Pro Active Leadership

If there is one book leaders need to read I would suggest reading “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Steven R. Covey. In this book there are seven points that can make one effective, something anyone in an influential position should consider.

The topic “Being Proactive” is discussed in the first chapter. How fitting is this when it comes to being a leader. Do we see any of our leaders out on a regular basis being proactive in meeting the public? When there is a problem to address, are they there side by side with the people being affected?

In Steven Covy’s book, language is just one way to be proactive, or in many cases not. For example how many times have you heard from our leaders, “There’s nothing I can do.” As a change manager expert in my job, that sentence makes no sense to me, as my response would be, “There must be an alternative and we need to explore all possibilities.” There are many ways to address an issue; just saying no is not an option to me.

An additional way to look at problems in our community is from a proactive focus. Many times concerns will drive a focus on a problem, for example, the loss of businesses has be driving the focus to get more business. But the alternative to this is to have a proactive focus to increase population which will drive down concerns of businesses and allow for the city to flourish. Of course it is much more complex that just a few words in a sentence as you have to be proactive on many fronts such as crime, racial issues, and much more.

Until our leadership learns how to be proactive, the circle of concerns will inherent all the issues and make it very difficult to focus on making this the city it can be. Stop waiting for things to happen and make them happen in a positive manner. Check out www.citizensforalton.com or www.metroeastgreenparty.org.


R. Jennings
Chairman Metro East Green Party
Citizens for a Better Alton

TIme For New Leaders in Alton

LEADERSHIP - (noun), 1. ability to lead: the ability to guide, direct, or influence people 2. guidance: guidance or direction

In the city of Alton, the above definition has been lost. In fact I think the word may be gone in the vocabulary of our elected officials. The city is moving towards crises and yet they quietly hide behind their titles and lock themselves behind closed doors, in effect the “ostrich syndrome”. When are the elected officials going to stand up and take responsibility for their lack of action? The city is being drained of good citizens as they leave, giving corruption, drug dealing, prostitution, and murder more control of our streets. Looking at the definition of “Leadership” it is for certain we have no person in office that has the ability to influence our citizens. The mayor and aldermen have no creditability any more after letting the streets become a Wild West scene. It is obvious they have no “guidance” as they have no sense of vision for the future.

In recent weeks we have seen senseless murders, death threats, and local businesses go out of business only to be replaced by pay day loan companies and minimum wage jobs. We see the city in the middle of a battle with one of the areas worse slum lord as people continue to get hurt from his action. So how did this happen, lack of “Leadership” is the only answer. Our elected officials have worried too much about what is important to them, not listening to their constituents and their concerns that are changing our culture and environment of this city. Our elected officials have no visionary goals, except for the riverfront area, but there is much more to this city than the riverfront.

Better leadership is needed now at all levels of our city government. New trust must be instilled in our police force that will allow people not afraid to give facts that are crucial to a case. Today’s police force is intimating and instills fear in the regular citizen of Alton. Maybe a smile or a wave would do wonders to help bring back a little trust. But that is just the tip of this ice berg. We need tough laws on drug dealing, prostitution, use of fire arms, and tougher housing guidelines. We need to make our young teenagers who deface property learn a lesson by requiring all kids to give community time to keep our city clean! Maybe they would appreciate what they have. The city needs to work stopping racism and we all become one group of people, ALTONIANS! It will not be easy, but we must put a stop to racism in this city to allow it to flourish again.

It is time to step up and educate everyone that people are people, and color or race makes no difference. People need to register to vote, and tell our officials that we are tired of the status quo. We should be there for our neighbors, even if the neighbor is 10 miles across town. It is obvious our elected officials have no leadership skills so we need to step up and take control of our own destiny and work towards a united city front. Effective changes do not happen by accident. It will require a focused and deliberate effort from leaders to move forward and in doing so; we must use an approach that can accommodate different personalities and cultures. Join me in this urgent need to make our city a better place to live!