Have you heard of Leadership "insert city name here"? I hadn't either — until early 2016, when a friend in the fire service recommended it. I did some checking and signed up, still unsure what I was in for. Like most leaders, I've read countless books and dabbled with an assortment of tips and best practices. But the thought of meeting a group of like-minded folks to actually discuss the nuances of leadership was more than interesting.
Lincoln is a small but growing city in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California, with a population just south of 50,000. Before the 2006 downturn it was touted as one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Like many cities its size, it was rocked by the sudden freefall in property-tax revenue and forced to make one hard choice after another. Fast forward to now and the city is on the rise again — and more than ever, there's a profound need to cultivate local leadership talent. Enter Leadership Lincoln: a program sponsored by the Lincoln Area Chamber of Commerce and supported by the entire community. Essentially, programs like this ask a question: "Are you interested in making a difference but haven't found a place to start?" From there, the journey is yours to plot.
I met my team of 17 at an evening reception in a nearby country club, where we exchanged contact information and talked about what we hoped to get from the experience. Each month we convened for a full day, meeting local government and business leaders and hearing their plans and dreams. I had a front-row seat to what's working and what isn't across every aspect of local policy. The days were organized around themes:
- The city's history and culture
- Civic leadership
- Volunteer organizations and civic groups
- Media and the arts
- Transportation
- Education
- Health and human services
- Natural resources
- Community leadership — and how to run for office
I was shocked by everything it takes to run a city and build a community. We were required to attend City Council meetings and other commission meetings. The number of huge decisions made daily — to rows of empty public seats — was surprising. It became clear to me that what's missing in American politics is more Americans at the meetings. But I'll save that for another article.
We discussed leadership lessons and swapped tips as a group, but this was less of a class and more of an experience. Meeting leaders is helpful, yet it's genuinely hard to compare leadership styles in a classroom. What I did get was a clear picture of the options that exist for people who want to dig in and help.
Our project was much bigger than it looked from the surface. We took a challenge from our Director of Public Works to convert a space at our largest city park into a dog park — divided for large and small breeds, giving owners close access. Its proximity to the skate park was intentional: bring more families to the area, and with them, more adult supervision.