Appreciative-Leadership

Chapter 3
The Practitioner’s Story: Appreciative Organisation, Appreciative Leadership and Appreciative Inquiry
Indeed, upon reflection of my professional practice as an occupational therapist, many of the service user groups
I have observed and been involved with in the past, have not been as successful in terms of sustainability or
genuinely engaging with service users at a profound level.
During my initial conversations with the staff from the SUDT, I was struck by how they were able to genuinely
empower service users to be accountable for their own groups, to foster a sense of ownership, and to enable the
service users themselves to determine the future of their groups. I was equally surprised to learn that the SUDT
staff had not reflected more profoundly on why they were so successful in their work. Although the outcomes were
tangible, that is numbers of service user-led groups that had been supported to be established, it was almost as if
the SUDT’s approach had become tacit and innate.
Furthermore, I felt not only that their work deserved wider recognition, but also that any approaches or methods
we uncovered as part of our conversations should be shared more widely for others to use. Upon reflection, I
realised that the way in which the staff within the SUDT work closely resonated with my own values and beliefs.
Specifically, it resonated with that of empowering and enabling people to make decisions and take actions that not
only improve their own lives, but also the lives of others with whom they come into contact.
More importantly perhaps is the fact that the service users themselves in their groups also seem to share these
same values and beliefs. In any case, it is clear that those shared values, identified through initial conversations
with the SUDT staff, was what attracted me to their work and stimulated my desire to delve deeper and gain a
more insightful understanding of their success.
What are the key elements that contribute to the successful establishment and
maintenance of a genuine service user-led group
Through an Appreciative Inquiry approach, I developed the question, “What are the key elements that contribute to
the successful establishment and maintenance of a genuine service user-led group” I also set up two meetings:
one with the staff from the SUDT, and a second meeting with the staff from SUDT plus some of the user-led group
members.
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