A fascinating example of a leadership program that’s competitive, where the choice of winners is decided by crowdsourcing, and where the crowd vote with its credit cards, helping fund the project.
http://marketplace.unreasonableinstitute.org/
Can we learn to do this on a more local scale?
Local (e.g. council level) community leadership programs tend to have mixed success, partly because many of the innovators lack a do-able idea, are short on the drive to continue after the program finishes, or they lack the network of supporters they need to share the work. The fact is that no leadership program can really substitute for these ingredients.
An effective program should start with people who ALREADY have a great idea, plenty of drive and a good network. The Unreasonable Institute’s competitive fundraising approach helps ensure these success factors are in place.
As far as I can see, there’s nothing to stop this approach being used on a smaller scale.