FAQFAQ   SearchSearch  MemberlistMemberlistRegisterRegister  ProfileProfile   Log in[ Log in ]  Flint Talk RSSFlint Talk RSS

»Home »Open Chat »Political Talk  Â»Flint Journal »Political Jokes »The Bob Leonard Show  

Flint Michigan online news magazine. We have lively web forums


FlintTalk.com Forum Index > Political Talk

Topic: Leadership, Flint MI USA

  Author    Post Post new topic Reply to topic
terrybankert
F L I N T O I D

Flint Michigan USA, history and leadership needed today

In 1977 authors wrote of Flint "Flint is an unusual city. In addition to being the birthplace of General Motors, it has an active private sector that still resides within the city, an energetic and exceptionally able congressman..[Don Riegle at this time]...a large number of federal programs...a college and cultural center unparallel among cities of its size, three institutions of higher learning and a strong industrial base.""[Rapp at 31] Times have changed since 1977

BACKGROUND

"Flint is located some seventy miles north west of Detroit ...[MI USA]...and covers a thirty two square mile area. ....In 1819 Jacob Smith, Flints first settler, built his cabin on the banks of the river that gives the city its name. In the three decades following its incorporation as a city in 1855, Flint was the center of a vast lumbering area that extended throughout central Michigan. At the high point of lumber industry activity, some 90 million board-feet of pine were sawed in Flint in one year. The lumber industry simulated the development of rail and road connections with major centers in the Midwest

After the supply of available pine was exhausted in the late 1870's, economic activity in Flint turned to carriage and wagon making. By the turn of the century, Flint was known as the Vehicle City. In 1900 some 100,000 horse-drawn vehicles were made in Flint, roughly eight times the population...[William C. Durant and Dallas Dort built the seeds of General Motors in Flint]...building on Buicks success, Durant incorporated General Motors on September 16, 1908, and made Flint its home. One of General Motors first acquisition was 49 percent of the Weston- Mott Company, then the worlds largest axle maker. Thus the two forces that were to shape the history of Flint in the 20th century - General Motors and C.S. Mott were joined."[Rapp at 32]

FLINT TODAY [1977]

"Flint in 1977 remains a blue collar company town, the largest company town in the country." [Rapp at 33] Today, 2005, our principal problem is that the company is leaving /has left and the company itself is changing, reducing and losing market share. The owners, principal stockholders of General Motors died off and their progeny are/have leaving/left, take your pick. Flint has had its ups and downs. Our ups were caused by the economics of the times and leadership that caused change. We are now in a down, what do we need from leaders to take us up again. What is leadership?

POLITICAL LEADERS

"Leadership is the quality of making people go where they do not want to go and like it.-president Harry S. Truman"

"The performance of any institution depends primarily on the quality of the people who work within that institution. People- not laws, charter, computer systems, or organizational structure- determine the quality of the governmental performance. People make the decisions that determine the quality of services that citizens receive through the expenditure of their tax dollars. Improving the performance of local government, therefore, requires improving the capabilities of the people who work for it." [Rapp at 35]

"The message contained in the Presidents 1968 Riot Commission Report is as applicable today as it was then: the best hope for our cities, as well as for other local units of government is the development of effective political leaders.

Political leaders are those individuals who are elected to represent the interest of their constituents in deciding what local government should do and how it should do it. ...city council...elected mayors- these leaders are ultimately responsible to the citizens for the way in which resources are used to satisfy community needs. We also include in our definition of community leadership those individuals who are appointed by the elected representatives to serve on boards and commissions...These individuals often play a major roles in determining community objectives and allocating public resources." [Rapp at 35]

Besides merely translating the desires of their constituents into public decisions, political leaders must exercise leadership. Leadership is an intangible quality. One way to understand its nature is to examine the adjectives we use to describe those we judge to be leaders. We think of these people as imaginative, courageous, candid, charismatic, intelligent, and self confident Alternatively, we describe people who lack leadership qualities as reactionary, myopic, apathetic, or fearful of change. Perhaps Harry Truman’s quote best captures the essence of leadership- getting people to do some-thing they didn’t want to do and making them like it" [ Rapp at 36]

The point Rapp is making is that political leaders do make a difference by having a dramatic impact on process and performance.

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING POLITICAL LEADERSHIP ACCORDING TO RAPP AND PATITUCCI

1. Do elected officials demonstrate the willingness to lead?

A. take the long view not the short one

B. Studying issues not striking postures.

C. Make hard, controversial and frequently unpopular decisions that are in the public interest.

2. Are political leaders able to translate community needs into community objectives?

A. If you do not know where you are going before you start, you have no way of knowing when you get there.

B ...a willingness to set objectives focuses the attention of political leaders on the most important part of the management process- the determination of what local government should do and how they should do it.

3. Are political leaders willing to delegate to municipal managers authority and responsibility for achieving community objectives?

4. Do political leaders have the ability to marshal external support and resources that will achieve community objectives?

5. Can the political leaders gain and maintain the respect and confidence of the people they represent?

See [ Rapp at 37- ]



We need leaders in Flint!

Assembled and written by Terry Bankert and the authors cited.



http://enewsblog.com/terrybankert/post/2005-04-15_04:15:18/

[Managing Local Government for Improved Performance, Brian W. Rapp, Frank M Pattitucci West View Press Boulder Colorado 1977 cited here as Rapp at___]
Post Fri Apr 15, 2005 3:25 am 
 View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website  Reply with quote  
  Display posts from previous:      
Post new topic Reply to topic

Jump to:  


Last Topic | Next Topic  >

Forum Rules:
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

 

Flint Michigan online news magazine. We have lively web forums

Website Copyright © 2010 Flint Talk.com
Contact Webmaster - FlintTalk.com >