Beat Poetry

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

21 Leaders doing great work in their community

As part of the leadership development process, the 21 Leaders collaborate with a non-profit organization of their choice to work on a community solutions project that will help the organization further their objectives and increase their capacity to have a greater impact in their community. This year, one of the groups has chosen to evaluate youth engagement at the Saint John Y in an effort to help increase programming options and participation.

This morning, the Telegraph Journal published an article featuring this great partnership between the Saint John Y and the group of 21 Leaders, which you can read at http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/city/article/932897

Premier Graham Channels 21inc in Globe & Mail

My girlfriend tonight asked if I had read Premier Graham's interview with the Globe and Mail in this weekend's paper. She said that no matter what one thinks of his policies, his last answer was very 21inc. So, of course, I had to read it. She was right. For those who missed it here it is:

Globe: You said at the news conference that good policy makes good politics. But how convinced are you that tough decisions like this bring about good electoral results?

Premier Graham: That's the mindset that people think of their governments - that they're only making policies to get themselves re-elected. ... My goal today is to create a stronger New Brunswick. This is my home; this is where I grew up and this is where I want to stay. We've seen too many of our young people leave, and we can't just continue down the path of the status quo.

Happiness vs Satisfaction

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.

Reference Points

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.

Bringing Folks Home

Over coffee with a former financial firm executive this week, we got on the topic of population and demography in Atlantic Canada. He made a comment that stuck with me,

“We need young people who go away to think of it as training for their return."

There’s truth to the statement. We absolutely do need young people to go away and return with new skills, networks and abilities. It is happening, and Atlantic Canada will need to continue and accelerate this influx of people with experiences and perspectives gained and honed elsewhere. It’s not because you can’t develop professionally here. But because the more global and integrated our world is, the more these attributes become advantages to organizations of all kinds who can leverage them.

Nevertheless, I think the causality is backwards. Young people don’t leave today in order to come back. They claim they want to return but the longer one is away the deeper go the roots. In order to make the above statement true we need to ensure that first they leave with meaningful connections and ties to the region and people. The tipping point will come when the “from aways” start migrating here, the folks who left will follow.

Wise Words

This is great. Will have more to say in a future post. But want to share the wise words and important work of Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acument Fund and author of the recent book, The Blue Sweater.

2009, year in review: 2010, year in preview

Before plowing neck-deep into 2010, it’s worth taking some time to reflect on the year that was 2009. We covered a lot of ground in 21inc’s second year and it’s worth documenting our learning and accomplishments as we continue creating opportunities for NB’s and Atlantic Canada’s young leaders. So here’s a Coles Notes version of 2009 with some thoughts on what’s to come in 2010.

How do we better foster the type of leaders with the attitudes and skills relevant for the 21st Century? This was our challenge going into our second 21 Leaders for the 21st Century program. We launched the 2009 edition in April, and with huge assistance from alumni we are much closer to answering our challenge. We increased the skill building component, established partnerships with the Community Nonprofit Organizations Secretariat to work with local nonprofits for the project work, and with the New Brunswick Securities Commission for our Mentorship program. Importantly, we engaged many more people through a selection process that brought 50 of the top young New Brunswickers to Fredericton for a full day of leadership education, policy dialogues and networking. The next event for 2009 21 Leaders will be the Moncton Accelerator, in February, with excellent support from Ernst & Young.

What do young people think about heritage? This was the question we asked to 20 young people on behalf of the Heritage Branch in the Department of Culture, Wellness and Sport. The report has been circulated widely and has sparked a lot of discussion.

Many of our leaders passed personal leadership benchmarks. Many received promotions or moved to positions of heightened responsibility. Several joined Boards of Directors. One Community Solutions Project created a video competition for 6 grade 7 classrooms across the province, an accomplishment we’re particularly proud of. Two published articles in Progress Magazine’s Ideas Issue and one was caught on camera debating big ideas with political leaders David Alward, Kelly Lamrock and Ed Broadbent. We’re documenting all this for a partnership we’re developing with BaseMetrics, a leading company that helps organizations design indicators for better management.

Organizationally in 2009 we doubled our staff (from one to two, that’s a big deal!) by hiring Annik Roy who has become an invaluable member of the team. The board transition was smooth and new members have strong and critical voices. Our public and private sector partners have stuck with us through the bad economy and they deserve a HUGE thank you! We are working so that our ability to provide value back to them is constantly increasing. As we increase our alumni we have access to a bigger and better pool of talent. Moreover, our improved leadership training programs will only deepen 21inc’s impact of building leadership capacity that will be our province and region’s competitive advantage in the 21st Century.

We see 2010 as a pivotal year. We want to engage more young leaders, fast forward their development by 5-10 years, and deepen our partnerships with companies in the region in ways that help them increase their competitiveness and build vibrant communities. This includes our 2010 21 Leaders program, the much anticipated 21inc Ideas Festival version 2.0, this fall, and an exciting program with potentially broad and deep impact that we’re not yet able to divulge details of.

As you can tell, the leaders of tomorrow aren’t waiting.