Last week I had the great pleasure of attending one of my very favorite events: the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” Awards. So many amazing, talented people, and the room was filled with friends and colleagues who were amazingly enthusiastic in their celebrations! I was with the Ramsey County group celebrating Kari Collins, the county’s Community and Economic Development Director. Take a look at the list. and pause for a moment to share your own congratulations with at least one honoree. I know they’ll appreciate it. As I think about the future before us, people like these 40 will be ushering it in. We would do well to support their development!
 
Let’s get back to Bud and Tom! This week I’m catching up on Tom and all he’s learning, as I continue reading Leadership and Self-Deception. It’s been since Feb 20 that we last talked about Tom and all he’s learning from his boss, Bud. Bud had given Tom a challenge to think about the people he works with, to determine whether he is in or out of the box toward them.
 
Ultimately, as it relates to being “in the box” or “out of the box” in my engagement with another person, I have two questions: “Who?” and “What?”
 
The first question is WHO am I focusing on?

• In the box I’m focused on me. I want feedback or results that amplify my own thinking, sustain my own stellar reputation, somehow agree with my worldview.  And how does that show up? I certainly don’t listen very well. I could find myself comparing my performance to others’. I may seek out others to agree with me, withhold information from team members, gossip, tear others down. I may drag my feet in support of certain team members because, of course, “they don’t deserve it.”  When I submit to “in the box” thinking, my growth stops.
  
  
• Out of the box I’m focused on the other person. What can he/she teach me to expand my understanding of the situation, even when we disagree? When I am enforcing a standard or even coaching a team member, I can be clear while still investing in that person’s growth. I can build up rather than tear down.

 
The second question is WHAT am I focusing on?

• In the box I’m focused on self-justification.  Results are important only in so far as they amplify my “rightness.” And that is very often at odds with what is best for our organization.
• Out of the box I’m focused on results that amplify the organization’s priorities and mission.

 
A lighthearted example of how these two questions can manifest happened in advance of our Annual Meeting this year. Over the course of a year I spend a lot of time listening to members and reflecting on themes I hear as well as determining priorities for navigating the future ahead of us.  As our Annual Meeting approached, I met regularly with a small group of my senior team leaders on logistics for the event. At this particular meeting, one of our last, we were reviewing my proposed comments.  I liked my comments. I thought they were terrific. No edits needed, thank you very much. What did my team think? Simply put, it was too long. Unnecessarily so. But they weren’t quite sure how I’d respond to constructive feedback – because I was feeling protective.
 
Well. In that moment I had two choices: I could focus on my own “rightness,” my own sense of things. Which is what I wanted to do. Because, as I’ve said, I liked my words. OR I could focus on results. In order to focus on results, I had to listen to my team’s input. And they had to trust that there wouldn’t be repercussions for speaking their truth to me. I can tell you that their feedback was exactly right.  Instead of one person’s idea of the message, we wound up with the combined input of 6 people. And we were better for it. I had to release my need to be right in order to be open to what I ultimately want – better results.  Was a very powerful exercise of trust and outcomes.
 
I submit to you that I my dilemma is not uncommon. Every organization struggles with this to one degree or another. And we don’t need to wait for other people to change for us to do this deep work for ourselves.
 
See you in the trenches,

B

March is Women’s History Month! Our opportunity to recognize and honor the remarkable achievements of women. Our March Mavericks event last week was especially timely! Our event this year was larger than ever. And as I stood at the front of the room, welcoming everyone to the event, my heart was full. 

The event continues to grow, and the room was full of so many beautiful women (and men too!). The evemt was facilitated by the talented Alissa Daire Nelson, CEO of Daire 2 Succeed and we celebrated: Alexa Fitzpatrick, Founder and CEO of Jayded AF Cocktails; Kelly Sam, Assistant General Manager of Grand Casino Hinckley; and May yer Thao, President and CEO of Hmong American Partnership. 
 
