Characteristics of Leadership and Five Equator Prize 2002 Finalists

Abstract

The Equator Initiative was launched as part of the international community’s deliberations at the World Summit on Sustainable Development on how to combine poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation. The focus of the Equator Initiative is on local communities in tropical countries that have successfully combined sustainable use of natural resources and community development. The communities that were nominated for the Equator Prize 2002 were part of an international competition that sought to identify effective local partnerships for sustainable development. This paper contributes to the analysis of the 27 finalists of the Equator Prize 2002 and attempts to distill factors of success. The paper proposes that leadership plays an important role in determining effectiveness and outlines five characteristics of effective leadership: leader as innovator, leader as communicator, leader as learner, leader as bridgebuilder, and leader as systems thinker. The second part of the paper traces these characteristics through five of the Equator Prize 2002 case studies and concludes with recommendations to the Equator Initiative as to ways to facilitate the development and support of leaders within local partnerships for sustainable development.