Leadership

What is leadership?

Is it showing employees how to do a task and hovering over to see that they've completed it? Is it a coach yelling at his players to "suck it up" for the sake of the team, only to see one of his charges injure herself unnecessarily? Could it be someone listening intently to your issue and offering some advice?

I guess it could be all or part of all three. Or perhaps none of them.

What I learned today was that leadership is an evolving process of self-discovery, a desire to connect with people and the search for transformational change.

The Detroit Regional Chamber's Leadership Detroit program brings talented, motivated and successful professional together over the course of a year to explore the possibilities of change through leadership. The reputation of "The D" precedes itself in conversations, in media and in reality everyday.

Whether you are in Buenos Aires, Barcelona or Birmingham, people know of Detroit. You don't even have to speak English to know that there is a Detroit. Like New York (the city so nice they named it twice...), Detroit is worldwide.

The problem is many of us who claim a connection to Detroit aren't always comfortable about our image to the rest of the world. Like an insecure teenager who puts on make up to cover up what she believes to be blemishes, Detroit often puts on a mask designed to project an image that isn't exactly authentic.

It is my impression that the Detroit Regional Chamber recognizes that more than a makeover, Detroit needs to chart a new direction for itself. Whether or not the focus of that reorientation is centered around business, arts, politics, sports, religion, race, regionalism or all of the above is less important than making progress in the work towards change. And that is where the process of leadership can begin to stoke the embers of change.

Of course there is no real consensus on the definition of leadership. It's something that you know when  you see it. But it is kind of like building a bridge.

You've got to have people willing to work together, you've got to come up with a plan, you've got to work that plan and  you've got to be flexible enough to change course when you need to. I'm ready to put on my hard hat and see what happens.

I look forward to being a part of the journey. I will try and chronicle how the process unfolds in the microcosm, while trying to tie to the macro experience of living in "The D". We'll see how it goes.

Inauguration Pt. 2

January 21, 2009
Celebrating the history takes many forms. Some choose quiet reflection, while others yearn for the company of others to share their excitement.

We chose the latter and attended the Michigan Inaugural Ball at the National Museum of American History located in the Kenneth E. Behring Center. It was a fitting location given that the Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life exhibit was on display and the 16th President was such an influence on the 44th President.

Walking into the museum with my sister Ana, her friend Ruth and our aunt Pearline, a live cover band was blasting Michael Jackson songs from his Thriller album and folks were “getting their groove on.”

Dignitaries from around the state and across industries were in attendance: Governor Jennifer Granholm, Former General Motors Group Vice President Roy Roberts, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, NAACP Detroit Branch President Wendell Anthony and Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. were just a few of the estimated several hundred people that attended the event.

We ended the night (relatively) early as our feet began to ache from walking earlier in the day and bags still had to be packed for the flight home the following morning.

8:45 a.m. Wednesday, January 21:
OK. I know traffic is one of the signs of a vibrant city, but this is ridiculous.

The 14th Street Bridge, which is the fastest way to get to Reagan National Airport from downtown DC, is still blocked off due to the inauguration festivities. My flight leaves at 9:20, it seems like every car in DC is headed in the same direction and we’re still a half hour away from the airport.

9:05 a.m.
Made it to the airport in what seems like record time. But, I still miss my flight. I’m on standby and no one can tell me when I might get onto another flight.

Waiting with me are dozens of other prospective flyers who either have their tickets or are trying to get onto the next available aircraft with a free seat. One of those “stranded passengers” is the living embodiment of the historic events of the last day: Judge Damon Keith.
Judge Keith is a Senior Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth District. The distinguished jurist is a well known public figure in Michigan and a champion of Civil Rights for decades.

Sitting next to Judge Keith waiting for our planes, he recounted for me the significance of this particular presidential inauguration. It was a story that he said he shared earlier in the week with CNN.

“The significance of this trip for me is tremendous,” he said. “I was in Detroit when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the I Have a Dream speech after Marching down Woodward Avenue, before he delivered it (in Washington, DC) in 1963. When Nelson Mandela came to Detroit in 1990, Mayor Coleman Young asked me to introduce Mandela at Tiger Stadium. And now I’m here for this. It is just wonderful.”
After sharing some time with Judge Keith and the millions of others who came to Washington to celebrate the election of President Barack Obama and see the new First Family, sitting and waiting several hours for a plane doesn’t seem so difficult.

In fact, the last part of the trip seemed to sum up what the entire journey was about for me in the first place: No longer a dream deferred, but a dream realized.