How to Retire

As I walked up to a wedding reception this weekend at a golf club with my "retired" brother, my sister-in-law said to him --"you know Tom, all this could be yours (IE golf...)." Tom later told me that while in theory it could be his life: in practice, it just was not possible.

Instead of heading off to the links, he took retirement and headed off to community. He spends his time and talents working with a variety of non-profit organizations in the region and has started a group called the Great Lakes Green Initiative (GLGI). He put his optics on making a difference.

As I walked into the room for an important community meeting last week, I saw our volunteer chair -- Al Lucarelli --- at the head of the table. This was an early morning meeting over on the west side of Detroit. Al, a little tongue in cheek, said to me, "you know I am supposed to be retired." He hung up his professional career and dedicated his efforts towards working in the community with a college, a hospital and organizations like United Way. He makes those around him better. And for that, the community improves.

These two individuals spend most of their free time serving. They are two of many in this region who work every day to make things a little bit better. A little bit stronger.

What strikes me about both of them, is the vibrancy in their voice, actions and aspirations. They are re framing what it means to "retire." They are helping to create a more visible path on other ways to transition from the "have to list" to the "want to list."

As more and more "boomers" enter retirement, Tom and Al might be modeling what others will want to follow. As Martin Luther King said, "Everyone can be great. Because everyone can serve."

If life's success is measured by what you give, not by what you have, then Al and Tom have a bounty of success. My instincts tell me they have figured out "how to retire."

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211 Version 2.0

I have often called 211 the "first social innovation of the 21st century." We came into this century with 211 in its infancy and yet, we will come out of the first decade with nearly universal access to America.

Much of the attention has been put on getting 211 up and running. At the end of last week, Detroit hosted the 211 North American Summit of leaders from both Canada and US. Individuals from Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, LA, New York and many other cities came to explore creating 'version 2.0' of 211.

That is, what have we learned from the first 10 years about the power and utilization of 211. We have seen it play a huge role in 9/11, Katrina and everyday issues that individuals face. For the first time in America, we have real time data about the need in many areas of our communities. Data from 211 is being turned into knowledge which in turn is being converted into better decisions. We also have the beginning of a centralized quality 'check point' from individuals who are accessing service.

We now better understand how Toronto is taking 211 information to improve policy decisions. We heard from the Chief of Police in Detroit --Chief Bully-Cummings -- how 211 in an important tool on the streets for police officers as they face a wide range of issues on a daily basis. We heard from FEMA how 211 has become a powerful long term tool when dealing with the recovery from disasters.

211's presence and role in America/Canada has exceeded any original expectation. The question becomes, how do we steward this important social asset towards its full capability. The purpose of the summit was to begin that work.

If you would like to read more on 211, please go to 211.org.

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Scarcity versus Abundance -- Part II

This article in Crain's Detroit Business yesterday about United Way's Leadership Next program tells the story of the pioneers in the region who wake up each day with an abundance mentality. Not scarcity. If you didn't have a chance to read the article......here it is.


Source: Crain's Detroit BusinessBy: Sheri Begin Published: 6:00 am, June 18, 2007

Emerging leaders don't currently feel invested in the region, and that's a problem, according to one of them.“It's very easy to just get up and move to greener pastures” when you aren't invested, said Matt Clayson, a legal coordinator at ePrize L.L.C. in Pleasant Ridge, who's chairing a new young leaders society at United Way for Southeastern Michigan.

“We want them to stay so they build a community they want to see.”Emerging leaders have an opportunity in Southeast Michigan, Clayson, 26, said. “There's something to build.”

United Way plans to launch Leadership Next, a new organization for under 40s, on Wednesday.

“Our goal is to increase regionalism and to bring all of the young leaders together,” said Jeanette Pierce, 26, special events coordinator for the United Way and a member of Crain's 2007 class of 20 in their 20s honorees.Patterned after the One D collaboration of six civic groups and similar groups at United Ways across the U.S., Leadership Next plans to work with other groups from around the region to come up with volunteering, mentoring, networking and leadership training opportunities for younger adults, while engaging them in the community by making them aware of issues that affect the community and showing them how to get in touch with legislators.Retention is the overall goal of other young professional groups, Pierce said. Leadership Next “starts them thinking in a cohesive, collaborative, regional way ... that is more effective.”

“If you have 100 people ... all digging holes in different parts of the region, they'll make a little bit of difference in a lot of places,” she said. “If you bring them together, and they combine their efforts, they can make more impact more quickly.”

United Way by July 1 plans to pull together a committee of 10 to 15 people to set the direction for the group and to develop events in cooperation with other young professional and leadership groups to avoid duplication and have a greater impact, Pierce said.

Clayson was a good candidate to chair the new group, Pierce said.Before joining ePrize, Clayson oversaw the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau's public information campaign to get people reconnected to Detroit before the Super Bowl and subsequently helped to develop the monthly Campus Martius street festival, Fourth Fridays.Clayson also is very involved in the community in a number of different groups, including Detroit Synergy, Pierce said. He also was part of Crain's first class of 20 in their 20s honorees in 2006.


“He's very intelligent, has experience working regionally and was excited to be an agent for change in the region.”One of Clayson's prerequisites for chairing the group was that it had to be more than just a networking group, he said. “For me it has to be something that advocates concrete and tangible change.”

The group will recruit members from every ethnicity and every city, focusing its efforts in United Way's Wayne, Oakland and Macomb service area, Pierce said.

