Page 32 - Appreciative Leadership

Appreciative Leadership Now 5

Curious to explore the positive collaborative potential of the
Appreciative Inquiry (AI) process in Cuba, she and her col-
leagues invited a team of Appreciative Inquiry experts led by

Dr. Diana Whitney to Cuba for research. The question was,
“How might Appreciative Inquiry support the work of the
Human Change Project, throughout the country, with mem-
bers of community and business organizations?”

Fifty Cuban organizational consultants met with the
American researchers for two days. They explored both how

and where to experiment with the AI process. Patricia com-
mented at the time, “Building on what already works well
seems hardly revolutionary, but it really is. It is a big change
for people to stay focused on and study what’s working. Th ey
are so used to talking about what needs to be fi xed.” Almost
a year later, the research showed that Appreciative Inquiry
was being used to revamp university curriculums, to manage
the cleanup of the Bay of Havana, and to build on the many
strengths of Cuba’s world-famous public health system.

The idea of leadership as a relational capacity resonates with the
South African notion of ubuntu. From the Zulu and Xhosa languages,
the word ubuntu is translated to mean, “I am because you are—I can
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only be a person through others.” It suggests that a leader’s identity,
indeed anyone’s identity, rests at the center of relatedness. Apprecia-
tive leaders “are” because of the people with whom they work and

serve. Firefighters know this perhaps better than anyone else:

Coloradans still remember the devastating wildfires of 2002

triggered by a severe drought. Federal and state agencies
struggled for months to douse the fierce blazes that swept