New Water Policy and Practice Volume 1, Number 2 - Spring 2015 | Page 13
New Water Policy and Practice
Table 1: Examples of water leaders who perform each of the six roles
Role Title
Brief Role Description
Examples
The
champion
leader
Involves initiating processes
of influence (change) in the
water sector.
• A water practitioner who is strongly advocating for the
adoption of integrated water management principles
within a new river basin or urban planning process.
• A practitioner working for a local waterway-focused
community group who is lobbying government agencies
to invest in a waterway rehabilitation project.
The
enabling
leader
Involves enabling (rather than
directing) others to
collectively ‘learn by doing’
to find solutions to complex
water challenges.
• A middle manager in a water agency who creates a crosssectoral ‘community of practice’ for practitioners in a city
to develop and trial innovative solutions for the most
challenging water issues through collaboration by the
public and private sector.
•
The crossboundary
team leader
The
thought
leader
The
strategic
leader
The trusted
advisor
Involves being the assigned
leader for a water team (e.g., a
project team) that crosses
boundaries relating to
geography, organisations,
professional disciplines, etc.
Involves using high levels of
credibility and expertise to
exert influence (e.g., by
promoting technological
innovations).
A senior water leader in a government department
who establishes a cooperative research programme to
bring practitioners and academics together to trial
new technologies to address pressing water
management challenges in a local river basin.
• A water practitioner who is responsible for a team of
technical experts from different organisations who are
building and monitoring programme for an estuary.
• A water practitioner leading a multi-disciplinary team to
design a new urban development that incorporates
integrated water management principles.
• A technical specialist with rich and diverse expertise who
works part-time for a local university as a researcher and
part-time as a water manager in a government agency.
• An experienced consultant from a niche consulting firm
who pushes the boundaries of ‘best practice’ water
management by encouraging their clients to consider
innovative approaches.
Involves working with
stakeholders to build a shared
vision of the future direction
of a team or organisation, and
a strategy to achieve the
vision.
• The leader of a programme in a large government
department tasked with developing new strategies for
increasing water security in a region of the country.
Involves working as a
credible, independent agent to
influence the political system
through communication,
networking and advocacy.
• An experienced academic who is called upon to review
the scientific research on point source pollution for a
government water minister.
• The head of a large, water-focused capacity building
programme that aims to change stakeholder behaviour in
order to improve integra ѕ