Leading in Extraordinary Times

By Marian Barcus, Blandin Foundation Board of Trustees Chair and 2000 BCLP alumnus

We’ve heard it all before.  “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”  “A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor.”  “When you get bucked off, get right back on the horse.”  Now, we are living in times where those clichés are all too applicable.

While the current economy affects some more than others, no one is unscathed by the hardship.  We are literally all in it together.

Rural leaders, particularly those who’ve earned the prestigious Blandin Community Leadership pinecone, are better prepared than most to deal with this adversity. 

Leadership Toolbox: Healthy Community

Characteristic Clues to Healthy Community

While this issue focuses on the challenges rural communities face in an uncertain economy, we also must remember to celebrate the successes of our rural communities. The Heartland Center for Leadership Development has compiled a list of characteristics shared by healthy communities.

American Indian Alumni Gathering

Mobilizing Alumni to Engage and Empower Youth

“The American Indian Alumni Gathering has its roots in youth’s call to leadership,” said Valerie Shangreaux, Blandin Foundation’s director of leadership.

In 2006, the Mille Lacs Band spear-headed the first state-wide Indian Youth Summit, which was supported by the Blandin Reservation Community Leadership Program (BRCLP) Advisory Committee and the Blandin Foundation.

The Birth of BCLP

‘Nothing Is Going to Happen Here without Leadership’ 

There are more than a few parallels found between today’s economic hardship and the economic times in existence when the Blandin Foundation launched its leadership programs.

In the early 1980s, when the Foundation’s Board of Trustees first began to envision ways to help feed rural communities for lifetime, rather than giving them the proverbial fish for the day, the state was in economic crisis.

Southwestern Minnesota was gripped by agricultural crisis ­ foreclosures were at rates not seen since the 1930s, banks were closing and lives were in turmoil.  On Minnesota’s Iron Range, conditions weren’t any better. The mining industry, the region’s lifeblood, was in the midst of a severe downturn.

Leadership News and Notes

‘Leadership News and Notes’ is a regular feature of Community Leader celebrating the accomplishments and endeavors of Blandin Foundation Leadership Program alumni as well as the communities which have been served by its programs.  This issue features Colleen Landkamer and Greg Raymo.

Northern Minnesota School Districts Create Opportunity from Crisis

School districts in the rural Itasca County area already know how to cope with difficult times. Schools here have faced declining enrollment, and thus declining revenues from the state, for more than a decade.

While watching student enrollment numbers edge downward each fall has presented its challenges, it also offered opportunity to work together in ways that 20 years ago would have seemed unfathomable.

Analyzing Community Problems

In this time of economic hardship, making the best use of resources, both human and financial, is more important than ever.

Analyzing community problems helps your community group clarify the causes, consequences and nature of a problem before you try to solve it.

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