Presbyterian Women (PW) has promoted and taught various leadership strategies as the landscapes of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), church and society have changed. Most recently, PW promoted adaptive leadership, a practical leadership framework developed at Harvard University that helps individuals and organizations adapt and thrive in challenging environments. Adaptive leaders, both individually and collectively, take on the gradual but meaningful process of change. For more information, see Leadership without Easy Answers by Ronald A. Heifetz, or The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World by Ronald Heifetz, Alexander Grashow and Marty Linsky. Both books were published by Harvard University Press.
The PW Manual: A Guide for PW Groups (2016) provides adaptive leadership suggestions for PW at the congregational level. Because many PC(USA) churches are smaller now, and PW membership has declined in some congregations, adapting from a coordinating team model to leadership within circles is a practical way to continue PW mission and ministry at the congregational level.
To ask a question or to learn more about Leadership for a Changing Church, contact Susan Jackson Dowd.