As I listened to the three mavericks we celebrated this year, what struck me was how “ordinary” women do such extraordinary things. None of them would have put themselves up there; and yet each of us took something away from what they shared. I find a message for all of us in this – no matter your place or role, in your ordinary world, YOU can be remarkable. 

We also took a moment to honor our Celebrate Business Success Awardee, Tameka Jones, and her business, Lip Esteem. We will also recognize Hmong American Partnership as our Celebrate Service Awardee. 

You can see the energy in photos of the event! Take a look HERE and make sure to join us next year! 
 
See you in the trenches,

B

 
On Monday was Mayor Carter’s annual State of the City. I thought the Mayor did a solid job dynamically conveying his strong sense of optimism. He reminded us of the city’s core values of resilience and innovation. A quote that grabbed me: “our greatest asset is the strength of our unity.”  We really value that commitment as well, and we are on board to do our part. Of particular interest to me were Mayor Carter’s comments on the Downtown Alliance’s Downtown Investment Strategy. He highlighted both the policy objective to establish an incentive to convert downtown underused/vacant commercial buildings to residential and the proposed renovation of the Xcel Energy Center, “a venue that exemplifies the vibrancy the City has to offer.” We are strong supporters of both!
 
It’s a great day for our region’s talent development work. Your Chamber, along with the Minneapolis Regional Chamber, the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, and the WIBs serving Ramsey, Hennepin, and Carver counties, have been awarded a Drive for Five Grant from DEED! First off, the grant: The Drive for Five Workforce Initiative is a major new effort to prepare more Minnesotans for high-demand jobs in five occupational categories: technology, labor, caring professions, manufacturing, and education/professional services. Drive for Five prioritizes training for populations that face the largest disparities in employment: people of color, people with disabilities, people who lack stable housing, and other people who face barriers to family-sustaining employment.
 
We have branded our program “Elevate Futures – MSP.”  The ”Dream Team” listed above is committed to partnering with job training entities, and then facilitating both employer readiness training as well as job fairs/matching sessions. Our intent is to develop this regional work such that it can continue and even expand after the initial grant’s funding ends. We’ve been preparing – hoping – for such an announcement, and we all are thrilled (though it will take some time to get ramped up). Stay tuned for more information on this, in case you are interested in exploring if this program would be helpful for you in meeting your own organization’s workforce needs.
 
To provide more color to the Elevate Futures – MSP project, I am happy to share more details. The vision for EF-MSP to provide employer engagement for job placement and provide employers with DEI training. These services are designed to create and support a regionwide talent development system that addresses employers’ need for skilled employees and connects jobseekers to careers in high-demand occupations. The project will focus on the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, which have multiple neighborhoods that experience persistent poverty, unemployment, and underemployment and on the metro suburbs, which also have growing pockets of poverty.
 
We will engage employers through a variety of opportunities across the Twin Cities metro designed to connect and match employers with jobseekers, including Job Fairs, Occupation-Specific Hiring Events, a Mock Interview Corps, and Employer Job Quality Initiative (EJQI). We also will provide DEI and Job Quality training to help employers remove barriers, improve workplace culture, and offer jobs that lift up workers and families and makes their businesses more competitive. Our ultimate goal is to support recruitment and placement for at least 120 individuals across the metro area in high-wage employment ($25+/hour) in the target sectors.
 
Because we were just notified of this award, we await further guidance from DEED relative to timing of funding. In the meantime, though, know that employer readiness training already is underway.
 
Look for Employer Readiness programming already underway on the SPAC or MRC calendar!
 

• Equity Leadership Series programming
• DEI Collaborative cohort
• MN Skills-Based Hiring Accelerator Workshops (and the online “Community of Practice”)

 
Again, stay tuned. Should your organization be interested in participating in this program, we’ll schedule an informational Zoom meeting to review program and introduce next steps.
 
See you in the trenches,

​B