Reflections: Speaking on Strategy and Community, Winter 2024-25
Speaking (sweating?) on community in community…
Speaking at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s La Conferencia, a conference of future Latinx leaders, at the beginning of this month has me reflecting on the speaking opportunities this winter—and how one can receive more than one gives when offering to do pro bono engagements.
At La Conferencia, after sessions on Careers in the Law and Policy Industry and then on Home: An Ideal and a Practical Goal, students and professionals were interested to follow up about how they could find the professional path they wished, or strengthen their own community through building new relationships. I was fortunate to present alongside a leader in the NC Congress of Latino Organizations and an experienced Branch Manager for Coastal Federal Credit Union.
As first-generation college students opened up about how they wanted to help their parents build wealth to have a home, or represent their communities in business, science, civil society and government in intimate and unrecorded sessions, they put me in a great mindset for the spring. It can be easy to get caught up in the search for status (and money and power). Then you hear from people where they are just appreciative of trying to build that good stable life for family and to enjoy close friends, or to have that American Dream.
It’s a reminder for me of why I work with leaders to make their communities more a loved home, and this one was especially gratifying because of the times I’ve been made to feel at home living a year of my life in Latin America. Although the idea of helping organizations find a more loved ‘home’ can sound soft and emotional, the underlying issues at the executive, organizational, or community level are quite concrete, challenging, and at times sharp-edged (see my earlier article On Strategic Plans and What Happens After, for example).
Earlier in the Winter, I spoke on the EDO Breakthrough Podcast with Sandy Dubay, who is doing a public service of lifting up voices from the economic development world while raising awareness about her firm’s important work. She spoke about building up her firm, and we talked about some of the things that make the work helping communities and organizations think through there more challenging problems meaningful both for clients and for us.
It was a good opportunity to talk about why this work matters in the context of challenging time for economic development and especially community development organizations. With the already accomplished reductions and ongoing notice that existing programs are under threat, one can hope that necessary infrastructure for America like water, sewer, and workforce housing is not rolled back such that it slows down the important contribution to enabling development and lifting quality of life.
And, not technically winter but December 17, 2024, I presented to the North Carolina Economic Development Association on “Strategies from Higher Ground: Avoiding Foreseeable ‘Surprises’ That Limit Growth.” That presentation dealt with creating capacity aligned strategically (CAS) to help communities think ahead of the curve in these more challenging issues that aren’t pure industry retention, etc. I enjoyed that presentation and the follow up I received from one of the large economic development organizations in the state of North Carolina wanting to think about some of these issues together.
Here's the link on that one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNWHFEHqwmw
Reflecting on these speaking engagements, I wonder what readers think about the balance between being in front of people, even for a good cause, and actually doing the work? They say whether you have your own business or not, any professional wants to build a brand, and people volunteer speaking engagements to do that. Though popular for ‘thought leaders’ who go from conference to conference, it is not the same as actually doing the work. The value that consultants bring is addressing a community organization leader’s most challenging issue in that moment of need. Speaking engagements can let us share what we’re able to do, and that is important, but it’s not the substitute.
On the other hand, at an event like La Conferencia, there is not an angle telling organizations about what consulting you can do for them. Then, it’s just a kind of mentoring where you’re available for people who wish to lean on your experience and guidance. And that’s different from guiding a client; there is no chance for repeat business with this kind of mentorship volunteering. Though, if one wanted to maximize income, one would not be in this kind of consulting.