Community Leadership in a Time of Fear

LPV’s mission is to identify, develop, and connect diverse leaders to strengthen the Pioneer Valley. From social media to television and news alerts, we are inundated with information. Most recently, there has been frequent updates about COVID-19 and it’s impact. Our primary concern is for the health and wellbeing of our communities, partners, local businesses and nonprofits, our staff and board, and those feeling most vulnerable right now.

You have heard from so many about how to reduce the spread of infections: wash your hands well and often, use hand sanitizer, stay home if you feel unwell, don’t engage in large groups and socially isolate if your health places you at higher risk. What we are not hearing a lot about is how to maintain our community connections during crisis. We need to have opportunities for connections and information exchange so we are better able to assess our needs and make the best decisions we can.

We can wash our hands but without community support, we will still be anxious. It is these social and community connections that will help ground us in what we can do right now, as individuals, as businesses and organizations, and as leaders in our communities.

LPV is committed to providing opportunities for community connection and support. In the next week we will have more information about changes to our workshops and events over the coming months.

Supporting Communities

Positive leadership can have a profound effect on the way people navigate challenges and change. Everyone can play a part in supporting their communities in times of stress.

Here are some ways you can take action today to be a positive leader in your community:

• Support small businesses in the Pioneer Valley. Buy gift cards and shop local for your home and businesses as much as possible, especially during times of economic uncertainty.
• Donate to a local nonprofit of your choice. Nonprofits rely on these gifts to help them do their work, especially in tough times of uncertainty. As nonprofits look to adapt to support their participants and staff, increase paid sick time or make other changes, your support will help make this possible.
• Check in on your neighbors, friends, and loved ones and keep your lines of communication open, especially with people who need to distance themselves socially.
• Share fact-based information and remember to take a news break when needed. Burn out doesn’t help anyone.
• Laugh out loud.

Share with LPV what you are doing to support community leadership. We want to share and highlight what people are doing to be positive leaders! In times of stress and concern, these stories can be a light for us all.

Resources

We live in a digital age of information. It’s important to be informed but not overwhelmed. The goal is to make the best decisions for your current needs, not every need of everyone, everywhere. We need community leadership that is grounded in positive support for one another.

Here are some COVID-19 resources that might be helpful:

• Prevent stigma and reduce harm to minority communities from COVID-19
• For Leaders OnBoard members and other nonprofit and organizations:
  • MA Nonprofit Network
  • Nonprofit Risk Management Center
  • Cisco WebEx is expanding their Free Webex offer to include unlimited usage and up to 100 participants
• Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program: SBA is providing targeted, low-interest loans to small businesses and nonprofit organizations impacted by COVID-19.
• Reading and online resources:
  • How to Transform Stress into Courage and Connection
  • Five Science Backed Strategies to Increase Resilience

Please stay healthy, support others, and don’t hesitate to contact LPV with thoughts on how to foster community building as COVID-19 continues to unfold.

With gratitude for your positive leadership,

Lora Wondolowski
Executive Director, Leadership Pioneer Valley

By Caitlyn Dever, Social Media intern

This month members of the LEAP Program are tackling the fundamental idea of purpose. This may seem like too broad of a topic, or more likely an overused phrase that people use to describe everything in life. But it is true that everything has purpose. There is not a single entity in this world that doesn’t serve some sort of purpose to another entity, or to its own self. Everything from stoplights to cashiers, flies to bicycles: they all are interconnected to the world surrounding them. It’s easy to pick out what purpose an inanimate object or animal has because we can look at them through a third party lens. Where it gets harder for people is when you start thinking about the individual’s purpose.

Purpose is defined as the reason for which something is done or created, or for which something exists. This can be a very scary definition when you apply it to humans. We were ‘created’ to accomplish something; there is a reason we ‘exist’. However, when you boil down that definition, it becomes quite clear. If you genuinely believe that everyone has a purpose, that means that no one is arbitrary. No one doesn’t matter; no one’s actions are inconsequential; no one can go through life without affecting something somewhere. It is your choice to come up with what your effect is going to be. Only you can decide how to live your life. That’s why finding and defining your purpose is so important. It ensures maximum effort, keeps us focused, generates power, and gives us unique competitive advantages. When you identify what you want to live for, your goals are made more clear.

Purpose becomes exceedingly important when it comes to leadership. How can you be a strong, effective leader if you don’t even know what you’re leading for? John F. Kennedy once said “efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” Without a sense of why, you will never get to the how or the what. In order for something to work, you need to know why you want it to work in the first place. At LPV, we suggest asking yourself this question when finding your purpose as a leader: “What is it time for right now?” While being a leader does require you to be able to think on your feet, this question can help narrow down that thought process. All it takes is to focus your mind on the foundation of your actions: the purpose. By finding your purpose as a leader, you will inspire all those who you lead to find their’s as well, which can only result in a more productive environment.

