5. What do you consider to be the major strengths and capabilities that have made you an effective community leader? Are they rooted in action, in your personal style, in your organizational, political, and personal relationships, or in something else?
I am highly focused, which makes some people uncomfortable. And I have a lot of good experience, which applies to most things I am involved in—whether finance or marketing or human resources issues. I only get involved in things I have a passion for, so as leader I always have passion for the mission of organizations in which I am involved. I can be very engaging with people I don’t make nervous. And I am very good at mustering and putting together resources to get things done. My greatest weakness is that I can be impatient. I can wait out people only for so long, and I then just lose patience. This sometimes gets in my way.
6. There are five key roles that civic leaders often play in their community:
Mentor: teaching and engaging others
Mediator: helping to resolve conflict
Monitor: serving as a community watchdog
Mobilizer: working to bring about change
Motivator: urging people to pursue worthy goals
As you think about your own involvement in our community, which of
these roles have you played and which do you consider to be your strongest?
I do a lot of mentoring, and I’m also involved in mobilizing and motivating
others. I can’t say that I’m skilled at or involved much in mediation and
monitoring.
7. This project has to do with the involvement of sage leaders like yourself in civic organizations that seek to improve the quality of life and well-being of Grass Valley and Nevada City. This includes nine types of civic organizations:
Fraternal and service clubs
Social services organizations
Educational organizations
Governmental and political organizations
Arts organizations
Media organizations
Faith-based organizations
Environmental organizations
Other nonprofit organizations
