Le concept du Marché des idées est en quelque sorte un babillard interactif, en format papier.
Vendredi soir, les participants ont eu la chance de partager sur une feuille de papier les projets qu'ils veulent réaliser et les ressources dont ils ont besoin pour les accomplir.
Partagez vos projets, et les ressources dont vous avez besoin pour les réaliser dans les commentaires.
-Mélissa Cormier, bénévole 21inc.
The model for the video was one put together by Leonardo DiCaprio and friends during the 2008 US general election called 5 friends. Brian Gallant and Dan Gillis gathered a stellar cast of New Brunswickers to be part of the video. Despite having Bernard Lord, John McLaughlin, Lisa Merrithew, Dominic Leblanc and other prominent NBers, the younger stars stole the show.
Most importantly, the message is clear. The fundamental reason our political leaders don’t make needed and hard decisions on the economy, the environment and a litany of other issues is because no constituency supports them. We need to demand that the issues we care about be heard and VOTE for it.
Lets make this election different.
Go vote. Vas voter.
Spin Reduxit loyalists in the Saint John area are invited to our very first, and altogether experimental, "live" podcast, which we will record this Fri., Aug. 13, at the City Market.Daniel McHardie and I will be at the Java Moose Coffee location at the market from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to record an extended Spin Reduxit podcast. We're inviting three engaged, civic-minded New Brunswickers to join us for our discussion: urban activist Kurt Peacock, lawyer and former Saint John Board of Trade chair Nathalie Godbout, and Melissa Wah, a recent St. Thomas University grad who's working for 21inc, the youth leadership program.
"Everything that happens to us informs our future - good and bad. You probably learn more if things don't go the way they're supposed to go, according to your design. You learn more and that makes you stronger and smarter for the next thing you plan to do, as long as you keep moving forward."
I spoke today with Kanika Gupta, founder of Nukoko, who is completing a masters degree at UVic on the challenges young people face starting social enterprises. The research will inform a guidebook she's creating for young people interested in getting into this line of business.
After our conversation she asked what advice I would give after the experiences with 21inc. This is always an uncomfortable question. We learn so much everyday, who are we to give advice? I asked if anything from our conversation struck her as unique and could be beneficial for others to learn from.
She spoke about how much thinking we have done and continue to do on the vision and structure of 21inc, and the positive change that resulted. That was interesting to hear and probably because we’ve got a bunch of over educated people in leadership positions.
But also because we never looked at our evaluations, our governance decisions, event brain-dumps and debriefs, advisory network, and the 18 months from 2006 to 2007 exploring what 21inc should do as anything except what needed to be done. Thinking and doing at the same time is not optional.
Have we always made the right decision as a result of that thinking? Definitely not. Do we always ask ourselves the right questions? No again. So what have we received from this thought work (aside from several headaches)? Intentionality in our actions, a larger network of friends, an understanding of our market, more targeted programming to achieve desired outcomes, and commitment to given directions. And an understanding from experience that improvement is never over.
I’m looking forward to reading the results and how they fit into the bigger picture.
We hosted a conversation this morning with respected and experienced leadership development experts. We were discussing pieces of the Emerging Leaders Summit when one asked, “how are you looking at the issue of power?”
Power is fundamental to leadership. And our research into leadership programs shows that it’s rarely made explicit to understand how we use it.
Paul Theriault, VP Human Resources at NB Power was there and started talking about the old TV show Dallas. During one classic scene, Jock Ewing, the head of the Ewing Oil company, loses it with his upstanding and ethical son Bobby when he tells him “you are never given power, you take power.”
There's a bit of time still open for a challenging conversation and we discussed what an exploration into power might look like at the Summit. For example, invite someone to join us who has had a rich life taking power and, importantly, having it taken away. Or maybe tools are developed to better understand how we exploit it -- or not.
I would like to thank all of you and the countless other participants that made the past few days so enjoyable – I have some new and strengthened partnerships – I knew I was in the right place when I knew half the people, and didn’t yet know the other half – The facility was great – the space was safe – everybody offered something of value to the conversation and responsibility was shared.Well said.
I don’t know exactly what will come next, however I am sure that it will be awesome!
Here’s to trailblazing!
It’s a big week for 21inc. Today we’re opening nominations for our new program, the Emerging Leaders Summit.
(It’s actually been live on the website for a week since it “leaked” a week and a half ago. We started getting calls for more information or not being able to find the nomination page. As a result we put it up and already have a bunch of nominations!)