In this crazy, fast-paced world we live in, it can be too easy for us to forget what we are living for. We too often get caught up in the idea that we are doing things to live, but why are we not thinking about it in terms of living to do things. Our purpose is not to live up to the expectations of the world around us. Our purpose is to be exactly who we want to be, say what we want to say, and do what we want do. You create your own purpose. The only purpose that is wrong is the lack of one.

By Emily McGuinness 

New Year, New Workplace Trends 

Recently CNBC posted an article forecasting workplace trends for 2019, stating that “more employees will want to align with employers that have a social mission.”  At Leadership Pioneer Valley, we see a desire among our LEAP program participants to connect with a deeper purpose in their work, and we are excited to see this growing trend.   

We recently updated our organization’s vision statement to “we strive to create a vibrant Pioneer Valley with accessible, inclusive networks of inspired individuals who are leading and connecting the communities in which they live and work.” Our organization stands on an important social mission. Engaging more leaders in the workplace who are creating social responsibility in their workplaces, and our communities is both exciting and essential.  

In another article posted on Wrike, they anticipate a higher emphasis being placed on work-life balance. With mobile devices like cell-phones and tablets making work accessible 24/7, the ratio of work to life is typically unbalanced for most people. 2019 is the year that many will be evaluating how to create more of a barrier between these two worlds, and LPV stands behind this initiative willingly. 

Self-care is crucial, even for working professionals that do not feel as though they have the time for it. Eating lunch away from your desk, leaving your work at work, taking that 30 minute break you pretend you don’t have, leaving after your shift is actually over, or even taking a minute to breathe at your desk in between tasks. All of these simple things can help improve a work-life balance and can easily be done right in the office.  

Our last LEAP session covered practicing resilience as leaders. A person must know their limits while pushing themselves.  Pushing yourself too far is not what you want. It can be easy to get caught up in projects or large undertakings, we get it! But, we are excited to see that there may be a higher value placed on the individual and their personal balance of work and life this year. What are the ways you restore yourself?  What are things that you can say “no” to this year? 

Leadership Pioneer Valley Seeks Tech Savvy Development Associate

Leadership Pioneer Valley works to identify, develop and connect diverse leaders to strengthen the region.  The core of the organization is a well-regarded 9-month regional leadership development program for existing and emerging leaders from non-profits, businesses and government.  Working under the direct supervision of the Executive Director, the Associate will assist with implementing strategies essential for LPV’s growth.  S/he plays an important role in participating in outreach, fundraising, event coordination, including gift acknowledgement and data entry, online campaigns, direct mail appeals, and grant tracking.

Primary Job Responsibilities:

• Timely donation processing and gift acknowledgement
• Management of LPV’s Donor Database- including accurate data entry, record maintenance and reporting.
• Coordinate general fundraising activities, such as appeals, online campaigns, grant proposal writing, and foundation relations tracking.
• Help coordinate fundraising events
• Perform donor research and help coordinate donor solicitation campaigns
• Manage and help implement social media fundraising plan (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) in collaboration with other staff
• LPV website updating and general management
• Other duties as requested

Qualifications:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Exceptional attention to detail and experience organizing events
• Competence working with databases
• Comfort with updating website content
• Proficient in MS Office Suite, databases, mail merges, and social media
• Ability to communicate effectively and to work well with teams

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• Knowledge of the Pioneer Valley
• Ability to attend off-site meetings including occasional evening and weekend events; valid driver’s license

Values:

Leadership Pioneer Valley values collaboration, inclusivity, trust, and excellence.

Applications:

The Development Associate is a part-time position with a salary commensurate to experience.  We do not provide benefits but do offer paid time off.  Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and resume via e-mail by March 22 to:

Lora Wondolowski, Executive Director, lwondolowskiATleadershippv.org

LPV does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, religion and disability in employment or the provision of services.

Leadership Pioneer Valley Announces New Program Name: LEAP

SPRINGFIELD, MA-Leadership Pioneer Valley (LPV) announced it’s new name and logo for their signature nine-month leadership development program: LEAP. Although LEAP is not an acronym, it is designed to have members interpret it in their own way. The first LEAP class is challenged to leap to places they have never been before and test their limits. T

“Leaping is different than running, it is leaving the ground with both feet which is risky, and so is leadership,” remarked Lora Wondolowski, Executive Director of Leadership Pioneer Valley.

Each year Leadership Pioneer Valley welcomes new participants who are taking a leap of faith into the program. Nearly 250 other leapers have completed the program landing in amazing new places since graduation and the Class of 2019 will do the same. They are the first LEAP class, but not the first class to leap to higher skills.

###