Creating Citizen Leaders

Preparing for Change

National Citizen Leadership Programme Scotland

Citizen Leadership

• People who use services and carers are citizens. This means they should have rights and responsibilities in their communities. They should:

• Have a say• Get info• Take part in decisions• Make things happen

Citizen Leadership

• It’s a quality that people have• Or an activity that people do• It can be a personal quality and can also be developed in

groups• It can be about problem solving and

working for change.

Citizen Leadership

• Happens when people have power and

influence and responsibility to make decisions• Happens when people have some control

over their own services• Happens when citizens take action for the

benefit of others.

In Citizen Leadership, people move from being

‘service users’ to LEADERS. They take on a

shared responsibility for ensuring the the right

Services are available for themselves and others.

Citizen Leadership

Citizen Leadership is about a partnership between:•Policy makers•Service planners•Service providers•People who use services and

family carers.

This partnership works:•At a policy level•At an individual level – so that people have

more control over the services they use.

Citizen LeadershipSo services become planned and delivered in a way that focuses on achieving things that will make a difference in peoples’ lives.

“We are the experts when it comes to knowing how services affect peoples’ lives. It is important that we should be able to show leadership in shaping services so that we can use this expertise effectively.

Citizen Leadership

Services should give us the support to live the lives we want to live. If we, as citizens, have more say over the services we receive, there is more chance that those services will be right for us. When this happens they will be more likely to produce the outcomes that we are looking for.”

Citizen Leadership

A LEADER influences and enables others to make a contribution and so helps to make things happen.

• Challenge the process – be prepared to ask ‘Why are things done this way”.

• Inspire a shared vision – having a vision for the future that you can tell others about and get people working together to achieve it.

• Enable others to act – encourage others to speak up, support others to take more responsibility

• Model the way – lead by example, by the way you live, act and speak.

• Encourage the spirit – give positive feedback, say when things are working well, show concern for others.

Leadership Qualities

Making the Principles

and Standards

real

Potential

“Don’t write anyone off”

Development

“I can be a great leader – with the right help!”

Early Involvement

“We want to set the agenda”

Person centred

“100 different ways to be a leader”

Information

“The right information when and how we need it”

Equality

“Leading the fight for justice in services and society”

Control through partnership

“More control over my own life”

Wider benefit

“To help others as well as yourself”