A Flood of Ideas to Frame the Future

Larry Guggisberg, Roseau, BCLP 1994            
School District Superintendent

Connections & Communication Build Community
When Larry Guggisberg reflects on the nature of community leadership, two principles of good practice stand out: connections and communication. Welcomed into the Roseau community nearly 20 years ago as community education director and assistant high school principal, Larry has always been intentional about cultivating a wide network of relationships — making connections with parents, students, business leaders, seniors and others — and growing with them. Conversations across those relationships give him valuable insights.

“Sometimes my best learning comes from being in line at the grocery store or when a five-minute run to the hardware store turns into an hour of several conversations. These discussions work like concentric circles, spreading information outward into the whole community. At the same time, what people have to say is informing me in ways I might otherwise miss.”

Framing Long-Range Plans
 An entire community benefits from the dynamic interrelationship of making connections and expanding communication. This process became critical immediately after the area was devastated by a flood in 2002 and continues today as Roseau residents deal with its aftermath. As the community discussed what to include in long-range plans, four priorities emerged: save the water supply, save Polaris and the 200 jobs it provides, save the hospital, and save the school. “Attention to those priorities has been successful, and they are strong anchor points for Roseau,” says Larry. “But as we think about re-development, we are faced with the question of where we want our town to go.”

Larry’s primary focus, of course, is the school system and the expectations community members have for it. He has helped find ways to make the facilities available for wider use by the community and has taken steps to keep up with developments in technology to ensure that area children have the same opportunities as their Twin Cities counterparts.  But whether it involves the school or other dimensions of healthy community life, a continuing challenge for community leaders is a pervasive resistance to change. “When people tell me, ‘it’s been like this for years so why change?’ I ask them if they wear the same clothes they did 20 years ago or drive the same car. That remark helps to open up a conversation that otherwise gets stuck. I also find that I need to frame a proposed change so that people can see it and understand it as a way to continue the values we cherish.”

Creating Shared Meaning
 It is important for leaders to be forthright in communicating – to be proactive with stakeholders — especially when the news is not good. He uses his network of relationships as effectively as possible to achieve shared meaning when it comes to framing issues and ideas. “What do we agree on? What do I know that he or she doesn’t? What do they know that I don’t?”

Everyone wants to maintain the quality of the learning experience in the school district. But as enrollments decline so does the budget, which means that parents, teachers and administrators have to make choices. This will have an immediate impact on the viability of rural schools. Larry has started to convene meetings in schools across the district so that people can be part of the process of suggesting what might be done in response to future challenges. Larry is also conducting this conversation on the website, with district employees and in the media. “Communication is hard work, but it is crucial!”

Reflections on Leadership
While Larry’s main concern is education, his community leadership extends far beyond the district with his roles on foundation boards, planning commissions and service clubs. Because community leadership can be demanding, Larry believes that one needs to:
• Live a grounded life;

• Cultivate friendships and family relationships;

• Stay active in church;

• Maintain long-term commitments;

• Attend community events — not necessarily to do something, but to be present at activities that are important to others; and

• Continue to volunteer — to stay in touch with the ways people together enhance the quality of their common life.

Larry credits his participation in BCLP with enhancing his confidence to lead or, as he describes it, “helping me be more comfortable in my own skin.” If there’s a legacy he would like to leave behind — the difference he wants to make in this community — it is that what he did was for the benefit of Roseau and for the whole school system. He would also like to be remembered as a person who was consistent and fair.
Consistency and fairness thrive in an environment in which a priority is placed on the quality of relationships one develops over time and the patterns of communication based on deep listening and the generous sharing of information, ideas and insights. Those are commitments Larry has definitely placed at the center of his public life.