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Rural communities face challenge of recruiting, developing leaders
A few weeks ago I attended the Leadership Chautauqua cohosted by the Bush Foundation and Leadership Learning Community that focused on how to improve leadership effectiveness and, in turn, strengthen community vitality. Walking on the University of Minnesota - Morris campus on a beautiful June evening, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of my first “Chautauqua.” I was delighted to see the big white tent welcome me as I crossed the campus. A hundred years ago, I learned, events like this were held to bring folks together to respectfully learn from each other as equals—an opportunity to “give a lift in the right direction, introduce a subject or fill in knowledge gaps.”
This event did just that. It provided not only an opportunity for retreat and reflection, but a wonderful time for networking and learning. The group, the setting and the conversation gave me time to think about how we support rural communities and their way of life. With ever-changing populations, I started to wonder from where the next generation of leaders would come.
I live and work in rural Minnesota. I was born and raised here. I have a passion for small communities and love the prosperity and security that they have provided for generations. Right now, we’re seeing the demographic of our rural communities getting older and the pool of individuals available to lead in those communities getting smaller. A few years back, I remember listening to Minnesota’s State Demographer and Economist at the time, Tom Gillespie and Tom Stinson, (a.k.a. “the Toms”) provide the age projections through 2035 for our state. They acknowledged that none of the experts, not even the Federal Reserve at that point, exactly knew how this transition would impact not only the economy, but the social structure of our communities. This made me step back and think. Things are going to be different, but how do we prepare?
According to Ben Winchester, a U of M Extension research fellow, organizations in most rural counties require an average of one in 34 residents to serve in leadership positions, compared to one leader required for every 143 residents in major metropolitan areas. The demand for leadership is up to five times more in rural counties than in urban areas, while the supply of leaders is diminishing due to aging and migration. In some counties, the numbers shift to an average of one in 11 residents serving in leadership positions. How do we recruit and develop these leaders to be the best they can be?
I am invigorated and challenged to think about what lies ahead. Let’s think comprehensively with the desire to “do the people good,” as is the intention of a Chautauqua.
Nancy Fasching is the senior administration and grants officer at the Southwest Initiative Foundation, a rural regional community foundation dedicated to advancing southwest Minnesota through leadership, relationship building, program development, and philanthropy. The Foundation organizes and equips leaders to address local opportunities. Some of its current work includes the community foundation program, Early Childhood Initiative, Youth Energy Summit and Leading By Example Business Executive Summit. Through past partnerships, the foundation has also been able to host three Nonprofit Leader’s Academy sessions to equip leaders as individuals.
The Bush Foundation is working to address this very same challenge of adapting to economic and demographic shifts, something we and others call the “new normal.” Our approach is to support communities in not just surviving but thriving in this new normal by building leadership capacity, engaging communities in working together to identify and solve problems and providing access to tools for innovation. To learn more about the new normal and the many ways citizens are responding to it, visit our video library.
Talk Back to Bush
How do we sustain the vitality of our rural communities while they face the challenges of an aging population, a strain on the pool of leaders and stressed financial resources? Where do you expect the next generations of leaders in your community to come from? We want to know what you think.
Comments
Rural Leadership
I believe our rural communities have many people willing to step into leadership roles but the delivery of leadership education and tools have to adapt to their lifestyles. It is so difficult for people to take large blocks of time to travel for training (as valuable as seminars and workshops etc) are, I believe if we really want to invigorate rural leadership the method and relationship with technology can jump-start that passion and enthusiasm. I believe a combination of new technologies and face-to-face relationship building, using the vast educational resources available partnering with peer-to-peer leadership building could create a new model for rural leadership education.
Rural Leadership
Thank you for taking the time to comment on this blog post, Suzanne. I agree that a combination of technology (webinars, Skype, Google+ hangouts, etc.) and face-to-face relationship building is needed to foster leadership development in rural communities. It's enough that we ask people to step into leadership roles; asking them then to travel hundreds of miles to attend a two-hour training simply isn't realistic. What other tools / events could we use to connect leaders in rural communities to one other to create a peer-to-peer network for shared learning?
