Culture of Health Network: Leadership Lab

Overview

Palm Health Foundation is building from the learning and momentum of our place-based grantmaking strategy Healthier Together. There are two significant cornerstones contributing to the success of the highly-localized, community-driven efforts: the people part of the initiative and the flourishing networks addressing health in their communities.

The foundation is committed to prioritizing these cornerstones by continuing to invest in individuals as they pursue better health and opportunities for all and invest in the power of networks as necessary and effective complements to organizational and systems-orientated solutions.

Beginning in December 2021, the foundation will support a cohort of Palm Beach County-based leaders addressing various aspects of change-making efforts through a 9-month Leadership Lab. This cohort will be supported by a seasoned coach with expertise in networks, leadership management and strategic planning.

The purpose of the Leadership Lab is to offer a community of practice for Palm Beach County-based individuals who are seeking ambitious strategic organizational and/or community change. Participants will increase their skills, expand their knowledge of tools, and strengthen a performance-orientated approach to tackle challenging issues. Learners will receive individualized executive coaching and will participate in a peer-to-peer learning component.

With Palm Beach County recently being named a Culture of Health Prize-winning community by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this Leadership Lab will draw from the momentum already taking place in our area while infusing elements of network leadership to broaden and deepen opportunities for Palm Beach County residents to live their full health potential.

The Power of Networks

Networks connect individuals, organizations, ideas, and resources while simultaneously creating the conditions necessary for new, collective results and opportunities to emerge. Both through deliberate design and organic experience, networks create an environment in which existing efforts, partnerships, alignment, and results can be amplified, while new ones can be discovered and leveraged. Networks allow the participating members to communicate more quickly than if they were disconnected, reach farther together than they could on their own, and become more resilient and adaptable to shocks and stressors that may affect a part of the whole of the network.

Networks are fluid and may move between hyper-activity to dormancy, yet their existence allows for collective net gains that can be larger than the sum of the parts or participants of that network. While networks can feel nebulous and loose at times, there are consistently real and meaningful interactions that demonstrate tangible value as members can learn new skills, tools, and disciplines, build new relationships and understanding, and access new resources, knowledge, and opportunities that were not available or perhaps existent to the network member previously.

Finally, networks create a space where members can feel a sense of belonging, both in terms of feeling comfortable, understood, and heard within the network, while also holding ownership and agency as a steward for the network.

Performance Challenge &
Performance Coaching Program

The organizations we lead and collaborate within continually evolve. At any point in time, there may be changes in staff, program delivery, client and participant needs, or even external conditions. And while these changes may be small or large, foreseen or unexpected, they often create a need for organizations to adapt. These adaptations may be subtle and minute, they may be prolific and substantial, or they may fall somewhere in between. Once an organization successfully adapts, they are better equipped to fulfill its mission within a new reality.

While organizations face multiple challenges at once, often a challenge rises to the top as the most critical because it either limits the organization from its future potential or it creates a drag on the organization's current path. These challenges require energy, effort, capacity, partnerships, and/or resources that are often not readily available or even known. To achieve progress and positive impact in the face of those critical challenges, leaders and teams need to be clear on the desired outcomes and the strategies to accomplish them.