New Water Policy and Practice Issue 4, Number 1, Fall 2017 | Page 18

New Water Policy & Practice Journal
coaching, mentoring, and 360° feedback; see Day 2000; McCauley, Van Velsor &
Ruderman 2010). Supervisors and mentors also have the potential to frequently
encourage chaotic leaders to focus on strategic priorities, and carefully consider
where to best use their time and energy.
The importance of organisational support and accountability mechanisms
has been highlighted within the IWC Water Leadership Program. The participants
that usually benefit the most are those that come from organisations that carefully
select which participants they will send, require these participants to earn a full
“Certificate of Excellence” from the program, and require them to report back to
the executive management team on their experience. Such an approach provides a
strong incentive for chaotic leaders to fully commit to the developmental process,
try new approaches, receive some feedback from colleagues, and start to establish
new habits.
Finally, chaotic leaders are encouraged to take responsibility to identify
their strengths and weaknesses, learn new approaches (e.g. time management
techniques; see HBS Publishing Corporation 2006), build a developmental plan,
get ongoing support from a mentor, coach and/or supervisor, and perhaps most
importantly get frequent and ongoing feedback from their colleagues on their be-
haviour (see Kirkland & Manoogian 1998). Such feedback should remind these
leaders of the positive and negative impacts of their behavior and the need to stay
committed to behavioural change.
3.2. The Timid Leader
3.2.1. Description
The timid leader struggles to find the self-confidence to take on leadership chal-
lenges, including formal leadership roles. This trap includes reluctance to take
on a “leader identity”, which is a critical early step in the leadership development
process (see Day, Harrison & Halpin 2009). People who do not see themselves as
“leaders” are less likely to engage in leadership development activities such as vol-
unteering to take on leadership responsibilities, and work with a mentor or coach.
This mindset significantly inhibits the rate of their development.
In the author’s experience, this trap is more commonly seen in the emerging
female water leaders. Some of these leaders have experienced poor supervision
which has significantly degraded their confidence. Others have worked in organ-
isations that provided little support for their development and few female role
models in senior leadership positions.
This lack of confidence has the potential to affect their leadership perfor-
mance, growth as a leader, and career progression. For example, they are often
reluctant to: ask a senior leader to mentor them; volunteer to act in a more senior
position; or take on a challenging leadership development project that significantly
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