Leadership Summit Workshop: Establishing Yourself as a Civic Leader
By The Policy Circle Team
On Friday, November 15, engaged community members, Circle leaders, and influencers from across the country convened in Chicago for the 4th Policy Circle Leadership Summit. More than 350 women and men participated in conversations and workshops that encouraged them to think about the broad implications of living and leading in a connected world while honing their leadership and engagement skills. The following is a recap from the Civic Leader Workshop presented at the Summit.
Speakers:
Deborah Graham, Illinois State Treasurer
Lemuel Williams, CTX Capital Group, LLC
Dee Dee Bass Wilbon, Bass Public Affairs
Derek Kreifels, State Financial Officers Foundation
Judi Williard, The Policy Circle
Starting a Policy Circle and pausing to participate in Policy Circle conversations gives us an opportunity to expand our understanding of policy issues and their impact on creativity in community, business, and services. With that knowledge it is easier to network, to find commonality with people and organizations, and to establish ourselves as Civic Leaders where we live and where we work.
What is a Civic Leader?
Think about the Civic Leaders you know. They come from a variety of backgrounds but have one common thread: They’re not just leaders or influencers in their communities, but they invest the time in building relationships and understanding their community – where they live and where they work. A Civic Leader is someone who has demonstrated and sustained leadership abilities in business, non-profit, government, and community, who has an established network and the ability to connect the dots and make a difference.
Roadmap to Establish Yourself as a Civic Leader
Establishing yourself as a civic leader is growing your sphere of influence through your network and your engagement. Here are six discovery milestones to establishing yourself as a civic leader – the trick is that it all starts very local. It starts on your block.
- Do neighbors on your block know your name?
- Do the owners of your neighborhood restaurant, hair/nail salon, or shop know you?
- If you have kids, do parents at your kids’ school know you? Have you participated in some capacity to enhance local children’s school life?
- Know your soul: know your religious leader and religious leaders of the other denominations in your neighborhood.
Whether you are interested in being a national leader or getting involved in your state, leadership starts locally and radiates out. Issues are local, stories are local. We – citizens, professionals, and business owners – don’t need to wait until an issue comes up to engage with elected officials or government entities. To expand your network and to understand the local challenges and the great things that are happening in your community, you need to know your local government.
- Meet the teams that run your town or ward (police, fire, infrastructure/engineering, economic development, parks & recreation, water & sewers, energy, digital infrastructure) and become familiar with the various commissions in your town and decision-making processes.
- Meet school principals and school district chairs– find the most effective direct line to parents (e.g. Safety and Civics)
- Know your local elected officials – trustees/aldermen, school board, library board and find out who determines who runs.
Your Policy Circle can be a great forum to interact with the leaders of the agencies in your town. Being a leader is managing the finances in a responsible manner and focusing on the best way to develop financial acumen and where to focus your time.
- Know the budgets of your town, a library, school, the policy
- How are investments managed?
- Know your state finances and the treasury
- Understand the finances of your company or of the non-profits that you are part of.
Civic leaders are not lone riders, they have a broad network of people with a wide array of expertise, focus and background. There should be 2 degrees of separation between you and your community influencers. How do you go about playing a leadership role in your association? Where do you start and how do you prioritize?
- Are you a leader in your chamber of commerce, industry or association?
- Are you active in the local clubs?
- Have you facilitated your company’s participation in local events?
- Are you familiar with/how do you engage with:
- Local chamber of commerce and local business owners
- Nonprofits – big and small
- Civic influencers – Policy Circle, League of Women Voters, local watchdogs
- Developers/Construction Contractors
- Major businesses in the area and the state
- Start to establish yourself as an online influencer by knowing other influencers, and by intentionally posting on issues and local organizations that you are part of.
When you follow this road map, along the way you will find opportunities to add value, to play a role and to find your focus, and you will expand your network and your power to have an impact.
Here’s the link to the presentation made at the 2019 Policy Circle Summit.
Interested in diving deeper into civic engagement, building your network and interacting with local representatives? Take a look at the following additional resources from LinkedIn, Smart Women Smart Money and the XCELARATOR Center for Austin’s Future, and connect with Dee Bass Wilbon from Bass Public Affairs.
And if you haven’t already, read The Policy Circle’s Civic Engagement Brief.
About The Policy Circle
Founded in 2015, The Policy Circle provides a fact-based, nonpartisan framework that inspires women living in the same community to connect, learn about and discuss public policies that impact every American. The Policy Circle’s vision is that women across the nation are connected and engaged in their communities, openly sharing their views and taking a leadership role in public policy dialogue on what human creativity can accomplish in a free market economy.
In just four years, The Policy Circle has grown to over 3,500 members in more than 296 Circles in 40 states and 3 continents. Based on organic networks of women, it is one of the fastest growing national organizations empowering women to gain the knowledge and confidence to become policy leaders.