Building Leadership, Creating Connections

I had a meeting yesterday on the 17th floor of the SunTrust building and was able to periodically gaze out over the James River during my conversation. I was meeting with a former participant in Leadership Metro Richmond, and it was inevitable that our discussion focused on the purpose of LMR and on the future of Richmond and the region.

Our conversation started me thinking about LMR, which for decades has taken some 60 people a year through an inclusive, service-oriented experience and which "strives to be the trustee of effective community leadership in the Richmond region."

In the conversation, it was mentioned that LMR has a significantly larger endowment fund than most similar programs around the country; that it has a directory of some 1,500 highly engaged civic leaders; that it was the only organization mentioned by name in the report on the region issued last fall by strategic consultant Jim Crupi.

Being a bit of a curmudgeon who has at least a touch of idealism and "what if?" swirling inside, I found myself thinking, "So what?"

It's not that I am dismissive of LMR's purpose or the very real impact it has had on the lives of its participants and the organizations they serve. In its early years, LMR was revolutionary in Richmond -- it brought together whites and blacks, men and women, community organizers and business exceutives, and it treated them all as equals in our community. At times, I find it hard to imagine what that world must have felt like. And at times, I wonder why we're still living in it.

No, the "So what?" came from a sense that LMR isn't actually inclusive enough. And that there is so much opportunity in our community for deeper relationships, stronger community and a new definition of leadership and civic engagement. And that 60 people a year is not ambitious -- 600 people a year is ambitious.

A handful of ideas perculated in my head:

• What if LMR partnered with the Jepson School of Leadership at the University of Richmond or with the Virginia Mentoring Partnership at VCU (or both) to select four students from every high school in Richmond, Henrico, Hanover and Goochland, group students with mentors from local universities, pair the mentor groups with service projects in the community, and expose them to new worlds within our community, new ideas about their role in it and new ways for them to express that role?

• What if LMR ran a class with active senior citizens from the area and helped them discover how the next chapter of their lives could enrich the community and the people around them?

• What if LMR trained 100 people in the region to facilitate their own LMR-like experience within their workplace, community organization or church?

What if LMR did all three of these things, and ran its current program? What would change in our community then?

As I took the elevator to the lobby, I wondered what it is that paralyzes people and organizations from doing something different, from rolling the dice on a new idea and seeing what might emerge. And I wondered why I am never satisfied with what is, and continue to ponder what might be.