Building Your Core Team
You don't need a title to be a Leader.
The outdated model of one leader at the top just doesn't work for lifelong community development. Complex needs and opportunities exist that require the collaborative efforts of multiple leaders.
The more leaders, the more problems we will solve. We need to organize around many issues: food insecurity, housing, transportation, economic growth, isolation, fraud, disaster preparedness, health care -- the list goes on and on. The core team should include people with interests in different age-friendly projects and be willing to take a leadership role in one or more. We need a diverse group of people who care to come around the table and help to facilitate an inclusive environment responsive to all.
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Identifying Leader(s) to guide the overall initiaitve
Although many leaders are needed to implement age-friendly change in the eight domains, it’s usually helpful for a leader or co-leaders to orchestrate the overall initiative. Leading a complex change agenda like lifelong community development can take a lot of time and require different types of skills. Oftentimes leadership roles are shared among co-chairs. Do what makes the most sense to the team and what’s manageable for everyone involved.
The core team leader(s) will facilitate developing and executing the action plan, ensure that the plan is faithful to the age-friendly mission and vision. They will also ensure that the evaluation effectively captures the success and challenges of implementation.
The leader(s) of a lifelong community team might be volunteer(s), agency staff member(s), or somebody employed by the local government. Most important is that the age-friendly leader(s) take initiative, value being organized, and inspire others and gain their respect and trust.
While each team member will have their own opinions about the work, it’s important that the team speaks with a united voice so residents don’t hear mixed or confusing messages. Each core team member should be aware of the decisions made by the committee and be able to explain them to people in the community. Some teams develop a communication strategy that details who will speak publicly, especially to municipal decision makers and the press, on the issues.
put together a team of changemakers
Identify strong leaders, people who know how to make change in the community, and champions who believe in the age-friendly work and will commit to it. These people will form the core team.
Age-friendly work in the eight domains of livability is multifaceted. It helps to include core team members who have experience or a specific interest in different aspects of the work.
A wide array of interests and community connections will help the team increase the base of support in the community for age-friendly changes and increase opportunities for partnerships. Engaging key influencers increases the likelihood that community members and local businesses will embrace the action plan.
One way to identify the people and organizations that may be able to help raise awareness of the work you are doing or who may be effective partners is to complete this worksheet. After you have completed the list of organizations and groups in your community, you may want to fill in the table on the second page of the handout to build your lifelong community team to include people who represent many aspects of life in your community. Remember, not all of the potential partners will be part of your core team. To guide your decisions about the appropriate level of involvement for the different partner groups and organizations you have identified, you may want to use the Circles of Involvement exercise in the Age-Friendly Guide (p.18).
Agreeing how decisons will be made
Developing a sustainable Lifelong Community differs based on the unique assets available to you. Multiple approaches exist for structuring your initiative and its leadership team for long-term success. A key factor to consider is flexibility. The structure that works today may not be the one that carries you forward. Plan with the future in mind but be ready to change as the assets available to you evolve.
One of the first decisions you will make to create a flexible structure is how the core team will come to agreement about goals, strategies, and day-to-day implementation. Many committees agree on a consensus model. To arrive at consensus, the team discusses the issue until it finds a resolution that can be supported by everyone, even if it isn’t each person’s first choice. The goal is to come to an agreement that everyone can live with, if not embrace. However, there can be times when the committee members cannot come to consensus. In those cases, it may be necessary to take a vote. Whatever method you decide to use, it is critical that all of the core team members:
Understand how decisions are made.
Know that decisions are always made by the group and not by an individual member.
Agree that, while everyone on the team has their own opinion, public messages about age-friendly refelct team decisions.
Maine Voice
Mary Beth Paquette - Chair, Monmouth Lifelong Community, Monmouth Lifelong Community - described the work they did to bring together a large number of partners to form their core team. Toward the end of her presentation, she offered some great tips for keeping the core team engaged:
Make a personal ask when recruiting new team members
Be an encourager, allowing everyone to contribute their passion
Listen to diverse opinions
Brainstorm--all ideas are important
Remember, there is no need to invent the wheel--copying successful programs from other states encourages the team and moves your work forward efficiently.
Use consensus unless it is impossible and a vote is needed
Snip from Lifelong Maine Master Class
Mary Beth Paquette, Lifelong Monmouth
Resources for Building your Core Team
AARP. Age-Friendly Guide. This short guide offer guidance in every aspect of your lifelong community work - from organizing a core team to evaluating change and celebrating success.
AARP Roadmap to Livability, a series of 6 workbooks about lifelong community development. Book One of the Roadmap to Livability digs into building your core team.
Age-Friendly Master Class, Recruiting and Managing Dynamic Committees (Part One - recorded presentation, handout; Part Two - handout)
ABCD Guide to Selecting Community Connectors. Lifelong Communities tap into the resources available in the community. This handout provides guidnace to find those people who will help you connect, engage, and work with the people who live in your city or town
Coalition Building Resources from the Community Toolbox. The Community Toolbox is a comprehensive guide to all aspects of community development. Following are a few resources specifically about developing coalitions of partners with different perspectives on age-friendly issues.
MC Dynamic Committees 1022.pdfKH edit AFMCDiscHrCommittees.pdf