Emerging Leaders - Part Three
My last two entries have been building the stage for this- creating an Emerging Leaders Society in Metro Detroit- through the United Way.
Picture this: a group of thousands who care about what happens in the region, coming together, networking, volunteering, and developing their business skills together through mentoring with today’s CEOs. Through their involvement, they begin to take a “hands-on” approach to the opportunities of the region. They get direct, immediate, positive reinforcement from their investment of time and dollars. They learn business strategy and leadership skills, get board training, and volunteer at sites that resonate with their own causes.
An Emerging Leaders Society that makes people feel connected to the community and each other, and see that not only is change possible, but that they are actively involved in creating that change, could drastically change the future of the region.
We, as the United Way, would help those who will be the next generation of business and community leaders to become successful. We educate them to the needs of the region and empower them with the skills they need to impact society. If we want the area to move, then we need to provide the “movers and shakers” with the means to “move and shake.” Again, the Twin Cities have over 12,000 active members in their Emerging Leaders Society. Apparently this idea resonates with more people than just me!
The Community has already stated that they want the region to work together to move this ship forward. What a great way for the United Way to answer their call, positioning itself as a true community convener- and helping those who want to take action determine the course of Detroit. I’m pretty sure that the brain drain would reverse- a community that empowers its people to lead is an enticing, and exciting, place to live.
Julie Updyke
Campaign Associate
Resource Development
See Also
Picture this: a group of thousands who care about what happens in the region, coming together, networking, volunteering, and developing their business skills together through mentoring with today’s CEOs. Through their involvement, they begin to take a “hands-on” approach to the opportunities of the region. They get direct, immediate, positive reinforcement from their investment of time and dollars. They learn business strategy and leadership skills, get board training, and volunteer at sites that resonate with their own causes.
An Emerging Leaders Society that makes people feel connected to the community and each other, and see that not only is change possible, but that they are actively involved in creating that change, could drastically change the future of the region.
We, as the United Way, would help those who will be the next generation of business and community leaders to become successful. We educate them to the needs of the region and empower them with the skills they need to impact society. If we want the area to move, then we need to provide the “movers and shakers” with the means to “move and shake.” Again, the Twin Cities have over 12,000 active members in their Emerging Leaders Society. Apparently this idea resonates with more people than just me!
The Community has already stated that they want the region to work together to move this ship forward. What a great way for the United Way to answer their call, positioning itself as a true community convener- and helping those who want to take action determine the course of Detroit. I’m pretty sure that the brain drain would reverse- a community that empowers its people to lead is an enticing, and exciting, place to live.
Julie Updyke
Campaign Associate
Resource Development
See Also
Labels: Employee Voices, leadership_next
posted by UWSEM webmaster at
2:23 PM
4 Comments:
Great idea!
They say "the longest journey begins with just one step"!
One way to start would be to discuss this approach with local businesses, city government, chamber of commerce, etc. to involve them in the process, gain broad based support and start to develop a vision and goals that align with their needs and input.
By
Anonymous, at 2:52 PM
Great idea, I'd love to help!
By
Megan Bracket, at 1:55 PM
I am intrigued by the idea of Emerging Leaders and would love to hear more specifics. To me, this idea has a foundation that speaks to a universal truth -- change will occur when the people in a community have a reason to get engaged with that community.
Let me add one more thing I believe: Those 12,000 or more emerging leaders already have all the knowledge they need to effect a lasting change in their community - not sure it needs to come from interactions with CEOs. People know what their community needs - they live with it every day. My hope is that we can figure a way to tap into that knowledge base and allow for a change that fits our community. Spending more time listening, rather than teaching, is a step in the right direction.
Great ideas, Julie! You have me thinking...
By
Peggy Brennan, at 7:46 AM
Thanks Peggy- you got me thinking too!
I think that sometimes I do underestimate the knowledge and ‘know how’ that people already have. Creating the right forum- where that power can take root- is the real key to community change.
One reason we were thinking CEO interactions was for recruitment. An interesting thing they saw happening in the Twin Cities was that the most common question asked of the CEOs at the luncheons or dinners was regarding the work/home balance. I think that being able to meet with some CEO’s, and learn from their experiences is a pretty attractive thing to younger people on their climb up the ladder.
These opportunities could be one way we differentiate ourselves from other young people’s groups. We can offer the opportunity to learn from those who have been “there” and succeeded. It might be a key to attracting membership.
I think there's an opportunity within Emerging Leaders to develop our relationships with new and existing partners too. Some United Ways are seeing their business friends want to become more involved with the Emerging Leaders (its an attractive hiring pool) and offered to provide skill-based workshops. Deloitte in Sacramento offered a project management class. I think it was in Austin where they held a Dale Carnegie seminar, and one other city had a business partner offer financial planning.
Again, while maybe not directly connected to visible community change, these trainings allow for both new businesses, and our established partners to connect with us in a new way, and allow for people to see non-traditional ways in which the United Way can be involved in their lives. I see all of these things as positive relationship builders.
One thing we realize is that we want to be the facilitators, and not the directors of the society. Historically, societies that were run by UW staff, and not volunteers have not been successful. I think it’s vital that this be volunteer led- and staff supported. Like you said, the 12,000 know what needs to be accomplished- and we should be there to support them in their work.
I definitely would love to talk more about the ideas we’re rolling around here- I could go on for hours (as my family definitely knows…they have been hearing all about it!) I’d love to hear more ideas- things that should be considered, included, developed while working on what the ideal structure of this looks like!
Thank you again for commenting-
By
Julie Updyke, at 11:56 AM
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