We’ve been working on this program since last fall and are really excited about the positive impact it will make. The Summit supports and develops Atlantic Canada’s most promising leaders and entrepreneurs, age 20 – 35.
From a pool of nominations, 50 young people from across Atlantic Canada will be selected to join some of the region’s most respected leaders as faculty and mentors at the Emerging Leaders Summit in St. Andrews, NB, this November 22-24. The focus is on skill development, facilitating the movement from “leading –self” to “leading others.” Nominations are open now!
Candidates are selected, in part, on how they can apply the experience to an actual leadership challenge. Programming is designed to enhance abilities to motivate self and others, build teams, strategize, design structures (that support the strategy), and measure success. Critical skills no matter what is being led. Participants then engage with leading doers and thinkers at the 21inc Ideas Festival, immediately following from November 24-26.
The Summit is supported by leading companies and organizations from across Atlantic Canada. Our private sector partners include Emera, Knightsbridge Robertson Surrette, Evolving Solutions, and Couleur. Our public sector partners include the Governments of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI, and Nova Scotia Business Inc. We will be confirming more in the next few weeks, stay tuned.
In discussions on the Summit, some people have asked how it relates to the 21 Leaders program. It’s a good question. They’re entirely different programs but similar in a few ways. They’re both leadership experiences (leadership is what 21inc does, after all). We’re taking lessons learned from the 21 Leaders program – creating that platform for leaders and entrepreneurs to develop tangible skills, knowledge, confidence and relationships – and applying it over an intense and stimulating 3 days (5 days with the Ideas Festival) to create a powerful leadership experience.
We’re also using it to try out a couple things that we may want to extend to the 21 Leaders program. For example, making the selection, in part, about how participants can use this learning. In what way will they apply this experience to leadership challenges in their professional careers or in the community?
Obviously the Atlantic element is critical. We’re a small, rural region without many opportunities to create connections and learn from leading doers and thinkers. Malcolm Gladwell comes to Toronto once every couple months for a talk at Rotman. Atlantic Canada isn’t exactly on the circuit. We need to create forums and spaces to learn, to develop the necessary abilities, to share, and find ways to improve on the things we do. The 21inc Emerging Leaders Summit seeks to do just this.
Nominate someone now (or get someone to nominate you)!
As part of our 21 Leaders program, the Leaders work in small groups (of 3-4) with a nonprofit or on a project of their creation that helps solve some of NB's most pressing challenges. We call this component of the program Community Solutions Projects. One of the groups this year has organized a debate to be held during our upcoming Accelerator in Bathurst. I asked team member Jennifer Dysart to write a post for the blog. This is what she sent. If you're in Bathurst you should definitely make time to attend.
What better way to learn about issues affecting your province than through a heated debate?
As part of the 21 Inc. program, David Michaud, Alain Parent, and myself had the opportunity to come together and transform this concept into reality. After a few weeks of brainstorming, Have Your Say! NB Debates/Debats NB: Prenez Position! was born.
It's a project aimed at increasing awareness among New Brunswickers about issues affecting the sustainable economic development of their province. The project will consist of a series of debates held in both urban and rural venues between local experts and leaders with a focus on public engagement. The topics of the debates and the debaters will be chosen based on current issues affecting the particular location and availability of suitable individuals.
The first debate is scheduled to take place at the final 21 Inc. accelerator weekend in Bathurst on May 28th at 7:30 a.m. at Danny's Inn.
THE APPROACH & OUTCOMES
Three debates will be held in 2010; one in Bathurst, Sussex, and Moncton/Dieppe. The debate in Bathurst will be bilingual, the one in Sussex will be held in English, while the debate in Moncton/Dieppe will be held in French. Hosting of the debates will be a collaborative effort between Have Your Say! NB Debates and partnering organizations.
During the actual event, a poll of the audience will be conducted before and after the debate. The results of the debate will be publicized, and will hopefully act to educate and motivate public action.
If you are in Bathurst next Thursday please come join the debate!
Jennifer Dysart lives in Sussex and works to support rural economic development in New Brunswick.
This is Phil Holmes from Ambir conveying his experience with 21inc to the group
Elizabeth Beale and I
Myself, yammering away about something
Author, entrepreneur and venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki gave a great keynote last night at The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation R3 Gala. Of the 10 steps he spoke about to increase innovation, I drove home thinking about Mantras.
