organisational leadership or community leaders. Time and attention come to be understood as critical resources, and fellows often work to influence how these are allocated. This process is largely driven through facilitated conversations, where fellows navigate competing priorities and foster alignment toward shared goals.
During the second immersion, being explicitly asked about their leadership made the concept suddenly conscious for the fellows. What had been nascent and unspoken now felt tangible and real, as if it had been quietly waiting to emerge and was finally ready to be expressed. This sense of freshness and discovery was a profoundly valued experience for many fellows.
By the third immersion, fellows had begun to grow more confident in their leadership abilities. They felt increasingly empowered to experiment with practices such as delegation and facilitation, further developing their capacity to lead effectively within their organisations and communities.
Every fellow has a different relationship with leadership. Allowing this to naturally unfold and emerge before addressing it directly in the curriculum created space for leadership to surface as a deeply personal journey for each individual. This approach enabled fellows to explore and nurture their leadership skills at their own pace and in their own way, leading to a more meaningful and internalised understanding of their leadership potential.
HOW ALUMNI EXPERIENCE THE APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Reflecting on the 12-month programme, many alumni realise in hindsight how lessons learned gradually unfold and take shape. This slow release of understanding often continues as they step into more formal leadership roles, which many do after the fellowship – a testament to their nominations in the first place.
Fellows find themselves leading transformational processes, igniting change, fostering collaboration, mentoring others, and simultaneously managing leadership responsibilities within their families. This holistic perspective reveals that leadership is not confined to professional spaces but is integral to all areas of life. Success brings profound satisfaction, while failure offers valuable opportunities to confront and learn from the shadow side of leadership.
When you are young, trusting your intuition and instincts can be challenging. The pressure to act quickly in response to demands often leads to self-doubt and second-guessing. It can be a struggle to come to terms with the social identity of being a leader, of seeing yourself as a leader and being seen as one. Internal self-regulation can be difficult to develop, and when it falters, it can significantly impact your ability to lead effectively in relational contexts. This problem can become acute in a rapidly changing context, with a disrupted team and a high volume of information flowing from a variety of different sources. The pressure to accomplish a great deal in a short amount of time while maintaining high-quality work is intense, making it challenging to balance competing priorities effectively.
It’s not just about time – it’s also about energy. It’s about finding a space where you can recharge and restore both the emotional and physical energy you’ve expended. A space that’s not tied to work or family, but one that allows you to replenish yourself fully: a third space1, a space where you can engage with your peers and self-reflect. This can be a space in which other people fuel you without effort, without the interaction being draining for anyone. The energy you
1 The concept of “the third space" as a social environment distinct from home (first space) and work (second space) was introduced by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in his 1989 book, The Great Good Place. Oldenburg describes third space as places where people gather informally, like coffee shops, parks, or community centres. These spaces are essential for building community, fostering a sense of belonging, and providing social support and stimulation from like-minded peers. Oldenburg's idea emphasises that third spaces offer a unique form of social interaction, allowing individuals to connect and relax outside the structures of family and work environments.
receive doesn’t need to directly match the energy you expend. There’s a kind of circuitry that conducts energy flows, creating balance. For this to work, the experience must be easy to engage with, enjoyable, interesting, intentional, and enriched with wisdom that you can carry forward. It must also allow for some detachment, while at the same time facilitating the creation of strong social bonds. These bonds become energy highways; in other words, they flow. They form a network of conducting wires where connecting with each other creates energy. Alumni may not see each other for long periods of time, but then when they do, they pick up right where they left off – with a feeling of fellowship.
HOW ORGANISATIONAL LEADERS EXPERIENCE THE APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
In the current cohort, there is a leader who was interested in the fellowship specifically because she was embarking on succession planning, and saw a good fit between her journey and the need to develop young leaders within her organisation.
As mentioned, some benefits of the fellowship have emerged gradually, revealing themselves over time rather than being immediately apparent during or right after the programme. The fellowship gives young people an opportunity to explore themselves as leaders. They begin to see themselves as leaders in their organisations and thus begin to think organisationally, and to observe themselves in relation to their organisational leaders. As they come to understand what their director or CEO is doing as a leader, certain aspects of leadership begin to make sense. This kind of reflection fosters deeper learning that can strengthen the individual and the organisation. Fellows begin to take initiative and to find their voice. Some alumni have been able to offer feedback on their organisational leader’s own leadership energy, voicing their own needs in a confident, unselfconscious way despite difference in power between them. This was not evident before the fellowship experience.
Some fellows have demonstrated the ability to take full ownership of planning and organising, showing that they can pursue their objectives with focus and determination. Rather than being derailed by obstacles, they persist and succeed. This resilience directly reflects the lessons they learned during the 12-month programme around overcoming barriers to innovation. Fellows have also demonstrated the ability to weave together the social and political aspects of a situation in a way that allowed something fresh and authentic to emerge. The process of recognising those most affected by a problem as key influencers in finding its solution is central to the fellowship’s approach to innovation.
Coaching during the programme allowed what fellows learned to filter down to their organisations and broader teams. Additionally, the peer relationship between fellows proved empowering, with organisations reporting how this partnership had strengthened their programming and overall impact.
WHAT’S NEXT?
As a faculty, we still have many unanswered questions. Our hope in creating this learning brief is to spark curiosity among other leadership development practitioners and inspire further questions and dialogue.
As we venture further into the era of complexity, our faculty team plans to potentially explore a form of systems leadership that supports the collective journey of systems change. We aim to explore how to cultivate the innovation, insight, trust, and collaboration that drive the transformation of individual system components while also shifting systemwide dynamics, placing less emphasis on individual leadership.
We will wrestle with three key questions:
• How might we cultivate a systems change approach to leadership in the NGO sector?
• How might we find an approach that recognises the interconnectedness of various aspects of a system and brings about sustainable, transformative change at a systemic level? and
• How might we encourage young leaders to learn the art of collaboration and co-creation that systems change work demands?
As civil society takes its equal place alongside government and business in shaping South Africa’s social and economic future, its leaders must rely on one another. Building close ties and bonds of fellowship, forged through the shared challenge of addressing the sector’s evolving complexities, will be invaluable to their efforts to drive public innovation and meaningful change.
This is the learning experience of:
This learning brief was authored by Kathleen Dey, Innovation Fellowship Learning Programme Facilitator, and edited by Rahima Essop, with contributions from the Innovation Fellowship facilitation team.