“We're not going to limit this group to just 9-to-5ers. We're going to try to bring in the creative class for a different perspective,” she said. “We need all types of people to effect change in the region.”

After the group's launch, one of its first events will be a joint meeting with all the current leaders of other young professional groups to discuss together how they can work as one to move the region forward, Pierce said.But members won't just come to meetings or networking events, she said. “This will be a deep-dive and discussion into the region's problems, issues and best ways to solve them.”

The group has already planned a team-building trip this fall to help with rebuilding efforts in New Orleans, along with its United Way counterpart in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Pierce said.

It will make the trip on a flight donated by Northwest Airlines Corp.


“Rebuilding is needed everywhere, including here (in metro Detroit),” she said. “Hopefully this will inspire our young leaders to come back to this region and work harder to make a difference here.”

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Scarcity versus Abundance

"Everyone is leaving the state." "There are no opportunities in Michigan." "Once kids can leave, they do." "If you want to be where the action is, go to NYC, Chicago, DC..." "There are no resources available, all the venture capital is in other parts of the country."

You get the point. We all have heard the tape recording similar to the words above. When regions get hit with the contraction of industry like SE Michigan--- it becomes hard to imagine anything but scarcity.

I'm in the upper floor of Buzz Bar in Downtown Detroit meeting with 8 professional and civic minded leaders in their 20's and early 30's. Buzz Bar is a place known for its music --- mostly blues and jazz.

I don't hear scarcity, I hear abundance. I don't hear why one should leave, I hear why one should come and stay. I don't hear entitlement, I hear a pioneer's voice. I don't hear "can't", I hear "do".

As I leave, I am struck that volume and visibility of their voice isn't as evident as it needs to be. This group, which is helping United Way think through its next generation leadership strategy -- called Leadership Next, isn't writing a chapter to an already established story.

They are writing the region's new story.

"My friends ask me what am I doing in Detroit, Michigan. They are in New York and Chicago. I invite them here and show them what I am doing. (This person develops commercial property in the City of Detroit --- he is from New York) They can't believe it. I remind them that I wouldn't be able to do a quarter of what I am doing in Detroit if my work was in NYC or Chicago. I can go farther, wider and faster here than any other market."

Abundance not Scarcity. That's the tune to play. He wasn't singing the Blues; he was imagining the future. He was participating in the writing the new story.

Abundance vs Scarcity --- how do each of us tell this region's story?

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Vice President of the Seventh Grade Class

As I entered the small room that local civic leaders were gathering in at Blackwell Institute, I was greeted by an eager Detroit Public School student.

“How do you do young man,” I said to the boy dressed in a blue sport coat and a tie dotted with pins of honor.

He responded with pride and confidence,“fine, thank you sir. Welcome to Blackwell Insititute. The meeting is taking place inside this room.”

“My name is Mike Brennan. What is your name?” I asked.

“Raheam Young.”

“Raheam, what grade are you in?”

“Seventh Grade, sir.”

“That pin on your collar….what does that stand for?”

“I am the Vice President of the Seventh Grade class.”

“Is that an office you run for.”

“Oh, yes. You are elected by your classmates. I love to campaign!”

“Really?”

With genuine conviction, he said, “And I love to give speeches.”

“Well you know, that is the number one fear in the world. Death is number three on the list. People would rather die than get up and give a speech to others.”

“Not me. I don’t get nervous.”

“Raheam, that is a gift. If you had an audience of 300, what would you like to give a speech on?”

Raheam paused and then said, “I would like to talk about the War in Iraq and about Global Warming.”

“Iraq and Global Warming?”

“Yes, that is what I would like to give a speech about.”

Think what you may about Detroit, Detroit Public Schools, and the range of issues facing all of us. But at that moment with that young man, I thought there isn’t a parent in the world who wouldn’t be proud. And it didn’t end with Raheam…..you saw excellence throughout the school of 700 students.

To a person, they all mentioned that excellence began at the top. And at the top of this school is Wilma Taylor - Costen, the principal. To learn more or to visit Blackwell, just click here. http://www.detroit.k12.mi.us/schools/index.php?schoolID=316

To learn more about other Good Schools in Detroit, go to: www.goodschoolsdetroit.org

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Power of One

“I made the decision to quit the basketball team, so I could dedicate more of my life to service.” As I listened to the story of Adam Harris, I couldn’t help but feel the world was a better place because he was in it.

This high achieving student/ athlete attends University of Michigan – Dearborn and had recently returned from participating in United Way’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB). Over 400 college students from across America went to the gulf coast for their spring break to help in the never ending recovery.

I wanted to take some time with them to learn more about their experience and explore “what’s next?”

About half way through our discussion, Adam began to tell his journey. He told me that on his i-pod he has most of Martin Luther King’s speeches. From Adam's perspective, Martin Luther King's life, the vision he shared, and the depth of thinking he possessed was as defining as any great thinker/doer/leader the world has known.

When he was in the gulf coast volunteering he kept calling his mom to talk with her about what he was experiencing. More importantly, Adam was listening to what the voice deep inside of him was saying. He realized that while he loved basketball, the time required to do that well was something he no longer could do. He wanted to see that significant amount of time dedicated to service. To others. To community.

This is a man who at a very early age has his compass set on a true north. The power, strength and courage of his decision to dedicate his life to service will be felt by many. His example provides a teachable moment for others.

How will we make progress in this region? Through decisions like Adams. The Power of One.

To get of sense of the ASB and Adam, click here. http://uwsemasb.blogspot.com/

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