Organizations will only thrive if people know what you do. This is what mission statements do. Good mission statements give direction to employees and customers/stakeholders. But they’re often long and obtuse. Guy said that a mantra doesn’t replace the mission statement, rather it tells you in 3-4 words exactly what meaning you (the organization) bring to the world. Everything then follows meaning, including money, not the other way around.
21inc has an okay mission statement - to develop and inspire New Brunswick’s new and emerging leaders. It’s okay because it’s direct. It’s only okay because it’s not inspiring.
We don’t have a mantra.
A mantra is not Nike’s “Just Do It.” That gives no direction to employees in the organization. Nike’s actual mantra is Authentic Athletic Performance. He gave the example of what not to do with Wendy’s. Wendy’s has no mantra and their mission statement is about innovation and partnerships. When has your burger ever been about partnerships? What it should be, he said, is “Healthy Fast Food.” (They just have to work on that "healthy" part.)
On the drive home I played with what our mantra could be. Something about leadership, entrepreneurship, aspiration, excellence, goals, achievement, place, youth, and community. Obviously that won't boil down to 3-4 words.
We can provide context to support it with communication around our focus on young people, increase the performance of our companies, that leadership will power our province and region, make communities dynamic, etc. In the end, however, it all comes back to the core of what we do, building better leaders.
What makes teachers great? Is it charisma, their ability to hold the attention of rowdy students? What about subject area knowledge? Will higher pay attract better teachers and increase the quality of the teaching gene pool?
According to this piece in the New York Times Magazine the answer to each is no.
Why is the nitty-gritty of what makes a good teacher relevant for 21inc and this blog? Because a surprising amount of being a leader is teaching.
When I took on the role of 21inc’s Executive Director, I had no idea just how much of my day to day was about raising awareness and educating people on why our work is important. In the early days I changed what I said about 21inc almost every day as I learned what resonated with people, how to talk about it, and who needed to hear what. I was, in a way, “teaching” and trying to figure out how “students” would be respond to the material.
Now that we’re moving into more programs and growing more sophisticated, my teaching style has to change again. I feel awkward using the founding story and besides, we have accomplished real outcomes and are very proud of that. Teaching people about outcomes and why something works and should be supported is, I know now, central to being a leader.
Beat Poet Tim Merry, as told to the audience at Face to Face last year. This is part of a longer poem that will be appearing in the next edition of Progress Magazine.
Legions of youth depart
All they are seeking is learning
That’s their culture
We got to connect to their passion inside
Or they’ll keep on leaving
And we’ll be left bereaving
I attended the Sobey Leadership Forum last Friday in Halifax where the speakers spoke a lot about motivating people.
One of my key takeaways was the difference between happiness and satisfaction. My job as an organizational leader, they said, is not to make people happy. Unfortunately, we (and I) get trapped in the very human desire of wanting to make people happy. Satisfaction happens from a job well done, by pushing people to do more than they realized. The process of accomplishing a task may actually evoke quite the opposite emotion to happiness – especially when pushing someone beyond their comfort zone.
Thinking about it from a nonprofit context is interesting too. Unlike a private company, the people I think about are not only staff but volunteers and participants. The democratic nature of leadership required in nonprofits is critical as satisfaction is greater when someone is involved from the inspiration ideation stage to final product or service. Often this isn`t possible or necessary, but there are times when it`s an absolute must.
I've been thinking about the role of self-awareness and social intelligence in satisfaction. If one thinks they are being pushed beyond their limits and does a good job, than satisfaction is apt to be high. If one feels underutilized, they will be frustrated, even if the job is done well.
The leader needs to have an acute understanding of not only the abilities of team members but also the perception of abilities. Not an easy task. Probably why it`s better instead to create a process with checks along the way to refine self-awareness, increase competency and do a great job.
Anyone out there know a good resource for start-up social enterprises/nonprofits?
I ask because in the process of working on our charitable application, I realized we needed a job description for me. Here’s the rub: I don’t have one.
As a founder of the organization we never made one. I went from the board to the staff, had a bunch of conversations with everyone that grew into a collective vision, and off I went.
The challenge in this situation is that most of the writing or research I’ve found is not directly relevant to small and/or start up nonprofit organizations. Start-up business stories, articles and research are often helpful but don’t always provide what is needed.
I’d love to see a story about what management/admin tasks to prioritize over which to leave for later, what might bite in the ass if it’s not done, and systems for execution with a paid staff, volunteer board, and a bunch of supporters. Obviously we’re figuring it out but I’d love a couple more reference points. Any help would be much appreciated.
“We need young people who go away to think of it as training for their return."
