Posts Tagged ‘Leadership’

Tom Kilian: Rooted in Rural

February 28th, 2011

Jill Callison from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader recently learned something I discovered a decade ago.  If you sit down for a talk with Tom Kilian, you’d better be ready to be bowled over by “aha” moments.  The man’s accomplishments and wisdom are simply overwhelming.

I’ll let you check out Callison’s article to discover Tom’s life accomplishments and influence on South Dakota.  But as you read, I’d invite you to look closely for what I think makes Tom special.  Built on a foundation of serving others, Tom is rooted in both South Dakota and his childhood home in Miner County, SD.

(source:  “Kilian gives up office, but not his desire to help,” Argus Leader, Feb. 24, 2011)

 

Rooted in Place

Rural leaders often use the axiom “Our children are our greatest export” to highlight the negative aspects of youth outmigration.  But Tom offers an example of someone who left but still contributes.

I first met Tom in the late 1990s while he was sharing stories with Howard High School students of his life growing up in Miner County.  The stories he told, such as how he would ride the train to school in Howard each day from Vilas, helped students understand and appreciate their roots in Miner County. 

Tom has contributed to life in Miner County in many other ways:  He’s assisted people trying to start businesses, offered advice to community groups on numbers of projects, served on the Rural Learning Center Board of Directors, and much, much more.

This is the behavior often expected of citizens of rural communities.  But Tom’s not a citizen of Miner County.  He’s lived most of his adult life in Sioux Falls, where he’s an active community member.  So what causes Tom to devote so much energy to his childhood home?

How do roots develop?

Young people have and always will leave our communities.  In fact, we want them to.  We want them to go off and acquire new experiences. We want them to stretch the boundaries of their education. 

But we also want them to stay connected.  Sometimes that means returning to raise their families.  At other times, it means living elsewhere but still giving back in ways like Tom does. 

When I think of Tom and his connection to Miner County, I think of him as being “rooted in place.”  Those roots took hold while growing up in Miner County. They’ve enabled him to lead an incredibly productive life outside of Miner County.  And they are the same roots that keep bringing him back.

How we stem the tide of youth outmigration is worthy of discussion in rural places.  But a more important question for rural community leaders to ask might be, “How do we help our young people grow the roots that enable them to live a life filled with accomplishments (wherever that may be) AND remain connected to the place of their birth?”

 It seems to me that rural communities are pretty good at the former.  And it is time that we get better at the latter.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Community Development, Rural | Comments (0)

Growing Boldly: A case for leadership

February 9th, 2011

Last week I quoted David Campbell’s article about the importance of working together in rural economic development.  I ended the post by asking: “How do we make it happen?” 

Getting organizations to work together is a difficult task because it requires a change in mindset;  rather than just looking out for what’s best for their individual organization, they have to decide to do what’s best for the community as a whole.  That’s tough.  And that’s why I asked the question. 

In Campbell’s original post, he identified the motivation for writing the post as a video interview of Roger Jackson from the Own the Podium project, a group that helped organize the Vancouver Olympics.  Thanks to a commenter posting a link, I’ve embedded the video below.

 

(click here to watch the video)

As I watched the video, I picked up the following tips for leaders who are attempting to get the organizations in their rural communities to work together. 

 

Direct the Rider. Motivate the elephant.

As I wrote out these ideas, I was struck by how well they coincided with the advice provided by Dan and Chip Heath in Switch:  How to change things when change is hard.  A major premise of the book is that every person’s brain is ruled by two different systems:  an analytical mind and an emotional mind.  

To explain how these systems work, the Heaths ask us to think of the imagery of a rider on top of an elephant.  The rational mind (symbolized by the rider) attempts to direct the emotional mind (symbolized by the elephant).  The reality is that an elephant can go wherever its emotions lead them.   The point is that you need both parts to work in conjunction with each other for change to happen. 

As the Heaths explain it, this can be done by “Directing the Rider” and “Motivating the elephant.”  That’s what Jackson describes in the video.  Our rational mind needs direction in order to stay motivated. 

Our emotional mind, on the other hand, needs to embrace a feeling.  We need see a vision that connects with us emotionally, and we need to be able to see ourselves in that vision. 

I think Jackson’s comments and the Heaths framework offer practical advice for initiating the change in behavior necessary to get people within our communities working together.  It’s not an easy process, but leadership and vision go a long way.

