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T.A.L.L. Team
TALL (Target Area Local Leadership)
The greatest challenges facing people in many communities and
other economically disadvantaged areas are isolation and the knowledge barrier.
Although people within these communities are well aware of the problems
facing themselves and their neighbors, they typically lack the support and
the tools to resolve them. Further, all too many people lack an understanding
of the external social, economic and political factors effecting their communities,
as well as the relevant resources they can bring to bear to improve their
situation. Finally, there is a lack of the repertoire of skills that go
beyond a reactive problem-solving approach characteristic of so many communities.
TALL (Target Area Local Leadership) Team members, under the direction of
Bill Shaw, TALL Team Coordinator, are critical to the long-term success
of the Weed and Seed program. TALL Team members are highly motivated potential
leaders, who are residents drawn from across the Coatesville area. The City
of Coatesville contracts with Life Transforming Ministries (LTM) to provide
a TALL Team Coordinator for the City’s TALL Team under the City’s
Pennsylvania Weed and Seed Program.
The TALL Team is the grass-roots entity of the strategy and report to the
AID Team, which is the City’s Weed and Seed governing body. The TALL
Team is crucial to the long-term success of Coatesville’s Weed and
Seed Program. TALL Team members receive intensive formal leadership training
provided by Pennsylvania Weed and Seed, and provide an on-line community
to help these neighborhood leaders learn from each other.
TALL Team members are charged with realizing the Seed strategies and goals
in community policing, drug prevention and nuisance abatement, social service
coordination and neighborhood enterprise development.
TALL Team Training
Realizing that there is a huge need for education, practical application
and support in the target areas, Pennsylvania’s Weed and Seed created
the I-LEAD Leadership Institute and a multi-faceted program to strengthen
community leaders in Pennsylvania's neighborhoods. I-LEAD's two-year program
consists of a skills-based curriculum, and information-based curricula,
that are then followed by the development of leadership initiatives. Coatesville’s
TALL Team members go through this state-required training program which
meets twice a month in three-hour training sessions. The training course
includes four required modules of training and one optional module (Spiritual
Thinking Module) which is offered to Coatesville residents only.
- Effective dialogue Module - Involves leadership skills, addressing
special skills required to be a good listener, appreciating human diversity
as well as negotiating and resolving conflicts.
- Systems Thinking Module – TALL Team members learn part two
of a system of leadership skills. Examples are visioning, achieving shared
vision, strengths theory, team building and systems analysis.
- Public Systems Module - TALL Team members engage in team learning
regarding local, state and federal governmental organizations. They master
the structure and functioning of public institutions.
- Private Systems Module - TALL Team members learn about critical
roles played by private sector organizations, including non-profit and other
charitable institutions.
- Spiritual Thinking Module (optional – offered to Coatesville
TALL Team members only) - TALL Team members learn about the spiritual character
of a leader and how to see a community holistically as well as learn to
develop a theology of a community.
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