By former Chaska mayor
Leadership is a topic that has been a frequent one for me over the years. What does it mean?
When you are in a role where people are looking to you for guidance, for direction, for vision — that’s leadership
Leadership has been defined in thousands of models. You can pick the attributes you believe make the most sense and you will have put together your own definition.
I believe there are some critical attributes that always belong in any leadership model.
As we hear from leaders at many levels, we hear project reports. We hear about projects being completed — new roads, new buildings, new parks, new trails, new technology, new products, new services and more. What often is missing is the view, the picture, the vision for the future.
What do these projects stand in support of? What are they trying to create or build? What does or should the future look like?
Isn’t that what we’d like to understand? When people understand and are inspired by that vision, and share that vision, it unleashes a lot of power and productivity.
What then becomes important for leaders is to care. Care about what you’re leading at the business, organizational or community level, but most importantly to care about the people they lead because leadership is all about people!
It is then that the community, organization or a business will be successful, because leaders care and have compassion. They motivate and inspire because they make a human connection.
It is then that a vision of the future should embrace and have a priority on the health of the people component of their responsibility. Let us then find that in the business plans or a community’s comprehensive plan … a focus on the health of the human component of your organization or community.
It is why people want to live in places that have a strong sense of community, a strong sense of belonging and a connectedness that feels like home. This creates a sense of pride and allegiance to the community whether at work or at home. That is why leaders need to inspire us with a vision of the future that includes and addresses the health of our human Infrastructure.
Ask how we are doing in the development of our children, the engagement of our aging, the feeding and health of those in need of food and shelter or their mental health or disability. Too many of these people today exist and live in the shadows of life.
Too often this is not addressed in a vision of the future. But given the fact that leaders lead people, we should be hearing about the human condition, especially today more than ever!
It’s not a sign of weakness to care about each other, even when some may tell you to figure it out for yourself. It is the cornerstone of this country — “We the People” together.
It is not a sign of weakness to care and have compassion. It may require courage at times to stand up for those who too often live in the shadows of life, who don’t have a voice or a feeling of belonging or connectedness to their community. True leaders, at any level of community building, will believe we all have value, that we need to care about each other and raise each other up, so that every person feels the support that exists within a caring community.
It is what builds community and a sense of belonging that we all want to feel in the place we call home!