Is the "brain gain" trend the answer?
Population may be on the decline in rural Minnesota, but Ben Winchester, the same U of M Extension research fellow that Nancy refers to in this blog post, also points out that people between the ages of 30-49 moving into these same rural communities is on the rise. These newcomers have higher education degrees, job experience and networks. Could this influx of "brain gain" be the solution to the challenge of recruiting and developing leaders in our rural communities? Read more about Ben's research:
Looking Beyond Our Community Borders
I've come to believe that the scarcity mentality relative to talent, leadership and population in the region is really more self-imposed than reality. If we pull out the seven metro counties of Minneapolis, there are still nearly 4 million people in the three state region. With the digital tool set that exists, even the challenge of population density is a construct. We have the people and the talent. We may need a different sense of community.
I believe there is a tremendous possibility for thinking regionally and acting locally. By this, I'm suggesting that we can leverage the collective wisdom of the region for the benefit of our local, often rural, communities. We do this remarkably well in crisis, but relatively poorly when looking to the future. While I don't live in my hometown of Milbank, I'd gladly contribute any experience and expertise to that community. I don't need to live and work there to continue to 'lead' or 'contribute.' Frankly, it wouldn't even have to be Milbank...it could be Grand Rapids, MN or Minot, ND. I've never lived in these communities, but I feel connected to them as part of the region.
The community I identify with is called OTA and is a network of creative catalysts and community changemakers that hope to connect the social and creative capital of the OTA region of South Dakota, North Dakota & Minnesota. We're actively exploring and trying to determine how to facilitate action locally out of the regional capacity that exists. Last week, over 35 of us met to watch a movie in the community of Viborg. None of us were from Viborg. We'd simply heard that their local theater is at risk and since many of us grew up in small town theaters we felt compelled to act.
There is no doubt that local action and commitment is essential for the vitality of our communities, but I'd like to encourage our communities to remember that the support, resources and leaders of our collective future are already here...and likely are willing to help
Looking Beyond Our Community Borders
I like where you're going with this, Hugh. Community is no longer defined by geographic borders. It's defined by our common interests. If you love local theaters and see one that's at risk of closing, you rally behind it regardless of its location (provided its in close proximity to your region and within a realistic travelling distance). How can we encourage more people to collectively think about our communities' future and not just during a time of crisis?
A Shift to What Matters Personally
Last week I was at a meeting with Mary Emery, head of Department of Sociology and Rural Studies at SDSU, and she shared a notion that has been bouncing around in my mind since then. She said "losers walk" when it comes to deciding what's important in our communities. She was referring to the practice of voting at community planning meetings on the top priorities, then expecting people to fall in line and work on that top list, instead of the projects they showed up with passion for.
Maybe part of the reason it's harder to convince people to step up as leaders in our rural communities these days is we too often box them as the losers when they show up with ideas about our future that aren't in our current top five list. We're all super busy, I think busier than we've ever been, with work pressures and always-on information streaming. To get and hold the attention of emerging leaders, maybe we have to be more willing to go where the energy is, to drop the script more often and let people work on what matters to them.
If we could shift our culture of work and relationships to a point where we can be clear as a community about our shared values and visions (which means we'd have to get comfortable talking and listening openly and deeply about the future), then we could build in a kind of guided flexibility around planning what to do. We could let people work on whatever matters to them and us, and call that leadership.
What do you think? What would have to be true in order to have reasons to celebrate that kind of activity?
Thanks for the thoughtful
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Joe. I've been to my fair share of community planning meetings and have watched people come with great ideas and then leave in frustration when those ideas aren't heard. Being flexible is definitely key to celebrating other ideas that maybe aren't on the agenda. If no one's excited by the projects on the list, I'd encourage meeting facilitators to "drop the script" and ask the people in the room what would excite them most and then go from there.