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Entrepreneurship – Obama’s Foreign Policy?

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These quotes of Barack Obama are taken from the recent Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship:

Why Entrepreneurship?

“A sustained effort to listen to each other, to learn from each other, to respect for one another”… “By listening to each other we have been able to partner with each other, we have expanded educational exchanges, because knowledge is the currency of the twenty-first century.”

“Entrepreneurship because you told us that this was an area where we can learn from each other. Where America can share our experience as a society that empowers the inventor and the innovator. Where men and women can take a chance on a dream. Taking an idea that starts around a kitchen table or in a garage, and turning it into a new business or industry that can change the world. Entrepreneurship because throughout history the market has been the most powerful force for creating opportunity for lifting people out of poverty. Entrepreneurship because it is in our mutual interest…”

“And social entrepreneurship because as I learned as a community organiser in Chicago, real change comes from the bottom up, the grass roots, starting with the dreams and passions of individuals serving their communities.”

“we are forging new partnerships in which high-tech leaders from Silicon Valley will share their expertise in venture capital, mentorships, technology incubators, with partners in the Middle East, in Turkey and Southeast Asia”

Community Engagement – Getting to the Heart of the Matter

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This site from Australia shows how a council is using online forums to engage with at least some of their constituents on a range of matters including:

  • plans for varying local rates
  • council strategy for trees and
  • the development of community and cultural facilities

This particular council has a resident population of around 74 000 and participation on the forums is relatively low.  Unsurprisingly perhaps, rate variations has got by far the most traffic almost certainly because of its direct impact on the self interest of local people.

There is no doubt that the forums have surfaced a wide range of opinions that may not otherwise have been heard – and some clearly offer clues to the council on areas where its own performance may benefit from a review.  The forums provide an interesting case study in the potential and limitations of such online engagement tools for informing decision making and policy.

However the point I wish to make is not about the medium of engagement (in this case online) but on the content of engagement.  In this case we have rates, trees, community and cultural facilities, a planning application and integrated planning strategy as the topics for engagement.

My question is this.

Of the 74 000 residents of this council, how many have their own progress genuinely held in check by any of these issues?

How many people cannot make progress in their own lives until the council sorts out its strategy on trees? Or integrated planning?  Or even business rates?

The answer is very few.  In most cases perhaps none.  These are examples of what I call lowest common denominator issues.  Most people will agree that they matter and need thinking about.   They are also impersonal enough to be safe topics for discussion.  But for next to nobody will they be the really critical issues that hold back individual talent or community potential.

Many of those 74 000 people will have ideas about how they could make a better life for themselves, their families and the community.  And most of them will have a pretty good idea about what is stopping them.  Instead of engaging local people in the somewhat ‘removed’ priorities of the council, the council could design engagement processes that enable people to engage with each other, the council and other stakeholders, in their real priorities for making a better life.  To uncover the real issues that act as barriers to real people making progress in real lives.

If people are to be open and honest about what is stopping them from making progress we need to have a relationship with them that is trusted, confidential, competent and compassionate.  I suspect that such relationships cannot generally develop entirely online.  That they still demand an element of face to face conversation.  That they will need real people working in the community with good engagement and development skills.  They may also need additional reserves of social capital, community networks and ‘brains trusts’ that can be accessed to provide support and expertise as and when it is needed.

Until we start to engage large numbers of individuals and groups on the real issues that they feel are preventing them from pursuing their aspirations then we will not get to heart of the matter.

Perhaps we should stop seeking to engage the people in our strategies and plans, but instead seek to engage ourselves in theirs?

Lessons from Bogota for Leeds?

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Great film showing the impact of cycle routes, public spaces and other aspects of the ‘public realm’ on the development of the city.  Benefits accrue in all sorts of areas including:

  • inclusion and access
  • health
  • economy and
  • social capital

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGycx75mqRk]

Could it work in Leeds with our weather and hills?  The investment would certainly create jobs.