Tags: ,
Posted in Community Development, Community Engagement, Economic Development, Rural | Comments (1)

Reminder: Let’s Swim Together

February 2nd, 2011

Sometimes we need a good reminder about what really makes community and economic development work.  David Campbell recently provided me with that reminder in a blog post about his work in rural Nova Scotia.  He writes: 

Economic development is always about marshaling other related stakeholders – it is rarely about single organizations doing all the work themselves.  There are too many moving parts for it to be fully controlled by one organization.  But the best economic development organizations can bring those moving parts together and have them work in unison.” (source:  “Thoughts on rural economic development,” David Campbell, It’s the Economy Stupid:  A blog about Economic Development in Atlantic Canada. Jan. 28, 2011)

We make this same point using the “let’s swim together” analogy at the Rural Learning Center and draw on the movie Finding Nemo for inspiration.  In a scene late in the movie, Nemo and a host of other fish are caught in a fishnet being drug to a boat on the surface.  In an effort to save everyone, Nemo convinces all the other fish that their only means of escape is to unite and swim against the pull of the net.  By swimming together they achieve the unthinkable:  they break the net and overcome their eminent doom on the deck of the fishing boat. 

This analogy may not work among the coastal fishing communities of Nova Scotia, but it’s one that resonates on the flat cropland of the prairie.

Swimming together works.  Recognizing this is an important first step.  And then the real work begins.  How do we make it happen?

Tags: ,
Posted in Community Engagement, Economic Development, Rural | Comments (4)

Who is the “Amazing Maisie” in your community?

September 14th, 2010

We all need feel good stories, and Maisie Devore’s story delivers.  Maisie spent thirty years picking up aluminum cans to raise money for a pool in her hometown of Eskeridge, KS (pop 589).  In all, she raised around $100,000, and the pool was built. 

I first heard of Maisie’s story some years ago when it appeared in a rerun on the CBS Sunday Morning show.  At the time, I didn’t think too much about it.  Today, I stumbled across the video again, and three lessons for community development work popped out at me.  Watch the video and see if you agree.    


 

Maisie’s lessons for community development work

1. Big problems are only rarely solved by big solutions. Dan and Chip Heath teach us this lesson in their bestselling book about how leaders can best initiate change (Switch). But Maisie takes the lesson to a new level. While community leaders looked at the lack of a pool as being too daunting to tackle, Maisie looked for a simple solution and succeeded through perseverance.

2. Determination. In his book Boomtown USA, Jack Schultz identifies “adopt a can do attitude” as a key element for successful small towns. I’m not sure if the town of Eskeridge displays the same determination, but Maisie’s 30 year quest certainly qualifies.

3. Leadership comes in different forms. Watching the video, one gets the impression that Maisie is not your typical community leader. I think there’s a tendency in many communities to overlook people like Maisie when they are looking to get things done.

I tried digging around the Internet to see if I could learn more about what’s happened in the community since the pool was completed in 2001.  Did Maisie’s story inspire the community to take further actions?  I couldn’t find any answers, but I’m not sure that it matters.  Maisie’s story stands as a shining example of what one person can accomplish.

Maisie’s story of small town leadership is not the only example of its kind. Although different in many ways, Muriel Krusemark’s work in Hoffman, MN comes to mind.  In Howard, SD, we can lift up Randy Parry. 

Who’s the Maisie in your community?

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (3)

Do you have a coach?

August 4th, 2010

I saw a post by Randi Buckley, leadership, partnership and team coach, the other day on Facebook.  She shared a video in which Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, tells about the importance of a coach.  This video is one in series of videos that Fortune magazine put together about the best advice different CEO’s, billionaires, entrepreneurs, NBA stars, etc. have received during their careers. 

One day a board member came up to Eric Schmidt and said, “You need a coach.”  A little taken a-back, Eric replied, “I don’t need a coach!  I’m an established CEO, why would I need a coach? Is something wrong?”   “No,” said the board member, “Everyone needs a coach.”

 

 

Coaches are not just for athletes.  Coaches see what you are working towards and do their very best to help you reach that goal.  Coaches help you stay on track and can see the mistakes you cannot, because they are coming at your goal from another angle.  As Eric says in the video, “The one thing people are not good at is seeing themselves as others see them; a coach really helps with that.”

Do you have a coach?

Can’t view the video?  Click here to view it on the original website.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Leadership, Uncategorized | Comments (1)

Are you using the DAD principle?

May 5th, 2010

I love the serendipity of the Internet.  Earlier this morning, while scouring the net for information (which I still haven’t found), I stumbled across a golden nugget that I want to pass along.

Mike Thomas at Urban Workbench identifies the common practice used by many governmental bodies called the DAD principle. Simply put, DAD stands for Decide-Announce-Defend.

I hadn’t heard of this principle before, but I’ve seen it in action – way too often.  Obviously, it creates an opportunity for an emotionally charged atmosphere and causes individual community members to feel left out of the decision-making process. 

If you feel like you’ve been using the DAD principle yourself and want to try something different, I’d encourage you to check out a short article titled “Dinosaur DAD and Enlightened EDD – engaging people early is better.”   EDD stands for Engage-Deliberate-Decide.  It’s a good primer on how leaders can build support for a project or idea, rather than trying to sell or outmaneuver the opposition.

