WAAL exists to uncover and elevate the potential of nontraditional leaders and nontraditional leadership through community, reflection, and action.
We aim to help create a more fair and just society by empowering nontraditional leaders to advocate for themselves and their communities.
We provide space for people from all backgrounds to come together to learn and practice both traditional and innovative approaches to leadership while developing their unique abilities and a critical consciousness that redefines leadership, including what it is and who is a leader.
Non-traditional Leadership: We recognize that many failures of leadership result from traditional ideas about leadership. Yet we embrace the fundamental role of leaders in creating a better world, believe that everyone has leadership potential, and seek to develop new models of leadership that unite individual and collective interests.
Non-hierarchical leadership: We reject hierarchical models of leadership, instead imagining leadership as a circle, with each of us at the center of overlapping spheres of influence.
Consensus decision making: We make group decisions collaboratively, with a focus on shared responsibility and consent. Read more about consensus decision making here.
Diversity and Inclusivity: We embrace diversity and recognize that leadership can and should come from every background, perspective, and experience.
Empowerment: We empower members to discover, develop, and amplify their leadership interests and abilities.
Openness, Authenticity, and Self Reflection: We encourage the exchange of ideas and experiences among our members. We encourage introspection, vulnerability, and open communication as a means for continuous improvement and growth.
Empathy: We aim to practice deep understanding and compassion toward others’ experiences and challenges.
Continuous Learning, Growth, and Practice: We believe leadership is a lifelong journey and support members in gaining new leadership skills and knowledge. We offer a space for members to refine and improve their leadership skills.
Service-Oriented Action: We promote mutually-beneficial service, leading to individual and community growth, as a key component of leadership. Action provides the meaning and purpose of our lives. What we do is, to a large extent, who we are.
Community and Connectedness: We aim to build meaningful relationships across differences, recognizing that collective learning and group support strengthens leadership. We also recognize that our own needs are inherently connected to those of other people and of the world we live. Therefore, we should love ourselves and love our neighbors and neighborhoods as oruselves.
Innovation: We explore creative and non-traditional approaches to leadership and problem-solving, including new philosophies, practices, and technologies.