You can read more about the development of Bogota, a city being developed with happiness as a central theme, here http://shareable.net/blog/can-we-design-cities-for-happiness

New Workshop – Improving as an Enterprise Coach

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Early Bird Tickets are now available at just £199 (plus booking fee) to join me for a one day workshop in Leeds called Improving as an Enterprise Coach.  The workshop will be held on June 9th and will run from 09.00 to 17.00.

You can book your place here – http://enterprisecoach.eventbrite.com/

What Will We Do?

This one day workshop introduces a model of enterprise coaching that takes you from making initial contact with individuals and groups on the enterprise agenda through to enabling them to make real progress and managing a professional and ethical exit strategy.

The workshop will provide practical help with:

  • Making Initial Contact
  • Gaining Entry – Getting an Invitation to Help
  • Contracting – Setting ground rules for the helping relationship
  • Collecting Data on the Enterprising Goal
  • Generating Options and Making Decisions
  • Making and Implementing Plans
  • Managing Your Exit – Promoting Independence

It will help to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your work as an enterprise coach.

It will also provide you with a framework for managing your own professional development as an Enterprise Coach.

Who Should Attend?

The event will help anyone who has to help others with their enterprise journey.  You may be a business adviser, an enterprise coach or act as a business mentor in further or higher education.

The workshop is relevant to any level of experience – as long as you are working to help others on their enterprise journey.

Some Testimonials

“Mike Chitty is one of the UK’s leading practitioners in design, development and provision of enterprise and entrepreneur coaching and support. Over the last ten years, from before he was a groundbreaking CEO of BLU, my organisations have been the beneficiary of Mike’s work. I still regularly read and learn about his contributions and programmes which are proven, practical and above all highly rated by the clients in making the UK a better place to start and run your own enterprise. We have a long way to go in the UK before we can proud of our enterprise and entrepreneurship offer but Mike’s work will get us there faster. Everyone I have recommended him to in the past has been very pleased that I did so.” – Tony Robinson, Founder & Executive Director (CEO), SFEDI Limited

“The enterprise coaching training was excellent. The subject matter covered theory and included practical application, it was thought provoking. It challenged my perception of my coaching style which I had become comfortable with, and tested my limits in terms of acceptance.  It provided a number of tools which I was then able to use in a positive way with my clients. I would recommend the course for continuing professional development. Mike is a great communicator and has a wealth of knowledge of enterprise coaching which he imparts in an innovative and thought provoking way.” – Barbara Morton – Enterprise Gateway Director  – SEEDA

“Mike is an expert in community development & a coach/trainer/ consultant of the highest quality. He challenges individual and organisational perceptions on regeneration issues and is among those leading the way. Looking forward to working with him again immensely.” – Simon Paine – Enterprise Gateway Director – SEEDA

Getting to the Nub of Things

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Many coaches consistently fail to get to the point where their client is really going to tell them anything worth listening too.   They rarely get to the nub of things.

The conversation is often a pretence where both parties say the things they need to say in order to satisfy their respective bureaucracies with little or no real intention of any transformation taking place.   They play the game and keep the scores.

Many ‘enterprise coaches’ are little more than glorified sales people for the enterprise fairytale and act as modern day pressgangs to fill workshops and provide a ‘continual source of referrals to the mainstream’ which is neither resourced nor trained to deal with them properly.

So much talent and potential is lost because we rush its development and plug it into systems designed to provide management with outputs rather than provide people with a real chance of transforming their lives.  We put people into systems instead of into potentially transformational relationships.

Getting to the point where we can have really powerful, transformational conversations takes time, real skill and a lot of trust.  This is the work of the enterprise coach.

So what is at the nub of things?  What are the kinds of conversations that transform lives?  In my opinion they are conversations about identity, about being someone that you can face in the mirror every morning.  About developing passi0n, commitment, resilience and perseverance