Direction: The Council through its staff, board and committees has pointed the community in the direction of improved outcomes for children and families. The Council has paid attention to the key elements of process while anchoring those key elements with a sense of what needs to happen. Through the examples of Council staff and the System Executives, staff and community stakeholders from across all levels of participation are encouraged to "stay in the game" and continue the conversation.

Trust: In many respects the most important feature of Stark County activities is the relationships which continually develop and re-develop. The formal structure allows people from different perspectives to interact and get to know one another. That interaction allows trust to develop. When trust develops, new solutions to old problems can be found.

A sense of hope: The guiding principles which the Stark County Family Council lives by communicate a sense of hope to all stakeholders from mid-managers of public family serving systems to families themselves. That sense of hope is embodied in a sense that things can be better for children and their families and that systems can work for those children and families. A sense of hope gives stakeholders in Stark County the impetus to keep moving ahead.

Leadership in Stark County combines these three elements with a sense of strategic management. Executive staff of the Council are expected to use the lessons learned to help stakeholders maintain their commitments. Working as an Administrator for a collaborative infrastructure is a challenge. One of the biggest challenges is the fact that the organization itself is consensual Ð any member can elect to leave the infrastructure. As a result, the administrator is called upon to create win-win situations for each member while maintaining a steadfast allegiance to the guiding principles. The following elements seem to be requirements for effective leadership to occur in Stark County:

1. A sense of the whole along with each of its component parts: The Administrator of the Council is called upon to understand each individual system's reality while creating a collective solution. Each member of the Board of Trustees feels safe that they can speak frankly about their own system's reality.

2. A steadfast allegiance to guiding principles: While the administrator has to understand each individual system, that administrator is also called upon to be the guardian of the collaborative's mission and vision. As such, the Administrator is required to hold each stakeholder accountable to the guiding principles.

3. Capacity to build alliances within the overall infrastructure: The Executive Director of the Family Council is called upon to nurture alliances and connections between each of its members. Coalitions form and re-form continually under a living infrastructure and the staff are called upon to nurture those alliances as well as simply keeping track of the coalitions formed.

4. Strategic Thinking: In order to create win-win situations, the Administrator of a collaborative structure needs to be able to seize opportunities where they arise rather than trying to always create those opportunities. This is a study in managing uncertainty as each of the participating members can change the reality with a single motion. The effective administrator is able to think through benefits of actions today and how they might result in unanticipated consequences tomorrow.

5. Boundless energy and enthusiasm: This energy and enthusiasm needs to be targeted for the process as well as the mission to be effective. One of the mantras frequently heard in Stark County when things become difficult is "Trust the process." Another is "what are we here for?" Each of these communicates the enthusiasm generated by leaders participating in Stark County efforts.