Friday, December 5, 2008

ONGOING SERIES: LEADERSHIP DIALOGUES

The Leadership Dialogues is a six-month series of editorial board conversations with community leaders. The dialogues include people who exercise leadership in other arenas, such as sports and the arts, but the characteristics they describe apply to political leadership.

“It is very important to know when to lead and when to let them play,” says Spokane Symphony Director Eckart Preu. Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Working in concert:
Q & A with Eckart Preu

"I always wanted to conduct. I wanted to lead people, kind of, I wanted to do the whole thing. I didn’t want to be dependent on other people ..."

Eckart Preu, music director of the Spokane Symphony (Full story » )

Careful process yielded successful search for Preu

How do you hire a great leader? The process used by the Spokane Symphony Board to hire Eckart Preu was nearly flawless. (Full story »)

Our View: Leading through catalysis

Some years back, John McKnight introduced a new way of thinking about how neighborhoods and communities might confront their challenges, an approach that focused on assets rather than liabilities. (Full story »)

Sense of history informs goals:
Q & A with Mary Selecky

"When I'm faced with a big issue, what is it that brought the issue to the forefront? What's the story behind it? Then you figure your way out of the issue toward the goal." -- Mary Selecky, secretary of Washington State Department of Health (Full story » )

Selecky credits humble mentors

If your idea of a mentor is a wiser, more experienced person who guides, comforts and molds you, well, maybe so. But sometimes it's not so clear-cut. (Full story »)

Our view: Thinking outside the book

Former Washington Gov. Dan Evans was known for being book smart and people smart. (Full story »)

Staying true to core values:
Q & A with Tony Stewart

"Each individual must look into themselves at a very early age and decide what their core values are." -- Tony Stewart, professor and human rights advocate (Full story » )

Our view: Supporting each other in the fight against racism

They call it now the "foxhole," the psychological place where the North Idaho men dwelled together while doing battle against the white supremacists who wanted to make North Idaho into an Aryan homeland. (Full story »)

Use leadership to empower:
Q & A with Linda Sheridan

"The basis of our program was trust. Tell the truth and keep your agreements. From day one, those were the things we required our kids to buy into. That was the only way we could function as a group." -- Linda Sheridan, former Shadle Park coach (Full story » )

Our view: Leadership takes tenacity

Tenacity weaves through the biographies of great leaders. They held onto their ideals and convictions, even when faced with loud criticism, even when it would have been easier to surrender. (Full story »)

Former players reflect on Sheridan's leadership

Some of the young women coached by Linda Sheridan at Shadle Park High School have become coaches, businesswomen and community leaders. Four of them share here the lessons in leadership they use today that they learned from Sheridan years ago. (Full story »)

Leaders mobilize, galvanize: Q & A with Ron Sims

"I'm not afraid to fail. I'm not afraid of success," said King County Executive Ron Sims, whose leadership traits found their foundation during his upbringing in Spokane. (Full story » )

Our view: Nurturing the leader within

Nestled within the biographies of most famous leaders is a family member who saw the leader in the child and encouraged the leader forth. (Full story »)

A fifth grade teacher made the difference

As King County Executive Ron Sims grew up in Spokane, his fifth-grade teacher at Longfellow Elementary School was one of the adults who inspired him. (Full story »)

Sharing a vision: Q & A with Gary Livingston

For at least 40 years, the Spokane Public School District has picked its superintendents from among educators with some past connection to Spokane. Except once. (Full story » )

Kansas colleague mentored Livingston

Gary Livingston met Marvin Edwards when both worked for the Topeka, Kan., school district in the 1980s. Edwards was superintendent and encouraged Livingston to try for increasingly more challenging jobs in the district. (Full story »)

Our view: Getting the leaders we've earned

Daylight-saving time isn't the only thing that arrives early this year. In Washington state, the political cycle is moving up as the primary election changes from September to Aug. 21. (Full story »)