I would like to engage interested people from all sectors in a dialogue for the purpose of identifying the skills necessary for effective leadership in this new era. I have summarized a framework around the following ten skill sets as a starting point for our discussion. This list will undoubtedly look different as it evolves over the next few months, but I am confident that the end product will help guide our work and improve our ability to tackle our biggest community challenges.
 
1. Confidence and Self-Authorizing: The new civic leader needs to approach community building from an optimistic perspective with a “can do” attitude. S/he must bring a sense of hope and excitement to this process and above all must have the ability to laugh and to promote human joy. The civic leader must bring a “meta-perspective” of the goodness of people that is beyond “my” view to all of his community involvement. S/he must be able to build citizen support for participation and leadership in the community problem solving process. Engagement must be built around purpose and meaning.
 
2. Flexibility, Risk and Learning Along the Way: The new leader must approach the identification of community problems with an open mind, creative thinking and an ability to “build the scope of the issue” through the clarification of community values. The civic leader must understand the process of change and the value of risk-taking as well as learn from and value mistakes as part of moving toward elegant solutions.
 
3. Inclusion, Transparency and Cultivating Leadership: The new leader must be comfortable with multiple strategies that draw upon a wide diversity of perspectives and people. S/he must be comfortable with the tension caused by conflicting views. It is essential that all work is done in a transparent environment where further individual and institutional engagement are continuously sought. The new leader must be constantly identifying, sharing and building skills with others. The title of “leader” must be fluid, and be as easily given to others as it is embraced.
 
4. Reality Based: The new leader must respect the complexity of community, understand the inter-relatedness of the various community components, acknowledge where barriers and disenfranchisement have existed and identify the vested interest of community institutions in the maintenance of the “status quo.”
 
5. Integrity: The new leader must be committed to tenacious truth seeking and express tolerance for the “messiness” inherent with engaging multiple voices in the discovery of what matters to citizens. The leader needs a comfort level and an appreciation for the subtleties inherent in communication from people with different languages, cultures, disciplines and ethnicity.
 
6. Capacity for Boundary Making: The new leader must be capable of listening. It is imperative that s/he be able to suspend his/her own agenda, yet able to hold core personal values at the center of all actions. There must be acceptance of a population that includes multiple generations facing different challenges as well as dramatic differences in people’s financial health.
 
7. Group Process Skills: The new leader must understand how groups function and be equally comfortable as a participant or a facilitator.
 
8. Technology Skills and Tools: The new leader must be aware of the supports and opportunities that are available with the ongoing and explosive developments in technology. Commitment to inclusiveness and transparency require all of the tools available.
 
9. Ritual and Sacred Space: The new leader must value inter-generation continuity and the sharing of lessons learned. S/he must seek to find transcendent values that connect people with each other and with something larger than themselves. The new leader seeks activities that allow people to express that connection in meaningful ways most importantly through storytelling. The new leader must constantly seek, with community, a doorway to spirituality that is inclusive.
 
10. Implementation and Planning: The new leader must be aware of the importance of accomplishment and the community’s need to keep moving forward. There must be an acceptance of goals and milestones as a requirement for the focus needed to accomplish meaningful change.
 
Your feedback will not only help to make this a successful process, but also help affect change in our community. Thank you.