Need more leaders? Take time to ask

About 15 people gathered in Sisseton on Feb. 10 to talk about rural leadership: What’s happening, what’s possible, and what they can do about it. Here are some of the interesting ideas we heard during that gathering.

What’s happening?

“The people in leadership roles are wearing 10 different hats.”

“There are all sorts of choices today. Those choices mean there’s much more of a pull on people.”

What’s possible?

“People ask the question, what does it do for me to get involved? I guess I’d redirect that question: What can you do for the community to make it better? And how in turn can a better community have something positive happen for you and contribute to your success because the community as a whole is better for your getting involved.”

“If we’re wildly successful, we’ll have a lot more choices in our community.”

“If all the groups were filled, and there was a waiting line to get in, there would be a breakdown in resistance to new ideas. People are so against change, but if there was all this energy, it would break down some of that.”

What can we do?

“There’s no personal invite—we need to ask people to come and share.”

“We need to listen better to what people want in the community.”

“Time commitment is always an issue. We have to be careful of STP—’same 10 people.’ You want to do the ask, but make sure it’s not the same 10 people all the time.”