Community Leadership in Diverse Communities: Ethics and Skills

Ethical and Social Responsibility in Community Leadership

There are both ethical and social responsibilities that community leaders need to be aware of, especially when they are working with a diverse community (Taylor, 2011). Communities offer valuable means of support for all of their members, but only if the leaders of those communities are able to provide for all of their members in a way that is respectful of cultural differences (Anderson, O'Loughlin, & Salt, 2001; Cnann & Milofsky, 2012; Miller, 2009). Failure to do that can make people in a community feel isolated, and stop them from getting involved with others who might be able to help them — and who they might be able to help (Barry, 2002). While it is possible for people to come together simply because they care about one another and are interested in the people in their community, it is also quite common for community members to essentially remain separate from one another because they are not comfortable reaching out (Miller, 2009). Often, the reason they do not reach out is that they are not sure if they will be accepted or if those they reach out to would prefer to be left alone, and there may be an air of mistrust between cultures (Miller, 2009).

A community leader is able to use his or her position in the community in order to help that community develop ethical, moral, and social responsibilities to one another (Caravantes, 2010; Hasmath, 2011). Additionally, that leader can work to instill values into the community (Barzilai, 2005; Baumann, 1999). That is particularly important when there is a large amount of cultural diversity in a community, since there are varied values that all have to be taken into consideration (Hasmath, 2011). Each value is not necessarily more important than another, but they do not always mesh well — and a community leader who understands diversity can help meld those values into a shared culture and belief system for the community (Anderson, O'Loughlin, & Salt, 2001; Fortier, 2008).

Social and Global Perspectives on Diversity

Diversity and culture are what make the world a remarkable place to live (Gauntlett et al., 2000). There are many unique people around the globe, and there are a host of different cultures and diverse groups that have interesting ways of doing things. While they are quite different from one another, when they come together in a community they often find ways to share values, space, and resources in a manner that works for everyone (Goldberg, 1994; Gottfried, 2004; Hacker, 2011). Seeing the vision of how that can take place is part of the social and global perspective of community leaders (Cnann & Milofsky, 2012). The more diversity a community has, the more difficult it may be to get everyone on the same page (Hesse, 2000; Kymlicka, 1995).

However, more diversity also means more ways of looking at the world and different approaches to solving problems (Modood & Werbner, 1997; Phillips & Pittman, 2012). That can be vital and valuable when it comes to addressing community issues that affect everyone who lives in that area. The world has been shaped by people who had diverse viewpoints about many things, and over time those people worked with others in communities and cultures that allowed them to express their ideas and compile different thoughts and plans into something that worked well for their community (Kymlicka, 1995; Parekh, 2002; Phillips & Pittman, 2012). That helped the entire globe become more interactive, because everything from trade to friendship required people to work with and be around one another. Getting along became important, despite the cultural differences people faced (Anderson, O'Loughlin, & Salt, 2001; Starr & Adams, 2003; Taylor, 2011). That was true in the earliest human communities and remains true today. A sense of global citizenship emerges in smaller communities, as well, when culturally diverse people work with others to make things better for everyone (Phillips & Pittman, 2012; Taylor, 2011).