Community Leadership Catalyst: A 6-Month Coaching Program Guide

1. Program Introduction & Benefits

The Community Leadership Catalyst is a structured 6-month coaching program designed to prepare community members for leadership roles. It synthesizes community-specific leadership frameworks, proven coaching models, and adult learning principles into an experiential curriculum centered on real community projects. The program's core essence is to cultivate collective leadership—shifting the paradigm from positional authority to influence, service, and shared ownership for community change.

Strategic Benefits for Community Members:

• Clarified Leadership Identity & Purpose: Participants move from informal roles to a clear, values-based leadership identity, equipped with a personal leadership plan and concrete goals.
• Enhanced Practical Skills for Community Impact: Through hands-on practice, members gain proficiency in critical areas such as inclusive facilitation, stakeholder engagement, collaborative project design, and influence without formal authority.
• Expanded Trust & Social Capital: The program builds psychological safety and strengthens relational networks within the community, increasing participants' ability to convene, collaborate, and drive initiatives.
• Tangible Portfolio of Experience: Each participant designs and implements a community mini-initiative, creating a demonstrable record of leadership and impact.
• Sustainable Support System: Participants join a lasting peer coaching network, providing ongoing mutual support, accountability, and collective problem-solving beyond the program's duration.

2. Program Expansion Strategy

Evaluation: This is a Coaching Program. The provided research data already deeply integrates coaching methodologies (GROW, CLEAR, ACS, Peer Coaching) as a core delivery mechanism. Therefore, a supplemental Mentorship layer is recommended to enhance outcomes.

Supplemental Mentorship Layer:

• Value Addition: While coaching focuses on unlocking a participant's own potential through questioning and reflection, mentorship provides context-specific guidance, wisdom, and navigation of the community's unique political and social landscape. Pairing participants with experienced community leaders (alumni, board members, respected elders) would offer:
  • Contextual Navigation: Mentors help decode unspoken norms, historical contexts, and power dynamics within the community.
  • Role Modeling: Direct exposure to established leaders provides concrete examples of sustained leadership behavior and ethical decision-making.
  • Network Access: Mentors can facilitate introductions to key stakeholders and gatekeepers, accelerating the participant's integration into broader leadership circles.
• Implementation Note: Implement a low-touch, high-impact mentorship model. Following the foundational Module 1, pair each participant with a mentor for the remainder of the program. Structure this as a monthly 1-hour conversation, guided by simple prompts related to the current module (e.g., "Discuss your stakeholder map with your mentor and get their insights on potential allies."). Use the program's primary software (see Section 4) to facilitate matching and provide conversation guides.

3. Implementation Roadmap

Launch Phase Checklist

1. Define & Assemble Core Team: Recruit Program Director (oversight), Lead Coach (curriculum/coaching quality), and Community Liaison (stakeholder connections).
2. Finalize Curriculum & Tools: Adapt week-by-week schedule from the provided research. Select and configure primary software platform.
3. Recruit & Onboard Coaches: Vet and train a pool of facilitators/coaches on the CLEAR, GROW, and ACS models and community-specific frameworks.
4. Participant Recruitment & Selection: Market program benefits. Use a simple application to assess commitment and baseline community involvement.
5. Kickoff Logistics: Schedule all workshops, secure venues (or virtual platforms), and prepare all baseline assessment materials (skills self-assessment).

Tracking & Operations

• Weekly Cadence: Operate on a rhythm of bi-weekly group workshops (for core modules) and weekly coaching touchpoints (alternating between 1:1 sessions with a program coach and peer coaching group meetings).
• Central Hub: Use the primary Coaching Software (see Section 4) as the single source of truth for:
  • Session scheduling and reminders.
  • Storing coaching notes and goal-tracking (GROW/CLEAR models).
  • Hosting discussion forums for peer groups.
  • Distributing content and collecting assignments (e.g., reflection journals, project plans).
• Progress Reviews: The Program Director holds monthly syncs with the coaching team to review participant engagement, identify those needing extra support, and monitor the progress of community mini-initiatives.

Success Measurement

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

• Completion Rate: >80% of participants complete all program requirements.
• Skill Growth: Average increase of ≥1.5 points on a 5-point scale in post-program Community Leadership Skills Self-Assessment (aligned to Community Skills Framework domains).
• Initiative Output: 100% of participants design and launch a community mini-initiative; ≥75% complete implementation.
• Leadership Role Uptake: ≥60% of graduates take on a new or expanded community leadership role within 6 months post-program.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): >+50 from participants on program satisfaction and perceived value.

Feedback Mechanisms:

• Formative: Mid-program (Month 3) "360‑style feedback light" and skills re-assessment.
• Summative: Final presentation of initiatives, post-program skills assessment, and in-depth exit interviews with a sample of participants and their community stakeholders.
• Longitudinal: Track role uptake via a 6-month and 1-year post-program survey.

4. Approved Tools List

• Coaching Software: Primary Platform. This is non-negotiable for efficient management of coaching relationships, session logging (using GROW/CLEAR templates), goal tracking, and facilitating peer group communication. It centralizes operations as outlined in the research.
• LMS (Learning Management System): Secondary Platform. Used to host the structured curriculum content (video recordings of workshops, module guides, toolboxes from community frameworks), deliver assessments, and track completion of reflective journal assignments. It complements the coaching software by managing the "10%" of formal learning.
• Internal Social Network: Supporting Tool. If the community already has one, it can be used to create a public-facing group for participants to share updates on their initiatives, celebrate wins, and engage the wider community, fostering transparency and building recognition.

5. Resource & Content Library

Training Content for Coaches

• Guide: "Facilitating the CLEAR Model for Psychological Safety in Community Settings"
• Video Series: "Advanced Questioning Techniques for GROW Model Peer Coaching Circles"
• Toolkit: "Applying the ACS (Assessment-Challenge-Support) Framework to Community Leadership Development"
• Article: "Balancing Democratic Coaching with Structural Guidance in Volunteer-Based Programs"
• Worksheet: "Observing and Giving Feedback on Inclusive Facilitation Skills"

Training Content for Coachees

• Workbook: "My Leadership Story: Values, Purpose & Goal Setting (GROW Model Template)"
• Interactive Guide: "The Community Engagement Framework: Mapping Your Journey from Validation to Collaboration"
• Toolkit: "Practical Tools from Community Leadership Toolboxes: Stakeholder Mapping, Meeting Design, Initiative Planning"
• Video: "Collective Leadership in Action: Case Studies of Community Change"
• Template: "Reflection-Action Journal for My Community Initiative"
• Worksheet: "Building My 1-Year Personal Leadership Plan: From Program to Sustained Role"