Tags:
Posted in Community Development, Rural | Comments (4)

What does a scarecrow, tin man and lion have to do with your rural community?

April 19th, 2010

I have to admit that it’s been a long time since I’ve watched the Wizard of Oz–a really long time.  But, when a board member mentioned the Wizard of Oz at our board meeting this month, it all came rushing back to me. 

The movie, as I’m sure you remember, involves a young girl named Dorothy who dreams she has landed in the Land of Oz, far from her Kansas home.  She travels down a yellow brick road to Emerald City after she is advised by the good witch of the east that the Wizard of Oz can return her to her home.  She meets all kinds of characters along the way, while trying to avoid the wicked witch of the west. 

Dorothy meets three characters as she travels down the yellow brick road-the scarecrow, tin man, and lion are on their way to visit the Wizard of Oz as well.  They are each seeking something they lack: the scarecrow needs a brain, the tin man a heart, and the lion needs courage. 

What does this have to do with reimagining rural? 

I have never analyzed the Wizard of Oz story line as a metaphor, but as I’ve thought about it lately, I think it shares an important lesson about leadership.  Our rural communities need leaders who have wisdom, heart and courage.  What’s best is, like the characters in the film, we have leaders who already possess these traits-it’s just a matter of discovering and nurturing them. 

I think it’s also provides an easy way we can look at team or committee building in our small towns.  For your next community project, look specifically for three (or more) people who have the wisdom, heart and courage it will take to get your particular project accomplished.  And, I would bet that if we look at previous successful projects, we’ll find that those three characteristics were all a part of making things happen. 

How can you find and energize your community’s scarecrows, tin men and lions?

 

Photo Credit: Brian Negin, Flickr

Tags:
Posted in Community Development, Leadership | Comments (1)

Have you upset anyone lately?

March 3rd, 2010

Last night I upset someone – and for a change, it wasn’t my wife.  While watching my alma mater, Dakota Wesleyan University play in the GPAC Conference Men’s Basketball Conference Championship, a fan from the opposing team yelled at me to “sit down.”  Apparently standing up to cheer when your team scores what could be the winning basket is inappropriate at the college she supports. 

Even though my alma mater won the game, this scolding still bothered me this morning.  I didn’t think I had done anything wrong.  Luckily, I caught a tweet from Becky McCray that brightened my spirits.  That tweet read:

RT @jrr2ok: If you haven’t pissed off some people in four years, you probably haven’t done much that matters.

In the grand scheme of things, I have to admit my cheering probably didn’t matter that much.  And the lady who complained to me was probably just trying to pick a fight with me because her team lost.  But anyone who has served in a leadership role in a community can relate to that situation.   Doing things that matter causes problems, and leaders have to be prepared to deal with it. 

But when you get yelled at because you’re doing something that matters, whether it is supporting a basketball team or fighting for your rural community, I hope someone is there to brighten your day, like Becky did for me.  And remember that you don’t have to apologize for it either. 

 

Note:  Thanks to Jim Rogers for the original tweet.

Tags:
Posted in Community Development, Rural | Comments (4)

You only see the tip

December 17th, 2009

When Neil Linschied told the audience at the Midwest Rural Assembly how he deals with “the stare,” I knew he had something good to say about how young people fit into a rural community.  (go here for more on “the stare.” ) 

Today, an article titled “Area leadership program winds down” in the Worthington Daily Globe convinced me that Neil has a lot more to share about leadership development in rural communities. 

The article highlights the Worthington Integrative Community Leadership Program, which was organized by University of Minnesota Extension’s Center for Community Vitality.  The program’s intent is to build broad based leadership.  Worthington, MN, for those who don’t know, is a rural community with a large Hispanic population.  As program facilitator Toby Spanier states in the article:

If Worthington is going to be successful, the leadership should mirror the community as much as possible.”  (source: “Area leadership program winds down,” Worthington Daily Globe. 12-16-09)  

Even though I don’t know Worthington first-hand, I couldn’t agree more.

Neil, also interviewed in the article, shared something about how we relate to newcomers to our communities that I had never thought of before. As the article states:

Linscheid presented a culture iceberg, saying only 10 percent of a person’s culture is accessible through first impressions and stereotypes. Things like food, dress and language are only the tip of the iceberg, while beliefs, attitudes, problems and emotions are “below water.”

Think about someone you meet and what you notice right away,” he said. “What are those things you can’t see? … The important thing to remember is this stuff is what makes people who they are.”

The stuff that we can’t see about someone else is really the stuff that makes the person who they are.  Yet, we make snap decisions about newcomers to our rural communities the moment they walk into the café.

It’s a good reminder for us as we think about how we can transform our community into places where young people want to live.  Judging others before they get a chance to become a part of the community is an easy way to drive them away.   

Photo Credit:  natalielucier – Flickr

Tags: , ,
Posted in Community Development, Leadership, Rural | Comments (0)