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What We’ve Been Up To

November 5, 2012 By

The hiatus from blog posts does not mean that Winning Communities hasn’t been working – quite the contrary! We are now revamping our blog to discuss Winning Communities updates, industry news, and issues and topics that affect us and the communities with whom we work.

For the past year and a half, I have been traveling, meeting and talking to people all across the country about big idea for communities. So often I meet individuals around a community who are all trying to do the same thing – improve the community. The only problem is that too often, they all do it separately and on different timelines. We try to serve as the liaison that brings them all together and on the same page. We try to see the “big picture” within the community. Ideally, I would involve community leaders, politicians, businesses, and students who would all work together to accomplish their goals.

At each community our goal is to bring everyone together to develop a Community Vision/Action Plan. We help the different parties involved communicate to effectively create this plan. We also help to develop leaders through the involvement of people who may have not been involved before.

Through my travels I have met new people and been involved in exciting new things. I’m hoping Winning Communities will continue to reach out and help communities in need. I’m excited for this new chapter of the company and will keep you updated as these new projects fall into place.

Be on the lookout for our next blog to see what’s new!

P.S. Our social media sites have been updated as well! Like Winning Communities on Facebook and follow us on Twitter :)

Filed Under: Change Tagged With: , , , , ,

Is China Winning?

November 18, 2010 By

In preparation for my journey to speak to several colleges and universities this fall, I have been busy reading a Peter Drucker book published in 1989 entitled The New Realities. Written more than 20 years ago, it talks about the changes coming to the manufacturing world, with automation, outsourcing, and its impact on production and jobs. In fact, the economic condition we are going through right now should not be a surprise to anyone, as many indicators predicted its coming.

This reminds me of the great Warren G. Bennis quote: “The factory of the future will have only two employees: a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment.”

With our current 10 percent unemployment rate, low student test scores, and our country’s lack of concentration in math and sciences, our identity as a country has fundamentally changed.

China is winning the manufacturing game. Sure, we may have increased our manufacturing output, but the machines are doing it.

How, then, do we get ahead as a country?

It takes a team effort - an effort that includes improving education and labor, but also involving parents, businesses, students, the workforce and the government. We also need to make some fundamental changes in our communities.

Instead of lamenting the unemployment rate, the loss of manufacturing plants in our country, or the loss of business to outsourcing overseas, let’s work together to improve our own economic conditions.

Otherwise, we’ll all be competing for that one factory job…

Filed Under: Change, Community, Community Issues, teamwork Tagged With: , , , ,

Is Fear Holding you Back?

October 18, 2010 By

Recently, our refrigerator quit working. I sighed as I thought of having to replace my refrigerator. After sitting on the phone for 30 minutes with my appliance manufacturer, and getting to the wrong department, I finally asked for a referral from one of my neighbors, and called a local appliance repair company, who was able to set up the appointment for the next day.

The repairperson, also the owner of the company, came out to my house, analyzed our refrigerator and repaired it without a problem. During the process, we started talking about the future. I asked him how his business was faring this year. He said it was doing pretty well, and we talked about how with the economy, more people were repairing what they have instead of replacing their appliances and household items. (I could see his point, and was glad to have paid $190 for repairs instead of $1100 for a new refrigerator!)

He also mentioned that he could actually use two additional people, but that he wasn’t going to hire them right now because he didn’t know what the future would bring. He said that he was comfortable enough with where he was and that he could keep on going at the same rate and support his family, even though he really wanted to expand the business.

I got to thinking: that’s two people and two families who don’t have the opportunity to earn an income now because of this indecision. If you multiply that times 1000 businesses, it’s no wonder we’re stuck in this economy. We don’t like the direction we’re going in, but we’re too afraid to change anything.

Does the football coach instill fear in the minds of his team when they take the field because the headlines say how much the opposing team will dominate? The answer is no. True leadership will build confidence based on the ability that the team has.

How many times do we hear the words fear, confusion, consumer confidence or other words in today’s media or conversations? Are these words of doubt holding you back in your business or in your community? What are you doing about it?

 We’re waiting for times to get better, instead of making them better right now.

Filed Under: Change, Community, Community Issues, Fear, Leadership, Unemployment Tagged With: , , , ,