Choices, Action & Risk Taking

Yesterday was one of those days that makes me LOVE my job. I had the chance to spend some time with three amazing people: Emory Thomas, the (relatively) new publisher at the Puget Sound Business Journal; Sarah Dunne, the new Legal Director at ACLU of Washington and a long-time Seattle Works fan; and Kathleen Sullivan, co-founder of the Internationalist magazine (they are about to go online, so watch for it in the coming months). Fascinatingly, the theme of each conversation kept coming back to leadership.

I started my morning at the Harbor Club with Emory. We chatted about Seattle Works, the future of the Business Journal and eventually got around to the state of community leadership and, on a related note, the viaduct. For him, it comes down to the fact that at some point, someone has to lead. Isn't that the truth! As long as I've been a working professional, transportation has been THE major issue facing our community, yet except for Sound Transit and some road improvements, not much has improved. Who's willing to stake their political future on doing the right thing, even if it's not popular?

Then, I had lunch with Sarah. She's landed her dream job and, among her rave reviews of the ACLU's work, she also shared how the ACLU is changing. It may not be a fair characterization, but while I've generally admired their work to defend the constitution, I've perceived the ACLU as an agitator. I realize that to create change it is often a necessity to agitate. But, I think it makes it hard to build support from the masses. Sarah was sharing some of the work she was doing and her goals of moving things forward, by providing support and guidance.

Finally, I ended my day with Kathleen. She's wicked smart and has helped give perspective to some of Seattle Works' civic engagement programs. We were talking about the changes that are happening at the magazine and kept hitting on a theme of taking risks. 

As I was driving home, reflecting on these conversations and my experience leading Seattle Works, I have to say I had a moment of clarity:

- Our generation likes having choices.
- We want to carve out our experiences and ensure our needs are met.
- We value action, so movement forward is very important.
- We aren't afraid of risk, so we don't have to have perfect information to move forward.
- We like our voices to be heard, but in the end our interest in moving things forward is the most important driver. 

Seems to me that we're inclined to be ideologues than previous generations--what do you think?

- Alison