Nearly 50 city elected officials from around the state gathered in Spokane this summer to kick off the inaugural cohort of the Washington Collaborative Elected Leaders Institute (WA-CELI). The immersive training program is designed to enhance local elected officials’ skills in collaborative leadership and governing across differences.

Over the course of two days, the group of mayors and councilmembers got acquainted, learned about challenges facing their cities, and explored a variety of leadership concepts and strategies.

Some of the ideas and takeaways from this first session that may benefit your efforts to lead collaboratively include:

• Pro Action Café—This tool provides a structured way to use creative, action-oriented conversations to investigate difficult issues, challenge assumptions, and identify essential next steps to move forward. This resource provides a roadmap for setting up your own Pro Action Café. Learn more.
• Getting comfortable with the chaordic path—Accessing collective wisdom can be a messy, disorderly process. Developing the confidence to work in the space between chaos and order can lead to inspiration, collective learning, and real-time innovation. Learn more.
• Appreciative inquiry—This method helps move a group that is stuck in “what is” toward “what could be” to achieve inspired, positive change by reframing our focus toward building upon what already works well. Learn more.
• Don’t hold yourself back—Identify and engage with “limiting beliefs” that reduce our capacity to think creatively and effectively. With time and practice, developing greater self-awareness can profoundly affect what is viewed as possible. Learn more.

Over the next several months, participants will continue to receive intensive training in collaborative leadership skills and work to break down political polarization, co-create solutions to community challenges, and build bridges between cities and towns across the state.

The WA-CELI pilot program is offered by the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) Center for Quality Communities, in partnership with the William D. Ruckelshaus Center (a joint effort of Washington State University and the University of Washington) and the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy & Governance.

Learn more about WA-CELI.