Mastodawn

Known and credible: Champions are important second-stage leaders in a change effort. Here’s why. http://otiswhite.com/enter-the-champion/ #civiclead #greatprojects

Enter the Champion

Champions are second-stage leaders who help move ideas from the fringe to the mainstream.

Otis White 4d ago

When you’re advancing a new idea for your city, think bigger than the idea. Think about the “frame.” http://otiswhite.com/framing-your-change-efforts/ #civiclead #greatprojects

Framing Your Change Efforts

Community change efforts don't live in a vacuum. They are part of an infrastructure of thought that includes things that are bigger than ideas—they are ways of seeing the world and making sense of it.

Otis White Mar 11

Change the way people think about issues with respectful criticism, facts … and a new, positive frame. http://otiswhite.com/reframing-your-communitys-mind/ #civiclead #greatprojects

Reframing Your Community’s Mind

Frames are helpful shortcuts to thinking about your community's issues. But what if the existing frames are barriers to new ideas instead of facilitators. This is when leaders have to reframe the community's familiar ways of thinking.

Otis White Mar 9

“Never, never, never give up”: Why persistence may be the most important quality of a good civic leader. http://otiswhite.com/never-never-never-give-up/ #civiclead

Never, Never, Never Give Up

We make change difficult in our communities by spreading power so widely. That's one reason that progress belongs to the persistent, as was demonstrated recently by a new transportation law in Georgia.

Otis White Mar 4

A classic book about local politics tells us why we must be deliberate in building civic leadership. http://otiswhite.com/rereading-a-classic-about-community-leadership/ #civiclead

Rereading a Classic About Community Leadership

In rereading Alan Ehrenhalt's classic book about who runs for office, I've rediscovered Alan's admonition that, in breaking up power, you can disperse it "so broadly that it might as well have disappeared into thin air." This is why new leaders, with new skills, are so badly needed in our communities today.

Otis White Feb 25

The art of “small-p” politics: What “A Kind of Genius” teaches us about genuine civic change. http://otiswhite.com/a-case-study-in-small-p-politics/ #civiclead

Otis White Feb 23

Civic leaders today must master “small-p” politics: introducing new ideas and winning their approval. http://otiswhite.com/the-skills-of-small-p-politics/ #civiclead

The Skills of Small-P Politics

In the past, we've depended on the few to lead us. Now we must depend on the many. The key to making broad-based community leadership work is to teach more people the skills of small-p politics.

Otis White Feb 18

How the Internet is unleashing the power of grassroots volunteers … and changing communities. http://otiswhite.com/the-era-of-cheap-community-organizing/ #civiclead

The Era of Cheap Community Organizing

How will the internet and social media affect communities and their leadership? They will dramatically lower the cost of community organizing. We'll see more protest groups but we'll see something far more important: an era of shared responsibility.

Otis White Feb 16

Secrets of successful blue ribbon committees: They build trust, legitimacy, fairness and reliability. http://otiswhite.com/what-leaders-can-learn-from-consumer-reports/ #civiclead

What Leaders Can Learn from Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports built its reputation for fairness and reliability over a 74-year period. But you can borrow parts of the magazine's formula in making tough decisions in your community.

Otis White Feb 11

From vending machines to barn raising: How local gov’ts are learning to share, and not own, big issues. http://otiswhite.com/from-provider-to-partner/ #civiclead

From Provider to Partner

Local governments are moving from being providers to partners. But this requires a set of skills by government leaders and, even more daunting, it requires restraint.